The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) launched its physically-settled bitcoin futures trading platform, Bakkt, on September 23. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has been doing futures trading in bitcoin for even longer -- since 2017 -- and is now making plans to expand that platform by early next year with a bitcoin options contract. It's a market with promise, but one … [Read more...] about New Bitcoin Offerings and Volatility Reflect Challenges and Promise For Cryptocurrency
Regulation
New SEC Framework Charts a Narrow Way Forward for Token Developers
Are Initial Coin offerings (ICOs) legal? It's hard to know, with a number of vague hints - and enforcement actions - suggesting that the SEC largely views the answer to be no. And while the market is still well ahead of formal regulatory policy, some hints have finally been offered in a recently-issued "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets." What … [Read more...] about New SEC Framework Charts a Narrow Way Forward for Token Developers
The State and Cryptocurrency
Expect state government agencies and legislators to move most quickly on providing regulatory clarity on FinTech regulation in the United States. U.S. federal regulatory agencies have initiated enforcement actions against some of the most egregious cryptocurrency investment practices and are watching the industry closely. By and large, regulators strike a positive tone for … [Read more...] about The State and Cryptocurrency
Regulation Creates FinTech Opportunities
Regulators worldwide, but especially in the United Kingdom and Singapore, are starting to see themselves as FinTech change agents: they are working to define new regulatory regimes to fit today’s rapidly evolving financial products. FinTech startups and investors must pay close attention, according to speakers at the Morningstar FinTech Forum, held on May 24 in New York. New … [Read more...] about Regulation Creates FinTech Opportunities
Regulatory Riddles
FINTECH ARTICLES OF THE WEEK 05/8/17 Financial regulators leave a lot to speculation in their public speeches. They leave clues and indicators but, knowing market participants are eager for early policy indications, they are careful not to say much. This came to mind in the last week after reflecting on talks by two of the top financial regulators in the United States who … [Read more...] about Regulatory Riddles
FinTech Markets
FINTECH ARTICLES OF THE WEEK 04/24/17 The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) published a comprehensive report on FinTech regulation (PDF) in the United States across the primary FinTech market segments: payments, lending, wealth management, and cryptofinance. Missing is the capital markets segment, though the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is nearing completion … [Read more...] about FinTech Markets