Day: December 15, 2021

Swiss SEBA Bank Launches Gold-Backed Digital Token

by CryptoPotato

The Switzerland-based cryptocurrency banking platform, SEBA Bank, has announced the launch of its new digital token backed by physical gold.

SEBA Launches Regulated Gold Token

In an official announcement on Wednesday, the bank noted that holders of the gold tokens can claim digital ownership of the physical gold stored in Swiss vaults.

SEBA disclosed that the tokens are fully regulated and exist based on the ERC-20 standard, custodied and traded via the Ethereum blockchain.

Stable Assets For Crypto Traders

The bank further added that the low volatility levels of gold prices and the regulated nature of the gold tokens could allow them to be used as stable assets in trading or even as a store of value.

Speaking on the token launch, SEBA Bank CEO Guido Buehler said:

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“Gold plays a major role in the capital markets. With a market cap of over USD 11 trillion, it offers investors a reliable hedge against inflation and a store of value irrespective of economic turbulence… With the launch of our innovative Gold Token, we are building on this history to allow investors to own a fully regulated digital form of physical gold for the first time.”

The Swiss digital asset bank noted that its new product differs significantly from traditional gold derivatives investment vehicles since holders can decide to redeem their physical gold at any time without bearing the cost of storage and transportation.

“Physically redeemable direct from refineries on-demand at any time, our gold token removes the frictions of owning gold for investors and provides a cost-effective solution for owning the asset fit for purpose in the new economy,” Buehler added.

SEBA Partners With Argor-Heraeus and aXedras

Per the announcement, the issuance and custody of the gold token will be managed by SEBA Bank, which already has a banking and securities dealer license.

The bank said the launch of its gold token, which was built in collaboration with the leading precious metal service provider, Argor-Heraeus, and the blockchain-based precious metal platform, aXedras, will boost the adoption of precious metals by providing a cost-effective, secure and straightforward solution for investing in gold.

Meanwhile, in October, SEBA Bank launched a yield farming service to enable its users to earn yield on their crypto holdings.

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Markets rally after FOMC meeting, but Bitcoin bears still have a short-term advantage

by Cointelegraph

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has been in a down-trend since the $69,000 all-time high on Nov. 10, when the the Labor report showed inflation pushing above 6.2% in the United States. While this news could be beneficial for non-inflationary assets, the VanEck physical Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) denial by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 12 threw some investors off-guard.

Bitcoin/USD price on Coinbase. Source: TradingView

While the ETF request denial was generally expected, the reasons given by the regulator may be worrisome for some investors. The U.S. SEC cited the inability to avoid market manipulation on the broader Bitcoin market due to unregulated exchanges and heavy trading volume based on Tether’s (USDT) stablecoin.

Analyzing the broader market structure is extremely relevant, especially considering that investors closely monitor meetings held by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Regardless of the magnitude of the upcoming tapering in the Fed’s bond and assets repurchase program, Bitcoin’s movements have been tracking the U.S. Treasury yields over the past 12 months.

Bitcoin/USD at FTX (orange, left) vs. U.S. 10-year Treasury Yields (blue, right). Source: TradingView

This tight correlation shows how decisive the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy has been with riskier assets, including Bitcoin. Moreover, the yield decline over the past three weeks from 1.64 to 1.43 partially explains the weakness seen in the crypto market.

Obviously, there are cother factors in play, for example, the market pullback on Nov. 26 was primarily based on concerns over the new COVID-19 variant. Regarding derivatives markets, a Bitcoin price below $48,000 gives bears complete control over Friday’s $755 million BTC options expiry.

Bitcoin options aggregate open interest for Dec. 17. Source: Coinglass.com

At first sight, the $470 million call (buy) options overshadow the $285 million put (sell) instruments, but the 1.64 call-to-put ratio is deceptive because the 14% price drop since Nov. 30 will likely wipe out most of the bullish bets.

If Bitcoin’s price remains below $49,000 at 8:00 am UTC on Dec. 17, only $28 million worth of those call (buy) options will be available at the expiry. In short, there is no value in the right to buy Bitcoin at $49,000 if it is trading below that price.

Bears are comfortable with Bitcoin below $57,000

Here are the three most likely scenarios for the $755 million Friday’s options expiry. The imbalance favoring each side represents the theoretical profit. In other words, depending on the expiry price, the quantity of call (buy) and put (sell) contracts becoming active varies:

  • Between $45,000 and $47,000: 110 calls vs. 2,400 puts. The net result is $105 million favoring the put (bear) options.

  • Between $47,000 and $48,000: 280 calls vs. 1,900 puts. The net result is $75 million favoring the put (bear) instruments.

  • Between $48,000 and $50,000: 1,190 calls vs. 1,130 puts. The net result is balanced between call and put options.

This crude estimate considers call options being used in bullish bets and put options exclusively in neutral-to-bearish trades. However, this oversimplification disregards more complex investment strategies.

For instance, a trader could have sold a put option, effectively gaining a positive exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) above a specific price. But, unfortunately, there’s no easy way to estimate this effect.

Bulls need $48,000 or higher to balance the scales

The only way for bulls to avoid a significant loss in the Dec. 17 expiry is by sustaining Bitcoin’s price above $48,000. However, if the current short-term negative sentiment prevails, bears could easily pressure the price down 4% from the current $48,500 and profit up to $105 million if Bitcoin price stays below $47,000.

Currently, options markets data slightly favor the put (sell) options, thus creating opportunities for additional negative pressure.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.