The previous week was quite positive for the cryptocurrency market, after the first OTC (over-the-counter) operation in cryptocurrencies was carried out by a major US bank. As a consequence, among several other reasons, we were able to witness a rise for several consecutive days in the crypto market, highlighting the growth of Bitcoin, exceeding 10% in the last week. This has undoubtedly aroused the optimism of a large number of investors.

The American banking giant, Goldman Sachs, carried out the first OTC (over-the-counter) operation of a crypto asset through its commercial partner, Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., this being the first transaction of this type executed by a major US bank.

Over-the-counter markets, are those in which a wide variety of financial instruments (options, bonds, swaps, shares, etc.) are traded directly between buyers and sellers, so they are carried out contracts which establish the form of liquidation of the instrument traded between the parties involved, known as OTC contracts. They are usually young or innovative markets, which have very particular characteristics in terms of marketing and regulation.

The Bitcoin trade that took place was a non-deliverable option, also known as a cash-settled option. This is a financial instrument which, at the time of its liquidation, the owner will receive instead of Bitcoin, the value in cash. This made it easier for the operation to be carried out, and it is important to mention that since it was an operation totally unrelated to the derivatives offered by the CME Group (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), the US bank had to indicate its willingness to assume all the risk that this operation entails.

This operation is quite interesting, since inflation continues to increase around the world, and Bitcoin has been classified as a hedge against it. In addition, we are beginning to see how large companies and financial institutions are beginning to experiment with various types of financial instruments using cryptocurrencies, so mass adoption seems to be getting closer. Now, although we have reviewed an event that gives us quite interesting arguments to think about the implementation of crypto assets in the financial markets, it seems that the US government, through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would be considering the possibility of approving trading ETFs (exchange traded funds) on the stock market by 2023.

Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart affirm that the SEC would approve the amendment to the Exchange Law, which would include all crypto-asset trading platforms as securities trading platforms, eliminating barriers for the purchase and sale of ETFs based on cash crypto assets. In other news, there had been quite a bit of speculation in recent days about the possible implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender now in the country of Honduras, following in the footsteps of El Salvador. However, last Wednesday the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) denied that there was an intention to carry out said procedure, emphasizing that crypto assets do not have regulation within Honduran territory. Now we go to the other side of the world, and it was announced last Friday that Bank Leumi, one of the largest and most important banks in Israel, will offer cryptocurrency trading services through its Pepper Invest digital platform. In this way, Bank Leumi will become the first bank in the Israeli country to offer crypto assets to the public. It should be noted that there is a collaboration between said institution and the American cryptocurrency custody platform Paxos.

We could not miss the opportunity to talk about a token that has become a trend in recent days, we are talking about ApeCoin. The token that emerged thanks to the famous collection of NFTs, Bored Ape Yacht Club, has become the target of the Ethereum whales, and at the end of the previous week it managed to consolidate itself as the most traded token, reaching more than 36,000 wallets just 6 days after launching on some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. It seems that the aim is to make the Bored Ape trend available to everyone, but what has made this token attractive or interesting? Well, basically all those who own an NFT from said collection, have been restarted with 62% of the total supply of the tokens, reaching figures greater than $100,000 for each user.

Given this situation, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, spoke out against the collection, mentioning that this was not the purpose for which the Ethereum network had been created. He also mentioned that it would be risky to have large amounts of capital in NFTs from the collection. Bitcoin is above $47,600, after a totally bullish weekend. Everything indicates that it could trade close to $50,000 again, after breaking a range in which the asset was stagnant for several weeks. BTC/USDT 1D (TradingView Chart). Ethereum appears to be following Bitcoin’s steps, similarly breaching a range zone with resistance near $3,300. Currently trading above $3,370, and if the day ends that way, it could seek to reach $4,000 again. ETH/USDT 1D (TradingView Chart). It seems that the markets are beginning to generate enthusiasm among investors, however, remember that we are still in a sensitive situation, surrounded by unfinished geopolitical and macroeconomic events. Without further ado, we wish you an amazing week.