Businesses expand further into crypto as institutional interest jumps: Market wrap

Despite the decline, different companies around the world are investing in cryptocurrencies and countries devising policies to regulate these digital coins.

Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy announced that it has bought about an additional 5,050 Bitcoins.

The business intelligence software company now owns 114,042 Bitcoins.

It also said it bought approximately 8,957 Bitcoins for $419.9 million in cash during the third quarter between July 1 and Sept. 12.

Hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management has formed a new unit to manage crypto and digital assets, signaling its growing interest in the fast-evolving asset class.

As the London-based investment firm explained, the creation of BH Digital aims to expand its reach in the cryptocurrency market.

It also appointed Colleen Sullivan, CEO and co-founder of CMT Digital, as head of private investment and venture activities in the sector, according to a statement released Monday.

“This move underscores the company’s commitment to rapidly expanding its platform and offering in cryptocurrency and digital assets,” Aaron Landy, CEO of Brevan Howard, said in the statement.

The new unit follows Brevan Howard’s decision earlier this year to start investing up to 1.5 percent of a major hedge fund's capital in digital assets.

Co-founder Alan Howard also recently acquired a 25 percent stake in One River Asset Management, a company that Howard backed with crypto funds.

Bancoagricola, the largest financial institution in El Salvador, is now accepting bitcoin to pay off debts arising from the use of its instruments.

The foundation has partnered with payments network Flexa, to include the capabilities of the cryptocurrency in its platform.

According to a statement, customers will be able to pay for financial instruments such as: Loans, mortgages and credit card debt using bitcoin, in compliance with the bitcoin law.

Bancoagricola also allows merchants using the services of a digital payment processor, Wompi, to receive bitcoin for goods and services sold.

As a reflection of the massive demand for high-quality DeFi projects from Cardano, and the perfect timing with the launch of ADA smart contracts after the Alonzo upgrade, the ADAlend seed round was 400 percent oversubscribed.

Debt offering

Coinbase Global Inc. is planning to raise about $1.5 billion through a debt offering to invest in product development and potential mergers and acquisitions, the US cryptocurrency exchange said on Monday.

The fundraising plans come less than a week after the company said US regulators would sue the exchange if it went ahead with plans to launch a program allowing users to earn interest by lending digital assets.

“This capital raise represents an opportunity to bolster our already-strong balance sheet with low-cost capital,” Coinbase said in a statement.

Walmart’s denial

Walmart Inc. said on Monday that a press release announcing a partnership with litecoin, which briefly led to a nearly 30 percent surge in the cryptocurrency’s price, was fake.

The retailer said it was looking into how such an announcement, which was published by press release distributor GlobeNewswire, was issued earlier in the day.

“Walmart had no knowledge of the press release issued by GlobeNewswire and there is no truth to it. Walmart has no relationship with litecoin,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Separately, the Litecoin Foundation tweeted it has not entered into a pact with the retailer.

Tax

The Indian government is looking to tax cryptocurrency trades and ecosystem in the country, news website ET Now tweeted on Monday, citing sources.

The tax department is in favor of taxing crypto exchanges and trades and the government feels that any activity that generates income must pay tax, ET Now reported.