Battle of the titans

This week the entire crypto market cap fell by 8%, bringing the market cap to just under USD 280 bn. Ethereum and Bitcoin fell by about 9% each. It appears that bitcoin is heading for a re-test of USD 10k. Murad Mahmudov of crypto fund Adaptive Capital believes bitcoin to be in an accumulation band for a USD 100k price target in the future.

• Coinbase versus Binance
  
  Binance announced that the US-based subsidiary is looking at 30 cryptos for listing on the new exchange. This exchange will be competing against Coinbase to dominate the US market. Both firms will have roughly the same number of tokens at launch since Coinbase has recently started listing more assets. Coinbase has survived most of its existence with less than five tokens, while Binance is known for listing many tokens for better or worse. Their positioning over the next few years will make for a great Harvard Business case. The exchanges’ users are the only group likely to win in a battle between the two firms.

• SEC delays ETF decision again
  
  The SEC delayed decisions on three exchange-traded funds. The three ETFs in question are the ones proposed by Bitwise Asset Management, VanEck/SolidX, and Wilshire Phoenix, respectively. The next decision date for Wilshire Phoenix is September 29, which is likely to be delayed. However, the final decision date for Bitwise and VanEck/SolidX is October 13th and 18th, respectively. This is the last chance for approval of the much anticipated ETFs or the firm’s will have to resubmit their proposals again. The adoption of an ETF is seen as a massive milestone for the industry, which will hopefully boost access and liquidity in the market. Many see it as a positive for the price since these ETFs will drive up demand for spot bitcoin.

• Binance down for several hours on Thursday

This Thursday, one of the largest exchanges by volume is set to undergo maintenance starting 2 AM UTC. Binance has stated that it will take six to eight hours for the upgrade. Once the update is complete Binance will resume trading 30 minutes after. Traders with margin positions are advised to look at their collateral balance before the maintenance period because the price could move against them during the downtime. Traders should be prepared for volatility during that time.