The cryptocurrency market has turned slightly bullish as Bitcoin (BTC) breaks about $23,000 after weeks of consolidation. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $24,676, an increase of 11.30% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) has gained 9.30% to trade at $1,699. XRP was trading at $0.4015, up 5.80% in the past 24 hours.
Major cryptos, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, are VeChain (VET, $0.0257, 8.20%), EOS (EOS – $1.11, 5.80%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.2491, 6.90%), Internet Computer (ICP, $6.02, 8.40%), Stellar (XLM, $0.0907, 6.10%), Binance Coin (BNB – $322.56, 8.80%), Polkadot (DOT, $6.63, 7%), Avalanche (Avax- $20.10, 11.40%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $135.21, 6.80%), Cardano (ADA, $0.4117, 6.80%), Tezos (XTZ, $1.16, 9.40%), Solana (SOL, $24.02, 11.0%), Dogecoin (DOGE – $0.0902, 8.30%), ChainLink (LINK – $7.36, 8.70%), and Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.00001375, 8.50%).
Private sector initiatives
Broadridge’s DLR Platform Sees Growth with $50B Daily Transactions
In the middle of 2021, Broadridge rolled out its Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform and quickly attained $31 billion in average weekly transaction volumes. Two years later, the figure has risen to $50 billion per day or a trillion dollars a month. However, analysts believe that this is only the beginning of things that are bound to come.
Currently, UBS and Societe Generale are the banks that are actively using the platform, and the count of participants is expected to hit double digits in 2023.
A repo trade involves the selling of securities, usually Treasuries, with a guarantee to repurchase at a slightly higher price in the near future. The aforesaid distributed ledger platform supports the agreement, execution, and settlement of repo trades on a common ledger. As of now, a major portion of the repo trades on the DLR platform are intra-day transactions among various divisions within a bank. The benefits are expected to increase manifold with the start of external bilateral trades.
EIB Issues £50B Bonds on HSBC’s Orion Blockchain Platform
The European Investment Bank (EIB) used the HSBC Orion bond tokenization platform to issue bonds worth £50 billion. The third bond issued using the blockchain platform has a floating rate of interest and is redeemable in three years.
Notably, this is the initial public bond issued using the Orion blockchain, which came into commercial use last November. Also, the bond is the initial sterling-denominated digital bond. Earlier issuances via Societe Generale FORGE were carried out using the Digital Assets Platform of Goldman Sachs, developed using the public Ethereum blockchain,
The £50 million bond was issued in compliance with Luxembourg law. The participants in the project were BNP Paribas, HSBC, and RBC Capital Markets as joint lead managers, with the banks functioning as custodians and HSBC as the keeper of central accounts.
One of the unique aspects of the bond is that it is also documented on a public bond chain to ensure transparency, although with considerable anonymity. The intention of transparency is to offer visibility about the bond’s liquidity. Orion employs the Hyperledger Fabric enterprise blockchain.
Zodia Custody Partners with SBI for Digital Asset Custodial Service in Japan
Zodia Custody, one of the institutional-level digital asset subsidiaries of Standard Chartered bank, stated that it has partnered with SBI Digital Asset Holdings (SBIDAH) to offer institutional digital asset custodial service in Japan, subject to clearance by regulatory authorities. Notably, SBI owns a stake of 51%.
Back in 2022, SBI had hinted about a likely partnership between SBIDAH and SBI VC Trade, which offer a cryptocurrency trading platform. SBI and SC Ventures had already partnered to establish suitable environments for startups, including cryptocurrency assets, blockchain, fintech, and AI.
Commenting on the initiative, Fernando Luis Vazquez Cao, CEO of SBI DAH, stated “We are thrilled to have forged a partnership with Zodia Custody that focuses on fostering customer confidence via financial clout, technical and managerial experience, and a mutual agreement with digital asset market laws. We feel that our relationship with Zodia provides institutional customers with a distinct worldwide offering.”
Zodia Custody was launched in 2020, with Northern Trust, one of the top 10 international custodians, having a 5% stake in the project. Interestingly, Standard Chartered also owns a trading venture, named Zodia Markets.
Miscellaneous
Marubeni Invests in TradeWaltz Blockchain Network for Cross-Border Trade
Marubeni has acquired a stake in the blockchain network TradeWaltz, taking the cumulative funding for the platform to ¥4 billion ($31 million). The blockchain cross-border trade platform was developed by NTT Data and went commercial in March 2022. Notably, three out of seven founding investors, namely Mitsubishi Corp, Toyota Tsusho, and Kanematsu, are industrial giants.
TradeWaltz, which was built by using enterprise blockchain Hyperledger Fabric, intends to digitize the paper-centered cross-border trade procedure and states that its blockchain platform enhances operational efficiencies by over 44%.
There are currently an aggregate of 14 investors, including Japan’s biggest bank MUFG, top insurers, and logistics companies. At the beginning of December 2022, the count of participant firms on the network had risen to 160.
One of the tactics employed to fuel adoption is through integration with trade platforms in other jurisdictions. So far, TradeWaltz has been integrated with trade platforms in Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia via the Indo-Pacific Supply Chain Enhancement Project.
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.
