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Crypto analyst Josh Rager says he’s patiently waiting for Bitcoin to prove it’s hit a bottom before placing any buy orders.

Rager tells his 100,000 followers on Twitter that the crypto market’s rapid descent is likely not over yet.

“This is why it can be wise to wait. BTC broke a daily level so continuation down, along with bounces in between, can be expected…

Not worried about catching the bottom. Not going to rush into alts or buying more spot BTC or ETH yet.

Happy to buy at a slightly higher price after confirmation of bounce or reversal. Nothing worse than buying something and watching it continue to go lower.”

Rager says Bitcoin may have a lot more room to fall, but won’t sink below the $19,000 level.

As for the altcoin market, Rager is responding to a query from Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, who’s asking crypto Twitter to pitch their favorite altcoins.

“Danger! I’m going to add a basket of 10 alts to my BTC and ETH bets, using this dip.

Shill me your coin but with a quality paragraph WHY I should look at it. My knowledge base is low, so treat me like the idiot I am (nicely).”

Rager tells Pal he’s bullish on ten DeFi “blue chip” assets, meaning he believes the projects could play a fundamental role in the future of the industry.

Rager names the yield aggregator Yearn.finance (YFI), exchange token SushiSwap (SUSHI), exchange token Uniswap (UNI), non-custodial money market protocol Aave (AAVE), synthetic asset token SNX, lending token Compound (COMP), exchange liquidity token Curve DAO (CRV), cross-chain platform Alpha Finance (ALPHA), cross-chain platform THORChain (RUNE) and the data feed provider Chainlink (LINK).

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TL;DR Breakdown:

• The US SEC has added eight crypto companies to its PAUSE list
• The companies were allegedly soliciting funds from investors with inaccurate information.

A recent announcement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) informs that the regulator has updated its warning list “Public Alert: Unregistered Soliciting Entities (PAUSE)” with 28 suspicious companies, eight of which are dealing with digital currencies. The unregistered crypto companies were reportedly operating with false corporate information to solicit funds from investors and people new to cryptocurrency – mostly non-US residents.

SEC adds eight crypto companies to PAUSE

According to SEC, the unregistered companies that made the PAUSE list have been the subject of investor complaints. The regulator also found that these companies were operating with inaccurate information regarding their registration, locations, and other corporate information. Companies that intend to solicit funds from investors are obliged to meet certain requirements that include registering the regulator.

The eight crypto companies added to the list are not recognized by the SEC. Currently, the listed website for three of the companies – FXBitcash, Cryptobravos, and BitminingFX – are down. The other five crypto companies include- Passive Trade Plan, Reclaws International Inc., RetireWell Investors, AxTrading-Investment, and SmartCoins24. They are promoting crypto and blockchain services, targeted at new investors who are mostly based outside the United States.

SEC: An active regulator of U.S. crypto space

The development today is meant to better inform investors about unregistered companies posing with false corporate information. This is expected to help them avoid being victims of crypto scams. However, the “inclusion on the PAUSE list does not mean the SEC has found violations of U.S. federal securities laws or made a judgment about the merits of any securities being offered.”

The United States SEC is one regulator that is actively watching the U.S. crypto space against misconduct and suspicious activities. Last year, the regulator charged a pastor who was allegedly running a bottle water crypto scam. In the same year, the regulator charged a Pennsylvania crypto company for mismanagement of funds.

A report from advisory firm Aite Group that was commissioned by the eToro exchange, has revealed the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies could reach $2 trillion by “facilitating more participation” and taking down barriers hindering institutional adoption.

The report, based on interviews with 25 institutional market participants, states that the market capitalization of all cryptoassets could reach $2 trillion if more institutional players were to enter the market. These would enter if there was less regulatory uncertainty, a more developed market infrastructure, and fewer security risks.

As CoinTelegraph reports eToro’s head of business development, Tomer Niv, was quoted as saying that last year many “institutional investors such as banks and traditional asset managers began to either invest in crypto or seriously consider doing so,” and some even touted the asset class as a hedge against inflation.

