On Oct. 15, a major global financial services firm – the fourth-largest asset management firm in the world – announced plans to spin off a new company focused on making it easier for institutional investors, such as hedge funds and family offices, to invest in digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ether. The announcement comes amid positive news for institutional cryptocurrency exchanges Paxos and Gemini, which both recently launched stablecoins backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars. This week, Paxos reported that its stablecoin, Paxos Standard, has been listed on more than 20 exchanges and over-the-counter desks around the globe. According to reports, Gemini's Gemini Dollar (GUSD) traded above its $1.00 peg this week, reaching a high of $1.19. In other institutional news, a major multinational options and futures exchange announced that the daily average trading of its bitcoin futures products increased 41 percent from Q2 to Q3.
In the startup space, this week New York-based media startup Civil was forced to cancel its ongoing initial coin offering (ICO) and issue refunds to token purchasers after failing to reach its preset funding minimum of $8 million. Another New York-based startup, BlockFi, recently announced that it is adding Litecoin and GUSD to the crypto assets it will accept as collateral for loans. Overseas, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance, announced that beginning Oct. 17, users of Binance Uganda, Africa's first cryptocurrency exchange, will be able to make deposits in leading cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether as well as the Ugandan Shilling. Binance's move into Uganda is part of the exchange's plan to expand into Africa – a continent with one of the youngest populations in the world and very limited access to traditional banking services.
For more information on this post, please see the following:
- Fidelity Rolls Out Crypto Trading and Custody Firm
- Fidelity Launches Institutional Platform For Bitcoin And Ethereum
- Paxos Standard" Quickly Achieves Global Adoption By Over 20 Top Crypto Exchanges And OTC Desks
- Winklevoss-Backed Stablecoin Soars Above $1 as Tether's Market Cap Plunges
- Gemini Stablecoin Volume Doubles on Top 10 Exchange Amid Tether Turmoil
- CME Report: BTC Futures Trading Keeps Growing in Q3, Average Daily Volume up 41% Over Q2
- Media Startup Civil to Issue Refunds as $8 Million Token Sale Fails
- Civil Media's token sale has failed
- Binance Uganda Launch: Full Sign-ups Now Live, Deposits & Trading Coming Soon
- Binance Launches Its First Fiat-Crypto Exchange in Uganda
- BlockFi Now Supporting Litecoin & GUSD for Crypto-Backed Loans
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