Grayscale will reduce fees for the leading Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), but that will happen when the products "begin to mature," CEO Michael Sonnenshein said.

In his speech at Canaccord Genuity's Digital Assets Symposium, Sonnenshein said that products such as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which provides investors with asset access for the first time, have excited the markets.

Over time, he noted, the products "began to mature" and investors began to allocate funds heavily to just a few products. This means that wages also decrease over time.

GBTC was launched in 2015 and became an ETF in January. It was launched along with nine other Bitcoin ETFs as a result of a lawsuit that Grayscale won against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which rejected GBTC's conversion proposal.

GBTC's management fees are the highest among all US Bitcoin ETFs - at 1.5% per year, compared to its competitors' average of 0.30%.

Following its transformation, GBTC has emerged as a “capital markets and risk transfer vehicle” for those looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin, Sonnenshein claimed.

Sonnenshein knew that having other publishers enter the market would be a "net positive for the ecosystem." “We truly believe that a rising tide raises all boats when it comes to asset class adoption, maturity, accessibility,” he said.

We are waiting your comments.#blockchain#bitcoin#ETF#Grayscale

Investors will soon be able to own a slice of a new 4,500-square-foot Hampton by Hilton hotel in El Salvador by purchasing tokenized shares. The country's first tokenized asset raise will be facilitated by Bitfinex Securities, the first licensed and registered digital asset provider in El Salvador.

The hotel will be built at El Salvador's international airport, and Inversiones Laguardia plans to raise $6.25 million from public funds in exchange for a 10% coupon over 5 years. Investors will have to invest a minimum of $1,000 to purchase the token under the HILSV ticker on the Liquid Network.

While El Salvador is known for its Bitcoin investment and adoption strategy, it decided to expand into real-world asset tokenization by issuing a digital asset service provider license to Bitfinex in April 2023. Bitfinex's expansion marks a "new era of capital markets" on Bitcoin in El Salvador.

HILSV token holders will also be offered some free hotel nights depending on the size of their investment. Feel free to share your thoughts about this in the comments section.#Blockchain#Bitcoin #ElSalvador

Users of decentralized finance (DeFi) app Pac Finance experienced a $24 million liquidation on April 11 due to a sudden parameter change by a developer wallet. Pac Finance is a crypto lending app running on the Blast network.

According to Blast network's blockchain data, a developer wallet called a function on Pac Finance's PoolConfigurator-Proxy contract at 01:06 UTC on April 11 and set the LTV for Renzo Reserved Ether (ezETH) to 60%.

Smart contract developer Roffet.eth stated that this parameter change caused “a large portion of ezETH leveraged farmers to liquidate.” Roffet described the parameter change as "arbitrary" because it was allegedly done without warning.

Following the liquidations, Pac Finance users took to the protocol's official Discord server to complain and demand answers. In response, team Discord moderator Bountydreams announced that they were trying to contact the team. However, they claimed that they still had not received a response as of 19:55.

This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available. What are you thinking? Share your comments.#PacFinance#DeFi #Blockchain

The Supreme Court of Montenegro in Podgorica left the issue of whether Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon should be extradited to the United States or South Korea to the Minister of Justice. Minister of Justice Andrej Milović will decide to which country Kwon will be extradited. The decision follows the Supreme Court of Montenegro, which upheld Kwon's request to preserve legality against a lower court decision that would have allowed his extradition to South Korea.

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using fake travel documents while trying to leave the country. Kwon and others at Terraform were accused of lying to investors and committing fraud during the platform's May 2022 collapse. On April 5, a jury found the company and Kwon liable for fraud in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kwon's case in Montenegro was transferred from court to court as his lawyers continued to file motions and objections to the process. Terraform Labs' former chief financial officer, Han Chang-joon - who was arrested along with Kwon in Montenegro - was extradited to South Korea in February. South Korean authorities have also charged several people with ties to Terraform, including co-founder Hyun-seong Shin.

What do you think about this? Share your comments below.#blockchain#news #TerraformLabs

Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried have filed documents to appeal the former CEO's conviction and sentence.

