Corporate Cash Holdings Soar, Says New Carfang Group Study
Corporations in the U.S. added $1.1 trillion or 38.5% to their cash holdings in the first half of 2020 according to recent data Federal Reserve data analyzed by The Carfang Group. For the second quarter, cash is up $424B or 12% and now stands at $3.9T.
According to Anthony J. Carfang, Managing Director at The Carfang Group, “The Covid pandemic led to a global flight to liquidity. Corporations drew down their bank credit lines.
Those who could, issued commercial paper or other debt. Central banks intervened. Corporate cash soared.”
Corporate cash holdings were equivalent to an historic 20.1% of U.S. GDP and 3.5X the level of the early 1990s. Cash levels soared as US GDP plunged. There had been a three-decade long upward trend in this ratio, but the current leap is well above that trendline. As this is unprecedented, the macroeconomic effects remain to be seen.
Check the full survey findings here.
Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association Launch Event Set
The Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association Launch Event will be held October 9, 2020 from 10-12:30 PM CST, with WEBEX pre-registration now open via: https://bit.ly/2RSlobY.
Co-hosted by Stradley Ronon and the Digital Asset Working Group (DAWG), this event brings together speakers and guest panelists to share their perspectives on the evolution of the cryptocurrency and digital asset industry, the value of self-regulation, and the development journey of the Global DCA. Structured to include traditional presentations as well as fireside chats with industry thought leaders and experts, this event will offer an opportunity to learn more about the Global DCA, its structure and intended impact.
Kraken Wins Bank Charter Approval
Kraken, the world’s largest global bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity, was awarded with a Wyoming bank charter in mid-September. The move will permit Kraken to offer certain banking functions to clients, and effectively makes it the primary banking relationship for the exchange; a major accomplishment in an industry that has long made it difficult for crypto exchanges to find willing banking partners.
It’s an important move for cryptocurrency moving forward, as recent Chicago Payments Forum guest speaker Jay Schulman noted in a recent LinkedIn article. As Schulman notes: “This is just the start and we will continue to see innovation over the coming months and year — will a bank help you buy crypto? will a bank use a stablecoin?”
AeroPay Announces Series Seed Funding’
AeroPay has announced Series Seed Funding, to be led by Continental Investors LLC, a private equity firm focused on the FinTech and payments space with a portfolio that includes Drizly, LevelUp, Sezzle, and WePay.