Crypto MarketAt the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $20,025 USD and Ethereum at $1,360 USD. Bitcoin prices remain remarkably stable, in a multi-month consolidation between $18k and $20k. It is extremely rare for Bitcoin prices to stay stationary for so long, suggesting heightened probabilities of volatility on the horizon.Bitcoin mining hashrate reached new all-time-highs this week. The cost of production for Bitcoin is rising at a time where miner revenues have only just recovered from the recent capitulation. By numerous models, it is likely that the average cost of Bitcoin production hovers just below current prices; any significant price decline could turn an implied income stress, into acute and explicit stress for Bitcoin miners.Crypto remains in equities' orbit, although correlations have moderated. Crypto's correlation to the S&P and Nasdaq are off their highs from the sector low in prices seen in June. Bitcoin's 90-Day correlation to risk assets like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ is ~0.5, down from historic highs in June of ~0.6.As reported by The Block, crypto regulation is coming to the European Union. On October 5th, the European Council approved the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) proposal and sent it to the chair of the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary affairs. If it passes through another round of voting, the bill is set to become law sometime in early 2024. The MiCA proposal is the most comprehensive crypto regulation framework yet introduced in Europe, with its overarching goal being to standardize crypto regulation among the 27 EU member states.MacroThe United Nations warned the U.S. Federal Reserve that its actions of rapidly-increasing interest rates is harming economies worldwide. IMF managing director Georgieva followed the United Nations, saying the Fed has a high responsibility to consider the impact of its actions on the rest of the world.Federal Chairman Jerome Powell doesn't appear phased by the United Nations and IMF warnings. Powell acknowledged the Fed, when determining appropriate monetary policy for the U.S., also considers how its policies affect the global economy. However, he said the Fed would continue to raise interest rates as needed to bring inflation back to its target. Therefore, fighting inflation appears to be more important than global financial stability and the United Nation's wishes, at least for now.On Tuesday October 4th, the market got a jolt higher from weak BLS JOLTs and ISM manufacturing data. Both suggested a softening U.S. labor market, which could help alleviate inflationary pressures in the economy and give the Federal Reserve cover to increase interest rates less aggressively. While the decline was significant, the number of job openings is still extremely high at about 30% above pre-pandemic levels.Equities, Fixed Income, FX and CommoditiesEquitiesSeptember non-farm payrolls data are due tomorrow, Friday October 7th. US markets initially saw some buyer interest earlier in the week, but stocks moved lower as treasury yields backed up. Focus remained clearly on the US jobs market as two slightly more tepid readings came in ahead of the big report tomorrow. Fed speak remained hawkish which again coincided with stock market weakness.Fixed Income, FX & CommoditiesThe Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and its allies, including Russia, plan to cut production by two million barrels a day, the largest reduction since the pandemic began. Oil and energy prices surged on the news. The White House has accused OPEC+ of aligning with Russia after Saudi Arabia led the group in agreeing deep oil production cuts, prompting a backlash from countries already battling surging energy inflation triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.USD gained some strength ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report while bond yields face opposing pressures from hawkish central banks and weak economic growth.News we've been readingVenture Capital X ("VCX") is launching a functional NFT. The NFT will provide cardholders the opportunity to invest up to US$10,000 in equity opportunities 6-12 months before they're available to the public on a stock exchange such as the NASDAQ. These investment opportunities are only available to VCX members through their token-gated dashboard. Mint date is expected to be around October 19th. Toronto-based crypto lender Ledn has acquired local crypto asset management firm Arxnovum Investments. Through the acquisition Arxnovum will operate independently and open up its client base to Ledn's products. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2022, pending regulatory approval. South Korean authorities have arrested Terraform Labs' (TFL) head of general business, local news outlet JTBC reported. The arrest, made over alleged charges of violating Korea's Capital Markets Act, is the first reported arrest of any TFL employee. Separately, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered TFL co-founder Do Kwon to surrender his passport. Nasdaq will wait for greater regulatory clarity and institutional adoption prior to launching its planned crypto exchange. During an interview with Bloomberg, Tal Cohen, executive vice president and head of North American markets, remarked that the retail trading market is currently saturated, while the firm believes there are strong prospects in custody. SWIFT said it has completed experiments with central bank digital currencies used for cross-border payments. According to the interbank payment platform, the experiments ‘solve the significant challenge of interoperability in cross-border transactions.'DisclaimerThis confidential presentation has been prepared by Coinsquare Ltd. (the "Company") solely for information and/or educational purposes. It shall not be construed as investment advice. Information contained herein does not purport to be complete and is subject to certain qualifications and assumptions and should not be exclusively relied upon for the purpose of making any investment or entering into any transaction in relation therewith. Neither the Company nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this presentation by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this presentation. The information and opinions contained in this document are provided as at the date hereof and are subject to change without notice and, in furnishing this document, the Company does not undertake or agree to any obligation to provide recipients with access to any additional information or to update or correct the document. This document has not been reviewed or approved by any securities administrator in any jurisdiction. This presentation or the information contained herein is not to be given to any person other than the person or group that was provided with the presentation directly by the Company or their advisors and is not to be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. 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In this presentation, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. The actual results of the Company could vary from the forward-looking information contained herein, including as a result of such risks as a collapse in the market for cryptocurrencies, adverse regulatory developments and competition from other cryptocurrency custodians. Forward-looking statements and information are based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the company's control. The forward-looking information contained herein was developed based on assumptions related to, among other things, the continued growth of the cryptocurrency market, the company's ability to obtain a license from the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance to operate a trust company or to receive a license from the applicable securities commissions as a clearing agent, grow its market share and the viability of the Company's intended future product offerings. The Company does not intend, nor does it undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements contained in this presentation to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws. The Company is a new company with no operating history; and it may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, consumer sentiment towards the Company's products and blockchain technology generally, litigation, global economic climate, equipment failures, increase in operating costs, decrease in the price of cryptocurrency, security threats, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, additional funding requirements, changes in laws, technology failures, competition, and failure of counter-parties to perform their contractual obligations. Neither the Company nor any of our representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this presentation. Certain information contained herein is based on, or derived from, information provided by independent third-party sources. The Company believes that such information is accurate and that the sources from which it has been obtained are reliable. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of such information, however, and has not independently verified the assumptions on which such information is based. The Company does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information.
