2023-10-20 05:10

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. The evolving landscape of digital assets and regulatory clarity is likely to trigger a shift in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) stance on Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) by the end of 2023. This prediction was made by Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, during a SquawkBox interview relayed on Thursday through a tweet by Collin Brown. Novogratz highlighted the intellectual inconsistency in the SEC's current rulings, which allow futures ETFs but not cash ones. He emphasized that there is a strong demand from the American public for such offerings. Furthermore, he noted that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is under intense pressure from industry giants such as BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity, Grayscale, and Invesco to meet this demand. This pressure comes amid an evolving digital asset landscape and a coordinated push for regulatory clarity from crypto insiders despite their vested interests. Public sentiment, filings, and an expected positive market response all reflect a heightened optimism for Bitcoin ETF approval. On Friday, Melker also projected Bitcoin spot ETF approval due to the shifting dialogues within the SEC and an encouraging post from Andrew. This speculation aligns with Novogratz's earlier projection and Gensler’s active consideration of the product. The journey towards Bitcoin spot ETFs started with an application by the Winklevoss Twins in 2013. If approved, these ETFs would render Bitcoin a compliant security for stock exchange trading. Key influences on this potential shift include Grayscale Investments' litigation loss, pressure from lawmakers and industry stakeholders, and a fake news application from BlackRock. Larry Fink of BlackRock noted Bitcoin's "flight to quality", indicating that investors are eagerly waiting for exposure. The approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs could potentially ignite the next bull cycle for Bitcoin, as suggested by a recent short-paced market rally. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-etf-approval-anticipated-by-yearend-following-shifting-sec-stance-93CH-3203681

2023-10-20 05:08

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters In a critical move to secure Bitcoin's Lightning Network, developers have patched a severe bug that was discovered in December 2022. The flaw, which could have allowed an attacker to exploit Hash Time-Locked Contract (HTLC) transactions, had the potential to halt users from withdrawing bitcoin by outbidding their channel closing requests. The bug was revealed post-patching by developer Antoine Riard, who emphasized the importance of future code maintenance to prevent similar transaction-relay jamming attacks. This issue is among a series of bugs that have affected the Lightning Network, with previous problems including unattributed payment routing and BTCD library bugs. The Lightning Network forms a global mesh network of over 68,000 channels through users committing Bitcoin to payment channels. Legacy and anchor output channels and Lightning routing hops carrying HTLC traffic were also at risk from this bug. Other Bitcoin protocols like Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs), conjoins, and payjoins were vulnerable too. Notably, transaction "accelerators" peer swaps, and submarine swaps were affected by this vulnerability. To address these issues, patches have been implemented in software updates including LDK: v0.0.118 – CVE-2023 -40231, Eclair: v0.9.0 – CVE-2023-40232, LND: v.0.17.0-beta – CVE-2023-40233, and Core-Lightning: v.23.08.01 – CVE-2023-40234. This incident underscores the ongoing challenges faced by the Bitcoin community in maintaining the security and integrity of its protocols and networks. As the Lightning Network continues to grow, rigorous code maintenance and regular software updates will be crucial in preventing similar vulnerabilities from compromising the system in the future. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoins-lightning-network-patches-critical-bug-93CH-3203679

