Asset management company Grayscale Investments wants to transform another of its cryptocurrency investment products, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), into an exchange-traded fund. This and more news is in this handy daily roundup so that you are always up to date with the latest events happening within the crypto world.
From Grayscale Ethereum Trust to Ethereum ETF
📍‌Grayscale has filed a new application with the SEC to transform another of its investment products into a crypto ETF. Just weeks after winning a lawsuit against the SEC, Grayscale Investments has filed a new application with the securities regulator to convert the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) into an Ethereum ETF.
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein highlighted that the recent SEC filing is a natural step in the evolution of its investment products. He noted that it is a crucial moment to take Ethereum to the next level among investors, beyond the US regulatory perimeter.
At the end of August, Grayscale won a lawsuit against the SEC, obtaining a court order for the securities regulator to re-examine its proposal to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
On the other hand, Grayscale's request to transform its ETHE into an Ethereum ETF coincides with the SEC's regulatory approval of the First Ethereum futures ETFs in the United States.
WFE proposes principles to regulate cryptoasset trading
📍‌The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) proposes 6 new principles to regulate the cryptocurrency market. In a recently published document, WFE, the private organization representing more than 250 exchanges and markets in the world, has proposed a series of principles that seek to build a solid and regulated cryptocurrency market.
According to published text, the organization noted that the continued advancement in the global adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, by both retail and professional and institutional investors, has been accentuating the need to create adequate regulation that guarantees transparency, security and fairness in cryptocurrency trading, especially within crypto-asset exchange platforms or exchanges, in order to minimize the risks of money laundering and other illicit activities, as well as avoid the disappearance of other platforms and projects that may affect the stability of investors, as happened with FTX last year.
The proposal presented by WFE covers cryptocurrency trading on crypto-asset exchange platforms, including those that are part of the centralized finance sector or CeFi and those that are part of the decentralized finance ecosystem or DeFi.
Bitcoin use cases are expanding
📍‌The world's leading cryptocurrency by market cap, Bitcoin, could be used to secure Proof of Stake (PoS) networks. A proposal launched by the Babylon Chain project seeks to allow Bitcoin holders to use the BTC cryptocurrency to participate in the consensus of PoS-based networks.
According to the litepaper published by the project, the goal is to unlock the potential of the 21 million Bitcoin that will exist in the market to secure the emerging PoS economy, allowing its holders to access new opportunities in the crypto market.
Babylon Chain highlighted that Bitcoin's current market cap of over $538.000 billion has been underutilized due to the blockchain's limitations in terms of scalability, latency, and programmability. However, it stressed that using BTC as collateral in PoS networks will help bolster and expand Bitcoin's functionality in the crypto industry.
Much like Ordinals have unlocked a new use case for Bitcoin, Babylon Chain is confident that BTC staking will help explore new trustless uses for the cryptocurrency and blockchain network, Indian.
Currently, Bitcoin dominates 49,6% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization.
ECB to test DLT technology in wholesale payments
📍‌The European Central Bank will explore Distributed Ledger Technology or DLT to optimize wholesale payments. While the ECB has not made a final decision on whether to issue a digital euro, the body is calling on DLT technology providers and banks to participate in new trials focused on experimenting with wholesale payments on DLT networks, including the use of a wholesale central bank digital currency or CBDC.
According to published The call for proposals will be made public from 15 November, while trials for wholesale payments via DLT and CBDC solutions are planned to begin between May and June next year. The ECB also plans to implement a series of exploratory tests of the solutions submitted by the participating entities between December this year and March 2024, in order to check the technical connections and operational procedures necessary to complete the pilot tests.
Later this month, the ECB will also publish a document to establish the criteria and rationale for participants to be eligible for exploratory testing, as well as a roadmap for the work to be carried out.
BIS to launch its CBDC platform mBridge soon
📍‌Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Chief Executive Eddie Yue said the launch of the mBridge platform is very close. The CBDC platform developed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) together with central banks and monetary authorities is preparing for its initial launch, which is expected “very soon,” according to Eddie Yue during his speech at the Bund summit in China.
Yue said that the launch of mBridge can significantly increase the speed of cross-border transactions and payments, as well as reduce transaction costs and improve transparency. The HKMA CEO also extended an invitation to central banks around the world who want to join this CBDC platform.
Currently, mBrigde is being jointly developed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and central banks of China, Thailand and the UAE with the participation of tech giant Tencent, to explore, identify and build new use cases of CBDCs and blockchain technology in the enterprise field, such as international trade settlement, payment interoperability, atomic settlements, providing foreign exchange products with CBDC settlements, and more.
So far, the BIS says it has identified 15 use cases with great potential for CBDCs through its platform.
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