Hopes that U.S. regulators will approve a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, have kept investors bullish on crypto for months. Thirteen firms, including BlackRock, have pending applications with the U.S. securities regulator. The idea is that an ETF would make it easier for people who haven’t invested in bitcoin to do so, but regulators have so far rejected the product, arguing that it doesn’t offer enough protection for investors.
Now, talks with the regulators have advanced to key details – such as custody arrangements, creation and redemption mechanisms and investor risk disclosures – according to half a dozen industry executives. Still, the SEC has not indicated whether it will approve the products. Get all the details here.
After Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities, a judge ruled that former CEO Changpeng Zhao must remain in the United States ahead of his sentencing. (Reminder: “CZ”, as he’s known, pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws last month. That story’s here.)
Binance withdrew an application for a licence in Abu Dhabi. It was withdrawn on Nov. 7 and a Binance spokesperson said it was unrelated to the U.S. settlement. In an interview with the Financial Times, Binance’s new CEO, Richard Teng, said that the company’s Middle East and North Africa headquarters are in Dubai and that Binance would announce details of where its global headquarters are “in due course” – but declined to say when.
Finally, credit rating agency S&P Global has published its risk assessments of the world’s top stablecoins. It created a risk scale, going from 1 to 5, as opposed to the one it uses for governments and companies, which goes from triple A to default. The world’s biggest stablecoin, Tether, was rated as a 4 – that’s one notch away from the lowest possible score – which S&P said reflects the lack of information about who or what holds its reserve assets, plus “significant exposure” to risky assets.
Tether’s market cap has passed $90 billion, according to CoinGecko. Last week, global banking regulators said they would review the rules about how banks should set aside capital to cover the risks coming from stablecoins.
