headlines
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF hits $4.6 billion in first-day trading volume
Odaily News The trading volume of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reached US$4.6 billion on the first day of listing, of which Grayscale’s GBTC trading volume exceeded US$2.1 billion, BlackRock’s IBIT exceeded US$1 billion, and Fidelity’s FBTC exceeded US$680 million.
Odaily News According to statistics, the U.S. SEC needs to make approval decisions on multiple Ethereum spot ETF applications before the end of May, including VanEck, Ark 21 Shares and Hashdex Ethereum ETF.
In addition, the U.S. SEC must make a decision on Grayscale’s application to convert the ETH trust into an ETF by June 18, Invesco’s application by July 5, and Fidelity’s application by August 3. A decision will be made on BlackRocks application by August 7.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas previously said that after the SEC approved the Bitcoin spot ETF, he expected the Ethereum spot ETF to be approved in May with a 70% chance.
Digital asset lawyer Joe Carlasare believes that the Ethereum spot ETF will be approved this year, but approval may take longer than people expect. At the same time, the US SEC is also working hard to carefully create a precedent that allows them to decide which digital assets are allowed. ETFs retain some discretion when entering the market. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News Stablecoin issuer Circle has filed for an IPO confidentially. Circle did not disclose the number of shares it plans to sell or the proposed price range of the new IPO application. The company said it expects the initial public offering to proceed after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions. (Reuters)
Industry news
GBTC completes ETF transformation, Bloomberg terminal has updated fund type labels
Odaily News Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted on the X platform that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Fund GBTC has completed the ETF transformation and currently has its fund type label set to ETF in the Bloomberg terminal.
Grayscale files for Bitcoin-covered options ETF after GBTC conversion
Odaily News Grayscale Investments filed an application for a so-called covered options ETF designed to generate income from GBTC holdings, a day after its spot Bitcoin ETF received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Covered Option ETF is designed to provide and deliver current income while also providing the opportunity to participate in the price returns of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust,” according to a Form N-1 A filed Thursday afternoon.
According to the filing, the fund will not invest directly in digital assets.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, said in a post on the Changes in Bitcoin ETFs.”
The new filing comes hours after Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF, GBTC, and 10 other ETFs began trading on Thursday morning. As of this afternoon, trading volume on these products has exceeded $4 billion. (The Block)
Odaily News As the spot Bitcoin fund begins its first day of trading in the United States, users with Vanguard Group brokerage accounts are unable to participate.
When contacted on Thursday, the day after the SEC approved 11 spot funds, customer service representatives from Vanguard Group said Bitcoin ETFs were not available on the platform because the products are considered “highly speculative.” Unregulated and inconsistent with the companys long-term investment philosophy. The representative also noted that the platform does not allow other types of investments, such as leveraged ETFs.
A company spokesperson confirmed that spot Bitcoin funds cannot be traded on the platform.
We also have no plans to offer a Vanguard Bitcoin ETF or other crypto-related products - our long-standing view is that the high volatility of cryptocurrencies is inconsistent with our goal of helping investors generate positive real returns over the long term, the spokesperson said. Going in the opposite direction.”
UBS will allow some clients to trade spot Bitcoin ETFs under certain conditions
Odaily News CoinDesk quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that UBS Group (UBS) will allow some customers to trade Bitcoin spot ETFs if they meet certain conditions, but the conditions include that UBS cannot solicit transactions, and accounts with lower risk tolerance cannot It is not possible to participate in such transactions.
Source: Merrill Lynch is waiting to see whether to launch Bitcoin spot ETF
Odaily News FOX reporter Eleanor Terrett posted on the X platform that Merrill Lynch currently does not support Bitcoin spot ETF transactions.
Merrill Lynch is waiting to see what happens with ETF trading before deciding whether to change its internal policy, which currently does not allow such products, the sources said.
Robinhood plans to launch Bitcoin spot ETF product soon
Odaily News Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev said that his platform plans to launch various approved Bitcoin spot ETF products as soon as possible. (The Block Pro Headlines)
Goldman Sachs: Institutional investors may benefit from approval of spot Bitcoin ETF
Odaily News Goldman Sachs said in a report that institutional investors may benefit from the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, as these products will allow them to trade proxies with lower management fees and participate more actively in arbitrage strategies and options. Hedge.
