2024-05-29 17:41
Wood said the proposed ether ETFs weren't approved in a regular way. Key documents for the proposed ether exchange-traded funds (ETF) were approved suddenly and unexpectedly. The surprise approval and passage of FIT21 in the House indicate how crypto has become an election issue. Ark will not make money from its bitcoin ETF. AUSTIN, TX — ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said crypto is now a U.S. election issue, which is why key documents for the proposed ether exchange-traded funds (ETF) were approved suddenly and unexpectedly. "The read was it was not going to be approved. It was absolutely not going to be approved," Wood said on stage at Consensus 2024 in an interview with Peter McCormack, host of the What Bitcoin Did podcast. "If it were to have been approved the regular way, we would have been getting questions from the SEC. No one was getting questions from the SEC beforehand." Wood, who is also the firm's chief investment officer, said sentiment evolved around the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) in the House. The act passed last week with support from both sides of the aisle, making it clear that this could be an election-year issue. "The other thing that happened was former President Trump had become much more cozy with bitcoin and crypto generally. That week, he said he would accept campaign donations in crypto," which got attention from the administration, Wood said. Wood also said that while a solana ETF could be approved, meme coin-focused funds are unlikely because wirehouses – the large brokerage firms and investment advisory companies – would not accept more than "the majors." Bitcoin as a public good Wood also said ARK's position is that bitcoin (BTC) is a public good, and the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF that was approved in January with a fee of 0.21% would not make money. "We should make [the ETF] as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, so keep the fee very low." She also announced that ARK will allocate a percentage of its private fund revenues to support Bitcoin developers, ensuring they receive consistent support regardless of the ETF's profitability. Bitcoin vs. Ethereum Wood is well known for her bullish sentiment on bitcoin, predicting that the BTC price could reach $1.5 million by 2030 and calling it a "financial super highway." Although ether (ETH) is having its own moment in the sun thanks to the progress in approving the ether ETFs, Wood didn't hold back in her stance on bitcoin when asked if she would rather hold bitcoin or ether. "Bitcoin, hands down. No question about it. It is a global monetary system. It is a technology, and it is a new asset class. Those are three big ideas in one, and nothing else in the crypto world is competing with it." https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/05/29/cathie-wood-says-ether-etf-filings-were-approved-because-crypto-is-an-election-issue/
2024-05-29 15:13
The options will expire on June 14 and have a strike price of $0.22 or about 31% higher than the current price. The purchase of two million call options is seen as a bullish bet on dogecoin. The contract will expire in 16 days, in which time DOGE has to rise by 31% to avoid expiring worthless. Dogecoin last touched $0.22 in March, but hasn't surpassed that level since November 2021. A trader bought two million dogecoin (DOGE) call options at a strike price of $0.22 on Wednesday, according to Bernd Sischka, chief commercial officer at derivatives exchange PowerTrade. DOGE is currently trading $0.166 and the call options purchased expire on June 14, which means that the popular meme coin will have to rise by more than 31% for the trade to be profitable. Options are a derivative contracts that give buyer the right to either buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price before the contract expires. If the underlying asset doesn't reach the strike price, that contract will expire worthless. The trade comes off the back of a bullish day across the meme coin sector following a sudden rise in the share price of Gamestop (GME), a meme stock that often moves in tandem with meme coins. Dogecoin hit a local high of $0.22 in March, but hasn't surpassed that level since November 2021. "I think altcoins have been lagging the recent run-up in ethereum and for most traders look at what ETH is doing and imply potential moves for altcoins," Sischka said. "The ETF apporval drove the ETH rally but I think with doge the wild card is that Elon Musk adds it to Twitter as some sort of payment currency." After touching a low of $0.056 in October 2023, dogecoin has rallied by more than 195% as the crypto industry entered a bull market spurred by spot BTC ETF approvals in the U.S. CORRECTION (May 29, 15:39 UTC): Corrects headline and opening paragraph to reflect value of trade is 2 million contracts, not $2 million. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/05/29/trader-buys-2m-worth-of-dogecoin-call-options-as-meme-coin-market-heats-up/
2024-05-29 14:17
The three AI platforms will complete the token merger on June 13, and FET will be renamed ASI two days before. The three firms will merge their crypto tokens under the auspices of AI-focused Web3 platform Fetch.ai's FET, which will be renamed ASI. AI has captured the attention of the technology world for the last year and a half, with concerns aired that tech giants like Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta will establish a hegemony over the sector. The three-way merger of the crypto tokens of artificial intelligence-focused protocols Fetch.ai, SingularityNET and Ocean Protocol will complete on June 13. The tokens will become one under the auspices of AI-focused Web3 platform Fetch.ai's (FET), which will be renamed ASI, for Artificial Superintelligence Alliance. As of June 11, users will be able to swap FET for ASI, with the native tokens of SingularityNET (AGIX) and Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) following when the merger completes two days later, the firms said on Wednesday. AI has captured the attention of the technology world for the last year and a half, with concerns aired that tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG) and Meta (META) will establish a hegemony over the sector. That's partly what spurred the Web3 companies to try to build a decentralized AI infrastructure, where data is transparent and shared openly between contributors. The three individual tokens are all up over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) has dropped around 0.55%. Read More: The Future of AI Is Decentralized CORRECTION (May 29, 15:14 UTC): Companies correct that the merger date applies only to token. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/05/29/fetchai-singularitynet-ocean-protocol-set-date-for-artificial-superintelligence-alliance-merger/
