In a busy week for news, let's take a look back at the news stories that dominated the worlds of forex, fintech and crypto, in our best of the week segment.
eToro Confirms Public Listing with SPAC Merger
The biggest news story of the week was undoubtedly eToro's confirmed plans to merge with blank check company, FinTech Acquisition Corp. V for making its public debut on Nasdaq.
The combined companies will operate as eToro Group Ltd, and the estimated implied equity value will be around $10.4 billion at closing, which is a value that was expected from earlier reports.
The official announcement detailed that $650 million will be raised from private placement in the public equity and another $250 million from FinTech V’s cash in trust. Private investors, including ION Investment, Softbank and Fidelity will receive the equity at $10 per share.
Read more on the eToro SPAC here.
CFTC Hits Coinbase with $6.5 Million Fine over Wash Trades
Coinbase has been ordered to pay $6.5 million in restitution to resolve civil charges brought by the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission for inaccurate reporting as well as wash trading on its institutional platform.
Following investigations, the US regulator said Coinbase delivered false reports concerning transactions in digital assets traded on its GDAX platform, which was then rebranded as Coinbase Pro.
The CFTC added that a series of unauthorized and fictitious transactions were made on the GDAX platform between January 2015 and September 2018 and possibly more.
Read more on the CFTC Coinbase Fine here.
Dogecoin: From Reddit Meme to Elon Musk’s Obsession – the Evolution of DOGE
After Dogecoin's explosion in popularity has sent the coin's price soaring to 1150% so far this year, Finance Magnates set about investigating the evolution of DOGE: From Reddit Meme to Elon Musk's obsession.
A full timeline of events and key points in Dogecoin's evolution is provided. We also delved deep into Musk’s fascination with DOGE which seems to have started as a joke. However, over time, some of the statements that he has made about Dogecoin appear to be fairly serious.
An unmissable read on Dogecoin here.
Bitcoin and XRP Whales on the Move
It was a week for big crypto transfers. On Tuesday, Finance Magnates reported on XRP Whale Transfering 745 Million Coins. An unknown whale transferred $330 million worth of XRP tokens on the 15th of March after the XRP price jumped more than 10% in 24 hours.
Later on, in the week, one Bitcoin Owner Moved 5,000 BTC from Binance to Xapo. After gaining nearly 6% in 24 hours and hitting $59,320, one BTC user moved 5,000 coins from crypto exchange Binance to digital wallet Xapo.
Creating an NFT from Start to Finish: Here’s What You Need to Know
NFTs are the 'big thing' in crypto at the moment. If you are thinking of issuing one or want to know more about the world of NFTs, Finance Magnates brings you the definitive guide to NFTs and the creation of NFTs.
With expert insights from Tal Elyashiv, Founder of SPiCE VC, and Gagan Grewal, CEO of Mogul Productions, here is everything you need to know about creating an NFT creation.
Read more on NFT creation here.
Ethereum Is Getting Popular among Institutional Investors
As Finance Magnates reported this week, Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, is gaining the attention of major institutional investors around the world. ETH-related investment products attracted $113 million last week, which is almost 50% of the total cryptocurrency inflows
ETH-related investment products attracted a total of $4.2 billion inflows in this quarter, which is the highest level on record.
The popularity of Ethereum is growing as institutions are accumulating the cryptocurrency in large amounts.
Read more on Ethereum's popularity here.
Robinhood Lures Investors with a Cash Bonus as Stimulus Checks Loom
With the next round of stimulus checks a few days away from being delivered, Robinhood Markets is offering eligible traders up to a 5% bonus for their new deposits. Under the ‘Robinhood Cash Rewards’ program, the broker will match 5% of traders’ next top-up, with a credit of up to $250 over the next two weeks.
The promotion comes as industry surveys show that Main Street investors will plow a large chunk of Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package directly into equities.
Read more on the Robinhood promotion here.
Cardano’s ADA Token Jumps 18% after Coinbase Pro Listing
As Finance Magnates reported this week, Coinbase has officially added Cardano (ADA) token to the supported assets on the exchange’s professional Trading Platform , Coinbase Pro, as part of its latest order book expansion.
It is the latest move in a series of rapid expansion plays that the popular US cryptocurrency exchange has made as of late in an attempt to further widen its offering and legitimize a variety of new digital assets.
Touted as the ‘next big thing’ after Ethereum, Cardano (ADA) is a Blockchain platform built on a proof-of-stake consensus protocol that validates transactions without high energy costs.
Read more on the Cardano Coinbase Pro Listing here.
Visa CEO Reveals Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Plans
Al Kelly, the CEO of Visa, said that the financial services company is planning to enable the buying of Bitcoin on Visa credentials. The latest statement of Kelly came after Mastercard revealed its cryptocurrency plans in February.
During his conversation at ‘Fortune’s Leadership Next’ podcast, Kelly said that the company is planning to work with Bitcoin wallets. In February 2021, Visa announced a partnership with First Boulevard, a digitally native neobank focused on building generational wealth for the Black community, to accelerate the company’s efforts to enter the cryptocurrency market.
Read more on Visa's crypto plans here.
