Crypto Long & Short: What Are Regulators Thinking?
Bitcoin on Ethereum
By now, most observers of the crypto markets are aware that there’s Bitcoin, and there’s Ethereum, and they are very different. Wrapped BTC (WBTC), an ERC-20 token backed 1:1 by bitcoin, launched in February 2019 as a joint initiative between decentralized exchange startups Kyber Network and Republic Protocol, as well as cryptocurrency custody company BitGo.
Other bitcoin-backed Ethereum-based tokens have since emerged, such as tBTC, but wBTC is the market leader for now, accounting for two thirds of all BTC on Ethereum. CHAIN LINKS
George Ball, former President of E.F. Hutton in its heyday (older readers may remember the classic TV ads), former CEO of Prudential Securities and current CEO of financial services firm Sanders Morris Harris, suggested in a Reuters interview that bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies could be “a safe haven” for investors and traders as an alternative investment.