Other benefits, according to the report, include “investor protection provided by ETFs, greater liquidity than accessing Bitcoin through private funds given the ability to trade in and out, and lower tracking error compared to closed-end funds and trusts. Low, ETF vehicles utilize standard accounting and reporting processes for portfolio management.” (CoinDesk)
JPMorgan says spot Bitcoin ETF could attract up to $36 billion in rotational funding
Odaily News Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds that begin trading in the United States today are not expected to attract significant new capital; instead, they may divert up to $36 billion in inflows from existing cryptocurrency instruments, according to JPMorgan Chase.
This figure includes $3 billion in inflows from the Bitcoin Futures Underlying ETF, $3 billion to $13 billion from the Grayscale Bitcoin BTC Trust, and as much as $15 billion to $20 billion from retail investors who will withdraw funds from cryptocurrency exchanges. /Retail brokers’ digital wallets are moving into spot Bitcoin ETFs, a team of analysts at JPMorgan Chase wrote in a report today. Analysts did not specify a time frame for the figures in the report.
Analysts are skeptical of the optimism shared by many market participants that the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF will lead to a massive influx of new capital into the crypto space.
“We believe that the amount of new capital entering the crypto space is more likely to be a function of regulation, specifically the space where regulators will allow the crypto ecosystem to encroach into the traditional financial system over time,” they said.
Odaily News Bitwise announced that it will donate 10% of the profits of its Bitcoin Spot ETF (BITB) to support Bitcoin open source development. Donated organizations include Brink, OpenSats, and Human Rights Foundation.
Bitwise said the donations come with no strings attached and will be made annually for at least the next ten years.
Hashdex Bitcoin ETF Does Not Offer Spot Exposure Yet, Pending Final SEC Approval
Odaily News Hashdex stated that it has not yet added spot exposure to its Bitcoin ETF, and the plan is currently awaiting final approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Hashdex also said that at a later date the fund will change its name and change its investment strategy to allow the addition of spot Bitcoin to its portfolio.
According to previous news, on the deadline for submission of S-1 documents on January 8, all other ETF applicants except Hashdex submitted updated versions of the information. (Blockworks)
Odaily News Coinbase said that a spot Bitcoin ETF opened the door for new entrants to put money into the cryptocurrency, and although the fees of traditional financial competitors are extremely low, the exchange has no plans to reduce fees.
Coinbase does not disclose its base retail fees, but its retail fee ratio (measured as exchange trading revenue divided by retail trading volume) was about 2.5% in the third quarter. The exchange also offers premium trading options where users can pay 0.6% on trades up to $10, 000. “Coinbase has no current plans to reduce trading fees as a result of the introduction of ETFs, and the primary way we monetize them is through custody fees,” a Coinbase spokesperson said.
Project News
Vitalik proposes to increase Ethereum network gas limit to 40 million
Odaily News Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested in a Reddit AMA event that the Gas limit of the Ethereum network be increased to about 40 million to increase network throughput.
Vitalik said that the gas limit has not been increased for nearly three years, which is the longest period in the history of Ethereum (the gas limit has remained unchanged). According to Etherscan, the current gas limit is 30 million, which represents a 33% increase. (Cointelegraph)
StarkWare CEO Uri Kolodny announces resignation, president Eli Ben-Sasson takes over
Odaily News StarkWare CEO and co-founder Uri Kolodny has announced his resignation, but will still serve as a board member of StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation. StarkWare co-founder and president Eli Ben-Sasson will take over as CEO. Uri Kolodny said that he will not log on to social media in the future, but will turn his attention elsewhere.
NEAR Foundation: Will reduce 40% of team members to consolidate core team
According to official news from Odaily, the NEAR Foundation stated that after an internal review, it decided to significantly integrate the core foundation team to focus on activities with a narrower scope and greater impact.
As part of this reorganization, the NEAR Foundation will reduce its team by approximately 40%, involving 35 employees, primarily from marketing, business development, and community teams. Pagoda’s NEAR Protocol engineering team will continue to operate as usual.
