Addition of Ripple (XRP), EOS (EOS), Stellar Lumens (XLM), OmiseGo (OMG) and ZRX (0x) brings Total Interest-Bearing Assets Offered on Voyager App to 14

Introduces Recurring Buys Feature

NEW YORK, May 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Voyager Digital Canada, Ltd. (“Voyager” or the “Company”) (CSE: VYGR;OTCQB: VYGVF; FRA: UCD2), a public, licensed crypto-asset broker that provides investors with a turnkey solution to trade crypto assets, today announced the addition of Ripple (XRP), EOS (EOS), Stellar Lumens (XLM), OmiseGo (OMG) and ZRX (0x) to its list of interest-bearing assets offered on the Voyager App. The Company will also add recurring buys to the App in the month of May. 

The addition of these five new assets brings the total number of interest-bearing assets offered through Voyager’s Crypto Interest Program to 14 at a time when investors are looking for safe haven alternatives to traditional equity markets. Voyager’s Crypto Interest Program offers interest rates of up to six percent, a significant premium to traditional savings accounts, especially with interest rates near zero.

Voyager’s 14 Interest-Bearing Assets

Asset

Rate

Asset

Rate

Bitcoin

3.50%

TUSD

3.00%

Bitcoin Cash

2.00%

USDT

3.00%

Ethereum

2.00%

XRP *

2.00%

Litecoin

2.00%

XLM *

1.00%

Dash

3.00%

EOS *

2.00%

VGX

3.00%

ZRX *

2.00%

USDC

6.00%

OMG *

1.00%

Bold* denotes the five newly added assets to Voyager’s Crypto Interest Program

“At Voyager Digital, our mission has always been customer-centric,” said Steve Ehrlich, CEO and co-founder of Voyager Digital. “As people continue to turn to digital assets, particularly stablecoins, for safe havens in this time of uncertainty, we want to do whatever we can to protect their assets while maximizing value. That’s why we continue to expand our Crypto Interest Program and make updates to our App, such as adding the recurring buy feature. We are committed to the best user experience amongst digital asset brokers.”

Recurring Buys Feature

In May, Voyager customers will have the ability to set up recurring purchases of digital assets as a way to automate their investing and dollar-cost averaging. All assets purchased by customers through the recurring buys tool will also automatically earn interest.

For more information on Voyager Digital, please visit https://www.investvoyager.com The Voyager App is available for Android and iPhone worldwide.

About Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd.
Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd. is a crypto-asset broker that provides retail and institutional investors with a turnkey solution to trade crypto assets. Voyager offers customers best execution and safe custody on a wide choice of popular crypto-assets. Voyager was founded by established Wall Street and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who teamed to bring a better, more transparent and cost-efficient alternative for trading crypto-assets to the marketplace. Please visit us at https://www.investvoyager.com for more information and to review the latest Corporate Presentation.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information: The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd. Contacts
Media:
Anthony Feldman / Raquel Cona
(347) 487-6194 / (212) 682-6300
[email protected] / [email protected]

Investor Relations:
Phil Carlson / Scott Eckstein
(212) 896-1233 / (212) 896-1210
[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Voyager Digital

https://www.investvoyager.com

Source: www.prnewswire.com

Author: Voyager Digital

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‘Black Thursday’ Distortion Makes Bitcoin Options Look Cheaper

With a key metric declining to record lows, bitcoin’s options market may be underpricing cryptocurrency’s future volatility. Analysts say the data is being distorted by “Black Thursday’s” 40% drop. 

The spread between bitcoin’s three-month implied volatility (IV) and historical or realized volatility (RV) fell to -47% on Wednesday, the lowest since the crypto derivatives research firm Skew began tracking the data 18 months ago. 

The spread turned negative in March and has continued to drop ever since.  “Historically, RV has been lower than IV for bitcoin over the last 18 months, except for a short period in the months around September 2019,” noted analytics resource Arcane Research in its monthly report.

What the IV-RV spread usually signifies

Implied volatility is the market’s expectation of how risky or volatile an asset will be in the future. It is computed by taking an option and the underlying asset’s price along with other inputs such as time to expiration. Realized, or historical, volatility is the standard deviation from the average price of the underlying asset. It measures volatility actually realized in the past. 

Volatility has a positive impact on options price. Higher volatility (uncertainty) leads to stronger hedging demand and a higher price for both call (bullish bet) and put options (bearish bet). 

Bitcoin’s three-month implied volatility is hovering near its lifetime average of 4.2%, a sign options appear to be fairly valued.

Traders often expect volatility to be mean reverting, meaning it typically rises after it gets too low and falls after it gets too high, in the process influencing options prices. As a result, seasoned traders keep track of changes in the IV-RV spread, the differential between implied volatility and its lifetime average.

