So the other day, global remittance giant Western Union published a video with a shocking announcement that they stand ready to support cryptocurrencies.
In the video, President Odilon Almeida stated “we already operate with 130 currencies” and went on to say that if they feel like adopting crypto then “technology-wise, it’s just another currency.”
See, this goes right back to a report that we published yesterday showing how interest to adopt crypto is very high but education is still lagging.
The post from WU did not go unnoticed by the community and crypto enthusiasts who were only too happy to point out that the entire point of cryptocurrencies was that they can be sent without the need of a third party.
One thing that might be helpful here is that Western Union is still in partnership with Ripple Labs and are conducting an ongoing pilot to see how XRP can streamline things for them.
The good people from Dash were also quick to respond with a video of their own.
@MatiGreenspan
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Today’s Highlights
Tightening up the Screws
FB Drops FAANG
Fully Regulated Cryptos
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of December 20th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Traditional Markets
As expected the Federal Reserve raised their interest rates yesterday from 2.25% to 2.5%. Even though the market was fully expecting it, the indices did see a sharp drop when the announcement hit (purple circle).
The purple rectangle represents the press conference with Fed Governor Jermobe Powell. Powell started off talking very fast and did seem a bit nervous and even cleared his throat several times in the first few minutes, which is never a good sign.
What really dropped the markets though, was that the Fed didn’t at all seem sympathetic to the current market turmoil. They indicate that they’re not about to hike rates aggressively unless the economy grows quicker. However, they seemed unwilling to reduce the pace of their quantitative tightening. Meaning, that they will continue to reduce the size of their enormous balance sheet, which is still way overinflated from 10 years of quantitative easing.
This morning, the Riksbank in Sweden also hiked rates for the first time since 2011. We also have the Bank of England today, which may be over by the time you get this. Don’t worry though UK. Nobody at the BoE wants to hike your interest into the current Brexit uncertainty.
Facepalm
The FAANG stocks seemed to be beaten more than others with Apple sinking to a new low of $159 a share. None were as horrifying as Facebook though who, in addition to the factors above, was slapped down by this news…
It seems Zuckerberg’s PR nightmare is never-ending, FB shares fell 7.25% yesterday. It still seems a bit funny to me how 82% of analysts are recommending a buy position.
Personally, I haven’t logged into their network in more than a week and would rather not comment on their stock.
Crypto Regulated
It may not be often but when we do break news from eToro, it’s BIG!
The ramifications of this announcement are nothing short of mind-blowing as it carries significant implications for the entire crypto industry.
What we’re talking about here is a clear path to regulation for all cryptoassets.
eToro is now the first multi-asset broker that carries stocks, commodities, currencies, ETFs, and crypto in a fully licensed and regulated offering. The fact that the platform is ever so simple to use is just an added bonus.
Into the future, we hope to continue adding more and more blockchain and crypto related services for all our clients around the world.
Let’s have an amazing day ahead and may your candles always be green!
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