Additionally, the NEAR Foundation’s financial position remains strong and well-managed, with over $285 million in fiat currency, 305 million NEAR (worth over $1 billion), and $70 million in investments and loans.
Odaily News Layer 1 public chain Berachain today announced the launch of the Artio public test network. Berachain introduces the concept of “proof-of-liquidity” consensus, aiming to align incentives between security and liquidity. Berachain’s previous private testnet was hosted under non-disclosure agreements with multiple partners, with about 50 teams deploying the contracts within a month, according to a statement. Berachain said: “There are currently more than 30 local teams building on Berachain, and more than 100 teams from other networks planning to deploy on testnet and mainnet, including well-known brands such as Pendle, Redacted, Sudoswap, Abracadabra and more.”
Odaily News BytomDAO issued a document on the X platform stating that the Bytom mainnet will be closed at 17:00 on January 12, 2024. Please complete the BTM migration as soon as possible.
In November last year, BytomDAO officially announced the roadmap on the X platform and announced the BMC service suspension notice. At the same time, according to the new white paper released by Bytom, Bytom will transform the AI track, commit to the combination of decentralization and AI, and will promote the implementation of the DAO governance mechanism and the launch of the AI ecological fund.
Odaily News The community-driven ZK L2 network ZKFair announced that it will officially end all airdrop claims at 11 oclock today. All 130 million ZKF Tokens that have not been claimed will be destroyed, with a total value of more than 2.2 million US dollars. The ZKF airdrop will be officially opened at 11:00 on January 1, 2024 (UTC+ 8), and will officially end at 11:00 on January 11 (UTC+ 8). 100% of the ZKF will be released and circulated during this period, and there will be no more ZKF in the future. Any additional issuance.
It is understood that the ZKF staking function was officially launched yesterday afternoon. In less than 12 hours, the amount of ZKF pledged has exceeded 1.2 billion, accounting for 12% of the total circulation. ZKF Token holders can obtain gas fee profit dividends from the ZKFair network and airdrops from future ZKFair ecological projects by participating in pledges.
ZKFair adopts a 100% fair launch token model and is supported by technology and computing power from the ZK-RaaS platform Lumoz. ZKFair uses USDC as Gas token. Thanks to the benefits such as the opening of staking, ZKF TVL has reached a new high. The current TVL is US$132 million, ranking 12th on the L2 list.
Odaily News zkLink, a multi-chain transaction infrastructure based on zero-knowledge proof, issued a statement saying that the zkLink Explorer whitelist and community token sale have been launched. Users who apply for the zkLink Explorer whitelist before 20:00 on January 16th, Beijing time will be given priority to participate in the CoinList community sale. The whitelist will give priority to active community members and long-term zkLink supporters. Users will still need to register on CoinList’s zkLink exchange page to qualify for the token sale.
In addition, registration for the zkLink community token sale is open. Sales registration starts at 1:00 on January 12, Beijing time, and ends at 20:00 on January 22. On sale date is January 26th at 2:00 pm. 31, 250, 000 ZKL (ERC-20) will be used for token distribution and sale, accounting for 3.125% of the total supply, and the token price is $0.15 per coin. The total supply of ZKL is 1 billion, with 30% unlocked in the first quarter of 2024 and linearly released in the following nine months. The minimum purchase to participate in CoinList is $100 in tokens, and the maximum purchase is $500 in tokens. USDT and USDC purchases are supported. Residents of the United States, Canada, China, South Korea and other jurisdictions are not eligible to participate.
ZKLs token economic model is: CoinList sales allocation accounts for 3.125%, community treasury allocation accounts for 29.875%, liquidity reserve allocation accounts for 4%, ecosystem development allocation accounts for 22.5%, team consultant allocation accounts for 20%, Early private placement allocation accounts for 20.5%.
Odaily News Cross-Bridge Project Orbiter Finance announced that it plans to launch a native token within the year and will gradually announce the token economy and distribution plan to ensure a fair process. The O-Points plan will play a vital role in formulating airdrop rules.
