Morgan Stanley acquires more GBTC, Alibaba to halt crypto mining gear
Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Top Stories This Week
DOGE co-founder sets sights on Ethereum bridge and NFTs for mass adoption
Billy Markus, the co-founder of the beloved Dogecoin (DOGE), emphasized the importance of completing an Ethereum-to-Dogecoin bridge on Thursday, citing that the asset could be integrated for payments on Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces.
Markus stated that there is “high demand” to purchase NFTs within the crypto community and that enabling NFT purchases with DOGE “greatly increases its utility.”
The development of a Dogecoin–Ethereum bridge would mark a significant milestone for the meme coin, as it would enable users to send DOGE from the Dogecoin blockchain to the Ethereum blockchain, and utilize the asset in the DeFi and NFT sectors via ERC-20 DOGE token contracts.
JPMorgan CEO says Bitcoin price could rise 10x but still won’t buy it
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase and staunch crypto critic, has slammed Bitcoin’s appeal despite admitting that its price could multiply by 10 within five years, presumably because he doesn’t like making good returns on his investments.
During an interview with The Times of India, the CEO was asked whether Bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto assets should be banned or regulated. Dimon answered by taking a swing at the hype surrounding the asset, stating:
“I don’t really care about Bitcoin. I think people waste too much time and breath on it. But it is going to be regulated. […] And that will constrain it to some extent. But whether it eliminates it, I have no idea and I don’t personally care. I am not a buyer of Bitcoin. […] That does not mean it can’t go 10 times in price in the next five years.”
Morgan Stanley doubles exposure to Bitcoin through Grayscale shares
Speaking of large investment banks, it was reported on Monday that Morgan Stanley has more than doubled its exposure to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) since April.
According to a recent SEC filing, the Morgan Stanley Europe Opportunity Fund owned a total of 58,116 GBTC shares as of July 31. The holdings are worth around $1.96 million at the time of writing, representing an 18.3% decrease on the $2.4 million Morgan Stanley said it has splurged on GBTC.
Previous filings show that Morgan Stanley has increased its shares of GBTC by more than 105% since April, suggesting that market volatility over recent months affected its appetite for Bitcoin via Grayscale.
Visa working on blockchain interoperability hub for crypto payments
On Thursday, payments giant Visa announced an ambitious project that aims to be a “universal adapter” of blockchains that can connect multiple crypto assets, stablecoins and “spawn of satan” central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The…
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