ACA Group, a leading financial advisor for institutions across the world has officially announced to the public that it is no longer interested in purchasing holdings of a Japanese-based cryptocurrency exchange, BitFlyer.
The ACA Group which is based in both Singapore and Japan announced the news on Saturday through Nikkei.com.
ACA Group had earlier in April agreed to purchase majority stake holdings of BitFlyer valued at up to $370 million (45 billion Yen).
The intention of ACA Group was to sell off the BitFlyer holdings after it has increased in corporate value. A coalition of shareholders independently negotiated the ACA agreement with the support of Minefumi Komiyama, the founder of bitFlyer, who owns about 13% of the company.
Not much information was given by ACA Group on their decision to back out from their initial agreement but the decision comes after a number of proposed collaboration has come to halt recently including Galaxy Digital, which terminated its planned acquisition of crypto manager BitGo in August.
All About BitFlyer
BitFlyer is a private company in Tokyo, Japan. The company is involved in buying, selling, and trading bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with more than 2.5 million users across its platform. BitFlyer was launched against the backdrop of Bitcoin’s permanent market cap of $14,000.
The Tokyo-based crypto exchange BitFlyer recorded a loss of about $6.9 million in profit for the company’s financial year ending in 2019. The loss in profit was a result of a drop in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) in the second half of 2019.
The Financial Service Agency also discovered a security mishap in BitFlyer’s business processes which eventually expose its customers’ investments to cyber theft in 2018.
BitFlyer responded to the issue by promising to stop receiving new businesses after regulators said they were not putting the needed efforts and structures to curb money laundering and the finance of terrorism.
The future is still bright for BitFlyer as it has continually shown resilience in the face of adversity over the years. The firm hopes that investors use their previous success to judge them while considering future investments with them.
BitGo has filed a lawsuit against crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital.
The California-based institutional digital asset financial services company is seeking more than $100 million in damages as it claims that Galaxy Digital intentionally breached the companies’ proposed $1.2 billion merger agreement announced in May last year.
On May 5 2021, Galaxy announced plans to acquire custodian provider BitGo for $1.2 billion in cash and stock.
However, last month on August 15, Galaxy terminated its deal to acquire BitGo, something that did not go with the other party. BitGo immediately responded, saying it would seek $100 million in damages following the termination of its merger with Galaxy Digital.
In a tweet yesterday, BitGo announced: “Late yesterday, BitGo filed a lawsuit against Galaxy Digital seeking damages of more than $100 million arising from Galaxy’s improper repudiation and intentional breach of its merger agreement with BitGo.”
The crypto custody firm further said that the complaint was filed in Delaware Chancery Court and will be made available to the public on Thursday, September 15.
In a statement, BitGo disclosed its intention to sue Galaxy, describing the termination of the deal as “absurd.”
What Caused the Failed Merger Deal?
On August 15, Galaxy Digital announced that the firm terminated a proposed $1.2 billion stock and cash deal that would allow the crypto company to acquire the digital asset custody business and financial services provider BitGo. Galaxy detailed that the abandoned deal was due to BitGo’s “failure to deliver” specific financial documents.
Galaxy said it exercised its right to terminate its previously announced acquisition deal with BitGo, following BitGo’s failure to deliver by July 31 audited financial statements for 2021 that comply with the requirements of the proposed agreement. Galaxy further stated: “No termination fee is payable in connection with the termination.”
The news of the failed merger came only a week after Galaxy reported a second-quarter net loss of $554.7 million following a plunge in the value of cryptocurrencies.
The collapse of the Terra blockchain ecosystem hit confidence in cryptocurrencies. Several crypto lending firms such as Celsius Networks, Voyager Digital, Vauld, Zipmex, Babel Finance, among others, were forced to stop customer withdrawals, and many became bankrupt.
Galaxy Digital, one of the leading crypto financial services providers, has announced its plans to terminate the proposed acquisition of crypto infrastructure service provider, BitGo.
