BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Confirms He is Bullish on Crypto

BlackRock's CEO, Larry Fink, recently announced a bold shift towards cryptocurrencies, marking a stark departure from his previous skepticism. In a recent Fox News interview, Fink expressed his belief in Bitcoin as "digitalising gold," and the firm's intention to democratize access to cryptocurrencies, making them more affordable for investors. Their recent Bitcoin ETF application is testament to this change.

This move has already sent waves through the market, with Bitcoin's value surging by over 75% this year and further boosted by BlackRock's ETF announcement. However, despite the firm's bullishness on crypto, there are challenges to be navigated, primarily concerning the implementation of KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) measures in the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) space.

This pivot to crypto by Fink and BlackRock, one of the world's leading asset managers, suggests a changing tide in traditional finance, as legacy institutions brace for a historic generational wealth transfer.

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Crypto assets trade at discount on Binance.US

Binance.US, the American branch of the biggest global cryptocurrency exchange, has experienced a significant decrease in users in recent weeks. Cryptocurrency research company Kaiko revealed in their latest data analysis that last week, several cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum were trading at a lower price on the exchange. As of June 28, the trading pair BTC/USD was at a 3% discount while ETH/USD was at a 2.8% discount. 

Pairs involving the U.S. dollar and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, as well as major tokens like BNB and MATIC, were also traded at reduced prices, ranging from 2% to 3%. Meanwhile, SOL and VET experienced larger discounts, at 3.5% and 4.5% respectively.

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Nuggets working with Bank of England

The Bank of England is collaborating with the payment system, Nuggets, to create a privacy and identity feature for a plausible digital pound, as revealed in a press statement on Wednesday. Nuggets, a platform that provides decentralized identity, intends to engineer a system that's confidential and safeguarded to inhibit transaction tracking and association, plus deter fraudulent activities and money laundering.

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Saxo Bank forced to sell crypto holdings

The financial control body of Denmark, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), has directed Saxo, a Danish bank, to divest its cryptocurrency assets, as per the announcement made on Wednesday. The FSA clarified that under the existing rules, banks are prohibited from engaging in such activities as a supplementary banking operation due to considerations of financial stability.

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BTC open interest rises above 25%

The value of open bitcoin futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has reached its peak since March 2022. According to Coinglass, the total value of these open contracts on CME is currently $2.98 billion. Furthermore, the overall open interest in bitcoin across all derivatives exchanges has surged to the highest level this year.

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Trading volumes in crypto on the rise 

The first rise in crypto trading volumes in three months was witnessed in June, buoyed by a hopeful outlook due to BlackRock, among other major institutions, submitting proposals for spot bitcoin exchange-traded-fund (ETF). The report by CCData highlighted a 14% surge in the aggregate of spot and derivative trading volumes on centralized exchanges, reaching $2.71 trillion. This marks the first monthly growth since March, as per the report.

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Other breaking news

• Yield protocol Sommelier integrates Morpho
• PancakeSwap deployed on Polygon zkEVM
• BadgerDAO introduces eBTC an upcoming LSTfi protocol
• Spark protocol looking to expand to multichain
• BTC correlation with stock markets lowest in 2 years

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Wrapping up

There it is, folks! As usual, the crypto sphere has been abuzz with activity, with trading volumes finally picking up, Larry Fink speaking optimistically about the sector on Fox News and open interest on BTC futures rising over 25%. Meanwhile, the correlation between BTC and traditional markets hit its 2-year lows, while Binance.US offers crypto assets at a discount. Stay informed and ahead of the game with our daily crypto scoop. See you tomorrow!