Hong Kong Launches Digital Asset Indices and Moves Forward with Cryptocurrency Licensing, and other News
These indices are scheduled to be launched on November 15. They will provide benchmark prices based on a volume-weighted average using data from several top-tier exchanges, making it easier for local investors to obtain more accurate price references.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) Group announced the launch of a series of digital asset indices providing real-time bitcoin and ether data in Asia Pacific.
“HKEX is launching the HKEX Virtual Asset Index Series, supporting Hong Kong’s development as Asia’s leading #digitalassets hub. It will go live on 15 November 2024,” HKEX posted on X yesterday.
The move comes as Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission plans to issue licenses for digital asset exchanges before the end of the year. Eric Yip, Chief Executive Officer of the SFC, highlighted the companies’ acceptance of the regulatory requirements.
Bonnie Y Chan, Chief Executive Officer of HKEX, noted that the indices will help investors “make informed decisions and contribute to the development of the virtual asset ecosystem”.
Phantom Suffers Crashes After Solana Drop: Users Report Balance Problems
The Phantom wallet, popular with Solana users, experienced a service outage on Monday. This has affected some users’ ability to view their balances. The Phantom team has warned of a “major issue” that it is addressing and assures that funds remain secure, although the browser extension and mobile app remain operational.
“We’re currently experiencing an uptime incident and some services may be temporarily disrupted. If you are in urgent need of making a transaction, please ignore simulation errors and try using a dapp. Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve the issue,” Phantom posted on X yesterday.
The outage coincides with the airdrop of the GRASS token, which has created a high level of demand by allowing users of the Grass dApp to claim 10% of the total supply. Phantom’s advice was to ignore the simulation error messages and proceed with urgent transactions while they work on the resolution of the incident.
Robinhood Dabbles in Political Predictions with Contracts on Key Candidates
Robinhood has launched a political prediction service. Users can trade on the possible outcome of the 2024 US presidential election. Through its Robinhood Derivatives unit, and working with Interactive Brokers’ ForecastEx, users can now trade contracts based on candidates such as Kamala Harris.
The new feature, which offers the ability to make “real-time decisions” based on political insights, is only available to a select group of approved users in the derivatives programme.
Announced at the recent HOOD Summit in Miami, the launch underscores Robinhood’s commitment to innovation in unconventional assets, and coincides with the company’s diversification strategy.
Vitalik Buterin Denies Recent ETH Sales and Defends Ethereum Foundation
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has denied recent ETH sales and clarified on X that his ETH holdings have increased. Buterin’s comments come in response to rumours that he and the Ethereum Foundation had sold ETH. In August, the Foundation transferred $94 million in ETH to Kraken.
On October 25, Buterin posted on X that he hadn’t sold “a single ETH in the past month? The amount of ETH I hold has actually gone up.” Buterin explained that the transfer is part of the Foundation’s “treasury management” to cover the payment of key researchers and developers. He also made it clear that the move does not represent a large-scale sell-off, as the trust uses strategies such as limit orders to minimize its impact on the market.
By Leonardo Pérez