The deal is billed to be completed in the first quarter of this year, as reported earlier by Blockchain.News, but Galaxy Digital said it had to terminate the acquisition as BitGo did not fulfil some of the terms of the acquisition.
According to Galaxy Digital, BitGo has refused to deliver its audited financial statements for 2021 that comply with the requirements of our agreement. Per the announcement, this financial statement was due by the end of July this year. The company said would be no termination fee associated with the broken partnership and acquisition.
“Galaxy remains positioned for success and to take advantage of strategic opportunities to grow in a sustainable manner. We are committed to continuing our process to list in the U.S. and providing our clients with a prime solution that truly makes Galaxy a one-stop shop for institutions,” said Mike Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy.
While it revealed the deal’s termination, Galaxy Digital said it still plans to go public in the United States and eventually trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The proposed listing was pushed to this year. Despite the onslaught in the digital currency ecosystem, the firm said the loss is now dependent on the completion of the SEC’s review and subject to stock exchange approval of such listing.
BitGo came off as a very well coveted startup for prominent players in the digital currency ecosystem at a time. Prior to the time when Galaxy Digital submitted its bid for the company, there were reports that Paypal also had its eye on the firm, as it was making its way into the digital currency ecosystem with new product suites back in 2020.
More digital assets custody providers have won approval from the Italian financial regulator, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), to serve customers in Italy. BitGo is another one.
According to documents from the Italian regulator, as seen on Tuesday, July 19, BitGo has been registered as a cryptocurrency service provider by the regulator, therefore cleared to offer digital wallet services to Italian customers in compliance with Italian laws.
As per the documents, the company’s German branch, BitGo Deutschland GmbH, was registered to provide crypto products in Italy on July 15.
This means that BitGo has met requirements from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), which oversees the activities of financial and brokerage firms in Italy and implements anti-money laundering controls.
BitGo is also licensed to offer services in South Dakota, New York, Switzerland, and Germany. The company disclosed that its applications to serve in a couple of other jurisdictions are still pending.
Others Expanding into Italian Market
BitGo’s entrance into the European nation follows a trend of other global cryptocurrency firms gaining approvals to operate in Italy.
On Tuesday, Crypto.com gained regulatory approval in Italy as part of its efforts to continue its expansion to new regions. The approval allowed the firm to provide a suite of products and services to Italian clients, open offices, and expand its national team.
Likewise, Coinbase was granted approval by the Italian regulator to operate as a crypto assets service provider in the country on Monday. The regulatory approval enabled Coinbase to continue providing crypto services in Italy and to bring new products to the market.
Also, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori registered crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Bitpanda, and brokerage Trade Republic to operate in the country.
In light of the market’s rapid growth, the financial regulator recently introduced new requirements that mandate all crypto firms to meet the criteria before continuing to offer services in Italy.
Avalanche (AVAX) strengthened its case for a potential upside run towards $160 in the coming sessions as it broke out of a classic bullish pattern earlier this week.
Dubbed “bull flag,” the pattern emerges when the price consolidates lower/sideways between two parallel trendlines (flag) after undergoing a strong upside move (flagpole). Later, in theory, the price breaks out of the channel range to continue the uptrend and tends to rise by as much as the flagpole’s height.
AVAX went through a similar price trajectory across the last 30 days, containing a roughly 100% flagpole rally to nearly $150, followed by over a 50% flag correction to $72, and a breakout move above the flag’s upper trendline (around $85) on Dec. 15.
AVAX/USD daily price chart featuring Bull Flag pattern. Source: TradingView
AVAX price continued rallying after breaking out of its bull flag range, reaching almost $120 on Friday but eyeing a further leg up towards its bullish continuation target near $160. The level appeared after adding the height of AVAX’s flagpole, which is around $75, to the current breakout point near $85.
A week full of bullish AVAX events
The recent buying period in the Avalanche market picked momentum also because of a flurry of positive catalysts this week.
AVAX jumped nearly 10.50% on Tuesday as Avalanche added the native version of USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, on its blockchain.
