Top Crypto Stories This Week: From Bye-Den to Hello ETH ETFs, Hello Repayments
As the world was still reeling from the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the latest season of US politics took audiences on yet another twist this week as President Joe Biden dismissed himself from the Presidential race, making way for VP Kamala Harris.
The sudden, albeit highly requested, move by the Democrats has shaken up the Presidential race, and the future of America has once again been shaken up. For the crypto world, self-titled "Crypto President" Donald Trump appears to be the more favourable candidate. Scheduled to speak at Bitcoin 2024 tomorrow in Nashville, Trump is expected to cement his support base among the crypto crowd.
However, while Biden's friendliness with SEC Chair Gary Gensler went down as well as a lead balloon with the crypto community, Harris's stance on the industry is less clear.
With pockets of the crypto crowd, including Arthur Hayes, remaining cautious about Trump's sincerity towards the industry, the Web3 world is now waiting to see whether Harris has anything better to offer. She is, after all, unburdened by what has been. Or should that be un-Bidened?
Four straight minutes of “what can be, unburdened by what has been.” It’s incredible. I had no idea she used it this much. pic.twitter.com/TClfC1EyH6
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) June 29, 2024
Speaking of being unburdened by what has been, Mt Gox creditors have been rejoicing this week as repayments have finally materialised. It only took a decade. BlockFi creditors, who have waited just two years, have also received similar news.
And speaking of imagining what can be, this week also marked the kick-off of Ethereum ETFs - products we couldn't have imagined being listed on TradFi exchanges just a few years ago. Sadly, since the launch on Tuesday, ETH ETFs have experienced constant outflows.
Consequently, Ethereum's price has dropped almost 8% this week, while Bitcoin has slipped less than 2%.
Risk appetites on the Fear & Greed Index have increased from 60, "Greed," to 68, still "Greed."
The Fear & Greed Index uses 5-6 measurements to assess the current sentiment of the market and then rates that level of emotion on a scale of 1-100 – 1 is extreme fear and 100 is extreme greed.
But fret not, BRN is hear to calm your woes. "As Ethereum ETF inflows are only 20% of those from Bitcoin, it leads to unsatisfying net results for investors who are slowly dumping Ethereum after the launch," BRN analyst Valentin Fournier said.
"We recommend staying exposed to the potentially strong upside momentum and still favour Bitcoin over Ethereum in the short term as the Grayscale ETF selling pressure remains high."
Mt. Gox, BlockFi Begin Repayments to Customers - Here's How it Works
After years of waiting, disgruntled customers are finally getting their money back from Mt. Gox and BlockFi. Mt. Gox creditors have been waiting a decade for this moment, whilst BlockFi users have been suffering from anxiety over the last two years.
But how exactly will creditors be repaid? After all, we're hardly expecting a Mt. Gox airdrop.
dYdX Post-Mortem Reveals Two Users Lost $31K in DNS Hijack
A dYdX post-mortem has revealed that two users lost approximately $31,000 in its recent DNS (Domain Name System) hijack.
According to dYdX, on July 23, 2024, the "dYdX.exchange" domain was compromised when an attacker changed the DNS nameservers and removed the DNSSEC which is supposed to act as a layer of trust on top of the DNS by providing authentication.
Holding Bitcoin Could Get You Portuguese Citizenship
Are you holding more than $500,000 in Bitcoin? If so, you could be entitled to Portuguese citizenship.
Alessandro Palombo, the co-founder, and CEO of Unbound Fund, said that those holding €500,000 (US$542,000) in the Unbound Fund will be eligble for the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program.
Elixir Drops Mysterious Video - ELX Airdrop Soon?
On 23rd July 2024, Elixir posted a mysterious video with cash flying around ending with "coming soon" which excited many users. With mainnet scheduled on 15th August, could we expect ELX token sometime soon?
Firstly, what is Elixir? Elixir introduces liquidity to order book DEXs by acting as an infrastructure for exchanges to bootstrap liquidity to their books. Users can add liquidity by simply depositing assets in Elixir and choosing a trading pair on any of the 30+ native DEXs.
Coinbase Joins Tokenized Money Market Fund Craze, Hamilton Lane First to Launch Fund on Solana
Coinbase's asset management arm is creating a tokenized money market fund whilst Hamilton Lane becomes the first asset manager to launch a fund on Solana.
