[live_blog_schema]
Crypto News Updates: Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw over $4.5 billion in trading volume on the first day, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) emerging as the biggest winner, attracting 20% of the total volume. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slipped over the last 24 hours, sending the global crypto market cap tumbling 0.4% to $1.76 trillion.
Meanwhile, Franklin Templeton, the issuer of the Spot Bitcoin ETF, made an important choice by lowering its sponsor fee, which now stands as the lowest of its competitors. According to the filing, which is dated January 12, the company has chosen to reduce its annual Bitcoin ETF cost from 0.29% to 0.19%.
Alongside, India’s regulatory body, the Reserve Bank of India maintained its stance that it will not be in favor of virtual currencies despite the SEC giving a green signal to Bitcoin ETFs. Adding to the remarks, the RBI stated that it “‘Can’t afford a crypto mania”
Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, offered her thoughts on Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) that track bitcoin’s future. In a Yahoo Finance interview, she predicted that only three to four spot Bitcoin ETFs will thrive in the long term. This prediction coincides with the release of eleven such exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of which is from Ark Invest, signifying a momentous occasion in the cryptocurrency investing space.
Online casino HugeWin announced the launch of a new Crypto Casino. HugeWin will also provide its gamers unmatched fun and benefits by providing generous discount bonuses.
A Coinbase Prime deposit address received 4k BTC, valued at $183 million, from Grayscale. At 1.5%, the Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF now charges a fee that is significantly higher than other ETFs.
Grayscale sent 4k BTC worth $183 million to a Coinbase Prime deposit address 2 hours ago. The current fee for the Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF is 1.5%, which is much higher than others. This action could be investors switching their assets to other ETFs or selling normally.…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 12, 2024
According to Binance, Bitcoin started to decline after passing over spot ETFs. It dropped 4.4% in a day, reaching a low of $43,814 in the most recent hour. Ethereum had a rise of 3.2% in a single day and roughly 20% over the previous seven days, which could be connected to the expectation for an Ethereum spot ETF.
The much-anticipated Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) launch was welcomed with great enthusiasm. With $4.5 billion exchanged, there was evident excitement on the surface, but a closer look at the trade’s makeup showed a more complex picture, according to CNBC’s Ran Neuner. The event, which many believed would bring a burst of new cash into the Bitcoin market, instead saw a substantial chunk of the activity centered on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Two days after US regulators first approved exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invested directly in Bitcoin, CoinShares exercised an option to purchase an exchange-traded fund business from rival Valkyrie, according to Bloomberg reports.
Media organization Decrypt warns users about people posing to work for them.
🚨 SCAM ALERT 🚨 @Logarit_eth does NOT ❌ work for Decrypt. Please be careful out there 💛 https://t.co/lZAEbzx3VK
— Decrypt (@decryptmedia) January 12, 2024
In another heavy remark on digital assets, SEC Chair Gary Gensler took on an interesting take on digital assets. In an interview, Gensler said Bitcoin is a “highly speculative, volatile asset” used for “money laundering and ransomware”
Just 100 days from now, on April 23, Bitcoin production is predicted to halved, according to OKLink. After the halving, the block reward was 3.125 Bitcoins, and there are 14530 blocks left. The current block reward is 6.25 Bitcoins.
“I see benefit in having an Ethereum ETF,” Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, said in an interview with CNBC on Friday. “These are just stepping stones towards tokenization and I really do believe this is where we’re going to be going”, Fink added.
Citigroup announced it plans to further decrease its workforce after reporting a $1.8 billion loss for the fourth quarter due to expenditures to replenish a government deposit insurance fund and other one-time costs, according to a Reuters report.
The big cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group’s affiliate, Genesis Global Trading, is likely to announce a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services, according to Fortune Crypto. Genesis will give up BitLicense and pay a $8 million fine as part of the deal.
Franklin Templeton, the issuer of the Spot Bitcoin ETF, lowered its sponsor charge, setting a new benchmark for the lowest fee among its rivals. According to the filing, which is dated January 12, the company has chosen to reduce its annual Bitcoin ETF cost from 0.29% to 0.19%.
A report by Reuters revealed that SEC chairman Gary Gensler expressed his views on platforms hosting cryptocurrencies. In a statement Gensler said that platforms that host cryptocurrencies have to abide by federal regulations.
Two days after launching its spot Bitcoin ETF, Ed McGee , CFO of cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale Investments stated that the company needs concentrate more on risk management and participant communication now that U.S. exchange-traded funds containing bitcoin have received permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Friday, SkyArk Chronicles, a Triple-A gaming platform, closed a $15 million investment round with the investment arm of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance Labs, supervising this capital round.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Friday took a rather sarcastic jib on digital assets. “I believe in cryptocurrency as an asset class, not a currency,” stated Fink.
