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Latam Insights: Bukele Frontrunned Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF Move, Bitcoin Lease Contracts in Argentina
14.1.2024
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele states they got into Bitcoin before Blackrock, the first bitcoin-settled lease contract goes live in Argentina...
Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals, Ethereum’s Outperformance, BTC Mystery Transfer, and More — Week in Review
14.1.2024
The SEC approved spot bitcoin ETFs, sparking a lukewarm market response despite ethereum’s rising prominence. Meanwhile, intrigue swirled around a mysterious $1.19 million bitcoin transfer to the genesis address linked to Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. The launch day of U.S....
Distributed Validator Technology More Primed to Overcome the Ethereum Validator Overload Challenge – Alon Muroch
14.1.2024
While the Ethereum network’s migration to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism has seen the protocol become less energy-intensive, Alon Muroch, the founder of the SSV Network core team, said if the number of validators is not contained this can lead to a network overload. The Promise...
Vanguard Deepens Anti-Crypto Stance After Disallowing Spot Bitcoin ETF Trading — Ark CEO Says ‘It’s a Terrible Mistake’
14.1.2024
Investing giant Vanguard has doubled down on its anti-bitcoin and anti-crypto stance after disallowing investors access to spot bitcoin ETFs approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week. The firm has also announced that it will no longer accept the purchase...
Blackrock CEO Larry Fink on Bitcoin: I’m a Big Believer — Its Bigger Than Any Government
14.1.2024
Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, says he has become “a big believer” in bitcoin, emphasizing that it is “bigger than any government.” Calling the cryptocurrency “digital gold,” the executive stressed: “Unlike gold, where we manufacture new gold, we’re almost...
US Lawmaker Expects Donald Trump to Become ‘a Lot More’ Crypto Friendly in Second Term as President
14.1.2024
U.S. Representative Tom Emmer expects former U.S. President Donald Trump to become “a lot more” friendly toward cryptocurrency if he returns to the White House. Trump has launched three non-fungible token (NFT) collections since leaving office. Meanwhile, some analysts predict that...
Blackrock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Now Holds 11,439 BTC
14.1.2024
Blackrock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has acquired 11,439 bitcoin, with a market value of nearly $500 million, within two days of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust was among the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs approved by the U.S. Securities...
Terra’s Do Kwon Seeks Trial Delay, Citing Extradition Holdup
14.1.2024
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has requested that the judge in his fraud case delay the trial date, currently set for Jan. 29, 2024, because Kwon is still tied up in extradition proceedings in Montenegro. Terra’s Do Kwon Requests Trial Postponement Due to Extradition Issues In a letter...
Binance and Coinbase Hold 11% of Crypto Economy’s Net Value, Leading in BTC and ETH Reserves
13.1.2024
Statistical data reveals that Binance and Coinbase, two titans in the cryptocurrency exchange arena, cumulatively possess 11.85% of the $1.68 trillion digital currency economy. In addition, these prominent trading platforms control 7.83% of the total bitcoin supply, underscoring their significant...
$311 Million in NFT Sales Amidst Fluctuating Blockchain and Collection Performances
13.1.2024
In the last week, the non-fungible token (NFT) market experienced unremarkable sales, totaling $311.31 million. This figure represents a slight uptick of just 0.05% from the previous week. Despite this, Bitcoin NFT sales have consistently outperformed other blockchain networks since November 2023....
Across-the-Board Crypto Stock Declines Erode Earlier Profit Streaks
13.1.2024
Although spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw substantial trading activity on Thursday and Friday, publicly-listed crypto companies faced a different fate, with several equities experiencing significant losses when the market closed on Friday. For instance, Marathon Digital Holdings’ shares...
GBTC’s Closing NAV Discount and Steep Fees Trigger Outflows, ETF Analyst Expects ‘More Over Time’
13.1.2024
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlit the debut of 11 diverse spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which, in their initial two days on the market, experienced a substantial $7.65 billion in trading volume. Concurrently, while a host of new entrants enjoyed...
Near Foundation Cuts Staff by 40%, CEO Says Organization Is in Good Financial Health
13.1.2024
The NEAR Foundation recently said it has let go of 35 workers as part of a realignment exercise that sees it “focus on a narrower and higher-impact set of activities.” The foundation’s CEO insisted that the job cuts did not in any way indicate that his organization was facing...
Coinbase Partners With Yellow Card to Expand Access to Its Products in 20 African Countries
13.1.2024
The leading crypto exchange Coinbase has said it will expand access to its products to 20 African countries. Coinbase also claimed that its partnership arrangement with the Africa-focused crypto exchange Yellow Card can help increase financial freedom in countries where it is lacking. Increasing...
Starkware CEO Uri Kolodny Steps Down Due to Family Health Issues
13.1.2024
Starkware faces a leadership transition as CEO Uri Kolodny resigns over pressing family health issues. While stepping down, Kolodny leaves the company in the hands of co-founder and friend Eli Ben-Sasson. Starkware Sees CEO Change as Uri Kolodny Resigns, Citing Family Health Uri Kolodny, CEO...
Venezuelan Petro Reportedly on the Brink of Liquidation
13.1.2024
According to local sources, one of the first state-backed cryptocurrency assets, the Venezuelan Petro, would be facing an imminent liquidation. Asonacrip, a national cryptocurrency association, reported having information about the upcoming liquidation process, including the automatic exchange...
Argentina Registers First Bitcoin Settled Lease Agreement
13.1.2024
Argentina has registered one of its first lease agreements denominated in bitcoin after the application of the emergency executive order issued by President Javier Milei, which opened the door for this kind of settlement. The agreement stipulates that the tenant must pay the $100 USDT worth...
SEC Commissioner Criticizes Delay in Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval — ‘We Squandered a Decade of Opportunities’
13.1.2024
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce has slammed her agency for the delay in approving spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). “Our arbitrary and capricious treatment of applications in this area will continue to harm our reputation far beyond crypto....
Vanguard Blocks Customers From Trading SEC-Approved Spot Bitcoin ETFs
13.1.2024
Several investment firms, including Vanguard, reportedly block customers from trading spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). “Our perspective is that these products do not align with our offer focused on asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash,” the firm explained....
Grayscale’s 4,000 Bitcoin Transfer Worth $175M Stirs Market Speculation Amid Record ETF Trading Volume
13.1.2024
Recent blockchain analytics reveal that 4,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $175 million, have been transferred from addresses believed to be controlled by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, commonly referred to as GBTC. Records indicate that these transfers occurred in four separate batches...