2023-10-20 04:23

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com-- Most Asian currencies kept to a tight range on Friday, while the dollar steadied following somewhat mixed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the path of interest rates. Persistent concerns over the Israel-Hamas war also kept traders largely wary of risky assets, especially amid growing fears over a bigger conflict in the Middle East. Powell’s comments were seen as somewhat dovish, as the Fed Chair said that a recent spike in bond yields was helping tighten financial conditions, lessening the need for more rate hikes. But Powell still left the door open for at least one more rate hike this year, amid resilience in the U.S. economy and sticky inflation levels. The dollar index and dollar index futures logged some losses after Powell’s speech, but steadied in Asian trade on Friday. The greenback was still set to close the week about 0.4% lower, as traders locked in some recent profits. U.S. Treasury yields also saw extended losses on Friday as a recent rally paused, although the 10-year rate remained within spitting distance of the 5% level. Regional currencies saw some relief in overnight trade as the dollar retreated. But this was limited, with most units moving in a flat-to-low range on Friday. Most currencies were also set to end the week unchanged. The Japanese yen was flat after data showed that consumer price index inflation grew more than expected in September. While overall inflation still eased, a core reading followed by the Bank of Japan remained near 40-year highs, indicating that underlying inflation still remained largely elevated. The Indian rupee fell slightly, with any overnight gains being largely offset by higher oil prices. The South Korean won rose 0.2%, but was down for a second consecutive week. The Australian dollar fell 0.1%, tracking recent declines in commodity prices. But the dollar was also set to add 0.5% this week, as it recovered from a near one-year low hit earlier in October. Chinese yuan flat as PBOC keeps rates on hold The Chinese yuan fell slightly on Friday as the People’s Bank of China held its benchmark loan prime rate at record lows. The move came as data earlier this week showed some improvement in Chinese economic growth through the third quarter. But this was insufficient in boosting the yuan, which remained close to a near 16-year low hit earlier in October. Fears of a major default in China’s property market, coupled with a growing trade tiff with the U.S. were a major weight on the yuan in recent sessions. Focus was squarely on embattled developer Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007), which appeared to have missed a key repayment deadline for its offshore bonds this week. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/asia-fx-muted-as-powell-comments-offer-little-cheer-dollar-steadies-3203659

2023-10-20 00:57

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com-- Oil prices rose sharply in Asian trade on Friday, extending a strong run of gains after the U.S. government outlined plans to begin refiling the country’s strategic oil reserve, while concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East also lent support. The Department of Energy (DOE) announced offers totaling 6 million barrels to be delivered between December this year and January 2024, as the Biden administration sought to begin refiling the heavily-drawn Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The government had drawn about 200 million barrels from the SPR since early-2022, bringing the reserve to its lowest level in nearly 40 years in a bid to combat high gasoline prices following the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war. The DOE said it will sign purchase contracts for the refill at $79 a barrel or less, and will also continue with solicitations for oil purchases until at least May 2024. The move encouraged oil bulls, who had long balked at the government’s SPR releases on the grounds that it was an attempt to subdue crude prices. Steady crude purchases by the U.S. also pointed to tighter supplies, especially as recent inventory data showed a sustained decline in oil reserves, while fuel demand remained steady. The refilling plans also came amid persistent concerns over a spillover in the Israel-Hamas war into a broader Middle Eastern conflict, which could severely dent crude supplies from the oil-rich region. The U.S. government was reportedly planning more measures to enforce oil sanctions on Iran, further limiting crude exports from the Middle Eastern nation. Fears of an escalation in the Israel-Hamas war had greatly boosted oil prices over the past two weeks, as traders positioned for even tighter markets after deep supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia earlier this year. Brent oil futures jumped 1% to a near three-week high of $93.30 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1% to $89.23 a barrel by 20:29 ET (00:29 GMT). Oil heads for second week of gains Brent and WTI futures were both set to add between 1.7% and 2.5% for the week, their second straight week in positive territory. News of the SPR refill helped markets largely looked past U.S. sanctions relief on Venezuela’s oil sector, after the Latin American nation agreed to its first Presidential election in nearly six years. Oil markets also took some support from weakness in the dollar, after recent comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell were seen as somewhat dovish. Powell still left the door open for at least one more interest rate hike, but said that a recent spike in bond yields had contributed significantly to tightening financial conditions. He also said that the U.S. economy remained resilient, spurring bets that fuel consumption in the country will remain strong. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-surge-on-spr-refill-plans-middle-east-fears-persist-3203630