2024-05-29 13:00
The asset comes with Token Extensions that give it compliance superpowers. Payments giant PayPal’s (PYPL) stablecoin PYUSD is coming to Solana almost a year after first debuting on the Ethereum blockchain. The launch could bring new interest to a modestly sized crypto asset that hasn’t caught fire despite its name-brand backing. PYUSD has around 8,600 holders on the Ethereum blockchain and a market cap of a tick under $400 million—tiny compared to the largesse of its competitors from Circle and Tether, crypto-native firms. “Ethereum works well enough,” said PayPal's Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Jose Fernandez da Ponte. "But if you’re interested in retail payments as we are, basically you need at least 1000 transactions per second, and you need transaction costs in the pennies, not in the dollars." Beyond cost and speed PYUSD also has new superpowers on Solana that weren't possible on Ethereum. It uses this chain's "Token Extensions'' standards to let merchants make their transfers a little more confidential, for example. It one of a handful of compliance and programmability powers for PYUSD. CORRECTION (May 29, 13:26 UTC): Corrects market cap of PYUSD to $400 million from $400,000. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/05/29/paypal-makes-retail-stablecoin-play-with-pyusd-on-solana/
2024-05-29 12:35
CoinDesk Indices' XBX is currently the benchmark for $20 billion in ETF assets under management. The New York Stock Exchange plans to list index options tracking the price of bitcoin (BTC), bringing another traditional finance giant into the cryptocurrency space. The cash-settled derivatives will track the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX), a 10-year-old benchmark operated by this news organization's corporate sibling, CoinDesk Indices. The XBX is currently the benchmark for $20 billion in exchange-traded fund assets under management, according to the Wednesday press release announcing the partnership. "As traditional institutions and everyday investors are demonstrating their wide-ranging enthusiasm for the recent approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, the New York Stock Exchange is excited to announce its collaboration with CoinDesk Indices," NYSE Chief Product Officer Jon Herrick said in the statement. "Upon regulatory approval, these options contracts will offer investors access to an important liquid and transparent risk-management tool." Bitcoin derivatives helped pave the way for this year's introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs, which turned into one of the most successful ETF launches in history. NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, which competes with CME Group – whose bitcoin futures are widely held in the industry. NYSE's entrance into the game provides another TradFi-friendly onramp to crypto. In 2023, Intercontinental Exchange's ICE Futures Singapore collaborated with CoinDesk Indices to use XBX for its monthly contract settlement for CoinDesk Bitcoin Futures in that country. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/05/29/nyse-plans-bitcoin-options-bringing-another-tradfi-giant-into-crypto/
2024-05-29 12:26
The Bank of Israel has not deciding on issuing a digital shekel, even as it continues its yearslong effort to explore its issuance. Israel will be starting a challenge to explore payment use cases of its digital shekel. Payment service providers would get access to the system to provide advanced payment options to the general public. Israel's central bank is launching a Digital Shekel Challenge as part of an "action plan for a possible issuance of the digital shekel," to develop uses in the world of payments, it announced Tuesday. The Bank of Israel said it had built a technological prototype "simulating the heart of the digital shekel system." Payment-service providers would get access to the system to provide advanced payment options to the general public. Among the payment types to be explored are micropayments, split payments and payments requiring multiparty signatures, according to the call for participants. "In the challenge, for the first time, we allow the financial industry from Israel and abroad and a wide variety of stakeholders in the payments system to cooperate with us in a practical way in thinking, planning and designing the digital shekel," said Andrew Abir, deputy governor of the Bank of Israel. The Bank of Israel has not yet decided whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), even as it continues its yearslong exploration of the technology. In 2021, it said it had already carried out a pilot test and last year it said it was monitoring scenarios – including whether stablecoins are widely used. It also conducted a project with Hong Kong and the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) to probe how the systems can be protected from hacks. The challenge will kick off with an everything-you-wanted-to-ask webinar on June 6, and go through a process of applications and presentations before culminating at the end of September when results will be discussed. A date for final meetings and announcement of the results has not been set. The challenge is inspired by the BIS Innovation Centre's "Rosalind Project," which looked at how application programming interface (API) functionalities could support a retail CBDC and facilitate safe and secure payments, the announcement said. "This initiative is a significant step for the Israeli ecosystem, potentially bridging the gap between the web3 industry and government, even though DeFi, ZK and permissionless solutions are not yet being considered," said Saul Rejwan, managing partner at Masterkey VC. Read More: Israel's Central Bank Outlines Scenarios for Issuing a Digital Shekel https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/29/israel-to-start-digital-shekel-challenge-to-develop-payment-use-cases/
