Dubai Approves First Crypto Law Whilst Inflation Data Raises Concerns

GB Market Commentary 11/03/2022

by Marcus Sotiriou

After yesterday’s concerning CPI data, Bitcoin remains stable at around $39,000. February’s inflation came in as expected at 7.9% year-over-year and 0.8% month-over-month. This is larger than January’s month-over-month increase of 0.6%, showing that inflation is accelerating. This raises more concerns regarding how the Federal Reserve will combat inflation without causing a recession, which is defined by 2 consecutive quarters of negative year-over-year GDP growth. If the Federal Reserve is forced to hike rates aggressively then growth will slow making a recession likely. We will have more clarity on how the Federal Reserve interprets the CPI data and hence how they will impact markets at the next FOMC meeting on March 15th.

History has been made in Dubai this week as they have approved the first law to regulate digital assets. In addition, they have established a regulator to oversee crypto activities and regulate crypto service providers. Sheikh Mohammed said, “The goal is to establish the UAE and Dubai’s position as a key player in designing the future of virtual assets globally.” It is clear that an increasing amount of countries are racing to become global leaders in crypto.

Financial institutions are taking a more acceptive approach to the crypto industry as Santander plan to offer loans backed by agricultural commodity tokens. Santander has partnered with Agrotoken, an Argentinian startup that developed a group of grain-backed tokens - these allow producers to transact with their commodities.

Argentinian producers have already validated the software product as a test run has been executed. Santander reports this is the first product of its kind, linking financial products with agricultural tokens, including blockchain services to facilitate transactions.

The Head of Agrobusiness at Santander Argentina, Fernando Bautista, said, “this is the first time that a service platform uses blockchain technology and crypto assets to expand the agricultural credit market and release the business potential of the producer.” The fact that a global bank is using blockchain technology to revolutionise agriculture is an indication of how blockchain is/will be at the core of the current fourth industrial revolution.