Kalam Crypto #124: Qatar To Legalize Digital Assets

This week, we bring you some positive news from Qatar as they plan to develop a legal framework for digital assets by Q4 this year. We’ll also dive into how Bitcoin ETFs responded to last week’s market volatility.

12 Aug, 2024

CoinMENA Team

Author

“A positive mindset won't carry you to victory, but a negative one guarantees defeat.”

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 124th edition of CoinMENA’s weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, we bring you some positive news from Qatar as they plan to develop a legal framework for digital assets by Q4 this year. We’ll also dive into how Bitcoin ETFs responded to last week’s market volatility and discuss the growing trend of companies adding Bitcoin as a reserve asset to their balance sheets—and reaping the rewards! All this and more in this week’s Kalam Crypto.

Local News 📍

Qatar plans to legalize digital assets by Q4 2024, marking a significant shift from its previous ban on Bitcoin. The country is developing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, including the establishment of a tokenization framework within the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC). This framework aims to provide legal certainty and a secure technological environment for digital assets. It will address key issues such as legal recognition, ownership of underlying assets, custody arrangements, the transfer and exchange of digital assets, and the use of smart contracts.

Lightning Round ⚡️

Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) plans to buy more bitcoin: Marathon Digital Holdings plans to raise $250 million through convertible senior notes to increase its bitcoin holdings, which currently exceed 20,000 BTC. This initiative follows a recent $100 million bitcoin purchase and comes after a Q2 2024 net loss of $199.7 million. The success of the offering, with notes maturing in September 2031, is subject to market conditions.

The Japanese Microstrategy (Metaplanet) plans to buy more bitcoin: Metaplanet purchased an additional 57.1 bitcoin worth $3.3 million, bringing its total holdings to 303.095 BTC. Since adopting Bitcoin as a reserve asset, their stock has surged by 600%.

El Salvador’s Economy is Thriving: El Salvador is set to receive a record $1.62 billion investment from Turkish company Yilport to develop two seaports, supporting the construction of its "Bitcoin City." The country has been experiencing an economic revitalization since becoming the first to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Additionally, El Salvador has been dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin, purchasing one bitcoin per day since 2022, and now holds over 5,800 bitcoins.

Keep an eye on 👀

During last week’s market volatility, driven by the unwinding of the Yen Carry Trade, Bitcoin ETFs saw mixed results. Overall flows were slightly negative, with significant outflows on Monday, followed by stability and a rebound later in the week as prices recovered. Notably, GBTC experienced its highest weekly outflows since April, while other Bitcoin ETFs, excluding GBTC, saw net inflows.

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Tweet Of The Week 🐥

Adopting bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset has proven to be good for business. The results speak for themselves: