tZERO and Earn; Paypal might acquire custody firm Curv; an NFT artwork sells for $6.6 million
For the week ending March 7th, 2021
Hi everyone. This week’s newsletter sees the US SEC issue a risk alert for digital assets, tZERO’s partnership with Earn, Grayscale’s interest towards more digital assets as well as DeFi, and the latest story in the trend of explosive growth within the NFT space.
Join us, for the latest!
1. The US SEC puts out a risk alert for digital assets
The US SEC put out a risk alert this week, via the Division of Examinations, whose purpose it is to “[protect] investors and [ensure] market integrity”. What the alert stressed, was investment advisors must perform due diligence concerning digital asset investments, assessing regulatory compliance and custody.
The alert also talked about broker dealers, tasking them with staying compliant and conducting due diligence. (CoinGeek)
1. tZERO partners with Earn for more liquidity
tZERO took another step to increase its liquidity value proposition as it has partnered with Earn, a commercial real estate and finance platform. What Earn brings to the table is an “‘increase [to] tZERO’s exposure to forward-thinking commercial property issuers of digital securities that are seeking an innovative, liquidity solution.” A win-win situation, Earn’s users will have exposure to the financial tools that tZERO provides. (Cointelegraph)
2. Paypal may acquire digital asset custody firm Curv
Paypal is again signaling its commitment to its entry into the digital asset space, as it has been rumored that it is in early stage talks to acquire Israel-based Curv, a digital asset custody firm. According to the source article by Ledger Insights, “the custody opportunity is far larger than cryptocurrency and includes the potential for central bank digital currencies, tokenized securities and other digital assets.” (Ledger Insights)
3. Grayscale looking at more digital assets to provide value for investors
Digital investment fund manager, Grayscale, in an effort to expose its customer base to more asset classes, is taking a look at more digital assets, as well as “ DeFi ecosystems which have seen a boom in the past year”.
Of particular interest to Grayscale are crypto assets “such as DOT, ADA, XMR, AAVE, LINK, BAT, SUSHI”. This bodes well for these digital assets as well as the DeFi space, as Grayscale is regarded as a leader in the industry. (Coin Quora)
1. NFT art piece sells for $6.6 million
Continuing the seemingly explosive upward trend of NFTs and the NFT space, it was reported that a 10-second video artwork had sold on an NFT marketplace for $6.6 million this week. The artwork, by digital artist Beeple, is the latest in a trend that illustrates the massive attention and money being paid, and that will be paid, to NFT assets.
Further evidence of the success of the NFT space is shown by the fact that “OpenSea, a marketplace for NFTs, said it has seen monthly sales volume grow to $86.3 million so far in February… from $8 million in January”. (Reuters)
That wraps it up for this week’s highlights!
Until next week👋
References
Regulatory News
1. “US securities regulator issues a risk alert on digital asset securities”
Industry Updates
- “tZERO and Earn partner up for real-estate backed digital securities liquidity”
2. “Paypal rumored to buy digital asset custody firm Curv”
3. “Grayscale Exploring More Digital Asset Investments”
Investment and Financing
1. “How a 10-second video clip sold for $6.6 million”
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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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