The final countdown to Bitcoin ETF approval has begun. MicroStrategy adds more BTC to its stack. What were the biggest cryptocurrency stories of last year? This week we bring you these stories and more in cryptocurrency.
Lowest Bitcoin Balance Since 2018
More than 28,000 bitcoins worth $1.2 billion left centralized exchanges on Thursday, marking the largest single-day outflow since December 2022. The result is the lowest Bitcoin balance on the exchange since April 2018, as investors prefer to hold their coins for the long term. While Solana’s poor SOL shuffled the altcoin rankings a bit, BNB surged 15%, reclaiming the fourth-place spot among cryptocurrencies by overall market capitalization.
MicroStrategy pushes ahead with BTC holdings
MicroStrategy announced in December that it had acquired more than 14,000 BTC at an average price of $42,000. The stock price soared 8% with the announcement of the $600 million purchase, and by 2023, the stock price has soared 350%. The strategy of strengthening Bitcoin reserves has strengthened the stock’s attractiveness, given its closely correlated price movements.
Final Countdown to Bitcoin ETF Approval
BlackRock and Valkyrie have revealed approved participants, or APs, for their Bitcoin ETF. Since ETF issuers cannot purchase Bitcoin directly, APs acquire and manage the underlying assets to create and redeem ETF shares on their behalf. BlackRock will partner with JP Morgan and Jane Street, and Valkyrie has selected Jane Street as one of its APs, along with Cantor Fitzgerald.
Bitcoin ETF Approval Event Criticism
Experts expect the SEC to approve all spot Bitcoin ETFs as early as this month, but according to data provider CryptoQuant, Bitcoin is expected to correct next month after a possible approval in a “news selling” event . Meanwhile, former SEC official John Reed Stark criticized spot Bitcoin ETFs as potential βfee-driven Wall Street scamsβ ββand found the concept simply laughable.
Cathie Wood dumps grayscale locations.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest exercised caution ahead of the SEC decision on its Bitcoin ETF, selling $81 million worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust stock and $27 million worth of Coinbase stock due to conversion uncertainty. At the same time, ARK purchased $92 million in shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which invests in Bitcoin futures.
India blocks major cryptocurrency exchanges
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has targeted nine major cryptocurrency exchanges, deeming them to be operating illegally and not complying with anti-money laundering laws. In line with India’s efforts to integrate cryptocurrencies into traditional finance, regulators in March made KYC collection mandatory for cryptocurrency companies. Binance, Kraken, and Huobi are among the exchanges that face URL blocking in India for non-compliance.
Elon Musk Supports Bitcoin Ordinal Number
Elon Musk pointed out the problems with regular NFTs and hinted at support for Bitcoin-based tokens. Musk criticized regular NFTs because the way the data is stored could lead to content loss, and suggested encoding images directly on the blockchain to keep them safe. He pointed out that unlike regular NFTs, Bitcoin-based inscriptions are stored securely on the blockchain.
The biggest cryptocurrency stories of 2023
Fortune has compiled the biggest cryptocurrency stories of 2023, which is being described as the year of the cryptocurrency’s rebound. Spot Bitcoin ETF filings and new Bitcoin inscriptions have been major topics during the second half of the year, with the industry also coming to a conclusion on scandals including the Do Kwan and Terra debacle, FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and the resignation of its CEO. I did it. Chengpeng Zhao on Binance settlement with SEC.
This is what happened in the cryptocurrency market this week. I will see you next week.