Digital asset manager Grayscale has announced that its two spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have begun trading on the NYSE Arca.
This marks a significant “milestone” for investors and the broader ETF market.
The launch followed the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granting final approval for spot Ether ETFs, paving the way for various issuers to start trading their products.
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted on July 22 that while the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) hadn’t yet received official SEC documents, they were expected by the morning of the first trading day.
ETHE, currently the world’s largest Ether-based exchange-traded product, holds $9.19 billion worth of ETH and charges a 2.5% management fee.
Grayscale’s second product, the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH), will not charge fees for the first six months or until it manages $2 billion in net assets.
After meeting either condition, a 0.15% fee will be applied, making it the most affordable spot Ether ETF in the U.S.
“ETH and ETHE will allow investors to invest in Ethereum’s potential to create markets, transform financial systems, utilize decentralized finance (DeFi), and drive innovation through the trusted ETP wrapper — without the need to buy, store, or manage Ethereum directly,” Grayscale’s managing director John Hoffman stated to Cointelegraph.
READ MORE: NYSE Arca Approves Listing of Grayscale and Bitwise Spot Ether ETFs, Awaiting SEC Authorization
In addition to Grayscale, Ether ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, 21Shares, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and Invesco Galaxy also received approval to start trading on July 23.
In preparation for the launch, Grayscale transferred over $1 billion worth of ETH to Coinbase on July 22.
The transfer involved 292,263 Ether, aligning with Grayscale’s plan to move this amount from ETHE to its Ethereum Mini Trust, as outlined in a July 18 filing.
This move is expected to ease potential outflows from Grayscale, according to Seyffart, who commented on X on July 17. Existing ETHE holders will receive the new Ether-backed product at a 1:1 ratio, avoiding capital gains tax.
Bloomberg analysts Seyffart and Eric Balchunas predict that the new spot Ether ETFs could attract 10% to 20% of the inflows seen by spot Bitcoin ETFs since their launch.
However, Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, believes spot Ether ETFs might have a more substantial impact on Ether’s price than spot Bitcoin ETFs had on Bitcoin.
He anticipates Ether’s price could surpass $5,000 before the end of 2024.
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On July 18, Bitcoin continued its efforts to reclaim the $65,000 mark, a critical level for analysts.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated that Bitcoin’s price action showed consolidation during the Asian trading session and Wall Street open.
After reaching $66,000 the previous day, BTC/USD tested the resilience of its recent gains, as the short-term holder (STH) realized price came into focus.
Cointelegraph noted that this bull market trendline, just above $64,000 as of July 18, had previously been lost as support for the first time in nearly a year.
Popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital highlighted the significance of the current zone for BTC/USD, emphasizing the need for firm support confirmation.
“Bitcoin is not quite ready just yet for a successful retest of the ~$65,000 level as new support,” he noted on X, sharing an explanatory chart.
He added that Bitcoin would require a retest similar to a previous instance (blue circle) to confirm a break back into the $65,000-$71,500 region.
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He warned that BTC/USD “risks rejection” if the $65,000 area remains unconquered on daily timeframes.
Trader and analyst Scott Melker, known as the “Wolf Of All Streets,” pointed to positive low-timeframe relative strength index (RSI) signals for clues on the market’s next direction.
“Bearish divergence cancelled. Nice,” he commented on X. “We now have confirmed hidden bullish divergence (blue), which is a continuation signal.”
Crypto trader and educator XForceGlobal employed Elliott Wave analysis and expressed confidence in an upward continuation following consolidation.
“Overall, we are looking for the continuation of a bullish trend if the buy pressure continues to at least finish the first wave 1 of the intermediate degree in orange to gain more confidence that we are finally going to break ATH, going into the conclusion of a primary wave 5 of the highest degree,” they stated in updated chart commentary.
Adding to the bullish sentiment, a proprietary trading indicator from DecenTrader, Predator, produced its first green “bullish” signal on three-day timeframes since early February.
This indicator uses various inputs to generate “green” and “red” signals across multiple timeframes. “Predator has spoken,” DecenTrader remarked on X.
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Web3 security firm Cyvers has detected “multiple suspicious transactions” involving WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet on Ethereum.
According to an X post, $234.9 million of funds in the Safe Multisig wallet of the Indian crypto exchange have been moved to a new address.
Each transaction’s caller was funded by Tornado Cash, the decentralized protocol for private transactions.
The new address has already swapped the shifted funds, which comprised Tether, Pepe, and Gala (GALA), into Ether.
According to a Telegram post in the “Investigations by ZachXBT” channel, crypto sleuth ZachXBT announced that the suspected primary attacker address still holds over $104 million to dump.
The wallet was mainly composed of around $100 million Shiba Inu, $52 million ETH, and $11 million Polygon.
