2024-03-01 00:48

“What I reflect is the fact that you all are spending part of your brainpower” wondering how to avoid getting sued, she said during a panel at EthDenver. DENVER – U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce said the top U.S. investment watchdog is in an “enforcement-only mode” when it comes to crypto, underscoring the uphill battle the industry faces against a litigious SEC. Speaking at ETHDenver Thursday, Peirce, the most crypto-friendly of the SEC’s five commissioners, bemoaned that a regulator needed to attend the annual gathering of crypto developers, investors and marketers focused on Ethereum, the number two blockchain behind bitcoin. “What I reflect is the fact that you all are spending part of your brainpower,” wondering how to avoid getting sued, she said to the conference’s packed main stage. “If we had clearer rules you could focus on building.” Since joining the SEC in 2018, Peirce, a lawyer, has openly advocated for crypto in the face of skepticism from many of her colleagues, including current Chair Gary Gensler. While prefacing her remarks with a “these views are my own” disclaimer, Peirce spoke openly about her frustration with the regulator’s willingness to seemingly pass judgment on crypto as an asset class. “If we all want to bubble wrap ourselves it would be a much less interesting country,” she said. The SEC has sued Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken and others for allegedly bringing illegal and unregulated investments to the U.S. public on the basis that crypto falls under many of the same rules that govern better-known investments, like those in the stock market. But those companies and others, including Peirce, say crypto should not qualify and needs clarity from the regulator and lawmakers. Months ago, the SEC lost its fight with GBTC issuer Grayscale over the company's efforts to convert the bitcoin trust product into an exchange-traded fund with wide appeal. That loss forced the SEC’s hand and led to the regulator’s approval of a litany of bitcoin ETFs in January. “It's remarkable to me that it took a court to do that,” Peirce said. Despite the SEC’s court-forward approach, Peirce said the regulator and outside observers need to continue developing regulatory frameworks for crypto, like the token safe harbor act (Peirce has twice proposed her own safe harbor proposal). She spoke of a time when, perhaps, SEC Chair Gensler (who has broadly alleged that most cryptocurrencies are violating securities laws) would wake up and change his tune to the industry. “We need to have the ideas ready to go, on the shelf,” she said. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/03/01/sec-in-enforcement-only-mode-for-crypto-commissioner-peirce-says-at-ethdenver/

2024-02-29 23:04

The cryptocurrency has more room to run, analysts say. Bitcoin is poised to close February with a 44% gain, its largest monthly advance since December 2020. Bitcoin demand via U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs is met with constrained supply, dominated by long-term holders unwilling to sell, Galaxy's Alex Thorn said. Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to finish its strongest month since December 2020. Even with prices hovering near all-time records, this bull market isn't close to peaking, analysts said. The largest crypto asset by market capitalization has gained a staggering 44% in February, piercing $50,000 and $60,000 for the first time in years and hitting a $64,000 high Wednesday. The rally followed a sell-the-news pullback below $40,000 following the debut of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the U.S. in late January. Bitcoin has a shot at ending the month at its highest price ever. To do so, it needs to top $61,357 by midnight UTC, the Oct. 2021 closing price near the peak of the previous market cycle. At press time, BTC changed hands at around $61,200. February's crypto rally was broad-based, with the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) advancing more than 40%. Decentralized exchange Uniswap's governance token (UNI), decentralized data storage network Filecoin's FIL, and popular meme token dogecoin (DOGE) were the best performers of the CD20, outperforming BTC's gains. While bitcoin's price is hovering near its all-time high, some analysts still see further upside. "We haven’t even begun to reach the heights this is likely to go." Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, said in a market analysis posted on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday. He argued that the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs are a "game changer," providing steady – and recently accelerating – demand for BTC. Meanwhile, some 75% of bitcoin's supply is owned by long-term holders, who have been unwilling to sell so far at recent price levels. On-chain transaction volume on the Bitcoin network and retail interest in crypto are still far off from levels experienced during prior peaks, IntoTheBlock analysts noted. Crypto analytics firm Swissblock predicted that bitcoin's current uptrend is "just the start of what is to come." "Sustained buying pressure and strong bullish signals from both oscillators and moving averages suggest that BTC is poised for continued upward momentum," Swissblock analysts said in a Thursday report. However, they urged caution against rushing into the market just now. "Instead of chasing the market at these elevated levels, a more prudent approach may be to wait for short-term pullbacks for buying opportunities," they wrote. In a somewhat more bearish long-term outlook, a JPMorgan analyst report forecasted BTC to correct to as low as $42,000 after the April halving, when rewards for miners will be cut in half for the fourth time in Bitcoin history. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/29/bitcoin-is-poised-for-its-biggest-monthly-gain-in-3-years/

2024-02-29 22:41

The question some are now asking is whether the firm will pivot on crypto after Tim Buckley leaves. Tim Buckley, the Vanguard CEO under whose watch the giant asset manager has shunned spot bitcoin ETFs, will retire this year and a search is underway for his replacement, according to a statement from the company. While other major U.S. financial institutions have embraced the recently approved bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard has stood out for not allowing its brokerage customers to do so. The Thursday announcement of Buckley's impending departure has some wondering on social media whether this has something to do with that stance – and whether Vanguard might change its mind under new leadership. Whether it even needs to bother is another question. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted Thursday that one of Vanguard's ETFs, VOO, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, has attracted $15.7 billion in net new money so far this year, double what BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has collected. Vanguard is "doing just fine my friends," Seyffart posted on X. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/02/29/retiring-ceo-of-giant-asset-manager-vanguard-shunned-bitcoin-etfs/