Additionally, a report penned by Bank of America analysts published on Dec. 10, called Avalanche a viable alternative to the leading smart contract platform Ethereum. That coincided with AVAX gaining another 16%.
AVAX/USD daily price chart featuring key events in the week ending Dec. 19. Source: TradingView
On Thursday, AVAX rallied to its two-week high after BitGo, a crypto custodian with over $64 billion worth of assets under management, announced that it would support the token.
Nonetheless, a modest selloff at the local price top pushed AVAX lower. Th recover Friday as Avalanche announced that it has collaborated with web3 accelerator DeFi Alliance to launch a gaming accelerator program.
1/ Avalanche is collaborating with @DeFiAlliance to bring its accelerator programs to the Avalanche community
Apply by Jan 7 here: https://t.co/6HcJOLxKxA
Before you apply, check these reasons why Avalanche should be your preferred platform: pic.twitter.com/GhdHBhQNgb
— Avalanche (@avalancheavax) December 17, 2021
All the events mentioned above pointed towards the Avalanche ecosystem’s growth. For instance, with USDC, the project promised to provide a viable alternative to Ethereum’s highly expensive Tether (USDT) stablecoin transactions.
Moreover, by gaining BitGo as AVAX’s institutional custodian, Avalanche appears to be prepping for catering to accredited investors. Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, explained:
“Institutional custody is not the same as retail custody, and BitGo wallets and custody were designed from the ground up to meet the needs of institutional investors, and BitGo is the only independent qualified custodian focused on building the right market structure and facilities to enable institutions to enter the digital asset space with confidence.”
AVAX price risks
One of the remaining downside risks around AVAX concerns the crypto market performance, on the whole.
In detail, AVAC rallied in a week that witnessed the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization lose more than $114 billion, with leading crypto assets Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) plunging over 7% and 5% week-to-date. Concerns over the Federal Reserve’s tapering plans catalyzed the market selloff.
Therefore, it appears that traders looked at AVAX as their short-term hedge against the crypto market drop, largely driven by a string of positive news.
AVAX/BTC weekly price chart. Source: TradingView
Moreover, the AVAX/BTC pair was up nearly 40% week-to-date at around 0.00245 BTC at the time of writing, with the pair’s relative strength index (RSI) entering overbought territory. That could prompt AVAX to weaken against BTC in the coming sessions.
Related: ‘Monster bull move’ means whales could secure the next Bitcoin price surge
A similar outcome may be possible in AVAX/USD’s case as its weekly RSI treads near overbought levels.
AVAX/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView
However, the pair is likely to retain its bullish bias as long as it holds above its 20-week exponential moving average (20-week EMA) as support. As shown in the chart above, the green wave has been capping AVAX’s downside attempts since August 2020.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
A leading institutional provider of digital assets is adding Ethereum (ETH) competitor Avalanche (AVAX) to its arsenal of altcoins.
In a new blog post, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe says that the firm can offer investors the security and efficiency they need to enter the world of digital assets – especially as the demand for high-speed decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, such as AVAX, rises.
“BitGo is excited to provide our institutional clients access and safe custody to Avalanche as we see the strong demand for a more efficient DeFi ecosystem.
Institutional custody is not the same as retail custody and BitGo wallets and custody were designed from the ground up to meet the needs of institutional investors, and BitGo is the only independent qualified custodian focused on building the right market structure and facilities to enable institutions to enter the digital asset space with confidence.”
In a new interview with Yahoo Finance, Ava Labs President John Wu says Avalanche’s partnership with BitGo will not only provide assurances to larger institutions but for individual investors as well.
“BitGo [is] one of the old hands in the space. They are a trusted and secure source for not just individual people in crypto but also for enterprises and institutions.
Their partnership with us allows our fans more access because they are plugged in with many access points… and they allow institutions to really gain comfort in their own custody of things.”
BitGo was founded in 2013 and was acquired earlier this year by the capital market company Digital Galaxy. BitGo offers its services to 700 institutions across 50 nations and processes 20% of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions worldwide.
