Los Angeles-based investment firm Arca has launched a digital securities fund on the Ethereum blockchain, approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund will pay investors interest every quarter.

Binance has acquired cryptocurrency payments platform Swipe for an undisclosed sum, in a move that will bring it one step closer to launching its crypto debit card, the Binance Card.

Nearly $60 million worth of bitcoin were tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain last month, as investors use their BTC holdings to earn interest on DeFi protocols.

CryptoCompare’s Socket.IO streamers will be discontinued on July 13th - if you are using the service, we kindly invite you to update your code to upgrade to the new streaming API. 

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Arca Launches SEC-Approved Digital Securities Fund on Ethereum
• Binance Acquires Crypto Payments Platform Swipe for an Undisclosed Sum
• Nearly $60 Million Worth of BTC Moved Into Ethereum Last Month
• Upgrade to the new CryptoCompare WebSocket API by 13th of July

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $9,288.14 (0.24%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $1.96 bn. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $241.27 (1.58%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $724.23 million. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 3,213.40 (2.13%).

Arca Launches SEC-Approved Digital Securities Fund on Ethereum

Arca, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, has launched the “Arca U.S. Treasury Fund,” a digital securities fund registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Shares in the fund are called “ArCoin,” and will provide holders with interest payments every quarter. The interest will be generated as at least 80% of its assets will be short-term Treasury securities. Assets that are not moved to T-bills will be in cash, cash equivalents, investment-grade fixed-income securities, or assets Arca deemed of comparable quality.

The fund’s net asset value (NAV) is expected to stay relatively stable because of the investment in low-risk assets. The fund is the first product registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to be offered as digital security.

It’s notably the first time the SEC approved a fund based on blockchain technology. Arca’s CEO Ryan Steinberg commented:

“Our announcement today is a ground-breaking and transformative step toward the unification of traditional finance with digital asset investing as this new category of regulated, digital investment products is made available to investors.”

The Arca U.S. Treasury Fund’s ArCoins will be using the ERC-1404 token standard. Unlike the ERC-20 standard most ETH tokens are built on, ERC-1404 restricts token holders so they can only transact with whitelisted addresses.

Binance Acquires Crypto Payments Platform Swipe for an Undisclosed Sum

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the acquisition of crypto payments platform Swipe for an undisclosed amount. Both companies revealed they will “work together to further mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies,” by bringing fiat and digital assets further together.

The acquisition will get Binance one step closer to launching its Binance Card, a crypto debit card that is accepted at over 50 million locations throughout the world. The deal will, as such, allow Binance users to use cryptos as a payment method in the traditional financial system.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao noted that off-ramps are a key component to be considered in the firm's mission of “making crypto more accessible to the masses,” and added:

“By giving users the ability to convert and spend crypto directly, and have merchants still seamlessly accept fiat, this will make the crypto experience much better for everyone.”

Binance and Swipe have listed each other’s native tokens, as the exchange added SXP token trading pairs, while Swipe added Binance Coin (BNB) to the cryptocurrencies available as a payment method on its platform.

Swipe’s cards, which convert cryptoassets into fiat at the point of purchase so users pay with crypto but merchants receive in fiat, is available in 31 countries within the European Economic Area, and support transactions in euros, pounds, U.S. dollars, Korean won, and Philippine pesos.

Nearly $60 Million Worth of BTC Moved Into Ethereum Last Month

Data estimates from Dune Analytics reveals that nearly $60 million worth of bitcoin moved into Ethereum last month via tokenized bitcoin protocols. The oldest one on the Ethereum blockchain, Wrapped Bitcoin, was responsible for roughly 75% of the growth, moving over 4,800 BTC to ETH.

Users are moving their BTC onto the Ethereum blockchain to use tokenized versions of the flagship cryptocurrency on decentralized financial services, with yield farming and MakerDAO being strong catalysts, according to former Deutsche Bank associate and Delphi Digital co-founder Medio Demarco.

Ben Chan, BitGo’s CTO, commented:

"The purpose of WBTC is to bring bitcoin to the world of decentralized finance. Yield opportunities for lending and supplying WBTC in Ethereum-based applications are driving recent growth.”

On DeFi protocols, users can lend WBTC and other tokenized BTC tokens to earn interest on their holdings, while gaining a share of the protocols’ governance tokens. It’s also possible ot use the funds to take out loans.

Over $130 million worth of bitcoin is now on Ethereum, or roughly 0.08% of the cryptocurrency’s market cap. To Chan, bitcoin on Ethereum is “potentially bullish for both networks.

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