In a brief filed April 11 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, attorney Alexandra Shapiro said Bankman-Fried plans to appeal a jury's conviction on seven felonies and Judge Lewis Kaplan's sentence of 25 years in federal prison he stated. SBF's lawyers said they planned to appeal at the sentencing hearing on March 28, so the filing was expected.

This came two weeks after Bankman-Fried's sentencing hearing. On April 8, attorneys for the former FTX CEO asked Judge Kaplan to approve an order allowing SBF to remain in the Metropolitan Detention Facility in Brooklyn, pending appeal, and not in a federal prison in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available. What are you thinking? We are waiting your comments.#BlockchainNews#FTX #SBF

AAA game studio Ubisoft has moved one step closer to releasing its first blockchain-based game by releasing the first in-game trailer for Champion Tactics Grimoria during Paris Blockchain Week.

The lead developers of the tactical PVP RPG presented an exclusive gaming experience to Cointelegraph at the conference. The RPG allows players to create blockchain-based figures with unique features and characteristics and combine them to form a team of three in turn-based gameplay.

Ubisoft's VP of Strategic Innovation Lab, Nicolas Pouard, noted that the studio is taking a patient approach to creating a blockchain-based title: "Last year we started development of the first real game on the blockchain. Starting with a AAA title would be too ambitious, so we're testing the waters with Champions Tactics." ."

Ubisoft and Oasys, the gaming blockchain protocol the former firm is headlining, showed off the game firsthand to visitors in Paris. They also announced a new whitelist that will allow potential players to start making figures for the champion roster.

Pouard added that Ubisoft was not interested in releasing a game driven by financial motivations, but wanted to prove that the studio could release a quality Web3 game that gave players true ownership of digital assets.

Oasys also announced a new integration with omni-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero. This marks a significant step forward in the legacy firm's 2024 Dragon Update, which focuses on increasing interoperability across the gaming ecosystem.

We welcome your comments: What do you think of this new blockchain-based game from Ubisoft? Share your views on the role of blockchain in the gaming world.#Ubisoft#Blockchain #Gaming

The depreciation of Naira and the Nigerian government's criminalization of Binance increased the interest in cryptocurrencies. The Nigerian government claimed that Binance illegally removed $26 billion from the country and detained two of its employees. However, this does not change the fact that the government must take responsibility for managing its own currency.

The Nigerian government must understand that the use of cryptocurrencies is not a consequence, not a cause, of the failure of the Naira. The government punishes its citizens by preventing them from pursuing better options.

Taking responsibility for the Nigerian government's mistakes in the management of the Naira begins with allowing the market alone to determine the Naira's exchange rate. The government's ever-changing price controls have greatly complicated the economy.

The Nigerian government should abandon its CBDC. It is stated that the central bank spent a large amount of money to create, repair and rebuild the CBDC. This time and effort could have been better used to focus on the Naira.

The government may continue its years of mistakes in currency management. Or, it could embrace competition and work to create something every citizen would want to use.#Nigeria#Binance#Cryptocurrency#Naira

What do you think about this? We are waiting your comments.

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried was recently sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and has asked a judge for permission to stay in New York. Bankman-Fried's lawyers requested that the former FTX CEO be allowed to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Facility in Brooklyn. Bankman-Fried has stated that she wants to remain in the Brooklyn jail to facilitate her access to appellate lawyers.

Before Judge Kaplan announced Bankman-Fried's 25-year prison sentence, attorney Marc Mukasey said SBF plans to appeal his conviction on seven felonies. Some legal experts have suggested that the former FTX CEO could receive years of prison time based on his good behavior.

Bankman-Fried, the only person tied to the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, denied the charges and appeared before a jury. Others charged in the same case pleaded guilty and accepted deals.

We welcome your comments: What do you think of SBF's request? How will the legal process proceed? Share your ideas with us.

