The cryptocurrency market has turned slightly bullish as Bitcoin (BTC) inches towards $50,000 again. While preparing this document, Bitcoin was trading at $48,022, an increase of 1.70% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has gained 5.50% to trade at $3,597. Likewise, XRP has gained 2.30% to trade at $1.11.
Major altcoins, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, are Dash (DASH-$214.66, 3.90%), EOS (EOS-$5.05, 4.90%), Tron (TRX-$0.1186, 2.40%), Bitcoin SV (BSV-$156.94, 2.7%), Stellar (XLM-$0.3383, 2.5%), ChainLink (LINK-$31.48, 4.40%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $648.58, 1.90%), VeChain (VET, $0.1208, 3.4%), Uniswap (UNI, $27.30, 8.7%), Internet Computer (ICP, $60.32, 5.60%), Cardano (ADA-$2.47, 3.4%), Dogecoin (DOGE, $0.2457, 2%) and Polygon (Matic, $1.47, 9.90%).
Major altcoins, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, are Solana (SOL, $155.62, -1.40%), Cosmos (ATOM, $32.78, -1.50%), Polkadot (DOT, $36.09, -2.10%) and Tezos (XTZ-6.87, -3.40%).
Private sector initiatives
BBVA Switzerland launches New Gen
BBVA Switzerland has introduced New Gen, a digital investment account catering to cryptos and stocks. Several well-known banks have made an entry into the cryptocurrency domain, but offer their services only to high net-worth individuals (HNWI) or large (accredited) investors.
However, the New Gen account does not lay down such conditions and is offered to any client who has a deposit of CHF or EUR 10,000. There are no net-worth-related conditions. Devoid of the US, the service is offered to clients of almost all the countries where the bank operates.
With the New Gen account, customers of BBVA will be able to retain stocks, crypto, and cash via a single account. Furthermore, the New Gen account permits investors to copy the portfolios of popular investors, including Cathie Wood or Warren Buffet. Even climate change-based themes can be used for setting up the portfolio.
B3o offering reinsurance to nuclear groups
Blockchain technology-based insurance platform B3i, owned and administered by 21 insurance firms, has received a contract for deploying its platform to administer nuclear reinsurance for six Europe-based nuclear groups.
A nuclear disaster could easily bankrupt a single insurer. That is the reason for the tie-up between numerous insurers to cover nuclear facilities. To mitigate the risk further, the nuclear pool of one country is used to reinsure another country’s nuclear facilities. With so much interconnectivity, there are several multi-party transactions. The efficiency of such dealings can be improved by distributing relevant data instead of frequently updating distinct data blocks.
The aforesaid B3i will use its Fluidity blockchain platform to administer the reinsurance contracts of nuclear facilities in Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Nordics (Sweden and Finland).
In the initial stage, the platform will take care of the risk lineup, obligation, and confirmation before the actual policy is issued. With up-to-date data, the real-time platform will assist with compliance and also risk analysis. The platform is planned to be used for renewals on January 1st. In the next stage, claims features and accounting will be taken care of by the platform.
Miscellaneous
Mastercard buys Ciphertrace
Mastercard has acquired blockchain analytics company Ciphertrace in a private deal. The tech firm provides crucial intelligence on blockchain wallets and crypto-focused companies. Ciphertrace list of likely clients includes regulators, governments, banks, and other financial institutions.
The company has developed a bouquet of tools for anti-money laundering, crypto intelligence, compliance, and blockchain study and forensics. With respect to banks, the firm assists in analyzing client activities, including unlawful actions. As banks are major customers of Mastercard, the deal will add value to the card provider’s services.
Commenting on the acquisition, Ajay Bhalla, president, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard, said, “Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient. […] Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this.”
So far, Ciphertrace has received $45 million in funding, including the $27 million raised in May.
BlackRock chooses Veris for equity swaps
The US multinational investment management company BlackRock has opted for Veris, a blockchain platform for equity swaps. Veris was rolled out by Axoni at the start of last year with 15 sell-side and buy-side companies, including Goldman Sachs and Citi.
The scalable platform enables all partakers to approve derivative trade conditions at the beginning and ensure synchronization, including positions, amendments, and cash flows. The process will assist in negating risks in the equity swaps investment life cycle.
Mark Cox, COO of Global Investment Operations at BlackRock, opined as follows: “We see great potential in a distributed ledger network for uncleared derivatives as we continue to prove out this new area of innovation.”
As data is shared as per pre-determined standards, the need for reconciliation is avoided, leading to cost efficiency and negation of risk.
Carl Forsberg, head of OTC Markets at Axoni, pointed out that “Sell-side participants will benefit immensely from using a shared platform with one of the industry’s most important swap counterparties.”
The blockchain platform Veris was developed by Axoni using the enterprise version of the Ethereum blockchain. Axoni’s solution is already used by DTCC’s overhauled credit derivatives Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) platform, which is scheduled for a commercial launch next year.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
