This week, in a significant development, the Australian Government unveiled a proposal paper outlining its recommendations to enhance the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges. This initiative aims to strengthen oversight and ensure a safer and more secure environment for digital asset transactions. It comes as the Australian Financial Review’s 2023 Cryptocurrency Summit took place this week in Sydney. The primary proposal suggests that cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset platforms should be brought under Australia’s existing financial services laws, which would require platform operators to obtain an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).
The addition of another victory to Ripple’s legal process has had a positive impact on the entire crypto market, especially XRP. Despite ongoing geopolitical issues and US macroeconomic data, the sustainability of this uptrend in the crypto market depends on the weekly closing levels. Now, let’s take a closer look at Ethereum. Friday’s rally comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statement in New York on Thursday, where he indicated the Fed is likely to continue pausing interest rate hikes at the next FOMC meeting, citing economic uncertainties and risks.
Turmoil in the Middle East is keeping investors on edge, and gold is one of the first assets to react — rising above the critical psychological level of USD$2,000 an ounce and trading near 2.5-month highs on Friday. In the short term, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors suppressing speculative flows are expected to continue limiting cryptocurrency market activity and volatility. The SEC has repeatedly delayed high-profile Bitcoin ETF applications, obstructing mainstream adoption paths. Regulatory approval is crucial for Bitcoin to become an institutional investment vehicle and a true safe-haven asset for global investors. Widespread institutional recognition and participation are essential for reducing reliance on speculative flows and enhancing its viability as a portfolio diversifier during periods of volatility.
Gold Market
Gold price (XAU/USD) gained momentum to USD$1,997, the highest level since late July, during the late Asian trading hours on Friday. The rally of the precious metal is bolstered by the decline of the US dollar (USD) following Fed Powell’s dovish comments and a safe-haven flow. The Australian dollar gold price hit a record high this week, briefly reaching AUD$3,159 an ounce on Friday evening. The rise was driven by international uncertainty, in particular the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with Australian dollar gold price records having been set weekly since the conflict began. Analysts note that gold’s all-time high will provide solid support for Australia’s gold mining sector. The country is the world’s third top gold producer. In a report published last month, Surbiton said that Australian miners produced 80 tonnes of gold in the third quarter, an increase of eight tonnes, or 11%, from the second quarter.
Crypto Markets
Bitcoin climbed to highs of USD$30,100 in the past 24 hours, extending its weekly gains to over 9% as bullish sentiment around spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund approval in the U.S. gained momentum. Remarkable really came just hours after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dropped all the charges against Ripple’s executive board. Bitcoin dominance has been gaining traction since the week’s start. After four consecutive days of straight gains, the dominance rate rose to 52.72% on Friday, reaching the highest so far in the year, according to Trading View data.
Ethereum Price Starts Recovery Ethereum managed to stay above the main breakdown support at USD$1,550. The recent rise in XRP is sparking a recovery wave in the crypto market. Solana is leading an altcoin rally that follows Bitcoin’s week of steady gains. Sol has posted a 25% gain in the past week, outperforming other blue-chip cryptocurrencies on a day that saw the market capitalisation of the entire sector increase by over 3%. During the weekend, Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, Solana, and other altcoin surged, with increases ranging from 2% to 10%, demonstrating the resurgence of the broader cryptocurrency market.
Crypto Project News
Uniswap Leads Decentralized Exchanges in 2023 as Trading Volume Hits All-Time High Uniswap has set a new high bar, especially in the month of October, recording an all-time trading volume of over USD$100 billion. Uniswap’s performance is part of a broader trend, spotlighting the rise in user preference for decentralised exchange platforms over their centralised counterparts. In the second quarter of 2023 alone, Uniswap accounted for 66.1% of the total spot trading volume among DEXs. Such a commanding presence indicates Uniswap’s leading role in elevating the DEX market, which recorded a cumulative trading volume of USD$189 billion in the same quarter.
UAE emirate launches new free zone for digital assets, Web3 and AI Ras Al Khaimah ruler Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi inaugurated the new RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO), an economic free zone dedicated to supporting companies involved in digital and virtual assets, blockchain, Web3, and artificial intelligence (AI), on Oct. 19. The free zone will be dedicated to digital and virtual assets service providers in emerging technologies, such as the metaverse, blockchain, utility tokens, virtual asset wallets, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), decentralised applications (DApps) and other Web3-related businesses.
Regulation
SEC Dropped Charges Against Ripple (XRP) Founders Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen In a significant development, the lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple founders Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen has been dropped. The dismissal of the case occurred after both parties agreed, thus eliminating the need for a hearing scheduled for April next year.
Ireland continues to be an attractive destination for crypto companies, with Coinbase becoming the latest to bolster its presence there. Various companies in the segment have been expanding into the European Union ahead of the implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. Under MiCA — passed in April, crypto-asset services providers (CASPs) that seek to serve EU clients must gain licenses from national authorities. The regulatory framework is expected to go into effect for such entities at the end of 2024.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent decision not to appeal a ruling that went against them in the Grayscale case brings the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US closer, JPMorgan argued in a research report released earlier this week. The first approvals are likely to come in before the 10th of January, which is the final deadline for the Ark 21Shares application, JPM analysts continued. Three judges at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled back in August that the SEC’s decision to allow Bitcoin futures ETFs but deny Grayscale application to transform its Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF was “arbitrary and capricious”.
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