It’s been an amazing showing for decentralized finance these past couple of weeks. Even in its infancy, DeFi has been making headlines left and right, and we’re here to keep you up-to-date on all that and more with this week’s newsletter. But, before we get into that, we have a pretty big announcement:
We are launching the closed beta of our proprietary digital asset management platform, RedLedgers, and are inviting you to apply to be one of our beta testers and join us in bringing about a new era of efficiency and democratization to the global capital markets! Please fill in this form if you are interested- https://forms.gle/3SRTB9t5vCsrwfGf6.
Check out the full press release, which covers our platform’s suite of tools and how it is addressing the pain points of today’s global capital markets- https://www.redblockcap.com/post/redblock-commences-closed-beta-testing-for-redledgers
And of course, this week we have the next installment in our issuance platform research report series, which covers Stellerro and is live on our site, here- https://www.redblockcap.com/research
- More regulatory clarity in the US as the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency officially provided guidance on stablecoins. Now, officially, federal banks can provide services to U.S. stablecoin issuers, getting rid of the legal grey area that these issuers have lived in until now. It should be noted however, that this clarity only extends stablecoins pegged 1:1 with other currency and only stablecoins which are held in trusted third-party wallets. (CoinDesk)(CoinTelegraph)
- Crypto exchange Gemini has recently received approval to operate in the UK from its financial regulatory body, the FCA. More specifically, Gemini will be designated as an Electronic Money Institution, which means its UK customers can now use GBP to invest and trade in crypto. The importance of regulatory compliance in the crypto space can’t be overstated. As Gemini CCO Blair Halliday puts it, “‘rigorous compliance is central to building a sustainable future for crypto and for our growth as a company. It ensures customers’ funds and data are adequately protected and that users can trust in the safety, stability and reliability of the product’”. (Decrypt)
- News last week was in part dominated by news of decentralized exchange Uniswap’s UNI token, which, in a mere two days after its launch, reached a total value of $1.6 billion. As we rounded the corner into this week, there was more good news for the UNI token as Bitfinex, a prominent crypto exchange, listed the new token, joining Coinbase Pro, OKEx, and Binance. (Decrypt)
- Later in this week, we got news that “cryptocurrency money manager, Panxora, seeks to raise up to $50 million for a new hedge fund to buy digital tokens associated with the fast-growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. “ The figure of $50 million, while high, almost comes across as quite par for the course as centralized exchanges are themselves diving head first into the DeFi space by hosting new tokens such as UNI, YAM and SUSHI. Although the DeFi market is seeing a bit of a decline at the moment, people such as Panxora CEO Gavin Smith believe that “‘this has got the potential to really change the way finance is carried out’”. (CoinDesk)
- Biotech company Yulong Eco-Materials Limited/ EV Biologistics will become the first biotech company to issue an STO for R&D purposes and list its token on a licensed digital exchange. The digital asset exchange in question, CryptoSX, a fully licensed and regulated exchange, also has ambitions of full SEC and FINRA compliance. The token, named ALI for “acute lung injury”, which is what the biotech company’s STO seeks to raise funds to treat, will be an SEC registered security. (BioSpace)
- Great news coming from DeFiner, the DeFi network that provides services for crypto savings, loans, and payments, as it has, on the heels of receiving investment from Signum Capital, just announced another investment from AlphaBit, an investment fund centered around distributed ledger technology. Not only this, but Alphabit is also investing in DeFiner in the way of its expertise and “strong presence in the United Arab Emirates [which] will support the development of DeFi and growth of DeFiner in the Middle East”. (Cision PR Newswire)
References
Regulatory News
- “SEC, OCC Issue First Regulatory Clarifications for Stablecoins”- https://www.coindesk.com/occ-banks-can-hold-some-stablecoin-reserves
“US banking regulator authorizes federal banks to hold reserves for stablecoins”- https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-banking-regulator-authorizes-federal-banks-to-hold-reserves-for-stablecoins
2. “Gemini Launches in UK as Part of Global Expansion”- https://decrypt.co/42772/gemini-launches-uk-global-expansion
Industry News
- “Bitfinex Lists UNI as DeFi Token Price Doubles in Two Days”- https://decrypt.co/42373/bitfinex-lists-uni-as-defi-token-price-doubles-in-two-days
- “Crypto investment firm Panxora seeks $50M for new hedge fund to buy DeFi tokens”- https://www.coindesk.com/first-mover-bitcoin-exchanges-cryptocurrencies-defi-hedge-fund-50-million
- “Yulong to List its Securitized Token on CryptoSX”- https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/yulong-to-list-its-securitized-token-on-cryptosx/
Investment and Financing Progress
- “DeFiner Becomes Newest DeFi Addition to Alphabit’s Investment Portfolio”- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/definer-becomes-newest-defi-addition-to-alphabits-investment-portfolio-301135453.html
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About RedBlock
RedBlock Inc is a digital investment and fintech firm leveraging blockchain technology for asset digitization and management, from issuance to secondary liquidity. Its global network of capital market participants, including issuers, broker-dealers, secondary exchanges, funds, liquidity providers and custodians, are supported by its end-to-end blockchain-powered asset management platform. RedBlock also manages an investment fund to support companies in its ecosystem that align with its investment thesis. With a growing track record and pipeline, the RedBlock team hails from top tier global investment banks, venture capital firms and blockchain technology companies.
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