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It also held $4.7 million FLOKI, $3.2 million Fantom, $2.8 million Chainlink, $2.3 million Fetch.ai (FET), and the remaining funds split between a wide range of other tokens.
In response to the security breach, the Indian exchange has temporarily paused the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies and Indian rupees on the platform.
In an X post by the official exchange, the WazirX team explained that they are “actively investigating the incident” and will post updates as the situation unfolds.
Cointelegraph contacted WazirX to comment on the safety of user funds and measures to recover the stolen crypto assets.
However, the team stated that a response was “not possible at this time.”
On March 21, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Indian Ministry of Finance issued compliance notices to multiple foreign crypto exchanges, including OKX.
The notice sent to Indian OKX users requested they close their accounts and redeem funds before April 30, as the exchange stated it was “no longer providing services to users in India.”
Although discussions have been ongoing for almost four years by the Indian government, the regulatory framework for the crypto market in India remains uncertain.
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On July 23, Hong Kong will launch Asia’s first Bitcoin futures inverse product, the CSOP Bitcoin Future Daily (-1x) Inverse Product (7376.HK).
This new exchange-traded fund (ETF) by CSOP Asset Management, one of China’s largest asset managers, aims to provide investors a way to profit from declines in Bitcoin’s price.
The introduction of this inverse ETF follows the successful launch of the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF (3066.HK) in December 2022, marking another step in the firm’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
The CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) Inverse Product is crafted to offer investment results that closely mirror the inverse daily performance of the S&P Bitcoin Futures Index.
This is achieved through a futures-based replication strategy, which involves direct investment in spot-month Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin Futures.
As per a CSOP announcement on July 22, the product will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) at approximately 7.8 Hong Kong dollars per unit.
Tristan Frizza, Founder of Zeta Markets, told Cointelegraph that the launch of the inverse Bitcoin ETF underscores the “increasing sophistication of crypto financial products” globally.
“By enabling bets against the market, financial instruments like this have the potential to balance speculative activities and contribute to long-term market stability, which is crucial for the maturation of the crypto sector and the acceptance of crypto as established investment assets.”
READ MORE: WazirX Launches Bounty Program to Recover $235 Million in Stolen Cryptocurrency Assets
Since late 2022, HKEX has been trading spot crypto ETFs, starting with CSOP’s Bitcoin Futures ETF and Ether Futures ETF.
Both products track BTC futures and Ether futures cash-settled contracts traded on the CME, and were followed by Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong’s Bitcoin future ETF in January 2023.
Together, these three futures products have garnered HK$1.3 billion ($170 million) in assets under management as of April 29.
On July 5, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued warnings about seven crypto exchanges operating illegally in the region.
These exchanges were flagged for providing services without operational licenses and listed under “Suspicious virtual asset trading platforms” on the SFC’s alert list.
The SFC’s goal is to mitigate fraud and scams by maintaining public records of registered, unregistered, and illegal crypto trading entities.
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Bitcoin aimed for $68,000 at the July 22 Wall Street open as a Chinese interest rate cut bolstered bullish sentiment in the crypto market.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed Bitcoin (BTC) targeting range highs after dipping below $67,000 earlier in the day.
This upward shift coincided with mixed performances in Asian stocks as China announced unexpected interest rate cuts.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) confirmed it would cut the seven-day reverse repo rate by 0.1% to 1.7%, alongside reductions in the one-year and five-year loan prime rates (LPR), as reported by sources including Reuters.
“The cut today is an unexpected move, likely due to the sharp slowdown in growth momentum in the second quarter as well as the call for ‘achieving this year’s growth target’ by the third plenum,” Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group, told the publication.
Commenting on the market’s reaction, Holger Zschaepitz noted the rarity of such a cut. “Chinese stock market not really enthusiastic,” he wrote on X.
Global interest rate reductions are crucial for the performance of risk assets, including crypto. Despite China and Europe’s rate cuts, the United States has not yet initiated a similar cycle, with expectations set for September.
TMXC Trades offered a more cautious perspective, suggesting that China’s rate cuts might not yield the anticipated results.
READ MORE: WazirX Launches Bounty Program to Recover $235 Million in Stolen Cryptocurrency Assets
“Coming into 2024, traders were betting on a massive coordinated global easing cycle… Here today in mid-July, virtually none of that has come to pass,” it stated.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, faced its final resistance cluster before reaching all-time highs, with $69,000 being a key level since late 2021.
“Bitcoin has cancelled out almost the entirety of the -25.6% retrace,” popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted in his latest X analysis.
“It took two weeks to almost fully cancel out a five-week retrace.”
“Accompanying charts compared recent BTC price behavior to other bull market retracements, identifying the latest as the deepest of the uptrend.
