Monthly report of July

This monthly report covers the most significant news in the cryptocurrency world from July.

              
July in the cryptocurrency market
Most of the largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap ended up on the plus side for July. The price of Bitcoin fell to almost 25,000 euros, but with the upward trend at the end of the month, the price of Bitcoin ended up at just over 35,000 euros, which means a little less than 20% increase in a month. The price of Ethereum was at its lowest below 1,500 euros, but the rise towards the end of the month brought the price of Ethereum to around 2,150 euros, an increase of more than 10% in a month. The price of Chainlink increased more than 15% in July, while the price of Litecoin ended up only slightly on the plus side. However, of the cryptocurrencies offered by Northcrypto the most successful in July was Aave, which price rose more than 30% during the month.
Aave Pro: a decentralized lending service for institutions
The increase in the price of a Finnish background cryptocurrency was due, among other things, to the news of the launch of the Aave Pro solution. Aave Pro is a decentralized lending protocol that gives institutional investors direct access to the opportunities offered by DeFi. It was told in connection with the announcement that Aave Pro meets extensive demand from various institutions. As Aave Pro's target group are institutions, it requires users to follow the KYC procedure and AML rules. KYC means customer due diligence obligations and AML anti-money laundering regulations. Fireblocks, a company that offers a multifunctional cryptocurrency platform specifically for institutions, is responsible for implementing these in the Aave Pro. Initially, Aave Pro uses four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Aave and USDC stablecoin.
US banks enter the cryptocurrency market
During July, there was a lot of news about the entry of US banks into the cryptocurrency market. One of the banks featured in this news was Bank of America. It is the second largest bank in the United States with nearly 70 million customers. In mid-July, it came out that Bank of America has begun offering Bitcoin futures trading to some of its clients. A futures contract is an agreement between two parties that commits to buy or sell an underlying asset at an agreed price at a specified time in the future.
Positive news on cryptocurrencies was also received in connection with the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan. JPMorgan became the first major U.S. bank to begin offering cryptocurrency trading to all its wealth management clients. Prior to JPMorgan, similar decisions by other major banks, such as the Bank of America, have been limited to the wealthiest customers. In the case of JPMorgan, all of its wealth management clients can now trade five cryptocurrency products. These products include the Bitcoin and Ethereum Trusts offered by Grayscale, among others. Grayscale is the largest and probably best known provider of cryptocurrency trusts.
Also, Grayscale was in the news about another U.S. bank when it spoke about a partnership with the oldest bank in the United States, BNY Mellon. Grayscale announced that BNY Mellon will take responsibility for the accounting and administrative services of its Bitcoin Trust in October. In connection with the announcement, Grayscale also announced its intention to transform its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF, ie Exchange Traded Fund, in the future. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust is currently the largest cryptocurrency fund, managing more than €20 billion.
BNY Mellon also began collaborating with U.S. bank State Street and four other as-yet-unnamed banks. BNY Mellon and State Street are the two largest custodian banks in the world, responsible for the custody of their clients' various assets. These banks are developing a cryptocurrency trading platform called Pure Digital. Pure Digital is intended to be a fully automated trading platform for institutions. The custody of cryptocurrencies purchased through the platform is the responsibility of the banks. Initially, it is possible to trade only Bitcoin on the platform.
Summary
This year has seen a particular increase in US banks' interest in cryptocurrencies. In addition to Bank of America, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon and State Street, there have been cryptocurrency-related news related to Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo this year. These three major banks have begun to offer cryptocurrency trading for their wealthiest customers this year. In Finland, no bank has yet come out with positive news in terms of cryptocurrencies. For example, Nordea's attitude towards cryptocurrencies is quite negative as the bank has prohibited its employers to trade cryptocurrencies.
The entry of several world-renowned US banks into the cryptocurrency market is promising for the wider acceptance and adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Ville Viitaharju
Cryptocurrency specialist