Niv added:

Only by widening the playing field and facilitating more participation will crypto reach and maintain a market cap of $2 trillion and beyond.

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The report pointed to several key factors that could help drive institutional investors to the space, including a “standardised global regulatory regime,” and a more reliable market infrastructure. Technical complexity and security concerns surrounding the use of private keys and cold storage were also mentioned.

Niv noted that more needs to be done “from a market infrastructure point of view to make this group of investors feel comfortable joining the crypto ecosystem.” He added it’s encouraging to see that “the next phase of the crypto industry’s evolution is underway with more participation from institutions.”

The price of bitcoin hit a new all-time high near $42,000 this month, helping the crypto market’s total capitalization surpass $1 trillion for the first time. Its price has been benefitting from growing corporate adoption and PayPal’s new service that lets users buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies on its platform.

According to a website tracking bitcoin’s use in corporations’ treasuries, several publicly traded firms now have exposure to BTC,  and some have seen their investments appreciate significantly since they bought the cryptocurrency. MicroStrategy, for example, invested over $1 billion into BTC. The funds are now worth over $2 billion.

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Members of Ripple’s senior management team are unveiling a set of crypto predictions for the year ahead.

In a new blog post, the executives offer their forecast on what’s next for crypto regulation, decentralized finance (DeFi), central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and how issues of scalability and sustainability will play out in the space.

Ripple’s general counsel, Stu Alderoty, believes the growth of crypto in the US hinges on friendly crypto regulation as the sector continues to mature.

Alderoty predicts that President Joe Biden’s administration will prioritize crypto regulation, hoping that “intelligent, well thought-out regulations” can help “unleash innovation and further mainstream adoption” of cryptocurrencies in the US.

Alderoty does not directly address the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s allegations that Ripple illegally sold XRP as an unregistered security, though he recently said the company will soon issue a formal response.

As for the fate of CBDCs, Ripple’s vice president of central bank engagements James Wallis believes the trend of digital currencies being pegged to fiat currencies will continue to evolve.

“Over the course of 2021, I expect to see greater evolution of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs with each firm establishing their place in finance and payments through more defined use cases.”

In the DeFi space, Ripple’s head of DeFi, Michael Zochowski, anticipates that the “truly useful” projects will grow their userbase as early projects consolidate, get acquired or shut down. Zochowski further predicts that Ethereum’s market share in the DeFi space will fall this year.

“I believe at least 25% of the value deployed in DeFi by the end of 2021 will be on networks other than Ethereum.”

Asheesh Birla, the general manager of Ripple’s institutional payment-providers network RippleNet, predicts that the status quo that traditional financial institutions enjoy will continue to face a growing threat from financial technology and cryptocurrency firms.

“The tide is turning. It’s possible that we could even see a fintech or cryptocurrency company acquire a traditional financial institution this coming year.”

Concerning scalability and sustainability, Ripple’s chief technology officer David Schwartz foresees a move away from the Proof-of-Work technologies.

“The fact of the matter is that PoW systems consume a lot of resources and energy. They also feature an inevitable bend towards centralization over time as the miners with the cheapest power become key stakeholders. 2021 will see technical innovations continue to improve blockchains…”

In looking ahead at the potential impact of crypto on society, the general manager of Ripple’s developer platform RippleX, Monica Long, envisages that 2021 will be the year the initial goal of crypto will be realized.

“In 2021 we’ll see crypto make good on its original promise to remake finance as more accessible and equitable for the world’s underserved.” 

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Global financial markets software firm Genesis Global has announced a partnership with US-based broker XP investments to launch a trade capture app to automate and optimize operational processes. XP investment is the subsidiary of XP Investimentos, Brazil’s largest broker-dealer.

The app is designed on the Genesis Low-Code application platform, which will come in handy for developing apps that are 80% faster than conventional software development.

Trade app will support different deals

The new app will offer support for FX Options trade captures for multi-leg and single-leg trades. It will also offer support for interest rate swap deals, FX NDFF Swaps, FX NDFs, FX Swap, FX Forwards, and FX Spots deals.