Odaily News Orbit Chain posted on the X platform that the negotiation date with the attacker has ended at 9 am today. The team is now extending the bounty to the public, with a maximum reward of $8 million. Bounties will be awarded to those who provide decisive intelligence to identify the attackers or recover stolen assets.
Investment and Financing
Bitcoin Layer 2 network Bitfinity completes total funding of $7 million at $130 million valuation
Odaily News Bitcoin Layer 2 network Bitfinity announced that it has completed a total of US$7 million in financing at a valuation of US$130 million. This round of financing was participated by Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital, Warburg Serres, Dokia Capital and Draft Ventures. It is reported that the funds were divided into two Partial realizations include a seed round of approximately US$1 million in 2021 and another round completed in June last year, both of which were token financing. Bitfinity is currently in the testnet phase and plans to launch the mainnet later this month or early February. (TheBlock)
Web3 product development studio Pontem completes $6 million in financing
Odaily News Web3 product development studio Pontem has completed US$6 million in financing. This round of financing was jointly led by Faction and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Pantera Capital, Aptos Foundation, Wintermute, Altonomy, Shima Capital and Kraken Ventures.
Pontem plans to use the funding from this round to expand the use of the Move programming language beyond the Aptos and Sui blockchains by enabling developers to build applications that are compatible with both the Ethereum Virtual Machine and Move.
The latest round brings Pontem’s total raised to $10.5 million. (The Block)
Odaily News Stratified Capital announced a strategic investment in ITNP, an innovative intent protocol from Japan. The project aims to lower the threshold for entering the Web3 world by simplifying transaction processes and improving transaction efficiency, and smoothly transition Web2 users to the Web3 world.
Stratified Capital, the investor, said: “The intent protocol will play a key role in promoting the development of Web3, making blockchain technology more accessible and allowing more ordinary users to easily participate.”
It is reported that ITNP has currently issued token ITNP based on BRC 20.
Regulatory developments
Gary Gensler: The approval of Bitcoin spot ETF is mainly affected by the Grayscale ruling
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler issued a statement on the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF on the official website. The SEC today approved the listing and trading of a number of spot Bitcoin ETPs, including ETFs. From the beginning of Chairman Jay Clayton’s term in 2018 to March 2023, the SEC has rejected more than 20 trading rule filing applications for Bitcoin spot ETPs, including Grayscale’s application to “consider converting the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to an ETP.”
But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the SEC failed to adequately explain its reasons for not approving the listing and trading of Grayscale’s proposed ETP. Accordingly, the court vacated its decision against Grayscale and remanded the matter to the SEC for reconsideration. Based on these circumstances and those more fully discussed in the Approval Order, Gary Gensler believes the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these Bitcoin spot ETPs.
Gary Gensler once again emphasized that unlike the underlying assets in metal ETPs, which have consumer and industrial uses, Bitcoin is mainly a speculative, volatile asset that can be used for illegal activities, including ransomware, money laundering, sanctions evasion, and terrorism. ism financing.
Hester Peirce: Grayscale case ruling is an important factor in the approval of Bitcoin spot ETF
Odaily News U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce issued a statement on the official website saying that more than ten years after the first Bitcoin spot ETP application was submitted (and rejected), today the SEC finally approved multiple applications for the listing and trading of Bitcoin spot ETPs. This approval was achieved following the intervention of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (Grayscale decision).
Peirce noted that the approval process for Bitcoin-related ETPs is significantly different from other ETPs routinely approved over the past decade, resulting in a long history of rejections of such applications. The SEC had rejected the application on the grounds that the Bitcoin market was still immature and there were concerns about manipulation. But now, the SEC noted in its approval order that due to the high correlation between Bitcoin futures market and spot market prices over the past two and a half years, means to prevent fraud and manipulation have been demonstrated. Peirce criticized the SECs previous rejection of such applications, which resulted in a loss of public trust, diverted limited staff resources and confused understanding of the SECs role.
Still, this approval does not undo the numerous damages caused by the SEC’s unfair treatment of Bitcoin spot products. But Peirce also celebrated the right of U.S. investors to express their views on Bitcoin by buying and selling Bitcoin spot ETPs, and the tenacity shown by market participants to launch products they think investors want.
