$BTC 24 Hour High $19,134.73
$BTC 24 Hour Low $18,696.47
$ETH 24 Hour High $1,333.37
$ETH 24 Hour Low $1,275.63
Happy Monday from HKbitEX! Highlights from the week:
- Fed raises rates 75bps, other economies follow
- White House releases first-ever framework on crypto regulation
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to begin CBDC trials in Q4
- Nasdaq joins BlackRock as TradFi defies bear market and embraces crypto
- Colorado now accepts crypto payments for state taxes
The $BTC and $ETH market
Bitcoin slid to a three-month low mid-week, leading a broad decline in digital-asset markets while the major United States stock market indices continued their decline last week as worsening macroeconomic conditions increased concerns of a global recession.
The Federal Reserve announced that it will raise its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday afternoon in its latest attempt to quash inflation. Following the hike, countries including the UK, Norway, Indonesia, and South Africa also bumped rates with others to follow in the coming days. Tighter monetary policy, in general, is seen as a negative factor for prices of risky assets like Bitcoin.
On the daily timeframe, the price of BTC has been retesting the $18K support level following rejection from the major bearish trendline. The 50-day and 100-day moving average lines have also rejected the cryptocurrency.
ETH has hit the support area between the white descending line and the price range at $1,220-$1,280. So far, the bulls have successfully maintained the high selling pressure; however, the situation is still fragile.
BTC & ETH fell by -1.5% and -9.8% respectively (vs previous week). The total market cap of crypto market stayed shy of the $1tln mark and Bitcoin dominance rose above 39% during last week.
White House releases first-ever framework on crypto regulation
The White House just released its first-ever framework on what crypto regulation in the US should look like — including ways in which the financial services industry should evolve to make borderless transactions easier, and how to crack down on fraud in the digital asset space.
Key takeaway:
- The reports encourage regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), consistent with their mandates, to aggressively pursue investigations and enforcement actions against unlawful practices in the digital assets space.
- The reports encourage Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as appropriate, to redouble their efforts to monitor consumer complaints and to enforce against unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.
- The reports encourage agencies to issue guidance and rules to address current and emergent risks in the digital asset ecosystem. Regulatory and law enforcement agencies are also urged to collaborate to address acute digital assets risks facing consumers, investors, and businesses. In addition, agencies are encouraged to share data on consumer complaints regarding digital assets—ensuring each agency’s activities are maximally effective.
- The Financial Literacy Education Commission (FLEC) will lead public-awareness efforts to help consumers understand the risks involved with digital assets, identify common fraudulent practices, and learn how to report misconduct.
Mainstream adoption & What’s in the news…
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) plans to start trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the fourth quarter. Hong Kong's de facto central bank now plans to lay the technology and legal foundations to support the development of "e-HKD" while exploring the use cases and design issues related the digital currency by conducting a series of tests.
Nasdaq (NDAQ), the second-biggest U.S. stock market operator, announced that it will start a crypto custody service – finance jargon for holding onto investors’ assets, keeping them safe – as it aims to cash in on burgeoning demand for crypto among institutional investors. The move came after BlackRock (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, said last month that it will offer cryptocurrencies to its institutional clients, and Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which processes essentially all U.S. stock trades, released its own blockchain as it looks to speed up the settlement of trades.
According to Colorado's Department of Revenue, payments can be made via PayPal, though at this time only personal accounts may be used. PayPal supports bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin. To make such a payment, a fee of $1.00 as well as 1.83% of the total amount will be charged, per the DOR site.