2023-10-20 00:57

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - The scare projected to the oil trade by the Israel-Hamas war pushed crude prices up for a second straight week, though the absence of any real disruption to barrels coming out of the Middle East is also giving rise to intraday volatility. Both US crude and its UK peer Brent jumped almost 2% at one point on Friday before giving all that back and settling the day in the negative. Gains in recent sessions, however, kept the two benchmarks in the black for the week. New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude for delivery in December settled Friday’s trade down 29 cents, or 0.3%, at $88.08 per barrel. December WTI earlier hit a session high of $89.85. For the week, the US crude benchmark rose 2%, adding to the prior week’s gain of around 6%. London-traded Brent crude for the most-active December contract finished Wednesday’s session at $92.16, down 22 cents, or 0.2%. For the week, the global crude benchmark showed a gain of 1.4% after the prior week’s gain of 7,.5%. Many on Wall Street seem to think crude prices should be higher anyway due the relative proximity of the showdown in Gaza to some of the biggest oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait. While Israel and Palestine themselves barely register in the global oil trade, the Strait of Hormuz straddling them is a key chokepoint for the movement of crude, where a fifth of all oil passes through its waters. Also, the almost daily saber-rattling against Israel by avowed Hamas supporter and fifth largest oil producer Iran — and concerns of reprisals against Tehran by the Israelis and their main ally, the United States — has added to concerns that something untoward might happen soon. “The potential for the war between Israel and Gaza to become more widespread is making traders nervous and adding a significant risk premium to oil prices at a time when the market is already extremely tight,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA. “Traders are wary of weekend events triggering a shock price move on the open which likely explains the moves we're seeing today,” Moya said, referencing Friday’s highs that came after mid-week explosion at a Gaza hospital that reportedly killed hundreds of people. Yet, some oil traders see the conflict for what it is — a major political event that has not shown any demonstrable risk thus far to the crude trade. “My heart goes out to every life that’s been lost in this senseless war, and I really mean that,” said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. “But to assign a daily war premium to oil because of this is pure BS.” The weekly rise in oil prices wasn’t without merit. US stockpile drop, Fed boost vs Venezuela sanctions easing US stockpiles of crude, gasoline and distillates all showed notable reductions last week in a weekly inventory update issued by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added to the upside momentum in not just oil but most commodities on Thursday with comments that seemed to reinforce the central bank’s hesitancy in pushing interest rates any higher than where they already were. But there were also downsides to the sentiment in oil this week, with the United States granting Venezuela a six-month waiver from the sanctions imposed on the South American’s oil trade, after the Maduro government there agreed in principle to hold free and fair elections in 2024. The deal is not expected to quickly expand Venezuela's oil output but could boost profits by returning some foreign companies to its oilfields and providing its crude to a wider set of cash-paying customers, experts said. “The general reaction in the market to the Venezuela deal is “oh, it’s nothing in the grand scheme of oil’,” said Kilduff of Again Capital. “But at least, it’s a real incentive for the oil industry in terms of production versus the imaginative impact thus far from the Israel-Hamas war.” https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-surge-on-spr-refill-plans-middle-east-fears-persist-3203630

2023-10-19 21:57

In a recent development, Canadian regulated digital asset investment fund manager, 3iQ, has begun ether (ETH) staking for its institutional quality funds. The move, which was initially hinted at in June, includes The Ether Fund and those with ticker symbols TSX: QETH.UN, QETH.U and TSX: ETHQ, ETHQ.U. The staking process is expected to yield ETH rewards and boost their net asset value with an estimated 4% yield based on Ethereum network rates. This makes the 3iQ Ether ETF the first global Ether ETF to engage in staking. To mark this innovation, the management fee for the Ether ETF will be waived until March 2024. Starting from Friday, the Ether ETF will trade under a new name, "3iQ Ether Staking ETF". This groundbreaking initiative illustrates 3iQ's commitment to innovation in Canada's exchange-traded product space for digital asset investment solutions. The firm is collaborating with Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Tetra Trust to establish new norms in this space. Investors are being offered an additional yield from the Ethereum network's "Proof of Stake" consensus mechanism. Fred Pye, CEO of 3iQ, emphasized their unwavering commitment to innovation and the unique opportunity for investors to participate in Ethereum's upward growth. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/3iq-initiates-ether-staking-for-institutional-funds-renaming-ether-etf-93CH-3203602