• Xapo rebrands to become a regulated Gibraltar bank, supporting Lightning Network.
• Sovereign Roll-Ups offer different approaches to store or hash transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.
• Silvergate banking crisis causes crypto companies to question how they can move funds.
Xapo Rebrands as Regulated Bank Supporting Lightning
Xapo, one of the original players in the crypto industry, recently rebranded and became a bank regulated out of Gibraltar. Additionally, it now supports Lightning Network which has caught the attention of many in the industry. This is a significant milestone as it means that a regulated European bank is now backing Lightning and puts it more firmly on the map.
Sovereign Roll-Ups: Storing or Hashing Transactions on Bitcoin Blockchain
The concept of sovereign roll-ups has been gaining traction in recent times and dates back to Ordinals which allowed for large JPEGs to be stored on the Bitcoin blockchain. A company has also stated that users can put roll-ups on Bitcoin – these are essentially blobs of transactions subbed in for use with BTC. Although there is debate about whether this is a good thing or not, it does suggest different approaches can be taken when storing or hashing transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Silvergate Fallout: Banking Options for Crypto Companies
Silvergate was offering custodial banking services with its real-time settlement network until it experienced massive drops in deposits – 77%Q4 and 90% afterwards – which no traditional bank could have survived such a stress test without shutting down operations altogether. This led crypto companies to question how they can still move money given that assets within this class have greater mobility than most other asset classes would traditionally allow for.
Microstrategy: A Sensible Equity Play for Bitcoin
Microstrategy has recently been making headlines as one of the more sensible equity plays for Bitcoin due to its substantial amount of debt some parts of which yield high interests rates up to 6%. This high beta on BTC makes it seem like an attractive option although there are risks associated with equities that need to be weighed before investing any capital into them .
Conclusion
Crypto and banking markets have both been experiencing tremendous growth over the past few years but their relationship hasn’t always been positive or free from challenges – as seen by recent events such as Xapo’s shift into becoming a regulated European bank supporting Lightning Network, Silvergate’s banking crisis leading crypto companies questioning how they can move funds and Microstrategy being touted as one of the more sensible equity plays for BTC albeit with high risk associated with investing into equities overall .