Happy Wednesday! In today’s Daily, we learn that Grayscale is launching a decentralized AI fund, Donald Trump teases another NFT collection, and the German government confirmed it has net bought $2.9 billion in Bitcoin.
Let’s begin.
Grayscale Launches New Decentralized AI Fund
- The Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund’s initial basket includes Bittensor, Filecoin, Livepeer, Near, and Render.
- Near, Filecoin, and Render are the fund’s most heavily weighted assets, and are rebalanced quarterly to adapt to the evolving AI and cryptocurrency landscape.
- Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s head of products and research, said these blockchain-based AI-related protocols “embody the principles of decentralization, accessibility, and transparency.”
- The asset manager added that the fund will focus on projects in areas such as chatbots, generative images and other decentralized AI use cases, solving centralized AI problems like deepfakes and misinformation, and AI-related infrastructure such as GPU computing, data storage and decentralized marketplaces.
- Grayscale previously launched a Near-focused trust product in May, and its spot Bitcoin ETF, GBTC, is the second-largest by assets under management behind BlackRock’s IBIT.
Trump Wants US to Take Charge of Cryptocurrency Rather Than China, Teasing Another NFT Launch
- “If I throw it away, it’s going to be picked up by some other country, maybe China,” Trump said. “So you have to look at it. What I want, again, is good for the country.”
- The Republican presidential candidate added that cryptocurrencies “are not going away” and that he plans to release another set of NFTs. “I’ve done it three times, and I’m going to do it again because people want me to do it again.”
- President Trump has previously launched NFTs themed around trading cards that offer certain buyers various perks, such as a suit of his or a ticket to a dinner event with him.
German government confirms net purchase of $2.9 billion in Bitcoin sales
- The coordinated sales, managed with the assistance of the Federal Criminal Prosecutor’s Office through exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken, took place between June 19 and July 12.
- According to blockchain analytics platform Arkham, the German asset sale effort was closely tracked, with the balance of the relevant Bitcoin wallet reaching zero last Friday.
- While the Movie2K case is not over yet, German authorities said the emergency sale was legally necessary to avoid the risk of a significant decline in value of more than 10%.
US Spot Bitcoin ETFs See Net Inflows of $422 Million, Largest Since Early June
- BlackRock’s IBIT generated nearly $1 billion in trading volume, with inflows of $260.2 million, the highest since June 6.
- Fidelity’s FBTC and Ark Invest’s ARKB also saw significant net inflows, with $61.1 million and $29.8 million respectively.
- No funds reported net outflows on Tuesday, and U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have seen a total of $16.5 billion in net inflows since their launch in January.
Bitwise CIO predicts Ether price will hit all-time high above $5,000 thanks to ETF inflows
- According to Bitwise’s CIO, Ethereum’s effective inflation rate has been 0% over the past year, and with less selling pressure from stakers compared to Bitcoin miners, the price impact from ETF inflows is expected to be significant.
- Hogan predicted that Ethereum’s price will hit an all-time high of $5,000 by the end of the year, driven by inflows from the spot Ethereum ETF, which is set to launch on July 23.
within the next 24 hours
The ECB’s latest rate decision is due out at 8:15 a.m. ET on Thursday. U.S. jobless claims numbers are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
ECB President Christine Lagarde will speak at 10:15 a.m., while U.S. FOMC members Mary Daley and Michelle Bowman will speak at 6:05 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., respectively.
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