The Ethereum rival’s native token AVAX is exchanging hands at $112.34 at time of writing, a 44% increase from its seven-day low of $77.87.
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Galaxy Digital Holdings, a cryptocurrency investment management firm run by billionaire Mike Novogratz, will not be going public in the US during the last quarter of 2021as it was initially planned.
The New York-based financial services and investment management company announced that it postponed current plans for a US listing but instead will go public in the first quarter of 2022.
Novogratz, who is the founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings, made the announcement on November 15 but did not specify the reason behind the delay in plans.
“We look forward to our U.S. listing and the close of our BitGo acquisition, which we now expect will occur in the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Galaxy Digital is still in the process of completing the acquisition of BitGo crypto custodian firm after initiating a purchase earlier this year. The firm purchased BitGo for $1.2 billion in cash and stock in May. Galaxy now expects to close the acquisition in the first three months of 2022.
While Galaxy officially announced the firm’s plans for a US listing in May this year, so far it has not received approval for potential listing on a US stock exchange from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Galaxy, one of the largest crypto investment firms in the world, has been trading on a major Toronto stock exchange since August 2018. The firm debuted its first-ever listing on Toronto’s TSX Venture exchange in August 2018 after merging with a local crypto startup Coin Capital Investment Management Inc via a reverse takeover.
The announcement regarding the forthcoming US public listing came as Galaxy reported financial results for its third quarter that ended in September. The company’s net comprehensive incomes rose to $517 million from $42 million in the same period last year as its crypto holdings appreciated.
As of September 30, Galaxy held about $555.2 million of Bitcoin and $261.4 million of Ether. According to the financial results, the firm is currently managing around $3.2 billion in assets as of October.
Novogratz talked about the outstanding performance and said that the company’s organic growth demonstrates its continued ability to capitalize on opportunities.
Helping Institutions Access Crypto
Quite a few public companies are looking to invest in crypto assets like Bitcoin. The top three public companies that have invested heavily in cryptocurrencies include MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Galaxy Digital Holdings.
Galaxy Digital Holdings, headquartered in New York, offers a compelling play on increasing institutional adoption of digital assets. The firm provides clients with liquidity access on a principal basis to different centralized exchanges and OTC markets.
Galaxy aims to become a merchant bank and prime brokerage platform, a sort of ‘Goldman Sachs of cryptocurrency banking.’
The transformation of such a trading platform would be aided by the firm’s 1.2 billion acquisition of BitGo announced in May.
BitGo, an independently regulated custodian for digital assets, would provide Galaxy with a key piece of infrastructure required for it (Galaxy) to become a one-stop crypto shop for institutional investors. BitGo would provide a cross-selling opportunity to Galaxy with a combined client base of 700 institutions.
Galaxy Digital Holdings, Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment management firm, is not going public in the United States in late 2021 as the firm previously planned.
Galaxy Digital has postponed plans for a U.S. listing, now expecting to go public in the first quarter of 2022, the company’s founder and CEO Novogratz announced Monday.
“We look forward to our U.S. listing and the close of our BitGo acquisition, which we now expect will occur in the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
The U.S. The Securities and Exchange Commission is yet to approve Galaxy Digital’s potential listing on an American exchange, Galaxy reportedly said.
Novogratz’s crypto investment manager is also still in the process of closing the acquisition of cryptocurrency custodian BitGo after initiating the purchase earlier this year. The acquisition is expected to close in the first three months of 2022.
Galaxy Digital officially announced the company’s plans for a U.S. listing in May, with Novogratz expecting the firm to go public in the U.S. in the second half of 2021. The firm did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
One of the largest crypto investment companies in the world, Galaxy Digital has already been trading on a major Canadian stock exchange. The company debuted its first-ever listing on Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange in August 2018 after acquiring local crypto startup Coin Capital.
Trading under the ticker symbol GLXY, Galaxy Digital’s stock has posted significant growth recently, surpassing $40 for the first time last week. At the time of writing, the stock is trading at $41, up around 0.2% over the past 24 hours, according to TSX data.
