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As Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week's top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap.
 

Robinhood Acquires Ziglu

Robinhood (HOOD) announced on Tuesday that it signed a deal to acquire Ziglu Limited, a U.K.-based electronic money institution and cryptoasset firm. "With Ziglu, UK-based customers can buy and sell eleven cryptocurrencies, earn yield via its 'Boost' products, pay using a debit card, and move and spend money, even abroad, without fees," the company said in a blog post.

"In the near-term, nothing will change for current Ziglu customers. Longer-term, we'll integrate Ziglu more fully into Robinhood, bring the Robinhood brand overseas, and work to expand operations beyond the UK into Europe," it added.

Following the news, JMP Securities analyst Devin Ryan reiterated a Market Perform rating and $41 price target on Robinhood, saying that recent announcements indicate that crypto strategic momentum is "back on track" after the Ziglu acquisition. The analyst believes the deal should accelerate the expansion of Robinhood's crypto platform to the U.K. and Europe.

Ryan added that, more broadly, the acquisition follows a number of other announcements earlier this month that he believes indicate that the company has made substantial progress toward re-accelerating growth in its crypto platform.
 

Coinbase Releases Coinbase NFT Beta 

Sanchan Saxena, VP of Product, Ecosystem Products for Coinbase (COIN), said in a Wednesday blog:

"Last year we announced Coinbase NFT, a Web3 social marketplace for NFTs. Since then, we've been building in the open and getting input from the NFT community. We shared previews of our progress with collectors and creators and received amazing feedback. We learned that people don't just want better tools to buy and sell NFTs: they want better ways to discover them, better ways to find the right communities, and better spaces in which they can feel connected with each other.

"That's why we're building a product that's much more than a transaction. We're looking to empower people to create, collect, and connect. We're taking the first step on that journey by releasing our beta.

"Starting today, anyone can check out the first version of Coinbase NFT at nft.coinbase.com and explore the vast collection of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Beta testers will be able to create a Coinbase NFT profile to buy and sell NFTs using any self-custody wallet, whether that's Coinbase Wallet or something else."

Twitter, Stripe Pilot Crypto Payments for Creators 

In a Friday company blog post, Karan Sharma, product manager of Stripe Crypto said: 

"Creators, freelancers, sellers, and solopreneurs are building and creating all over the world. While it's easier than ever before to find customers and fans, getting paid can still be difficult, especially outside of major markets. We built Stripe Connect in part to solve this problem.

"Today, businesses around the world use Connect to programmatically send payouts to over 70 countries in local currencies. While we are continuously expanding our geographic coverage, many countries remain out of reach in part due to the intrinsic complexity involved in supporting heterogeneous local payments systems…"

"While the ‘store of value’ aspects of cryptocurrencies typically receive the most attention, we view the prospect of ‘open-access global financial rails’ as being at least equally compelling. As a result, we've been exploring ways to use cryptocurrency-based platforms to unlock broader access. Today, we're introducing crypto payouts for Connect. With crypto payouts, a select group of creators on Twitter -our first partner-will be able to use cryptocurrency-based rails to receive their earnings from Twitter.”

Silvergate Price Target Raises 

On Tuesday, Silvergate Capital (SI) reported first quarter earnings per share of 79c, which compared to the analyst consensus of 44c per share. The bank also reported net interest margin of 1.36%, which compared to 1.33% for the same period last year.

Following the report, Canaccord analyst Joseph Vafi raised the firm's price target on Silvergate Capital to $200 from $164 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst said he is gaining new appreciation for how well Silvergate is exploiting its bank charter as a tip of the spear in defining new use cases across the broader digital assets ecosystem.

Additionally, Craig-Hallum analyst George Sutton raised the firm's price target on Silvergate Capital to $160 from $150 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. On his earnings call, CEO Alan Lane stated "it's a great time to be a Bitcoin Banker," and it's "abundantly clear why," in the analyst's view.

Silvergate now has an "enviable and potentially dominant role" within the stablecoin market thanks to its technology acquisition from Diem, with one of the clearest regulatory paths at this stage of crypto market maturation, Sutton said. Additionally, the impressive incremental $500 million in SEN Leverage commitments this quarter should demonstrate to investors that SEN Leverage is a significant growth vehicle that is just beginning, he added.

Binance Limits Service in Russia 

In a Thursday company announcement, Binance said:

“Following the EU’s fifth package of restrictive measures against Russia, Binance is required to limit services for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, that have crypto assets exceeding the value of 10,000 EUR.

"As such, we require you to complete your proof-of-address verification. Accounts that classify under this restriction will be put into withdrawal-only mode. No deposits or trading will be permitted on these accounts. The limit also covers all spot, futures, custody wallets, and staked and earned deposits.

"In addition, all deposits to accounts for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia with over 10,000 EUR will be restricted. Accounts for Russian nationals residing outside Russia, as verified with proof of address, and accounts for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, that remain below a total value of 10,000 EUR, will remain unaffected and active.

"Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, with open Futures/Derivatives positions, and who have crypto account balances that exceed 10,000 EUR will be given 90 days to close out their positions. No new positions will be allowed to be added.”

Crypto Stock Plays 

Cryptocurrency revenues have been pointed to as reasons to be bullish on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in select research. Ideanomics (IDEX), Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Overstock (OSTK), Pareteum (TEUM), and SRAX (SRAX) are other stocks that have been touted, or promoted themselves, as a way to play the crypto theme.

Price Action 

As of time of writing, Bitcoin was roughly flat this week at around $40,307 in U.S. dollars, according to TradeBlock.