“Any dips to retest $65,000 would not be out of the ordinary,” Rekt Capital added, anticipating potential upside to $71,500.
Rekt Capital reiterated the case for new all-time highs by September “at the latest.”
“Bitcoin is back in the range and provides a lot of strength,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm MNTrading, commented.
He emphasized $65,000 as a crucial support level, with $61,000 as the next line of defense.
“If that’s going to happen this week, then we should be good for continuation toward the ATH,” he predicted.
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Real Bedford Football Club, known for its strong support of cryptocurrency, has recently boosted its Bitcoin holdings significantly.
As per a post on X by club chairman Peter McCormack, the club acquired 66.9 Bitcoin at an average price of $67,220 per coin, totaling $4,500,420.69.
With this new acquisition, Real Bedford’s total Bitcoin holdings have reached 82.7 BTC, bought at a cumulative cost of around $5.37 million.
The club’s average purchase price now stands at approximately $64,925 per coin.
McCormack shared that out of the total Bitcoin holdings, 15.8 BTC is allocated for football-related operational purposes.
The remaining balance is securely stored in the club’s treasury, emphasizing Real Bedford’s strategy of integrating Bitcoin into both its financial and operational frameworks.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Surges as Wall Street Opens Amid Biden Reelection Uncertainty
Real Bedford FC is a non-league football club based in Bedford, UK. McCormack took over the team in 2021 and aimed to propel it into the football league.
This recent Bitcoin acquisition is in line with the club’s broader vision of leveraging cryptocurrency for stability and growth.
The proactive approach of Real Bedford FC towards cryptocurrency mirrors a broader trend among various organizations looking to diversify their assets and explore innovative financial strategies.
The club’s adoption of Bitcoin sets an example for other clubs and businesses contemplating similar financial avenues.
In the broader crypto landscape, businesses are also “stacking” Bitcoin in recent purchases, and sellers are increasingly hesitant to part with their holdings.
For instance, the Bitcoin investment firm Metaplanet recently bought 21.88 BTC on July 16.
According to analysts, Bitcoin’s price is currently only 8% below its all-time high, buoyed by the news of United States President Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic party nominee for the 2024 election.
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ApeCoin DAO, the decentralized autonomous organization behind ApeCoin, is evaluating a proposal to launch a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)-themed hotel in Bangkok.
The proposal, submitted by the pseudonymous DAO member DeSmart on July 19, suggests renovating an existing hotel in downtown Bangkok.
The renovation would include several BAYC-themed rooms, an ApeCoin-themed bar, and a swimming pool. DeSmart is requesting $356,000 in ApeCoin tokens to fund the project.
Beyond aesthetics, the proposal aims to offer benefits to ApeCoin holders, such as 50 free nights of accommodation, capped at one night per holder.
DeSmart believes this would enhance the “visibility and utility of ApeCoin” and generate “actual revenue” for the ApeCoin DAO.
According to the proposal, 50% of the revenue from the APE-themed rooms will go back to the ApeCoin DAO for one year after their completion.
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To qualify for a free night, an ApeCoin member must prove their membership in the ApeCoin forum, have a balance of more than 1 APE, and post a promotional tweet featuring “pictures of the themed room and any positive experiences or feelings they want to share” to receive a cashback payment for their stay.
Another significant aspect of the proposed hotel is its acceptance of ApeCoin as payment, aiming to demonstrate “ApeCoin’s applicability in the real world and [encourage] circulation and usage.”
In May, DeSmart reported that they had conducted onsite inspections and reached an “intention of cooperation” with a hotel in Khlong San, Bangkok.
“They are very interested in and supportive of our ideas and proposals and will fully cooperate with our team in implementing this project,” DeSmart stated on the ApeCoin forum.
The proposal has garnered significant support among DAO members, with 90% voting in favor and 10% against as of publication. Voting concludes on August 1.
The rooftop bar and the pool are among the most expensive proposed developments, costing a combined total of 100,000 APE tokens, equivalent to $87,000 at current prices.
Previously, on April 3, the ApeCoin community unanimously approved a proposal to register “.APE” as a new top-level domain with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Currently, ApeCoin is trading at $0.85, down over 96.8% from its all-time high of $26.70, reached roughly two months after its launch in March 2022.
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Rho Markets, a liquidity layer and lending protocol on Scroll, has suffered a significant breach, losing over $7.6 million in USD Coin and USDT.
This incident is another major setback for the cryptocurrency industry.
The breach occurred when a malicious actor gained access to the protocol’s blockchain oracle, according to a July 19 post on X by blockchain security firm Cyvers.
Cyvers reported, “@RhoMarketsHQ has announced that they have detected unusual activity on their platform on #Scroll chain and paused the platform! Root cause of this incident seems to be an oracle access control by a malicious actor!”
