Weekly Update: 8th of January
What happened between the 1st and 8th of January?
- Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs start the year strong with net inflows of $1.7 billion and $20 million respectively. Read more
- The resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opens the doors for pro-digital assets candidate Pierre Poilievre. Read more
- Bankrupt digital assets exchange FTX started its payouts to its users, with an expected total distribution of $16 billion. Read more
- Only 4 organizations have yet obtained their MiCAR license from the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM). Read more
Digital assets ETFs start the year strong
U.S. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are off to a strong start to the year. With net inflows of approximately $1.7 billion for the Bitcoin ETFs, the financial instruments already surpassed one-third of the net inflows for the entire month of December which were over $4.5 billion. This strong inflow is likely largely driven by the upcoming appointment of President Donald Trump on Jan. 20. Additionally, although significantly less than Bitcoin, the Ethereum ETFs are posting green numbers again, a total of ~$20 million in January, and speculation regarding the approval of a Solana ETF is increasing.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau steps down
On Monday, Jan. 6, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his departure. Trudeau was at the helm for nearly 10 years. Where he was hailed as a political prodigy, he received increasing criticism in recent years. For example, he became involved in a corruption scandal and is also accused of causing an ailing economy due to poor migration policies, among other things. With Trudeau's impending departure, the door opens for a successor. Polymarket, which highly accurately predicted the U.S. election, currently shows an expected 89% gain for Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre is known as a pro-digital assets candidate, which would align Canada with the neighboring country where Trump will assume his position as president in 2 weeks.
FTX starts payouts
On Friday, Jan. 3, the payout process officially began for the bankrupt digital assets exchange FTX. The US exchange went bankrupt in 2022, taking the entire market with them in their fall. Users of the platform have been able to whistle about their assets on the exchange since then. Meanwhile, this is slowly changing. The first users with a balance smaller than $50,0000 can count on a refund within the first 60 days. After that, the larger balances will be looked at. This involves some $16 billion, several billions of which are expected to flow back into the market.
A few days later, the news followed that the FTX EU, its European arm, has been acquired by Backpack Exchange, which will take care of the disbursements of European clients. This also gives the organization access to the MiFID II license that FTX EU held and has plans to use for its derivatives exchange.
Only 4 organizations obtain MiCAR license in the Netherlands
As of Dec. 30, the new Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) legislation entered into force in the EU. This framework of laws and regulations provides a clearer manual for crypto operators and was created to better protect investors and users of the services offered. However, these providers are required to comply with this legislation. To date, only Bitstaete, MoonPay, FinTech ZBD, and Hidden Road received their licenses, so the rest are waiting to follow. However, the complexity of MiCAR is also causing some players to quit or withdraw from the European market, such as U.S. stablecoin giant Tether. Hodl falls outside the scope of MiCAR with its services
In other digital assets news
- A governor of the Czech central bank is considering holding a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the future.
- Digital assets exchange Binance was approved as a licensed broker-dealer by the Central Bank of Brazil.
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