DAY LONG NEWS ROUNDUP: LATEST NEWS 08/12/21

• Avinandan Banerjee
• December 08, 2021

Let’s have a sneak peek into the world of cryptocurrencies where nothing is impossible. We have tried to cover the most important news of the crypto sector so as to keep you ahead of your competitors. Take a look:

 

Nasdaq Stockholm lists Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes

Hailing as a premier class stock exchange portal making global trading frictionless, Nasdaq Stockholm has listed two physically backed exchange-traded notes (ETN) by 21Shares on its ecosystem. The two instruments listed by the exchange will have Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as underlying assets and will be the first ETN venture for 21Shares. ETNs work as unsecured debt security that tracks an underlying index of equities and investment on a top-tier exchange.

As per the official announcement, the newly-launched ETN products will enrich the traders with seamless access to potential investment opportunities in the crypto industry. A majority of banking institutions and broker portals allow traders to deal in all the ETNs supported by the Nasdaq exchange. The launch will open new doors of investment opportunities for investors looking forward to investing in crypto without getting entangled with unregulated crypto exchange channels.

The European head of exchange-traded products at Nasdaq, Helena Wedin stated that the exchange-traded notes (ETNs) facilitate users to trade in crypto assets with full transparency and security of a regulated industry. The team is happy to launch the new products at Nasdaq Stockholm in collaboration with 21Shares.

The cryptocurrency craze has been in full swing in recent years and has witnessed a huge surge in popularity amongst investors. Though the industry is moving at a slow pace recently, crypto fans are continuously placing their big bets on digital tokens. One of the chief reasons for this growth is the expanding institutional investment across the industry. Recently, VanEck launched Solana and Polkadot ETNs on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra. The increase in institutional investment in crypto is likely to pave way for ETN launches on other exchanges too.

 

Gemini partners with Colombia’s biggest bank for crypto trading

Gemini, the top-tier cryptocurrency exchange known for offering high-tech trading services to crypto fans, has signed a pact with Bancolombia, recognized as Colombia’s biggest banking entity. With this partnership, Gemini is looking forward to establishing its strong presence in the fast-growing crypto industry of Latin America. The deal will come into effect on December 14 and will allow Bancolombia customers to trade in four crypto tokens namely Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

As per the report, a limited set of users will be allowed to purchase cryptocurrencies directly from their Bancolombia official accounts via the Gemini exchange. The exchange will provide the necessary infrastructure for seamless exchange and custody of crypto assets. The team has still not revealed any specific information about the withdrawal procedures likely to be available to the customers.

The collaboration with Bancolombia can be seen as a significant strategic step for Gemini exchange to fuel its expansion plans within the Latin American territory. The team is confident that crypto can play a crucial role in the development of the region. It sees Latin America as a nurturing ground for blockchain and innovative technological expansion.

The deal will work as a significant part of the year-long pilot project operated by the country’s financial regulator, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC). To fuel the aim of crypto expansion, a regulatory sandbox titled “la Arenera” was adopted by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in September 2020. Further, in January, the SFC declared the names of 9 crypto exchanges from the pool of fourteen exchanges that applied for the project. The list included names like Binance, Gemini, and Bitso.

Following the footsteps of El Salvador, Latin America is putting in a lot of effort to expand crypto adoption amongst investors. In October, the CEO of Uphold, J.P Thieriot stated during an interview that Latin America is likely to benefit the most from crypto expansion. The region has the third-largest community of crypto users in the world which makes it a budding ground for the fast-pacing industry.

 

OpenSea Plans Stock Market Debut. Users Are Furious

Taking pride in being recognized as a renowned P2P marketplace for NFTs, digital products, and crypto collectibles, OpenSea has hired Brian Roberts as its Chief Financial Officer. After working as the CFO of the popular ride-hailing app, Lyft, Brian has moved to OpenSea to explore the fast-growing industry of Non-Fungible Tokens. This is for the very first time in the history of OpenSea that the NFT giant has welcomed a CFO to its team.

Talking to a news portal, Brian Roberts shared his excitement for the new journey he is stepping his steps into. Roberts has also worked with top American business entities including Microsoft and Walmart. With a long working experience across multiple arenas, Brian is likely to help OpenSea at various operational levels of work. The chief executive conveyed that OpenSea is a well-known project and is soon going for an Initial Public Offering launch to expand its market presence.

While Brian seemed to be happy with OpenSea’s future plans, the crypto community did not happen to share the same feelings and responded furiously on multiple social media handles. Some users advocated that choosing the IPO route involves the entry of investment banks and stock market exchanges. This process does not satisfy the concept of decentralization which forms the base of the crypto sector.

There were users who questioned OpenSea for choosing IPO and not releasing its own governance token. People felt that a governance token will help the users to control the future plans of the firm in a certain way. However, launching a governance token is not an easy task owing to the strict regulatory framework imposed by the authorities in the U.S. Though, NFTs are growing in heaps and bounds recently, there is no surety of success for OpenSea with its IPO launch. The uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrencies has always been a major point of discussion for investors who advocate its supremacy against traditional investment tools.