Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

BlackRock and VanEck Each Inject Seed Funds into Their Respective BTC Spot ETFs

The revised S-1 filings reveal that BlackRock has injected a $10 million seed fund into its Bitcoin spot ETF, while VanEck has injected a $72.5 million seed fund into its Bitcoin spot ETF.　　Seed funds refer to contributions made by banks and brokerages to purchase component stocks (in this case, Bitcoin) in exchange for ETF shares that can be traded on the open market on the day of listing. Seed funds are typically of a modest scale, designed to facilitate the operation of the ETF. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart suggests that injecting seed funds may indicate an imminent launch of the ETF.　　

2024-01-09Deep Dive

Friend.tech Transfers 7800 ETH to Coinbase, Experiences 50% Decrease in TVL from Historical Peak

21.co analyst Tom Wan posted on X platform, indicating that the entire friend.tech treasury (all earning fees) was eventually transferred from an Externally Owned Account (EOA) address to a Multi-Sig address in December. Simultaneously, half of the fee revenue, totaling 7,800 ETH (approximately $16.6 million), was sent to Coinbase.　　Currently, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in friend.tech stands at around 15,000 ETH (approximately $33 million), marking a 50% decline from its historical peak of 30,000 ETH (approximately $50 million). Daily minting activity has significantly decreased, with redemption activities surpassing minting activities in most instances.　　On the Base chain, only 1.2% of active users are still using friend.tech, contributing only 1% of the daily fee revenue. During its peak, 54% of active addresses on Base used the protocol, contributing to 18% of the total fees.　　

2024-01-08Deep Dive

ETF Launch Expected This Thursday; GBTC Poised for Conversion/Listings on the Same Day as Other ETFs

The ETF Store President, Nate Geraci, posted on X platform, outlining five key points hes focusing on regarding the Bitcoin spot ETF this week:　　Remaining fee disclosures, particularly from BlackRock (iShares) and Grayscale. Currently, Fidelity leads with a 0.39% fee, while JPMorgan is at 0.59% (waived for the first six months).　　The SECs approval vote (likely on Wednesday). The SECs Trading and Markets division needs to approve the 19b-4 (exchange rule change) filing; the Corporate Finance division needs to sign off on the S-1 (registration statement). The critical aspect is the approval order for the 19b-4.　　The potential launch of the ETF on Thursday. In this case, interest lies in understanding the types of investors who are already prepared. There are rumors that BlackRock may attract $2 billion in the first week. How much capital will Fidelity, JPMorgan, and others bring？ Will ARK be able to purchase over $200 million to replace GBTC in ARKW？　　Will GBTC convert/list on the same day as other ETFs listings？ There are indications this might occur (based on executive X posts, documents, and general activity/news). This could be a significant advantage as GBTC currently holds $27 billion in assets and would automatically enter one of the top 60

2024-01-08Deep Dive

Bloomberg: Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETF Could Initiate Trading as Early as Next Business Day

Analysis suggests that before the Bitcoin spot ETF can commence trading, two technical requirements must be met. Firstly, the SEC needs to approve the 19b-4 filing submitted by the exchange intending to list the ETF. Secondly, the SEC must approve the relevant S-1 form.　　The SEC plans to vote on the 19b-4 filing submitted by the exchange in the coming days. It remains uncertain whether the SEC will take action on the issuers application (S-1) at the same time. If the SEC approves the Bitcoin spot ETF, the earliest possible start for ETF trading could be the following business day.　　A representative from the SEC declined to comment on the current status of the applications.　　

2024-01-08Deep Dive

Arthur Hayes: Predicts Bitcoin May Experience a 20%-30% Healthy Pullback in March

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes has penned an analysis of the current cryptocurrency market trends and its potential risks. He points out that while the cryptocurrency market is in the early stages of a bull market, investors need to remain cautious about the upcoming market volatility and adjust their strategies accordingly.　　Hayes highlights three critical variables that will converge in March this year: changes in the United States Reverse Repurchase Program (RRP) balance, the renewal of the Bank Treasury Finance and Policy (BTFP), and the Federal Reserves decision on interest rate cuts.　　He anticipates a healthy 20% to 30% pullback in Bitcoin in early March, potentially even larger if the U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have begun trading. He notes that if its expected that several hundred billion fiat will flow into these ETFs, Bitcoins price could surge to $60,000 or even approach its 2021 all-time high of $70,000. However, following this peak, due to a shortage of U.S. dollar liquidity, he foresees Bitcoin facing a 30% to 40% correction. This is why he refrains from buying Bitcoin until after the March decision date.　　Hayes mentioned that he plans to attempt selling at a high point in late February and buying substantial bearish options in