Odaily News U.S. SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda posted on the official website that although he has voted to support the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin spot ETF, Uyeda raised three strong concerns about the approval order: 1. The approval order attempts to confirm the physical bitcoin that was previously rejected by judicial review. The applicability of the “significant market size” test for currency ETP; 2. The approval order creates new, previously unspecified approval standards; 3. The approval order conceals the SEC’s true motivation for accelerating the approval application. He emphasized that this method of analysis is essentially performance supervision and may have long-term effects on future legal analysis.
Uyeda noted that the SEC adopted unique legal standards when considering Bitcoin spot ETPs, requiring exchanges to establish comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreements with markets of “significant scale.” The SEC continues to treat Bitcoin spot ETPs differently than Bitcoin futures ETPs under the “significant market size” test, but the approval order provides no explanation for this “differential treatment.”
Odaily News U.S. SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw voted against the approval vote for a Bitcoin spot ETF and posted an article on the official website explaining the reasons for her opposition. She said: “The SEC’s actions to approve multiple Bitcoin spot ETPs are unwise and go against the trend of history. What’s worse is that it will take us on the wrong path and may further sacrifice investor protection. I cannot agree that these actions are consistent with Our statutory or fundamental investor protection mandate, therefore, I dissent from todays decision.
She said that the global spot market behind Bitcoin ETPs is compromised by fraud and manipulation, is centralized and lacks adequate regulation, especially when it comes to Bitcoin. An analysis of 157 cryptocurrency exchanges found that the reported daily Bitcoin 51% of coin trading volume may be fake.
Caroline Crenshaw also noted that futures ETPs and spot ETPs are not the same product and that relying on arguments of “correlation” to other regulated markets will not protect investors.
Odaily News The EU banking regulator EBA (European Banking Authority) held a public hearing on Thursday to discuss its proposed operational guidelines for stablecoin issuers under the upcoming Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. At the hearing, officials urged the public and industry members to engage with them to get the rules right.
At a hearing on Thursday, EBA policy officials broke down its proposed guidance for issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ART), which MiCA defines as cryptos that reference one or more official currencies or asset values to maintain stability currency.
The hearing covered the EBA’s proposals for the first set of guidelines on the internal governance of stablecoin issuers, management requirements, compliance, remuneration and conflict of interest disclosures. (CoinDesk)
Character*Voice
Elon Musk: Open to X adopting BTC, but rarely considers it
Odaily News After the US SEC approved the Bitcoin spot ETF, Elon Musk participated in a Twitter Space live broadcast hosted by Ark CEO Cathie Wood.
In response to Cathie Wood’s question about whether he would consider incorporating Bitcoin into X’s infrastructure, Elon Musk responded: “I’m open to it, but in reality
Cathie Wood says at least 25% of her financial net worth is in Bitcoin
Odaily News Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood was asked in an interview how much Bitcoin she holds. She said that in addition to the company and real estate assets held, it is roughly estimated that at least 25% of the financial net assets are in Bitcoin. superior.
SkyBridge Capital founder: Plans to buy U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF
Odaily News SkyBridge Capital founder and CEO Anthony Scaramucci said in an interview with CNBC that he plans to buy a U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF. Anthony Scaramucci noted that the SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF should be seen as a watershed moment for Bitcoin. Bitcoin could reach a new all-time high before the end of this year and could break out of the all-time high by this time next year.
Odaily News ABCDE Lianchuang Dujun posted on the X platform that he is ready to deeply participate in the construction of the Bitcoin ecosystem, and the preferred track is Layer 2.
It also stated: “On the day the project goes online, 50 million U or equivalent Bitcoin addresses will be announced exclusively for the development of this project.”
SlowMist CISO issues reminder: Be wary of BTC ETF airdrop scam
Odaily News Slow Mist Chief Information Security Officer 23 pds issued a reminder on the Carrying out airdrop fraud in Aridrops name, tricking users into installing fake APPs or opening phishing websites to defraud signature authorizations. Users are advised to always be aware of financial risks.
