Fitch Warns Spezialfonds & Crypto Market, US Inflation Eases + More News

By Sumejja Muratagić-TadićLinas Kmieliauskas

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of todays crypto news.

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Investments news

• The volatile nature of crypto markets will present particular challenges to fund managers that include cryptoassets in Germany‘s Spezialfonds that are now allowed to invest up to 20% of their portfolios in crypto, major rating firm Fitch Ratings said. If price volatility triggers trading breaks for exchange-traded cryptoassets, this could make it more difficult for managers of crypto-exposed Spezialfonds to meet investors’ redemption requests or other obligations, they added. The risk of mutually reinforcing sell-offs in cryptocurrencies and the funds exposed to them could add to volatility in crypto markets, Fitch noted.

Economics news

• US consumer prices increases slowed in July even as they remained at a 13-year high on an annual basis and there were tentative signs inflation has peaked as supply-chain disruptions caused by the pandemic work their way through the economy, Reuters reported. The consumer price index increased 0.5% last month after climbing 0.9% in June, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through July, the CPI advanced 5.4%. The drop in the month-to-month inflation rate was the largest in 15 months, per the report.

Adoption news

• US-based major processor of crypto payments BitPay said that US cardholders of the BitPay Prepaid Mastercard can add their card to Google Wallet and spend using Google Pay. BitPay previously announced support for Apple Pay and Samsung Pay is expected soon.

• South Korean non-bank remittance service provider GME Remittance said it has joined RippleNet, the network created by blockchain company Ripple (XRP), connecting it to Thailands largest bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). This will scale payments from South Korea into Thailand, as South Korea has 184,000 Thai nationals residing in the country, they said.

• Blockchain protocol Boson Protocol has announced the launch of their virtual lifestyle, commerce, and cultural playground Portal, which they say “connects the metaverse with the universe”. Portal will enable brands, artists, and creators to sell or reward individuals with their real-world products both in-game and physically, through the tokenization of those items.

CBDCs news

• The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has minted the first instalment of whats expected to be JMD 230m (USD 1.5m) in central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to PYMNTS. The full amount will be issued to “deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers” during the pilot program, which is expected to end in December.

Exchanges news

• Gemini said it has acquired real-time predictions market platform Guesser. Guesser will join Geminis product team to help its projects in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

• Bitstamp announced the appointment of Barbara Daliri, an ex-Google, Netflix and Microsoft executive, as its Chief Growth Officer. Daliri will be leading Bitstamps growth and market approach, as well as supporting customer engagement, they said.

NFTs news

• Fantasy sports and sports betting firm DraftKings has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Its first NFT series will be provided by NFT platform Autograph and will feature US football quarterback Tom Brady from August 11. The Preseason Access Collection includes Preseason Access Passes from top athletes such as Wayne Gretzky, Tony Hawk, Naomi Osaka, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and more to be announced.

• Social network Twitters inaugural collection of NFTs, called “The 140 Collection,” has generated ETH 1,700 (USD 5.5m) in trading volume on NFT marketplace OpenSea. The floor price is ETH 76.5 (USD 247,615), and there are 110 buyers as of the time of writing.

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Ripple XRP Thailand South Korea CBDC Adoption Gemini Bitstamp NFT Economics Investing Bitcoin Cryptocurrency