2024-01-05Deep Dive

Multiple Korean Institutions Engaged in the Investigation of Orbit Bridge Security Incident

The National Intelligence Service of South Korea has stated that it is collaborating with other parties to investigate the reasons behind the Orbit Bridge theft and the attackers.　　According to Article 48, Section 3 of the South Korean Information and Communication Network Act, information and communication service providers are required to immediately report infringement incidents to the Ministry of Science and ICT or the Korea Internet & Security Agency. Therefore, in the early stages of the Orbit Bridge cryptocurrency theft incident, the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the National Police Agency analyzed the causes of the event.　　Subsequently, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea also became involved in the investigation because the analysis indicated that the Lazarus hacking group from North Korea is likely the main perpetrator of this attack.　　

2024-01-05Deep Dive

Founder of Taiwan's Ace Exchange Arrested on Allegations of Fraud

According to Cointelegraph, the Taipei City Police conducted raids on multiple locations, including the headquarters of Ace Exchange, leading to the arrest of Ace Exchange founder David Pan and 14 others. They were charged with deceiving investors through false cryptocurrency statements, illicitly profiting approximately 200 million New Taiwan Dollars (equivalent to around 6.4 million US dollars).　　Ace Exchange issued a statement on January 4th via the X platform stating that any suspected illegal activities belonged to the “token project party” and would not affect the operation of the exchange. Wang Chen-huan, the president of Ace, stated, “The exchange plans to delist the MOCT/TWD trading pair (MOCT being one of the tokens suspected of fraud) on January 8 and will fully cooperate with any investigation. Some coins listed by individual parties in 2019 involved illegal acts. Essentially, ACE is cooperating with the investigation as a witness, contrary to some media reports implicating company employees, which are not true.”　　The Taiwanese authorities seized approximately 3.5 million US dollars worth of cryptocurrency among the confiscated funds. David Pan and others reportedly declined cooperation and were detained on charges of fraud.　　

2024-01-05Deep Dive

US Government Holds Over $8 Billion Worth of Bitcoin

Due to a healthy price surge, the U.S. federal government now holds at least $8.3 billion worth of Bitcoin, a number that was at $5 billion less than three months ago.　　Between November 2020 and 2022, the U.S. authorities disclosed the confiscation of 207,189 Bitcoins in three separate actions related to the Silk Road dark web marketplace, hacker Jimmy Zhong, and the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange. Less than 5% of the confiscated Bitcoins have been sold. Last February, the government sold 9,861 BTC previously belonging to Silk Road on Coinbase. These transactions generated revenue of $215 million for the government at an average price of $21,800 per Bitcoin, approximately half of the current price.　　At that time, U.S. prosecutors stated their intention to sell the remaining Silk Road Bitcoins—41,491 BTC—in four batches over the following calendar year. This cache, valued at $1 billion back then, is now worth $1.8 billion. This deadline is set to expire in two months.　　

2024-01-04Deep Dive

BTC Miner Revenue Hits $1.59 Billion in December 2023; GBTC Daily Average Trading Volume Up by 63.4%

The Block Pro data indicates a 21.7% month-over-month increase in BTC miner revenue, reaching $1.59 billion in December 2023. Meanwhile, ETH staker revenue increased by 17.1% to $185 million.　　In December, the average daily trading volume of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) surged by 63.4%, reaching $195 million.　　Additionally, 127,110 ETH were burned in December, equivalent to approximately $286 million. Since the implementation of EIP-1559 in early August 2021, a total of 3.89 million ETH has been burned, amounting to around $10.8 billion.　　The trading volume of Ethereum NFT platforms witnessed a 39.8% increase in December, reaching $780 million.　　Moreover, compliant CEX spot trading volumes rose by 34.5% in December, reaching $598.7 billion. Binance held a market share of 72.3%, followed by Coinbase with 11.7%, Kraken with 4.9%, and LMAX Digital with 3.2%.　　

2024-01-04Deep Dive

CoinShares: Net Inflows of $2.25 Billion in Digital Asset Investment Products in 2023

Mint Cash announced on the X platform that it will initiate the Burndrop program no less than 30 days from now. The Burndrop program will distribute two tokens, oppaMINT and ANC, in proportion to the amount of USTC destroyed in each wallet. Furthermore, 20% of the total supply of oppaMINT and 15% of the total supply of ANC will be allocated to separate airdrop programs targeting UST/Luna victims.　　

2024-01-04Deep Dive

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