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Digital payments volumes in the Philippines have grown from 1% of total payments in 2013 to 30% in 2021. A Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) case study  examines this success story by diving into the key decisions made by the government and private sector in accelerating the adoption of responsible digital payments. These included continuous evaluation of progress against transparent targets, proactive policymaking to satisfy evolving needs, and institutionalizing data systems and building internal capacity to collect and analyze data.

US Crypto exchanges that plan to attain the status of alternative trading systems via becoming, partnering with, or purchasing broker-dealers could have to forgo their digital custody business due to the Securities Investor Protection Act.

Bitcoin supply holdings have shifted ever since reaching the recent bottom. The most significant pattern that has emerged is that of Institutional investors scooping up massive amounts of digital assets at these discounted prices.

The overstatement of trading volumes by cryptocurrency exchanges, and by implication the understatement of the importance of listed futures, suggests that market structure has likely changed considerably since the previous spike in Bitcoin prices in end-2017 with a greater influence from institutional investors.

CME Bitcoin futures reached a record all-time of 5,311 contracts or $250 Million this week, as new Institutional money flows into the Bitcoin derivative market.

Goldman Sachs is now hiring a cryptocurrency project manager. The firm wants their new project manager to lead the development of Distributed Ledger Technology. The Wall Street bank's foray into cryptocurrency is part of its GS Accelerate initiative.

What is still needed for institutional adoption to take place, say experts, is more cooperation among the rising number of firms that are jumping into the market, and a process of consolidation. How long all of that will take is a matter of some debate, but the market's early adopters are acting as if it will be sooner than later.

For now, PwC can audit eight tokens, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Each cryptographic requires its own audit tool given the different blockchains they use, Weinberger said, one reason it took so long to design the technology.

Grayscale Investments Releases Q2 2019 Digital Asset Investment Report Digital currency asset manager Grayscale's assets under management nearly tripled from $926 million to $2.7 billion in Q2 2019 on inflows of $85 million, the rest being asset price appreciation. Institutional investors comprised the 84% of Q2 inflows (75% over 12 months).

Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto-focused branch of the major asset manager, is looking to boost its team with the addition of 10 new blockchain professionals.

While Wyoming is perhaps the most notable state to court the crypto industry, others have also joined in. Montana passed a crypto-friendly securities law in May. In South Dakota, Anchorage is following in the footsteps of fellow crypto custodian BitGo, which got the green light from state regulators in 2018.

Fidelity Digital Assets has officially applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a Trust license. If its application is successful, Fidelity Digital Assets (FDAS) would be cleared to add New York to the handful of states in which it currently operates its custody business for digital assets."

According to CME, bitcoin (BTC) open interest spiked on June 17 with an all-time high of 5,311 contracts totalling 26,555 BTC, or approximately $246 million.

Genesis Global Capital, the lending arm of institutional OTC crypto trading firm Genesis Global Trading, added $746 million of crypto loans in the second quarter, bringing its total originations to $2.3 billion since launching the business in March 2018.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has granted virtual currency licenses to two subsidiaries of aspiring crypto derivatives provider Seed CX.

Grayscale Investments has tapped Coinbase Custody to act as the custodian for Grayscale's single-asset and diversified investment products. Coinbase qlrready holds $1b in assets, and Grayscale holds $2.7b in total assets under management.

The US SEC and FINRA have left broker-dealers and the operators of digital asset trading platforms treading water with the joint guidance regarding the custody of digital assets the regulators released earlier this week.

A team of former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) engineers is bringing trading and settlement of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, to a private blockchain network originally developed for enterprise.

Blockstream has announced two massive data centers for enterprise class co-location services. The service is currently geared towards enterprise and institutional customers, and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology was revealed as an early customer.

Most crypto funds are backed by traditional venture capital, so even though they are supporting the emergence of the new crypto economy, it will be one that will have strong, foundational links with the financial system.