✅ Over the past week, Bitcoin rose by 6% and Ethereum by 8%, while some altcoins increased in value by several times. The stock market continues to go up after a small correction even though the outlook on the US economy doesn't look very good 🤔
Weekly news digest:
💎 Crypto
🔸 BlackRock filed for the iShares ETH spot ETF called the iShares Ethereum Trust
🔸 The SEC has opened talks with Grayscale Investments on the details of the company's application to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF 📁
🔸 Ava Labs (the company behind Avalanche blockchain) cuts 12% of staff
🔸 South Korea's largest mobile operator, announced that it has signed an agreement with Aptos to create a crypto wallet
🔸 Lloyds Bank reports that crypto scams in the UK recently increased by 23%
🔸 Large cap stablecoins have depegged 609 times this year, Moody’s Analytics says
🏦 Crypto exchanges
🔸 Kraken, the second-largest exchange in the US, wants to build its own Ethereum L2 network
🔸 Binance releases its twelfth proof of reserve, reportedly, all deposits are overcollateralized
🔸 FTX claims Bybit used VIP status to pull hundreds of millions of dollars during the exchange collapse 🕵️♂️
🔸 SEC Chair Gensler says a rebooted FTX run by the ex-NYSE chief is possible if done "within the law."
🔸 Poloniex crypto exchange was hacked, estimated loss is $125 million. Justin Sun offered a hacker a 5% bounty for returning stolen funds
💵 Finances and Economy
🔸 Moody's changes outlook on United States' ratings to negative from stable.
🔸 USDC stablecoin issuer Circle is considering an IPO in 2024
🔸 South Korean financial authorities have banned short-selling until the end of June 2024
🔸 Bank of England proposes allowing stablecoins as a payment option, including for goods and services 🏦
🔸 ICBC bank was attacked by hackers and was forced to trade via USB stick
🔸 JPMorgan says "Crypto rally looks overdone" emphasizing that the crypto market is overestimating the potential price impact of spot Bitcoin ETFs 🤔
🔸 HSBC to launch storage services for tokenized securities as more big banks warm to blockchain
🔸 Samsung unveils ChatGPT alternative called "Samsung Gauss"
⚖️ Law and Order
🔸 Celsius Network LLC has received approval from a bankruptcy court judge to distribute approximately $2 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum to creditors
🔸 US Deputy Treasury Secretary says President Biden's administration wants new powers from Congress to crack down on crypto and fight illicit crypto use
🔸 US lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban federal officials from doing business with Chinese blockchain companies, including Tether
🔸 US Senator Ted Budd has introduced a new bill, the "Keep Your Coins Act", to protect citizens’ rights to self-custody 👏
🔸 US Republican said that his appropriations amendments to reign in SEC enforcement abuses against the crypto industry passed the House
🔸 Judge blocks US Government's lawsuit against Elon Musk's SpaceX alleging anti-immigrant bias
🔸 China declares stealing NFTs liable for criminal theft sentence
🗣 Personalities
🔸 Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX founder, said that if the BlackRock ETF becomes too big, it may kill Bitcoin 🫤
🔸 The founder of LHV Bank lost access to 250k ETH on his crypto wallet just because he forgot the password 🔑
🔸 Elon Musk said: "None of my companies will ever launch a crypto token."
🚀 Best performers of the week:
Celestia - $4.44 (↑91.6%)
THORChain - $5.27 (↑56.9%)
Avalanche - $18.11 (↑45.3%)