Genesis says it offers the low-code platform for software development in the capital market. The platform enables the quick development of products without necessarily writing a heap of codes like in conventional code writing.

The trading app will augment standard internal processes with platform features such as client trade confirmation, option expiry monitor, amendments, and cancellations, as well as its primary feature Trade Capture.

Genesis says another benefit of FX Prime that is probably lacking in other software is the ability to work alongside existing internal systems and connect to external market platforms as well.

Chief executive officer of Genesis Stephen Murphy said the firm is committed to the Brazil marketplace. “This announcement also reflects our ongoing commitment to the Brazilian marketplace, he stated.

Strong partnership history

This is not the first time both firms are collaborating to launch a product. In February last year, they partnered for the first time to design products that can automate workflows.

Genesis and XP Investments joined forces to build a treasury product that will automate workflow management for wealth managers, institutional clients, and trading desks.

More apps to be launched on the Genesis Platform

With the level of understanding going between these two firms, Prime Trade Capture app will not be the last product to be built on the Genesis platform. There are plans to build more apps to make it easier for users, investors, and wealth managers in the industry.

Presently, XP Investment has a total market capitalization of $23.16 billion. The collaboration is expected to benefit both firms in different ways.

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Amid another price downturn Thursday, bitcoin options traders appear to be becoming less bullish on the immediate prospects for the cryptocurrency.

As Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade at a crucial junction, there’s a mix of views coming from institutions at the current time. On Wednesday, January 20, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock filed with the U.S. SEC seeking exposure to bitcoin (BTC) Futures investment for two of its funds – the BlackRock Funds V and BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, Inc. The SEC filing submitted by BlackRock reads:

“Certain Funds may engage in futures contracts based on bitcoin” adding that A” Fund’s investment in bitcoin futures may involve illiquidity risk, as bitcoin futures are not as heavily traded as other futures given that the bitcoin futures market is relatively new.”

BlackRock has also clarified that its funds might invest in cash-settled Bitcoin futures that are traded on commodity exchanges registered with the CFTC. On one hand, when BlackRock is looking for an entry into Bitcoin (BTC), the Barclays Private Bank presents an absolutely contrasting view. Gerald Moser, chief market strategist at Barclays stated that Bitcoin isn’t a viable asset for heavyweight investors to hold in their portfolio. Mr. Moser said:

“While it is nigh on impossible to forecast an expected return for bitcoin, its volatility makes the asset almost ‘uninvestable’ from a portfolio perspective. With spikes in volatility that are multiples of that typically experienced by risk assets such as equities or oil, many would probably throw the cryptocurrency out of any portfolio in a typical mean-variance optimisation.”

Barclays is not the only institution opposing Bitcoin. Recently, wealth management giant UBS said that cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin can go to zero. However, the fact remains that billionaire investors like Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller, Scott Minerd, and many others have endorsed investments into the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) which is a safe haven for institutions to gain exposure to Bitcoin has poured billions of dollars in aggressive Bitcoin purchases in recent times. Grayscale has revealed that a majority of inflows in GBTC are coming from institutions.

But, amid all the institutional frenzy around Bitcoin (BTC), lawmakers can play a spoilsport in the entire game putting a spanner in the wheel of ‘institutional Bitcoin buying’.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Nominee Janet Yellen Calls for Curtailing Cryptocurrencies

In recent times, just as Bitcoin continues to gain popularity among financial institutions, lawmakers have turned out to be more hostile towards it. On the day when the 46th U.S. President Joe Biden took the oath, former Fed chairperson and treasury secretary nominee Janet Yellen called the need to “curtail” the use of cryptocurrencies.

Yellen said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illegal activities like terror financing. This clearly suggests that the incoming Biden administration could be hostile to cryptocurrencies. “I think we really need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that money laundering doesn’t occur through those channels,” said Yellen.

Yellen’s comments come a week after ECB President Christine Lagarde slammed Bitcoin calling it a “funny business” and a “speculative asset”. Similarly, former IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan called Bitcoin “a classic bubble”.

With such disparity between the institutions and lawmakers, we can possibly see the two sections locking horns in near future.