Cryptocurrencies have gone vertical in 2021 led by Bitcoin to over $65,000 from just $28,000 months a go and $2,000 a few years ago. With volumes and values have soared and one crypto exchange has grown at such Breakneck speeds, Binance which is processing $78 Billion worth a day.
The Wall Street Journal last week compared last week how astonishing the growth is, and comparing to major stock markets the complete antithesis of those traditional exchanges in so many ways.
(Patricia Kowsmann and Caitlin Ostroff): “The world’s fastest-growing major financial exchange has no head office or formal address, lacks licenses in countries where it operates and has a chief executive who until recently wouldn’t answer questions about his location. Started just four years ago, Binance is the exchange giant that towers over the digital currency world, a crypto equivalent of the London, New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges combined. After a burst of growth, Binance processes more trades for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether each day, $76 billion worth, than its four largest competitors put together, according to… CryptoCompare.”
Patricia Kowsmann and Caitlin Ostroff) WSJ November 11
The sheer size of the market and the amount through the one exchange clearly has governments and Central Banks concerned, it is now more than money laundering or tax evasion, it is about power. We have seen the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launch it’s digital currency eNaira. The move followed Nigeria banning banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies in February this year.
The Central Bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is in process of setting regulations in place encouraging cryptocurrency firms to operate in the island state. The move is to avoid “Singapore being left behind.”
Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard has said “The Federal Reserve is stepping up its research and public engagement on a digital version of the U.S. dollar.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week the Fed will release a paper looking at how CBDCs could affect payments.
The Swiss National Bank announced back in April they are to test a transfer of central bank digital currency funds. “We will try some cross-border functionality.” “There will be another central bank and another currency other than the Swiss franc. ” said Thomas Moser of the SNB’s governing board. The test follows the research paper “How to Issue a Central Bank Digital Currency”
The race is on to get that power back in the hands of the Bankers, expect more volatility.
Trade Smart
Source: WSJ, TC
From The TradersCommunity Research Desk