Mergers and acquisitions are becoming a regular fixture on this newsletter.

Coinbase announced on Tuesday it had acquired Bison Trails, a firm that specialises in building blockchain infrastructure for banks and other companies, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, said to be one of Coinbase’s largest, is the latest in a spate of acquisitions for the San-Francisco based exchange, which is slated to go public soon. Last week, Coinbase also announced to its shareholders that it is opening a secondary market for stocks on the Nasdaq Private Market.

On Tuesday, the Banque de France (BDF) announced it had successfully completed a a pilot transaction with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that has captured the full settlement cycle. In the experiment, the central bank simulated cash transactions worth over €2m using the digital currency.

Below is our weekly roundup of industry news. If you’d like to get in touch with us about any of our products or services, we look forward to hearing from you. Just send us a note.

This week's top stories

Grayscale has incorporated six more trusts, including ones for Chainlink and Tezos

The world's largest crypto asset manager, Grayscale, has incorporated six more trusts, including those tied to Chainlink (LINK) and Tezos (XTZ) tokens. The trusts were formed by Delaware Trust Company, Grayscale's "statutory trustee," in recent months. A registration for the Filecoin Trust was also made on Oct. 15, 2020.

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, told The Block: "Grayscale is always looking for opportunities to offer products that meet investor demands. Occasionally, we will make reservation filings, though a filing does not mean we will bring a product to market. Grayscale has and will continue to announce when new products are made available to investors.

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Gary Gensler named as Joe Biden’s SEC chair pick

Last Monday, President Joe Biden named ex-CFTC chair Gary Gensler as his pick for chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His appointment has been celebrated by much of the crypto community given his ongoing and deep interest in the technology.

Also on Monday, the Biden administration announced Rohit Chopra as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra has publicly criticised Diem, the Facebook-led cryptocurrency project that was formally known as Libra.

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Blackrock to invest in Bitcoin futures

Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with $7.81 trillion under management, is getting into Bitcoin. The firm has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for two of its funds to invest in Bitcoin futures.

Blackrock joins several other asset management firms that are investing in Bitcoin, including British fund manager Ruffer and Skybridge. In addition, Guggenheim is planning to invest in the near future, pending approval from the SEC. Read more

In case you missed it...

⚡️Huobi Korea scores certification from Korea Internet and Security Agency. Read more

⚡️Amid rising debt, former prime minister of Canada calls for Bitcoin reserves. Read more

⚡️AC Milan to launch ACM crypto token for fans? Read more

⚡️Dubai to introduce crypto regulations framework soon. Read more

⚡️Russian crypto exchange Livecoin is shutting down after attack. Read more

⚡️Grayscale purchases 32,710 Bitcoin in 1 Week, 8,762 BTC in 24 hrs. Read more

⚡️Top Russian bank Sberbank plans to launch its stablecoin by spring 2021. Read more

⚡️Tether produces more than 2.5m documents to NYAG. Read more

⚡️Pornhub adds new cryptos for payment, 16 in total. Read more

⚡️Crypto market maker Wintermute raises $20m from Lightspeed, Pantera Capital. Read more

⚡️Thai SEC tells Bitkub crypto exchange to improve platform after trading outages. Read more

⚡️Anthony Scaramucci says holding Bitcoin as safe as owning bonds and gold. Read more

⚡️MicroStrategy just added $10m in BTC to its billion-dollar Bitcoin bags. Read more

⚡️Chainlink now bigger than Litecoin as LINK price hits new high above $24. Read more

⚡️Ethereum whales holding 10,000+ ETH increase by 32 in 30 Days. Read more

⚡️China construction bank has launched the DCEP wallet named "Panda. Read more

⚡️VanEck files with SEC for ETF that tracks crypto companies' performance. Read more

⚡️Hut8 borrows ~$12M from DCG’s Foundry to order new bitcoin miners. Read more

⚡️Mayor of Miami is building out his cryptocurrency team. Read more

⚡️Bitstamp introduces KYC regulations for its Netherland users. Read more

⚡️BlockFi launches OTC trading desk for institutional crypto investors. Read more

⚡️Offline mapping app Maps.me raises $50m led by Alameda Research to enter DeFi. Read more

⚡️CoinShares is launching a physically-backed bitcoin ETP. Read more

From Copper

ACT Webinar: Understanding the cryptoasset market [key takeaways]

Last Wednesday, our CFO Ralph Payne led a webinar hosted by the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), the chartered professional body for treasury. For those corporate treasurers who missed the webinar, or simply want to recap, we've published the key takeaways from the session on our blog.

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