VHCEx Newsflash | 10th June 2020

China Testing out Digital Currency in 4 Cities

According to Bloomberg, a pilot program for digital currency usage issued by the Chinese government was recently launched in 4 cities, namely Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Xiong’an—a new “smart” city in the making, to test out digital currencies. Looking to rival cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, reports mentioned that some of the money was distributed to individuals in the form of transport subsidies. With the expected success, it will then be implemented on a bigger scale to grow coincide with 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Image Source: Fortune

Canada Recognize Digital Currency Firms as Money Services

The Canadian government recently made amendments that now views digital currency firms the same way as money service businesses in the country. Based on a report by Coingeek, the amendments made to Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act gives government recognition and regulatory framework for the digital currency industry. This shines a positive light to the industry and will possibly bring more investors to the industry.

Image Source: Block Tribune

Bloomberg Analyst Forecast Bitcoin to $20K in 2020

In a report by Coindesk, it quoted a Bloomberg analyst that recently predicted Bitcoin to reach the previously achieved heights of $20,000. The analysts made the prediction after seeing similarities on the price action patterns from the last two and a half years and the patterns over the same two and a half years leading to the highs Bitcoin of 2013 and 2016.

Adding to the trend pattern developments, other alternative factors such as increased institutional participation, stimulus packages introduced by governments, and other global events at play are causing the demand to be higher than the supply, which in return drives up the value of any asset including Bitcoin.

Image Source: Bitcoin.com

USDT may Knock Ethereum from Its #2 Spot

USDT overtook XRP in the #3 spot for market capitalization a few weeks ago and it now apparently has its sight on the #2 spot currently held by ETH. 2020 has seen Tether more than doubling its market cap from $4 billion in January to more than $9 billion while steadily growing at a rate of about $1 billion a month. At this pace, it could take about 18 months for USDT to topple ETH from its second spot, as ETH maintains its current market cap of $27 billion. As the demand for US Dollar continues, it is reflecting similar demand on USDT which is pegged against the former and Tether will eventually overtake Ethereum, according to Bloomberg analysts.

Image Source: Ethereum World News

Two Swiss Banks Gain Approval to Offer Cryptocurrency Services

Switzerland’s Financial Regulator FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) gave approval to two Zurich-based banks to offer cryptocurrency services which includes trading and custody. Maerki Baumann, a Zurich-based private bank with a dedicated crypto desk, and Incore Bank are the two banks given the approval with Maerki Baumann being the client of the latter bank.