Blockchangers Blog

Weekly Wrap Up #24

Quote of the week: “So unless the US government bans Bitcoin next year, Bitcoin has already had some of the negative catalysts play out. So I think Bitcoin could do really well. Now, in terms of percentage upside, again I’m kind of disappointed. It didn’t reach $100,000 this year, but I think next year, you know, easily getting to the $100,000, but let’s say that it should have been $100,000 this year.” – Thomas Lee, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and the Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. Source:  https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2021/12/fundstrats-tom-lee-can-see-bitcoin-price-hitting-200k-in-2022/

Robinhood to Launch Crypto Wallets:  Robinhood plans to roll out the beta version of its digital wallet feature in January of 2022. There are more than 1.6 million users on the waitlist for the Robinhood crypto wallet. According to the CEO of Robinhood, the beta rollout will address security measures for users and will help educate users on cryptocurrency transactions.  Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/robinhood-plans-to-launch-beta-crypto-wallets-in-january-as-hood-drops-to-17

Bitcoin 2021 Overview:  Although Bitcoin is trading at around $47,162 and may be down over 30% from its record high of $69,000, it still holds the title of one of the best performing financial assets of 2021. In fact, for the third consecutive year, Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 and gold. In its report, Arcane research noted that Bitcoin’s year-to-date performance was approximately 73%, while the S&P 500 index surged 28% and gold decreased by 7%.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-btc-price-slump-bitcoin-outperforms-stocks-and-gold-for-3rd-year-in-a-row

Voyager Digital Target of Proposed Class Action Lawsuit:  Voyager Digital Ltd. faces a proposed class-action lawsuit over hidden transaction fees. The plaintiffs of the lawsuit allege that Voyager Digital Ltd. misled customers when it advertised its trades as “100% commission-free.” The suit was filed on December 24 in federal court in Miami, Florida. Source:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-broker-voyager-faces-proposed-180812273.html

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Hires a Senior Cryptocurrency Advisor: SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has hired Corey Frayer to focus on cryptocurrency policymaking and interagency work. Frayer spent a decade working as a senior adviser to members of Congress and was a senior staffer on the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. This appointment signals that the SEC may increase its efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in 2022. Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-chair-gary-gensler-hires-203408994.html

Crypto Adoption Featuring Turkey:  The Turkish Lira’s value decreased by 40% this year after a year of economic instability and turbulence. Retail investors are now racing to adopt cryptocurrencies in a desperate attempt to protect their savings. The president of Turkey has announced that a cryptocurrency bill has been prepared and is now ready to be presented to Turkey’s legislative chamber. Source:

https://coinrivet.com/lira-hits-the-deck-as-turkey-prepares-for-crypto-showdown/

And, that’s a wrap for 2021! Happy New Year!

Jordana Cohen,

Associate

Alpha Sigma Capital

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Alpha Sigma Capital
Daniel Siciliano

F. Daniel Siciliano is an Independent Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Chair of the American Immigration Council. He is the former faculty director of the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University and former Professor of the Practice and Associate Dean at Stanford Law School. His work has included expert testimony in front of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and for 2009, 2010, and 2011, alongside leading academics and business leaders such as Ben Bernanke, Paul Krugman, and Carl Icahn, Professor Siciliano was named to the “Directorship 100” – a list of the most influential people in corporate governance.

Siciliano was also co-founder, CEO and ultimately Executive Chairman of LawLogix Group, Inc. – a global software technology company named 9 consecutive times to the Inc. 500/5000, several times ranked as one of the Top 100 fastest-growing private software companies in the US and named to the US Hispanic Business 500 (largest) and Hispanic Business 100 (fastest growing) lists for 2010 and 2011. In 2012 he sold a majority stake of the company to PNC Riverarch Capital, continued as Executive Chairman, and led the sale of the company to Hyland Software/Thoma Bravo in 2015.

Siciliano is a co-founder and board member of the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange (SVDX), Chairman of the national non-partisan American Immigration Council, past-President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council #1057, and an active member of the Latino Corporate Directors’ Association.


Siciliano’s related areas of expertise include executive compensation, corporate compliance, the legal and social impact of autonomous (AI/robotic) systems, and corporate technology strategy and security. He has served as a governance consultant and trainer to the Board of Directors of dozens of Fortune 1000 companies (including Google, Microsoft, Fedex, Disney, Entergy and Applied Materials), is an angel investor and consultant to several firms and companies in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, India, and Latin America, and currently serves as an independent director on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. He lives in Los Altos, California.