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This attack follows closely on the heels of a hack on Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, which lost $230 million worth of cryptocurrency, making it the second-largest crypto heist of 2024.
This week has proven particularly profitable for cryptocurrency hackers, marking the second most lucrative week for stolen funds in 2024.
On July 18, WazirX was hacked for over $230 million, with the attacker converting $149 million worth of Shiba Inu tokens and other altcoins into Ether.
Just two days prior, on July 16, the Li.Fi protocol was exploited, resulting in over $10 million worth of cryptocurrency being drained through a smart contract exploit. This incident has since been contained.
Further compounding the week’s challenges, players of the viral Telegram-based game Hamster Kombat were targeted by phishing attacks and fake cryptocurrency airdrops, designed to steal user credentials, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
Crypto hacks remain a significant issue in the decentralized finance space, impeding the broader adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Over the past 13 years, nearly $19 billion worth of digital assets have been stolen in 785 reported hacks and exploits since the first known crypto hack on June 19, 2011.
In February 2024, PlayDapp experienced a $290 million security breach, the largest single crypto heist in the past two years.
Additionally, 2024 may surpass 2023 in terms of stolen funds, with $542.7 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen in the first quarter alone, representing a 42% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
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Bitcoin spiked higher on July 19 as Wall Street opened, amid confusion about whether U.S. President Joe Biden would abandon his reelection campaign.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a resurgent Bitcoin, with BTC/USD challenging one-month highs.
Bitcoin surprised market participants by rising more than 2.5% on the day after previously showing lackluster behavior.
“The market hours for IBIT open at 9.30am ET. Within minutes, Bitcoin shot up from $64K, now above $65K,” Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, commented on X.
“Did some institution just wake up and decide Bitcoin is a safe haven decentralized store of value as global tech and banking systems fail from Microsoft’s blue screen of death?”
Edwards was referring to the ongoing fallout from an IT collapse involving Microsoft CrowdStrike software, impacting transport, banks, and other businesses worldwide.
Meanwhile, confusion swirled over Biden’s reelection campaign, with conflicting reports on whether he would continue.
Donald Trump, his opponent, had already sparked a crypto market rally last week after surviving an assassination attempt.
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Live data from CoinGlass showed BTC/USD consuming overhead ask liquidity at the time of writing, with short positions beginning to feel the pressure as 24-hour cross-crypto short liquidations neared $170 million.
“BTC 4H trying again after some consolidation,” summarized popular trader Cheds regarding the current short timeframe move.
Trader and analyst Scott Melker, known as the “Wolf Of All Streets,” updated his coverage of Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), maintaining a bullish outlook.
Optimism also extended to other circles, including trading firm QCP Capital, which speculated that Bitcoin might have completed its post-all-time-high drawdown.
“Price action this week has been rather resilient especially against the backdrop of continued Mt. Gox supply and tanking equities,” QCP wrote in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers.
“Could this be a sign that the market has shaken off most of its worries?”
QCP added that perpetual futures funding rates were now “back to flat,” with volume “drifting lower and BTC is back in the familiar range of 61k to 71k where it traded within for the entire of Q2 this year.”
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In response to a significant cyberattack, WazirX, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has launched a bounty program aimed at freezing and recovering stolen assets.
The exchange detailed several immediate actions in a post on X, including filing a police complaint and reporting the incident to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and CERT-In.
WazirX’s co-founder, Nischal Shetty, also posted separately, stating that the exchange is contacting over 500 other exchanges to block the identified addresses linked to the stolen funds.
“Cooperation from these exchanges is crucial as the stolen assets move through various platforms,” Shetty emphasized.
To incentivize the freezing and recovery of stolen assets, WazirX is preparing a bounty program.
This initiative is part of their broader strategy to enhance efforts in tracing the stolen funds.
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The team is also engaging with expert groups specializing in tracking cryptocurrency transactions to provide continuous monitoring and support during the recovery process.
WazirX expressed gratitude for the support from the broader Web3 ecosystem, highlighting the necessity for a collective effort to resolve the issue and uphold the ethos of Web3 communities.
Shetty noted that the team is currently analyzing data to understand the extent of the damage caused by the attack.
“This analysis is crucial for formulating an effective recovery plan and ensuring that all possible measures are taken to address the impact on customer funds,” Shetty stated.
In addition to internal efforts, WazirX is collaborating with forensic experts and law enforcement agencies to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
This collaboration aims to ensure justice for the culprits and maximize the recovery of stolen assets.
The WazirX breach resulted in a substantial loss of approximately $235 million, making it the second-largest hack of a centralized exchange in recent times, only surpassed by the DMM exploit on May 31, which saw a loss of $305 million.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT revealed in a Telegram post on the “Investigations by ZachXBT” channel that the alleged main attacker’s wallet still holds over $104 million in funds, which have yet to be offloaded.
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