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US Dollar Exposure Through Digital Assets Takes Off – TradingView News
More crypto companies are looking to capitalize on the demand for US dollar-denominated digital assets. Tether, the company behind Tether USDTUSD stablecoin, recently announced its synthetic dollar backed by gold and pegged to the US dollar.
The move comes just days after Asymmetry launched its synthetic dollar, afUSD, with elastic supply based on market conditions.
New tokens that mimic the US dollar have increased since the launch of Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe. The protocol, launched in February 2024, accumulated more than $3.4 billion in locked assets over four months, according to DefiLlama.
Ethena’s synthetic dollar rattled stablecoin players and emphasized strong global market demand for dollar-denominated cryptocurrencies. Another similar movement is also seen in the growing size of tokenized funds offering exposure to US Treasury bonds.
BlackRock’s recently launched USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) had over $462.7 million in assets as of June 19, while Franklin Templeton’s OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) held $357.6 millions in assets. Overall, $1.5 billion worth of US Treasury bonds have now been tokenized – the majority in the last few months.
As traditional finance moves upstream, this week’s Crypto Biz also explores Hashdex’s call for a combined Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), the pre-launch market from Coinbase, Ripple’s challenges with regulators in the US, as well as more stablecoins coming out of Europe.
Hashdex files with SEC for combined spot Bitcoin and Ether ETF
Hashdex has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a combined Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF on the Nasdaq exchange. This ETF aims to track daily market movements according to the Nasdaq Crypto US Settlement Price Index, maintaining a composition of approximately 70.54% Bitcoin and 29.46% Ether. Both Coinbase and BitGo will serve as custodians for BTC and ETH assets. Hashdex is still required to file and receive SEC approval on an S-1 filing.
Coinbase International Announces Pre-Launch Marketplace Support
Coinbase International has announced support for a pre-launch market, allowing users to trade futures on tokens and coins not yet listed on the exchange. This new feature allows for early trading activities before the official launch of these digital assets, allowing traders to interact with upcoming tokens in advance. The feature will be available to institutional investors through Coinbase International and retail traders through Coinbase Advanced. Pre-launch market assets are limited to an initial margin of 50%, or 2x leverage, and a notional position limit of $50,000 per token. With the move, Coinbase follows in the footsteps of centralized exchanges like Binance, Bybit, Bitget and OKX, which already offer similar services.
SEC rejects Ripple’s argument for lesser penalty
The SEC has criticized Ripple’s request for a lesser penalty in its ongoing legal battle. Ripple argued for a significantly reduced penalty of no more than $10 million, citing the SEC’s previous settlement with Terraform Labs as a benchmark. The SEC suggested that, based on Ripple’s gross profits and considering a similar ratio to the Terraform case, this would imply a $102.6 million fine for Ripple, rather than the suggested $10 million. Overall, the SEC is seeking nearly $2 billion from Ripple, which includes $198.2 million in prejudgment interest, $876.3 million in civil penalties, and another $876.3 million in restitution.
Advocate for the removal of USDT and five stablecoins by July 1, citing MiCA
Digital asset platform Uphold has announced that it will delist six stablecoins by July 1 due to the imminent implementation of Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation by the European Union. This change is part of a broader trend among cryptocurrency platforms, which are adjusting their operations to comply with new regulatory standards set by MiCA. The six stablecoins are USDT, Dai (DAI), Frax (FRAX), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP), and TrueUSD (TUSD). Users who hold these stablecoins must convert them to a different cryptocurrency before June 28; otherwise, they will be automatically converted to USD Coin (USDC).
Before you go: More than $100 billion has been raised for cryptocurrency startups since the end of May 2014. Looking back over the past four years, the ceiling and floor have been raised despite continuous ups and downs.
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