Markets
Exposure to the US Dollar via Digital Assets Takes Off — TradingView News
More and more crypto companies are looking to capitalize on the demand for US dollar-denominated digital assets. Tether, the company behind Tether USDTUSD stablecoin, recently announced its gold-backed synthetic dollar pegged to the US dollar.
The move comes just days after Asymmetry released its synthetic dollar, afUSD, with an elastic supply based on market conditions.
New tokens mimicking the US dollar have risen since the launch of Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe. The protocol, launched in February 2024, has accumulated more than $3.4 billion in total locked assets over four months, according to DefiLlama.
Ethena’s synthetic dollar has shaken stablecoin players and highlights strong global market demand for dollar-denominated cryptocurrencies. Another similar development is also seen in the growing size of tokenized funds offering exposure to US Treasuries.
BlackRock’s recently launched USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) had over $462.7 million in assets as of June 19, while Franklin Templeton’s OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) held $357.6 million dollars in assets. In total, $1.5 billion in US Treasuries have now been tokenized – the majority in recent months.
As traditional finance moves on-chain, this week’s Crypto Biz also explores Hashdex’s filing of a combined Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) spot exchange traded fund (ETF), the pre-launch market of Coinbase, Ripple’s challenges with regulators in the US, as well as more stablecoins coming out of Europe.
Hashdex files with SEC for a combined Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF
Hashdex has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a combined Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF on the Nasdaq exchange. This ETF aims to track daily market movements according to the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, maintaining a composition of approximately 70.54% Bitcoin and 29.46% Ether. Coinbase and BitGo will serve as custodians of BTC and ETH assets. Hashdex is still required to file and receive approval from the SEC for an S-1 application.
Coinbase International Announces Support for Pre-Launch Marketplace
Coinbase International has announced support for a pre-launch marketplace, allowing users to trade futures on tokens and coins not yet listed on an exchange. This new feature allows for early trading activities before the official launch of these digital assets, allowing traders to engage with upcoming tokens in advance. The feature will be available to institutional investors through Coinbase International and retail traders through Coinbase Advanced. Pre-launch market assets are capped at an initial margin of 50%, or 2x leverage, and a notional position limit of $50,000 per token. With this move, Coinbase follows in the footsteps of centralized exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, Bitget and OKX, which already provide similar services.
SEC rejects Ripple’s argument for lower penalty
The SEC has criticized Ripple’s request for a lower penalty in its ongoing legal battle. Ripple had argued for a significantly reduced penalty, not to exceed $10 million, citing the SEC’s prior settlement with Terraform Labs as a reference. The SEC suggested that, based on Ripple’s gross profits and considering a similar ratio to Terraform, this would imply a penalty of $102.6 million for Ripple instead of the suggested $10 million. In total, the SEC is seeking nearly $2 billion from Ripple, including $198.2 million in prejudgment interest, $876.3 million in civil penalties, and an additional $876.3 million in disgorgement.
Maintain delisting of USDT and five stablecoins by July 1, citing MiCA
Digital asset platform Uphold has announced that it will delist six stablecoins by July 1 due to the European Union’s impending implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Asset (MiCA) regulation. The move is part of a broader trend among cryptocurrency platforms, which are adjusting their operations to comply with new regulatory standards set by MiCA. The six stablecoins are USDT, Dai (DAI), Frax (FRAX), Gemini dollar (GUSD), Pax dollar (USDP), and TrueUSD (TUSD). Users holding these stablecoins must convert them to another cryptocurrency before June 28; otherwise, they will automatically be converted to USD Coin (USDC).
Before you leave: More than $100 billion has been raised for cryptocurrency startups since the end of May 2014. Over the past four years, the ceiling and floor have been raised despite continued ups and downs.
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