Source: Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange
The news comes amid Galaxy Digital announcing its Q3 financial results on Monday. Its net comprehensive income surged to as high as $517 million from $42 million over the same period last year. Galaxy Digital also reported that it managed $3.2 billion in assets as of October 2021.
Related:Bitcoin miner Stronghold will list almost 6M shares in its $100M IPO
“As the crypto economy continues to mature and adoption trends accelerate, driving both asset price increases and greater quantities of institutional capital into the space, I have never been more bullish about the future of our Company,” Novogratz added.
American digital currency service provider, Galaxy Digital, says it is on track to complete its acquisition of BitGo by the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s CEO, Mike Novogratz, revealed this in a statement that borders on the company’s performance report for the third quarter, adding that the forthcoming U.S. listing is also on track to be finalized within the same time frame.
The company reported an increase of 1,146% to $517 million in its net comprehensive income, up from the $41.5 million recorded in the same time period last year. The New York-based firm reported an increase across all of its business segments and said it grew its investments to $779.9 million as of September 30, 2021, an increase of $519.5 million from December 31, 2020.
Novogratz said the company expects to “our U.S. listing and the close of our BitGo acquisition, which we now expect will occur in the first quarter of 2022”:
“Our organic growth demonstrates our continued ability to capitalize on opportunities, with our net comprehensive income growing to $517 million from a net comprehensive income of $41.5 million in the prior-year period. Year-to-date through November 12th, we have provided shareholders with approximately $1.6 billion in net comprehensive income, on the back of our strong operational and investment portfolio growth. ”
The impressive performance of Galaxy Digital mimics those of other prominent Blockchain and crypto-focused firms, as many outfits capitalized on the surging interest in cryptocurrencies across the board. As reported by Blockchain.News, payment giant Square released its third-quarter financial report, showing that the mobile payment application Cash App under Square achieved $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue.
This year, the cryptocurrency ecosystem received a massive rejuvenation, with many cryptocurrencies printing new All-Time Highs (ATHs). Companies like Galaxy Digital rode along with the tide, turning good profits for their investors on all grounds.
Digital asset custodian BitGo has integrated with Stacks to bring Bitcoin (BTC) rewards to institutional investors, a move that could strengthen the already-heightened institutional demand for crypto during the next leg of the bull market.
Beginning Monday, BitGo will offer institutional token holders the ability to earn Bitcoin rewards through the Stacks token, which is also known as STX. Through a process known as Stacking, STX token holders can earn BTC rewards directly in their wallets.
Unlike other yield-earning services, BTC rewards generated through Stacking are not based on a lending auction, which means STX token holders do not need to lend their funds. Rather, Stacks claims that the yield is derived directly from its staking mechanism, which is connected to the Bitcoin blockchain.
As part of the integration, STX token holders will also have access to BitGo’s insurance, asset protection and portfolio management solutions. BitGo recently expanded its crypto-insurance program by $600 million, bringing the total value of assets covered to over $700 million.
Stacks is an open-source network for building smart-contract and DeFi bridges to Bitcoin. The platform launched its mainnet in January of this year and has secured several high-profile partnerships, including Foundry Digital and Blockdaemon, among others.
BitGo co-founder and CEO Mike Belshe said his company integrated Stacks because financial institutions have been looking for a secure access point to the DeFi market. “By onboarding support for Stacks and STX, we are giving our clients what they want […] without the need for expensive infrastructure investments,” he said.
Institutional capital has flooded the cryptocurrency market this year, a trend that is expected to continue as Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) vie for new all-time highs. As Cointelegraph reported recently, institutional managers held a record $72.3 billion worth of crypto as of Oct. 17, marking the first all-time high since May.
Related:Grayscale hints at plans to convert Bitcoin trust into BTC-settled ETF
The recently approved ProShares Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF) debuted last week with the highest-ever “natural” volume, signaling a readiness on the part of institutional investors to dabble in digital assets. A second futures-based ETF from Valkyrie was also approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