India’s regulatory body, the Reserve Bank of India has taken a scoffing remark on digital assets. Despite the SEC giving a green signal to Bitcoin ETFs, the RBI has maintained its stance that it will not be in favor of virtual currencies. Adding to the remarks, the RBI stated that “‘Can’t afford a crypto mania”
‘Can’t afford a crypto mania; Reserve bank of India 🇮🇳 stance remains unchanged’
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in comments below👇 pic.twitter.com/Xl6tie6hyL
— KoinX (@getkoinx) January 12, 2024
According to Bloomberg reports, the world’s largest money manager, BlackRock Inc., has reportedly agreed to pay approximately $12.5 billion to acquire infrastructure firm GIP. This move propels BlackRock Inc. into the elite group of investors that place long-term bets on energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure.
The purchase is anticipated to finalize in the third quarter and BlackRock will pay $3 billion in cash and around 12 million shares, which would have been valued nearly $9.5 billion at Thursday’s close.
Hong Kong-based digital asset agency HKVAC said that XRP will leave its Top 5 Global Large Cryptocurrency Index to make way for Solana, effective January 19, 2024. The decision comes a almost a month after Solana overtook XRP as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
South Korea’s securities regulator, the Financial Services Commission, has flagged potential violations in brokering foreign-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs. Following the advisory, several major South Korean securities firm, including Mirae Asset Securities, halted brokerage services for overseas Bitcoin ETFs.
Debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX have filed a motion, requesting a US bankruptcy judge not to value their cryptocurrency deposits based on 2022 prices. They argue that FTX’s valuation approach puts them at a disadvantage, as the digital assets have soared in value since FTX declared bankruptcy.
Solana has revealed the 2024 roadmap, allaying concerns following the price decline in its native token. Solana enthusiasts can anticipate a slew of new announcements in 2024, including token extensions, and institutional support.
Stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon on Friday suffered a further setback in its ongoing legal tussle with US SEC after a federal judge rejected the former’s motion to include the testimony of expert witnesses. Notably, a US court had earlier ruled that Terraform Labs and Kwon violated US law by offering and selling unregistered securities.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Thursday gave a big shout-out to Optimism’s RetroPGF initiative, which distributed over $100 million in its third round to 501 contributors.
Over $100m distributed in @Optimism RetroPGF round 3.
Really impressed to see their ongoing commitment to funding public goods, helping devs and others contribute to Ethereum even if they lack a business model.
Hope to see more projects doing QF and RPGF rounds in the future! https://t.co/igZCTsnNLt pic.twitter.com/JFGB1MNDDS
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 11, 2024
While the US securities watchdog has rubber-stamped exchange-traded funds tracking Bitcoin, top Wall Street firms, including the likes of Vanguard, Merrill Lynch, and Edward Jones, are fiercely opposing it. Vanguard and Edward Jones have gone so far as to blocked clients from buying spot Bitcoin products.
The newly-launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US clocked over $4.6 billion in trade volume on the first day, with Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), leading the charts with $1.9 billion in volume.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) burn rate surged nearly 400% over the last 24 hours, with 16.56 million SHIB tokens sent to burn addresses. The development coincided with the upward price action in SHIB, with the meme coin having advanced over 2.7% to $0.00001021 in the past 24 hours.
The legal battle between the US SEC and Ripple escalated Thursday, with the securities regulator filing a motion in court, seeking an order that would force Ripple to produce financial statements for 2022 and 2023. The SEC is particularly interested in Ripple’s financial statements and contracts related to institutional sales after it slapped the crypto firm with a lawsuit in December 2020.
Even as spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been granted approval, Bitcoin’s price response remains muted, with 36,000 Bitcoin options nearing expiry. While short-term volatility persists with respect to BTC prices, the long-term impact of the Bitcoin ETF on the market remains uncertain.
After receiving approval for converting its Grayscale Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Investments has filed documents for a Bitcoin Covered Call ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Whale movements around XRP caused an upset as prices slipped over 1% to $0.59. The price dip came after whales deposited a substantial 48 million XRP tokens, valued at over $29 million, to Bitstamp and Bitso.
🚨 23,600,000 #XRP (14,240,904 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Bitstamphttps://t.co/IgQcwRYTdS
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 11, 2024
Asset manager Vanguard is facing massive backlash from customers after the company announced it would not allow the purchase of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on its platform, with many threatening to close their accounts.
🚨NEW: @Vanguard_Group, the world’s second largest asset manager behind @BlackRock, is reportedly blocking its customers from buying into the new $BTC Spot ETFs, saying the products “don’t fit with Vanguard’s investment philosophy.”
Now we’ll start to see how institutional… https://t.co/LmZodeYyad
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 11, 2024
Trading volumes on exchange-traded funds tracking Bitcoin surged past $4.5 billion day on the first day of trading. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) emerged as the biggest winner, accounting for over 20% of the total volume.
Bitcoin Halving News Updates: Bitcoin completed its much-awaited fourth halving. Post the halving, market sentiments…
Cryptocurrency News Highlights: Bitcoin, the world's first-ever digital currency, once again curated a tidal wave…
India Budget 2024 Highlights: India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled India's Union Budget for the…
Pre-Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: The eagerly awaited India Budget 2024 announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala…
US FOMC Meeting Highlights: The crypto market was up today, ahead of the much-awaited FOMC…
Pre-Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: With only two days left until this year's much-awaited Union Budget Speech,…