2024-02-29 19:49

The U.S. economy and its dollar has enjoyed relative strength over the past few years. While bitcoin remains shy of its November 2021 all-time high in U.S. dollar terms, it has already breached record highs in local currencies in many markets around the globe. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) is ahead 10.7% since November 2021, meaning many currencies across the world have lost value. Among the countries where bitcoin has hit new highs in local terms are economic powerhouses like China, Japan, the U.K. and India, as well as developing markets like Argentina, Turkey, and Egypt. "U.S. growth has remained exceptionally strong compared to Europe, the UK, and Japan, which has supported the [U.S. dollar]," Aurelie Barthere, an analyst in Nansen, wrote in a note to CoinDesk. "However, this is less clear going forward, as we have seen a series of weak consumption and housing data in the U.S. I see the DXY linked to crypto prices through the intermediary of the rates channel." Japan has been a particularly weak case, with a 24% decline in the yen meaning bitcoin hit a record price in that country well before this week's fireworks that saw bitcoin prices soar. "Japan’s government has been devaluing the yen, and the flow of liquidity has trickled into bitcoin as their fiat has weakened," March Zheng, Managing partner of Bizantine Capital explained in an interview with CoinDesk. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/29/bitcoin-is-hitting-all-time-highs-around-the-world/

2024-02-29 19:12

BlackRock's bitcoin ETF (IBIT) surpassed $1 billion in trading volume Thursday for the fourth consecutive day. BlackRock's bitcoin ETF is among the top 10 most traded ETFs during the day, Barchart shows. Demand for spot bitcoin ETFs accelerated this week, notching a record $673 million net inflow Wednesday, according to BitMEX Research data. The trading frenzy among U.S.-listed spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds continued Thursday after attracting their biggest single-day net inflow amid Wednesday's busy session. BlackRock's ETF – known as IBIT, which has the second-biggest asset total among bitcoin ETFs – was again among the top 10 most-traded ETFs in the U.S. around midday hours Thursday and posted over $1 billion in trading volume for the fourth consecutive day, according to Barchart data. As of 1:30 p.m. Eastern time (18:30 UTC), almost 36 million IBIT shares worth over $1.2 billion changed hands with two hours left of the trading session, per Barchart. Grayscale's GBTC and Fidelity's FBTC are also having a strong day, trading over $880 million and $660 million, respectively, so far. These strong figures follow Wednesday's record-breaking day, when the 10 spot bitcoin ETFs traded $7.7 billion in total, with BlackRock's IBIT hitting $3.3 billion in volume. Spot bitcoin ETFs also attracted $673 million of net inflows Wednesday, the largest single-day allocation since their debut in early January, BitMEX Research data shows. BlackRock's IBIT alone attracted $612 million of inflows, a record high. "Only one or two other ETFs on the planet are taking in cash as fast as IBIT right now," Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in an X post. Bitcoin is having a quieter session on Thursday, with the CoinDesk Bitcoin Index (XBX) hovering around $61,000, down 0.3% over the past 24 hours. It's lagging behind the broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which is up over 3%. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/29/bitcoin-etf-trading-frenzy-continues-after-record-673m-net-inflow-as-btc-price-nears-record/

2024-02-29 18:40

Users of Robinhood’s self-custody wallet will have access to Arbitrum swaps in the next coming months. Arbitrum's ARB surged on the news. DENVER, COLORADO – Robinhood, a popular trading platform for stocks and crypto, announced Thursday at ETHDenver that it will allow users of its Robinhood Wallet to access swaps on Arbitrum, a layer-2 blockchain atop Ethereum. Arbitrum's ARB token surged on the news, jumping more than 11% moments after the announcement. According to a press release seen by CoinDesk, Robinhood Wallet users to transact with Arbitrum, and over the next few months, the two entities will be working “to support access to cross-chain swaps and other campaigns that lower the barriers to use Web3 on Robinhood Wallet.” Arbitrum is an auxiliary layer-2 blockchain, also known as a rollup that processes transactions cheaper and faster than on the main Ethereum blockchain. Arbitrum leads the way in decentralized finance, or DeFi, total value locked (TVL) when it comes to layer 2s on Ethereum, with roughly $3.2 billion, according to DefiLlama. “As DeFi continues to lead on Arbitrum, we'll now see one of the most recognizable trading platforms bring low-cost in-app swaps to a wide audience of traders,” said A.J. Warner, chief strategy officer at Offchain Labs, the primary developer firm behind the Arbitrum network, in the press release. Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said that "accessing and transacting on L2s has historically been difficult to non-crypto natives, but Robinhood Wallet now helps strip away the complexities to help onboard those new to Web3.” https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/02/29/trading-platform-robinhood-layer-2-arbitrum-team-up-to-offer-swaps-to-users/