Wake Me Up When September Ends

Jake Chervinsky hit the nail on the head – the SEC won’t be making a decision about a Bitcoin ETF anytime soon. A firm yes/no or yet another pushback will come on September 30th.



And looking at today’s snapshot… the fallout is real. The majority of projects were bludgeoned by the news, with double digit declines being the norm. A pocket of smaller projects are surprisingly up, but let’s be realistic – it’s likely driven by pure speculation.



Breaking it down (Alex Krüger)

For a complete 411 on all things Bitcoin ETF related, check out Alex’s article. In short – a number of roadblocks sit between where we are and where we want to be. And because a Bitcoin ETF is kind of a big deal, the SEC isn’t jumping into any working relationship until those concerns are addressed.



The key deal breakers

Underlying BTC spot market are “not demonstrably resistant to manipulation”.

Multiple BTC markets are still unregulated.

Investors aren’t adequately protected.

Less concerning (but still concerning) issues

How to calculate an ETFs “net asset value” (NAV).

Ensuring ETFs have sufficient liquidity.

Custodial solutions aren’t perfect (yet).

Wrapping up: Some think that the CBOE’s proposal will be approved since it’s a more reputable firm than Gemini, but people forget that the CBOE purchased Bats (firm behind the Winklevoss ETF) in March 2017… so don’t expect that to carry much weight.

Markets

(1) Blockchain gaming platform Enjin is doing away with ICOs…. opting to fundraise using an alternative method labeled by the company as Initial Asset Offerings (IAOs). And Enjin created a new token framework – ERC-1155’s – that are backed by Enjin Coin (ENJ).



The distinction, Enjin believes, is that “IAOs are specifically designed to fund products and services” that will provide measurable utility in the form of characters, weapons, and other perks when developers launch their games.



It’s unclear whether IAOs will pick up steam due to the market’s progression towards Security Token Offerings, but who knows – maybe they’ll become a niche fundraising system used by gaming platforms.



(2) Coinbase beefed up their product suite for verified customers, who can now purchase assets immediately following direct deposits as opposed to a 5-day waiting period. Plus, they can inject as much as $25,000 per day.



The rollout doesn’t necessarily impact customer demand for digital currencies, though it does transform the Coinbase onramp into a 10-lane mega highway. If there’s a surge in demand, capital will hit the order books – fast.



(3) Ledger wallets now support an additional 8 tokens, which include the likes of Wanchain (WAN) and Ontology (ONT). Long-term investors often prefer storing their digital assets in cold wallets to reduce their susceptibility to hacks, but they must use less secure methods until the installations are complete.



Securing trustworthy storage options (1) provides a project’s community with more flexibility and (2) can indicate that the respective teams is assembling desirable features to enhance usability.