Bitcoin Daily: Stablecoin X8 Expected to Debut in Early 2022; Crypto Group Says Stablecoins Shouldn’t Be Under New Rules; Bitcoin Futures ETF to Launch on NYSE

Swiss-based FinTech X8 will move forward with plans to issue a new stablecoin in the first quarter of 2022, according to a press release.

The stablecoin will be released through the Swiss Sandbox, an innovation space for FinTech applications and their business models to be tested, the release stated.

The company said in the release that its goal is to get a FinTech license, which would let X8 take deposits from the public up to a maximum threshold of 100 million Swiss francs (about $108 million).

In other news, the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a crypto lobby group, said asset-backed stablecoins don’t need new rules and don’t post a systemic risk to the country’s financial system, Reuters reported

Stablecoins have grown more popular during the pandemic and have thus come under more scrutiny, according to the report.

The Chamber of Digital Commerce said stablecoins are “not at significant scale to merit a separate, compulsory regulatory regime,” and that they should be treated like other retail-focused digital payment tools, not differently because they’re using new technology, the report stated.

Meanwhile, the first official bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Tuesday (Oct. 19) under the symbol BITO, CNBC reported.

The ETF will come from ProShares, and it will track the bitcoin futures market, according to the report.

“We believe a multitude of investors have been eagerly awaiting the launch of a bitcoin-linked ETF after years of efforts to launch one,” ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir said in a statement Monday (Oct. 18), per the report. “BITO will open up exposure to bitcoin to a large segment of investors who have a brokerage account and are comfortable buying stocks and ETFs, but do not desire to go through the hassle and learning curve of establishing another account with a cryptocurrency provider … or are concerned that these providers may be unregulated and subject to security risks.”

Bitcoin futures ETFs will be a big step forward for the nascent crypto industry, the report stated. The industry has struggled with the best way to get a solid footing in the finance world, which often faces stringent regulations.

Another futures-based ETF could also launch this week, according to the report.