Crypto Corner: Cryptoassets Down Amid Wider Selloff While Congress Mulls Digital Dollar

Cryptocurrencies turn ten years; 2019 could be the year of tokenizationVarious countries have suddenly started recognising cryptocurrencies in their financial laws and courts

Adam Vettese (eToro) | The world’s three major cryptoassets, Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP failed to stave off the wider stock market sell off on Friday. Bitcoin fell sharply, coming close to $9,000 before  recovering somewhat to trade around $9300 early on this morning. Similarly, Ethereum was down over 5%, reaching a low of $225 and is now trading around $233. XRP was down by nearly 5% too and is trading around $0.19 this morning.

Elsewhere the US Congress is mulling the idea of creating digital dollars to help the unbanked in America. It laid plans, according to Decrypt, for the Federal Reserve to provide bank accounts to those whom the banking industry does not. So-called “FEDaccounts” would operate through US Post Offices. Meanwhile former chairman of the US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission Chris Giancarlo recommended a form of Central Bank Digital Currency at a Congressional hearing.

What to watch

June consumer sentiment: On Friday, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey will be released in the US, with economists anticipating that the index will tick up to 75 for the month, from 72.5 in May. Remember, the figure being reported does not include the impact of yesterday’s market selloff, when fears of a second virus wave hit home with investors. The US is a heavily consumer driven economy, and the figure will be watched closely, as ultimately it is the translation of economic reopenings to a resurgence in normal consumer behaviour that has got investors excited over the past month.

Import and export data: Also being reported on Friday are the latest US import and export numbers. The import and export price indices measure changes in the prices of goods and services coming in and out of the US. They have been of significant interest in recent history given the USA’s turbulent relations with some of its major trading partners – in particular China.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.