On Cointelegraph's Hashing It Out podcast, host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Kula DAO co-founder Micah Yeackley about a project to tokenize real-world assets (RWA) on the blockchain. Yeackley notes that tokenization can encompass much more than natural resources. He thinks Kula is more likely to benefit from its diverse pool of assets. He also explains that “DoubleDAO,” a component of the Kula DAO governance structure, aims to provide checks and balances in the DAO’s decision-making process.

Yeackley highlights how the project was implemented in Zambia and how it led to changes in areas such as equal pay for women and the construction of social amenities in a joint mine. As for regulation, Yeackley says projects in the industry are difficult to regulate. Kula has received preliminary approval from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in Dubai and is set to become the first regulated RWA DAO to tokenize natural resources and commodities. Yeackley believes regulation should be the first step in the industry. What are you thinking? Share your comments below.#blockchain#KulaDAO #tokenization

Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty continues to increase ahead of the historic halving event that will reduce miner rewards by 50%. According to BTC.com data, Bitcoin mining difficulty reached 86.4 trillion with the last adjustment on April 10. This is likely the last adjustment that will occur before the halving.

Bitcoin mining difficulty measures how difficult and time-consuming it is to mine a new block or solve mathematical puzzles under Bitcoin's proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism.

BTC mining difficulty adjustment occurs every 2,016 blocks, or approximately every two weeks, as Bitcoin is programmed to self-adjust the difficulty level to maintain a target block time of 10 minutes.

With the increasing Bitcoin mining difficulty, the BTC hash rate has also seen a significant increase. It rose from 619 exahash/s (EH/s) on March 28 to 696 EH/s on April 10.

Some analysts predict that the BTC hash rate will likely drop following the upcoming Bitcoin halving in 2024. According to Galaxy's mining analysts, 20% of Bitcoin's current hashrate could go offline following the halving, with many miners shutting down their mining devices due to decreased post-halving efficiency.

What are your thoughts? We are waiting your comments.

Matthew White, CEO of Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), stated that the digital asset regulator wants to make life easier for smaller cryptoasset businesses. During a regulatory panel discussion held at Paris Blockchain Week, White acknowledged that crypto regulations are not perfect and is looking for ways to improve them.

One plan is to ease financial burdens for smaller crypto businesses. "It's not perfect. I'm currently working on a number of things to try to create a regime that works for everyone. One of them is figuring out how to deal with compliance costs for smaller entities," White said. said.

Getting regulated is a "costly exercise" and many people lack the resources, White said. White said this was something the controller was experiencing, so they were looking for a solution.

We welcome your comments: Do you think this type of regulation would be beneficial for small crypto businesses?#Blockchain#Dubai #CryptoRegulations

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) outflows hit a new record low, falling almost 90% compared to the previous day. This coincided with Bitcoin's (BTC) recovery as new US inflation data caused volatility.

On April 10, GBTC experienced outflows of $17.5 million, a significant decrease compared to outflows of $154.9 million recorded on April 9, according to Farside data.

During this time, Bitcoin's price has increased by 2.08% in the last 24 hours and currently stands at $70,474, according to CoinMarketCap data.

In the same time frame, it reached local lows of $67,482 following the release of US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for March. This has led to concerns that the Federal Reserve may further delay interest rate cuts.

Considering that there have been $16 billion in total outflows since GBTC was converted into a spot Bitcoin ETF in January, some crypto commentators are again sharing hope that this could be the beginning of a slowdown in GBTC outflows.

What are you thinking? Is this decline in GBTC outflows the beginning of a slowdown or just a temporary situation? We are waiting your comments.#blockchain#bitcoin #GBTC

Binance experienced a turning point last year by making a record deal worth $4.3 billion with the United States. Binance's Head of Institutional and VIP Clients, Catherine Chen, says the exchange welcomes the "coming wave of regulation."

Binance's deal included appointing an independent compliance auditor and accepting a five-year U.S. Treasury auditor. This is "frankly, a great thing from my perspective," Chen said.

Chen also allayed concerns that Binance's performance would suffer under the audit agreement, saying "we were preparing for this."

In November 2023, Binance, Binance.US and its co-founder Changpang “CZ” Zhao paid $4.3 billion to the US government after they were accused of violating Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and sanctions laws.

