🚀 fsBTC is Live on Avalanche, BASE & Arbitrum
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fsBTC enables businesses and corporations to incorporate Bitcoin into their balance sheets as a tax optimized permanent capital structure. By issuing a Bitcoin security, Frictionless Markets opens the door for companies, both public and private, large or small, to access the inflation-resistant performance that Bitcoin offers. This strategy allows businesses to hold Bitcoin in a secure, fully-backed manner, benefiting from its long-term growth potential while reducing exposure to fiat currency inflation.
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fsBTC, is a fully backed 1:1 by Bitcoin (BTC), issued by Frictionless Markets as a classical security, ensuring that each token represents an actual claim on Bitcoin held in secure custody. fsBTC is made transparent and trustworthy by integrating Chainlink's Proof of Reserve (PoR) technology, Proof of Reserve ensures that investors can independently verify that their funds are fully collateralized by actual BTC, reducing counterparty risk and enhancing trust in the system.
🚀 Bitcoin for Business is Live
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As of today, October 28th, Frictionless clients can access a ground-breaking strategy which enables them to leverage the risk-free rate to generate daily Bitcoin (BTC) yields directly in BTC, rather than traditional fiat currencies.
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This approach transforms the traditional yield from cash management into permanent capital, unlocking the potential for long-term outsized performance from Bitcoin. By integrating Bitcoin's growth with the stability of traditional cash strategies, this innovative model aims to offer both principal preservation and an inflation-resistant yield.
✨ New Frictionless Cash Portal
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Frictionless Markets is excited to announce a partnership with Delio Wealth to power the new Frictionless Cash Portal, a strategic move to deliver a turnkey, tokenized fund platform tailored for General Partners (GPs). Leveraging Delio's industry-leading private market infrastructure, this collaboration is designed to streamline and secure digital investments for clients. Set to launch on the weekend of November 9th, the platform will enhance Frictionless Markets’ capacity to provide GPs with a seamless, efficient investment experience, marking a pivotal advancement in digital asset management and tokenization solutions.
Legal & General Eyes Tokenization: UK Financial Giant Explores Blockchain-Based Funds
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Legal & General (L&G), the London-based pension and investment management giant overseeing $1.5 trillion in assets, is making strategic moves to enter the rapidly growing field of blockchain-based tokenization. This initiative aligns L&G with other major financial institutions like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Abrdn, who have already ventured into offering blockchain-based money market funds. Ed Wicks, head of global trading at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), has confirmed that the company is actively exploring ways to make their Liquidity funds available in tokenized formats.
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L&G's interest in tokenization is driven by the potential to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and broaden access to investment solutions. The company sees the digitization of the funds industry as a key factor in achieving these goals. This move builds on L&G's previous blockchain initiatives, including their 2019 plan to use Amazon Web Services' managed blockchain system for handling bulk annuities in their insurance business. As L&G progresses in this space, it could potentially reshape investment opportunities, making their liquidity funds more accessible to a wider range of investors and potentially attracting interest from both retail and institutional markets.
R3 Explores Strategic Options: Blockchain Pioneer Considers Potential Sale
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R3, the prominent blockchain company backed by major investors like Bank of America Corp. and Intel Corp., is reportedly exploring strategic options that could include a potential sale. The New York-based firm, which has been a leading player in the blockchain space since its launch in 2014, has been holding initial discussions with several potential partners or buyers, including Ava Labs, the Solana Foundation, and Adhara. These talks, ongoing for at least six months, have covered a range of possibilities from joint ventures to minority stake sales, and even a complete acquisition.
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The company's decision to explore these options appears to be driven by several factors, including challenges posed by the prolonged crypto bear market, recent workforce reductions, and the evolving blockchain industry landscape. R3's Corda technology, widely adopted by various institutions in regulated markets worldwide, remains a valuable asset that could be further leveraged through strategic partnerships or new ownership. As R3 continues to navigate its future, the outcome of these discussions could have significant implications for the blockchain industry, particularly in the enterprise and financial services sectors where R3 has established a strong presence.
BIS Report Highlights Promise and Perils of Tokenization in Financial Markets
- The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a comprehensive report on tokenization, highlighting both its potential benefits and associated risks for the financial system. The report, prepared for the G20, emphasizes that while tokenization could significantly improve the safety and efficiency of financial markets by reducing transaction costs and enabling innovative use cases, it also introduces new challenges that need careful consideration. The BIS notes that tokenization could reshape market structures by enabling platform-based intermediation across the entire lifecycle of financial assets, potentially altering how pre- and post-trade functions are executed for money and other assets.
- However, the report also warns of several risks associated with tokenization, including governance and legal framework challenges, as well as credit, liquidity, custody, and operational risks. These risks may materialize differently than in traditional infrastructures, requiring central banks to carefully evaluate their potential impact. The BIS outlines four key considerations for central banks: responding to private sector tokenization initiatives, assessing trade-offs between different types of settlement assets, identifying arrangements that may need regulatory oversight, and evaluating the potential impact on monetary policy implementation. The report stresses that realizing the full potential of tokenization will require sound governance, risk management, and addressing economic, legal, and technical challenges.
Japan's Crypto Conundrum: Cautious Stance on ETFs and High Tax Rates Hinder Market Growth
- Japan's approach to cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) remains cautious, even as other major markets like the United States and Hong Kong have embraced these financial products. The Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan's financial regulator, has shown reluctance to approve crypto ETFs, citing concerns over volatility and risks associated with digital assets. This conservative stance is partly rooted in past scandals, such as the Mt. Gox incident, which have made both regulators and the public wary of crypto investments. Despite Japan's ambition to position itself as a crypto-friendly hub, these regulatory hurdles continue to impede the growth of the digital asset sector in the country.
- The tax treatment of cryptocurrency investments in Japan further complicates the landscape for potential crypto ETF adoption. Currently, profits from general crypto investments are classified as miscellaneous income and are subject to a progressive tax rate that can reach as high as 55%. This is in stark contrast to the treatment of traditional financial assets like stocks and ETFs, which are taxed at a flat rate of about 20%. This disparity in tax treatment creates a significant disincentive for investors considering crypto assets. While there have been calls from industry groups and some political figures to revise this tax structure, including proposals to tax crypto gains at the same 20% rate as other financial assets, no concrete changes have been implemented yet. This high tax burden, combined with regulatory caution, continues to hold back wider adoption of crypto investments and the potential introduction of crypto ETFs in Japan.