Options prices are considered to be cheap if the IV-RV spread suggests the implied volatility is too low compared to the realized volatility or the average implied volatility. Alternatively, options are considered to be overvalued if the implied volatility is too high compared to its lifetime average or historical volatility. 

Put simply, options traders buy calls or puts when implied volatility is too low, the logic being that IV will rise back toward its mean, making options dearer. Meanwhile, traders sell options when implied volatility is too high on hope that IV will fall back toward its mean, making options cheaper. 

The March 12 effect

Investors may read the recent drop in bitcoin’s three-month IV-RV spread as a sign the expected volatility is too low and options prices are very cheap compared to historical standards. 

However, that is not necessarily the case because the three-month realized volatility is distorted and being held high by bitcoin’s 40% drop registered on March 12. 

“The three-month realized volatility still includes that 12th of March point where bitcoin sold off around 40% in a single day,” said Skew’ CEO Emmanuel Goh, while adding that after mid-June the realized volatility would fall as the March 12 data point will be excluded from calculations. 

Validating Goh’s argument is the fact that short-duration realized volatility metrics have come down sharply from March’s lofty heights. 

The 10-day realized volatility is seen at 80% at press time, down significantly from the high of 321% registered on March 21. Meanwhile, one-month RV stands at 72%, having topped out at 200% on April 21. 

Options look fairly valued

Bitcoin’s three-month implied volatility is hovering near its lifetime average of 4.2% at press time, a sign options appear to be fairly valued.

However, both volatility (uncertainty) and option prices are likely to rise as we head closer to next Tuesday’s mining reward halving. The programmed code will reduce rewards per block mined to 6.25 BTC from 12.25 BTC. 

While most analysts have hailed the supply-altering event as positive for bitcoin’s price, historical data indicates scope for a short-term pullback. 

Uncertainty tends to rise ahead of such binary events, boosting demand for option prices.

Source: www.coindesk.com

Author: Daniel Kuhn

Dutch Central Bank Forces Crypto Firms to Register Within Two Weeks or Face Cease and Desist

The Dutch Central Bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has announced that crypto companies must register with the authority by May 18, or to stop operating immediately.

DNB has enforced the Dutch anti-money laundering (AML) laws, which was passed by the Dutch Parliament in April to comply with the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD4) laws. The Dutch AML laws are in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force-recommended AML directives and standards. 

The AMLD4 laws were amended on April 21 by the Dutch Upper House, which states that firms that offer services to convert crypto and fiat, and crypto custody services must cease and desist if they do not register with the central bank by the deadline. The report did not make it clear regarding why the Dutch Central Bank decided to cite the European’s AMLD4, rather than the most recent directive, the AMLD5. 

A draft application could be sufficient to fulfill the registration requirements by May 18, according to DNB’s announcement. The tight two-week notice may have been implemented due to the fact that the Dutch Parliament did not strengthen its AML laws until April 21, although the EU released its fifth EU AMLD in September last year, and all EU members had until early January to implement the directive. 

Dutch central bank aims to play a leading role in developing CBDC in Europe

DNB made an announcement in its bulletin, saying that it aims to become the world leader in the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The report highlighted that the topic of CBDC has gained more public exposure in the Netherlands than in “several other euro area countries for several reasons.”

The Dutch central bank has a positive outlook on CBDCs, as it believes that central bank money is essential to preserve as it is important for people to maintain essential trust in the monetary system.

The European Central Bank (ECB) previously expressed its interest in launching a digital Euro and stated that they have been doing theoretical research and practical experimentation. The report stated that the Netherlands could be a suitable testing ground for its testing. Even after evaluating the potential risks of CBDCs, the Dutch central bank said, “We are ready to play a leading role.”

The central bank emphasized that the use of cash is declining in the country, signaling that its citizens are using less central bank-issued currency for purchases. A CBDC could potentially allow more diversity in the payments market, as well as making cross-border payments to be more efficient, according to the central bank.

ECB encourages a robust regulatory structure for stablecoins

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an in-depth report on global stablecoins, focusing on highlighting the requirement for clear regulatory parameters for stablecoins, and the risks it may pose to financial stability. The ECB suggests that a “robust regulatory framework” must be established to address risks before its benefits could be explored.

The ECB recognizes that stablecoins could potentially improve the efficiency of the financial sector and access to financial services across the globe. Comparing stablecoins to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, stablecoins could provide an alternative to volatile cryptocurrencies. The report stated, “A typical stablecoin arrangement (made up of the coin itself and the associated transfer platform and ancillary functions) seeks to reduce price volatility by anchoring the coin to a “safe” low-volatility reference asset or basket of assets.

Source: blockchain.news

Author: Sarah Tran

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