According to a Tuesday Reuters report, Standard Chartered is launching spot trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum through its UK branch. The service will be offered specifically to institutional clients, including corporates, asset managers, and professional investors. It’s like inviting the elite of the financial world to a grand feast, where the main course is digital gold. 🍽️💰
According to whispers from the hallowed halls of the South China Morning Post (a place where gossip is hotter than a pot of boiling noodles), it appears the mandarins are rubbing their heads and pondering upon the prospect of floating yuan-backed stablecoins into existence like the rising phoenix of finance—unfurling its wings right out of a bureaucratic cauldron. 🐣🔥
News Background
The SEC’s never-ending digital asset framework continues to stir the institutional pot, causing treasury managers to dance a delicate tango between exposure and compliance optics. 💃🕺
With the ProShares XRP Futures ETF launching on July 18, a fresh capital allocation vector has drawn attention, making pension and endowment portfolios do a little jig!
And oh, what a show! Corporate flows went on a wild ride, buying up at $2.95–$3.02, then selling like mad during the night as risk management protocols threw a surprise party!
Corporate Ether treasury companies, with a flair for the dramatic, have accumulated more than 545,000 ETH over the past 30 days, as if they were collecting rare butterflies in a Victorian garden. 🦋
The art of short-side losses crafted another $269 million, bringing the grand total of liquidations to $675.8 million—an epic saga since April’s melodrama.
News Background
The selloff came amid rising anxiety over delays in potential crypto ETF approvals and a sudden resurgence in U.S. enforcement chatter around centralized exchanges. It was as if the market had decided to hold its breath, waiting for the next regulatory shoe to drop. 🙄
In a newly released statement titled “Crypto-Asset Safekeeping by Banking Organizations,” the regulators clarified that custody can be offered in both fiduciary and non-fiduciary roles. Banks must adhere to existing risk management frameworks and comply with applicable laws, but the statement does not introduce any new supervisory requirements. Instead, it serves as a guideline for how crypto safekeeping aligns with current banking laws.
The updated Criminal Code is a real treat. Those who dare to use an “unauthorized crypto-asset exchange service” can face penalties that increase based on the value traded. It’s like a game of financial roulette, where the stakes are your freedom 🎲.
Bitcoin, in a splendid display of determination, sought to break free from the shackles of $116,500, donning its finest attire as it danced above the prestigious realms of $118,000 and beyond, soon topping the scales at the impressive $120,000.
The same wallet that previously moved 80,000 BTC in a matter of hours has now transferred a whopping 20,000 BTC on July 14, just as Bitcoin was hitting a new all-time high of $123,000. Talk about timing! 🕒
