Nick van Eck stated that Van Eck's legacy of launching a new $12 million VC-backed USD stablecoin, called Agora dollars, will not be available in the US until all legislation is passed. Nick van Eck, the son of asset management expert Jan van Eck, is preparing to launch a new US dollar-backed stablecoin after completing a $12 million funding round. Crypto veterans Drake Evans and Joe McGrady have joined Van Eck to build Agora, which will launch the Agora dollar and AUSD tokens in October, as reported by Bloomberg on April 2. Nick van Eck will become the CEO.
AUSD will be backed entirely by cash, US government bonds, and repurchase agreements, with $90 billion managed by VanEck Asset Management - Agora retail fund - of which Jan van Eck is the CEO. The $12 million funding round was led by the VC firm Dragonfly, with additional investments from Robot Ventures, Wintermute, Genre, and Catalyst General, where Van Eck serves as a partner. Evans was previously the head of credit at the decentralized finance company Frax Finance, and Joe McGrady was the chief operating officer at the asset management firm Digital Digital. Agora's parent company is incorporated in Delaware and offers stablecoins in the British Virgin Islands. For now, it will only serve certain markets outside the US.
Van Eck believes that countries such as Argentina and Southeast Asia will benefit most from the dollar. According to CoinGecko, Agora joins the stablecoin market led by Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), which have a market capitalization of $104.3 billion and $32.5 billion, respectively. All six products below have sales of over $500 million. However, Van Eck thinks there's still room for a newcomer. Agora will focus on building strong partnerships with all industry players, from money exchanges to deposits, consumer applications, and commercial institutions. Van Eck said AUSD holders will not receive the same amount as TerraClassicUSD (USTC) holders before its eventual collapse in May 2022.
Hester Peirce Criticizes SEC's Closed-Door Policy for Stifling Crypto Innovation
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce again criticized her agency, calling for more cooperation with the public while criticizing the government's enforcement of the law. Speaking at the SEC's annual meeting on April 2, Peirce, also known as "Crypto Mom" by crypto enthusiasts, said a "very harmful plant" had emerged from the SEC's "secret garden" of political regulation. reply. In March 2022, the SEC issued SAB 121, which established accounting rules for crypto asset management companies. Specifically, SAB 121 prohibits many banks from managing crypto assets on their behalf. from customers.
Peirce argued that SAB 121 was enacted not to protect investors without the input of the banking industry, but to protect experienced banks and dealers in the securities industry because of their risks. It is forcing retailers to allocate more capital to warehousing activities or avoid them altogether. SAB 121 is unlikely to protect investors. He added that if the trustees fail, those assets could be treated as belonging to the bankrupt company and not as customers of the company. On March 1, the House Financial Services Committee (HSFC) passed a resolution calling for the notice to be withdrawn. Representative Tom Emmer called SAB 121 an unfair demonstration of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's bias against natural resources.
Peirce said people avoid the SEC out of fear of enforcement, especially in crypto, which is a priority for increased oversight. People have told me they want to have meaningful discussions with employees, but they worry that such a meeting will inevitably be called by management. The commissioner asked the SEC to restore open communication with the public, provide clear guidance, and facilitate rather than hinder responsible innovation, including the crypto lock. In the letter I wrote on April 3.
ARK Bitcoin ETF Records $87M Outflow, Surpassing GBTC
Cathie Wood's ARK Bitcoin ETF holds a record $87 million, surpassing GBTC Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has seen outflows since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the US. Ark 21Shares fu (ARKB) revenue as of April 2 was $87.5 million - approximately 1300 BTC, according to preliminary data from Farside Investors. Today marks the second consecutive day of outflows for ARKB, which lost $300,000 in assets since its debut on April 1st.
BlackRock's $150.5 million inflow led to $40.3 million in net inflows on the day, despite outflows from ARKB and GBTC. Despite recent outflows, ARKB remains the third-largest spot ETF, with $2.2 billion in AUM. ARKB trails behind BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s funds, which command respective AUMs of $14.1 billion and $7.6 billion. ARKB is also the sixth-largest holder of BTC among funds, corporations, and miners, currently holding a total of 44,662 BTC on its books, according to data from HODL15Capital.
GBTC, despite losing 291,000 Bitcoin since converting to an ETF, still holds the most Bitcoin, with around 329,000 Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin has been on the decline since the beginning of this month, falling around 9% from last week's high of $71,500 and briefly dipping below $65,000 on April 3 amid increasing ETF outflows. In an April 2 note to X, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas announced the launch of the first 2x and -2x positions using Bitcoin ETFs. The ProShares-based fund trades under the tickers BITU and SBIT. Balchunas also said Bitcoin ETFs sold approximately $111 billion in March, nearly three times the total for February and January combined.
