Franklin Templeton launches a digital money market fund

Despite falling from its last $30+ level, bitcoin is going through something of a winning streak if you look at the longer term. The cryptocurrency has been rising for four months in a row, which is generally considered a positive pattern in a bullish streak.

Rally Bitcoin took on a new aspect in a way in 2023. Unlike last year, when the cryptocurrency suffered losses along with economic concerns and general declines in investment markets, now bitcoin has become something of a rallying point for investors and now seems to live up to its typical “digital gold” nature. .

Last week it started around $27 and rose to $000 during the week. Over the weekend, however, it pulled back again and is now trading around $29. It still has a long way to go before we start thinking about a new all-time high (ATH), but it shows price resistance where it didn't last year.

Ethereum had a similar weekly cycle, starting around $1 before rallying to $800. The weekend sale pushed the price down to around $1 where it was this morning.

HMRC quietly launches consultation on DeFi

The UK Tax Office has quietly launched consultations on the matter DeFi and staking services, which aim to modify the tax treatment of this sector. The consultation aims to better align the tax treatment of DeFi lending and staking while reducing the "administrative burden" for users.

More regulatory clarity should be welcomed by the UK cryptocurrency community. We're in a sort of arms race to clarify the rules between different jurisdictions. The EU and its MiCa definitely lead the way in this respect, but the UK seems eager to catch up.

Ultimately, regulation done right is essential to protect market participants – both innovators and users. While it's important that regulators don't get too zealous, it's also crucial that the industry takes an active part in creating new regulations. All this to create the most friendly framework that will increase the level of consumer protection, create a level playing field, while ensuring clear and strong guidance from regulators.

Franklin Templeton launches a digital money market fund

The TradFi digital asset market is quickly becoming one of the most interesting growth areas for cryptocurrencies in 2023. Now, Franklin Templeton has announced the launch of an on-chain money market fund by Polygon.

The idea here is that now investors can access what are so-called "traditional" financial instruments such as marketable funds, but are able to purchase and hold tokens for these assets in their own portfolios. The Franklin Templeton offering contains approximately $270 million in assets and will process ownership and transactions on the Polygon blockchain.

Major financial institutions have been flirting with technology for some time now, many of which now seem to be getting deeper to give investors a deal. With each token having its own investment case and underlying asset, the move towards digitization and putting financial services on the chain will continue.

Sotheby's debuts on the NFT market

The main auction house Sotheby's debuted on its secondary market NFT, called "Sotheby's Metaverse". Collectors will be able to use the platform to buy, sell and trade digital items.

Although the company is not the first to offer such a service, it is probably the most storied and old-school. It will be interesting to see if the "old-fashioned" auction house experience holds up in the quality of service it offers to customers.

The name alone may be enough to attract valuable artwork, especially from artists who have yet to digitize valuable pieces into the real world. Of course, NFT technology goes far beyond the care of digital artworks, and property use cases involve a whole range of different non-fungible assets, from stocks to bonds and even real estate.