Earlier this month, BlackRock's BUIDL was the first tokenized treasury product to hit $500 million in assets, despite only launching in March
Sygnum Sets Sights on Hong Kong Expansion After Profitable H1 2024
Swiss-Singapore digital asset banking group Sygnum is setting its sights on further expansion in Asia after a strong first half of 2024. The company, now profitable, is looking to establish a regulated presence in Hong Kong, adding to its existing Singapore hub.
In an announcement today covering its H1 results, Sygnum reported a surge in client activity, with a 500% rise in crypto derivatives trading and a two-fold increase in spot trading volumes. The company also reported strong growth in loan volumes, and for its ETH staking-as-a-service product.
The TON Network (TON) - More Than Just a Blockchain?
The Open Network (TON) is a decentralized, layer-1 blockchain initially developed by the team behind the popular messaging app Telegram. Now maintained by the open-source community and indirectly supported by Telegram Inc. through the TON Foundation, TON employs a unique method called infinite dynamic sharding.
This allows the blockchain to split into multiple shard chains, each able to process transactions on its own, allowing TON to handle over 100,000 transactions per second in testing.
Toyota Plans to Use Ethereum Blockchain to Enhance Vehicle Value by Securing Car Accounts
Japanese car giant Toyota is considering using the Ethereum blockchain in its vehicles.
The move comes as part of Toyota's Mobility 3.0 concept, in which Toyota's Blockchain Lab is working on using the blockchain to manage cars as digital accounts.
Hex Trust Wins In-Principle Approval From Singapore's MAS for Major Payment Institution License
Crypto custodian Hex Trust has received in-principle approval (IPA) from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license.
The license allows firms to provide digital payment tokens and cross-border money transfer services in Singapore.
Worldcoin Refutes Insider Trading Claims
Worldcoin has denied allegations of insider trading. Earlier this week, we reported suspicion of individuals from the team engaged in insider trading.
As DefiSquared explained, "It appears likely (but not proven) that someone from the team or VCs used insider information to frontrun buying the news before it was even publicly announced."
Ethereum ETFs Go Live Today - Here's Why it Matters
The wait is over. Ethereum ETFs are finally going live on exchanges today. Six months after Bitcoin ETFs launched on US exchanges, ETH ETFs will now be unleashed onto the world.
As of yesterday afternoon, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allowed registration forms from 21Shares, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, VanEck and Invesco Galaxy, as well as Grayscale Ethereum Trust and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust.
Japan Blockchain Association Petitions for Crypto Tax Reform
Japanese crypto and blockchain firms are petitioning the government to reform the tax on cryptocurrencies.
According to an official Japan Blockchain Association (JBA) statement, the companies claim that high tax rates on crypto profits are "hindering" the ability to save and invest.
Bye-Then, Biden... Hello BTC $70K
Within a span of just over a week, someone tried to take out former President Donald Trump, a new Republican vice president was announced, President Joe Biden caught COVID, and now, current VP Kamala Harris might soon be the leader of the free world.
In the latest episode of US Politics 2024, Biden has removed himself from the presidential race - a move we were expecting but also not expecting.
Crypto Market Maker Wintermute Eyes $300 Million Fundraising With Tencent on Board
Market maker Wintermute is reportedly in talks with investors to raise $200 million to $300 million in fresh capital. This potential fundraising round, which could include the sale of existing shares by early investors and employees, would value Wintermute at roughly $2 billion, according to a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter.
Tencent Holdings, the Chinese tech giant behind the popular WeChat platform, is reportedly among the investors in talks with Wintermute. While blockchain isn't a core focus for Tencent, they have explored the space through investments in companies like Everledger and Immutable. The company's potential involvement in Wintermute's fundraising could signal growing interest from established tech giants in the crypto market.
Judge Approves Binance.US to Invest Customer Assets in T-Bills
Even Binance wants a piece of the Treasury bills game. According to reports, Binance.US has received approval from a US judge to invest customer assets in US Treasury bills.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the US District Court for the District of Columbia signed an order on Friday that frees Binance.US from restrictions enforced by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Messari CEO Ryan Selkis Quits After Anti-Immigrant, Pro-Trump Tweets
Being cancelled for something you wrote on social media years ago might be unfair, unjust, and unreasonable, but being cancelled for recently calling for death by fire on half of America's population, as well as the deportation of a legitimate Green Card holder, is probably quite reasonable.
Ryan Selkis, the CEO and co-founder of crypto research firm Messari, has felt the internet's wrath after sending out politically charged tweets that ultimately led to the resignation of his position.
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