Today in crypto, Nvidia’s earnings beat lifted tech stocks and crypto, Kraken submitted a confidential filing to go public in the US and the Basel Committee’s Banking Supervision chair says it may need a “different approach” to the current crypto risk for banks.
Nvidia’s blowout Q3 earnings lift crypto, tech stocks
Nvidia posted record third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations and allaying fears of an AI bubble, which helped to lift crypto and tech stocks in after-hours trading.
The chip maker reported record Q3 revenues of $57 billion, up 62% from a year ago, along with profits $31.9 billion, up 65% from last year. Both figures blew past analyst expectations and helped to arrest a weeks long slide in tech stocks over concerns of an AI bubble.
Nvidia (NVDA) jumped 5% after-hours to $196 after closing trading on Wednesday up 2.85%. Shares in crypto companies also got a boost, with Coinbase (COIN), Strategy (MSTR) and Circle Internet Group (CRCL) all seeing slight bumps after finishing the trading session down.
The earnings helped buoy Bitcoin (BTC), which has climbed to nearly $93,000 as of early trading on Thursday after Nvidia’s announcement, climbing from below $89,000, which it hit on Wednesday for the first time since April.
Kraken lays groundwork for US IPO
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has submitted a Form S-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO of its common stock, as digital asset companies continue to push toward public listings.
The potential offering is subject to SEC review following the 43-day US government shutdown, which ended last week.
Rumors about Kraken’s IPO ambitions have circulated for months, despite co-CEO Arjun Sethi saying just last week that the exchange was not rushing to go public.
Kraken’s filing comes less than 24 hours after it announced securing $800 million in new funding at a $20 billion valuation. The latest tranche included a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities.
US, UK revolt forces Basel to rethink crypto rules for banks
Global bank regulators are preparing to revisit their most stringent crypto rules after the United States and the United Kingdom refused to implement them, a move that threatens to unravel the long-standing consensus of the Basel Committee.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Erik Thedéen, the governor of the Swedish central bank and chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), said they may need a “different approach” to the current 1,250% risk weighting for crypto exposures.
According to global law firm White & Case, the application of the 1,250% risk weight means that credit institutions must hold their own funds of at least equal value to the amount of the respective crypto-asset exposure.
Under the existing framework, crypto assets issued on a permissionless blockchain, which includes stablecoins such as USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC), receive the same 1,250% risk weighting used for the riskiest venture investments.
However, Thedéen acknowledged that the rapid growth of regulated stablecoins has changed the policy landscape. “What has happened has been fairly dramatic,” Thedéen told the Financial Times, adding that there is a strong increase in stablecoins and that the amount of assets in the system calls for a new approach.