Zhao agreed to step down as CEO, acknowledging his failure to maintain an AML program. Zhao, who is expected to be sentenced on April 30, faces up to 18 months in prison.

Chen noted that having regulations in place “provides much greater clarity” for Binance users and will “help them become more comfortable with the industry, the asset class, and the major players.”

Binance's new CEO, Richard Teng, noted that the exchange operates a certain way, but the company is "outgrowing that as it grows."

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still pursuing lawsuits against Binance, Binance.US, and Zhao. Binance denies allegations that it sold unregistered securities and mixed customer assets.

Share your comments and thoughts with us.#Binance#Blockchain #Regulation

Paraguayan senators halted progress on a proposed cryptocurrency mining ban introduced last week and are now considering the benefits of selling excess energy from the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant to miners rather than exporting it to Brazil and Argentina. A public hearing on April 23 will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of Bitcoin mining in the country.

Senator Salyn Buzarquis has introduced a proposal for Paraguay's Ministry of Industry to study the economic advantages of selling excess energy to Bitcoin miners. Buzarquis stated that 45 licensed cryptocurrency miners will generate $48 million in revenue for the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) in 2024, and that this figure will reach $125 million in 2025 after miners install more equipment.

Since the cost of generating electricity at Paraguay's Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is around $22 per megawatt hour (MWh), ANDE can earn a 45% net profit margin by selling excess energy to local Bitcoin miners for $40 per MWh. This means a value added tax of $73 million annually and $17 million for the treasury.

Cryptocurrency mining can also create more employment opportunities for the local economy. However, it was stated that there have been 50 cases of power outages since February due to miners illegally connecting to these electricity sources.

This could impact major industry players such as Marathon Digital Holdings, which expanded into Paraguay last November and installed 27 megawatts of capacity around the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant.

What are you thinking? How does Paraguay's move affect the future of cryptocurrency mining? We are waiting your comments.#Paraguay#Bitcoin #CryptocurrencyMining

Uniswap (UNI), the token of the decentralized exchange of the same name, suffered a six-week decline after it said it had received proposed litigation from US regulators. UNI fell from $11.21 to $10 after Wells said it had received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Currently, UNI is trading at $9.66, its lowest level since late February.

Uniswap did not share the full content of Wells' notice, but in a blog post about the notice it claimed that UNI is not a security and does not meet the U.S. definitions of a securities exchange or broker.

“This case will take years and could go all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Uniswap Labs founder Hayden Adams.

An SEC spokesperson stated that they do not comment on "the existence or absence of a possible investigation."

There is a possibility of a lawsuit, but there is no lawsuit yet. It is considered "highly suspicious" that the SEC would target UNI holders or protocol users.

It was stated that the Wells notice sent to Uniswap gave the buyer the opportunity to make an argument to dismiss the brokers' proposed lawsuit.

Uniswap allegedly repeated a “tired, anemic, stale, and unsuccessful monologue,” claiming that the SEC abused its power and criticized the SEC’s “anti-innovation enforcement paradigm.”

What are your thoughts? We are waiting your comments.#Uniswap#SEC #Blockchain

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has filed an appeal to appeal Finder Wallet's lawsuit, which was dismissed last month by a federal court that found its "Earn" product complies with Australia's financial laws. ASIC had alleged that Finder Wallet's interest-earning product was operated without a proper license or authorisation. However, federal court judge Brigitte Markovic dismissed the case on March 14.

ASIC said it objected to this decision because it was concerned that the Finder Earn product was offered without appropriate licensing or authorization and therefore without the benefit of important consumer protections. The appeal will be heard by the Full Federal Court, with no exact date set.

Users of Finder Earn can convert their Australian dollars into TrueAUD (TAUD) – a stablecoin pegged to the Australian dollar – and transfer them to Finder Wallet to receive a return of 4-6% in return. ASIC took action against Finder Wallet in December 2022 because it claimed it was an unlicensed financial product.

What do you think about this? Leave your comments below.#blockchain#fintech#ASIC#FinderWallet

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a Wells notice to decentralized exchange Uniswap.

On X (formerly Twitter), Uniswap's General Counsel Marvin Aomori confirmed the regulator's notice on April 10.

“Today's Wells filing against @Uniswap is disappointing, but this is to be expected from the SEC,” Aomori said.

A Wells notice is a formal notice that a securities regulator's staff intends to recommend enforcement action against a company or individual. This notice gives the recipient the opportunity to provide a written explanation or argument (“Wells submission”) as to why such action should not be taken.

The SEC has issued similar notices in the past warning of legal actions against crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance.

This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available. What do you think about this? We are waiting your comments.

Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame's trial has been postponed until May 28, according to a filing in the Southern District Court of New York. It is unclear why the first hearing was postponed from May 1.

Salame was one of four members of FTX senior management charged by the US government, along with Sam Bankman-Fried, in connection with FTX's collapse. Salame was the only person who did not testify against Bankman-Fried.

Both charges could bring Salame up to five years in prison. Bankman-Fried's lawyers argued that she should not face election contribution violation charges because it was not part of her agreement to extradite her from the Bahamas.

Salame's role in criminal activities at FTX is somewhat unclear. He was not part of Bankman-Fried's inner circle and was so shocked by the news of the stock market crash that he became physically ill. However, Bahamas court records later showed that he notified the country's Securities Commission about irregularities in the stock market in November 2022 and an investigation was launched.

What do you think about this? Leave your comments below.#FTX#Blockchain #RyanSalame

The CEO of VanEck Investment Company said the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is unlikely to approve a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May. Jan van Eck told CNBC that his company's spot Ethereum ETF application "will probably be rejected."

Van Eck noted that Cathie Wood, along with ARK Invest, are the first companies to file for a spot Ether ETF in the US, and both expect a final decision on May 23 and 24. CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti was equally pessimistic, saying, "I don't see anything being approved until the end of this year."

Van Eck's comments follow a prolonged period of inaction from the SEC regarding seven pending applications for spot Ether ETFs. Do you think this stance by the SEC makes it harder for Ether ETFs to be approved? We are waiting your comments.#blockchain#cryptocurrency #ETH

Many commentators, including Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, have cited continued “radio silence” between the regulator and potential funders as the main reason why May ETF approval is becoming increasingly unlikely.

Balchunas cut its official rates for an Ether ETF approval from 70% to 35% in May. How accurate do you think this ratio is? We are waiting your comments.#blockchain#cryptocurrency #ETH

VanEck's spot Bitcoin ETF - trading under the ticker HODL - is the fifth largest of the ten newly launched funds (excluding Grayscale). It has experienced an inflow of $461.7 million since it launched in mid-January. Do you think the success of Bitcoin ETFs will increase the likelihood of Ether ETFs being approved? We are waiting your comments.#blockchain#cryptocurrency#BTC#ETH

"Avraham 'Avi' Eisenberg's alleged exploitation of $110 million from Solana decentralized exchange Mango Markets is no different than a fake diamond ring scam, prosecutors allege," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tian Huang wrote in an April 9 Inner City Press X-mail. , said Eisenberg's actions on October 11, 2022 constituted fraud and market manipulation.

Eisenberg has long denied allegations that he exploited Mango Markets, saying he "operated an extremely profitable trading strategy" and that his actions were "lawful open market actions."

Eisenberg's attorney, Sanford Talkin, denied the allegations and explained that Eisenberg had risked $13 million of his own funds and could lose it all if the trade failed.

In October 2022, Eisenberg inflated the value of the platform's native token, MNGO, compared to USD Coin (USDC). He then issued a series of loans against the inflated MNGO price, which drained Mango Markets' treasury of approximately $110 million worth of various cryptocurrencies.

Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro said the latest verdict in Eisenberg's case could be more important for Sam Bankman-Fried than the criminal case. Shapiro called the government charge that Eisenberg committed market manipulation "fine" but raised issues with the specifics around Eisenberg's requirements.

What do you think about this? Share your comments with us."