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Steven Kinard, the director of Bitcoin mining analytics at the Texas Blockchain Council, a crypto advocacy group, has announced his candidacy for the Texas House of Representatives.

Kinard revealed his plans on July 11, stating his intention to seek the Republican Party nomination for Texas House District 70 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

If elected, he would serve a two-year term starting in 2025. Prior to joining the Texas Blockchain Council in March 2022, Kinard had worked for approximately three years at BOK Financial.

In his campaign, Kinard expressed his commitment to promoting “digital freedom” and advocating for “strategic technology investments.”

He is expected to compete against the incumbent Democratic Representative, Mihaela Plesa, who has been serving in the Texas House since 2023.

One of Kinard’s key points of criticism is directed at the Federal Reserve for its attempts to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which he considers a reckless move.

This sentiment aligns with that of other Republican lawmakers, including Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

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Kinard’s campaign website states his intention to actively resist and prevent any research into CBDCs.

Texas, particularly the capital city of Austin, has emerged as a significant hub for cryptocurrency mining activity, especially after the departure of many miners from China.

While a bill aimed at limiting incentives for crypto miners was passed by the Texas State Senate in April, the government has also shown support for incorporating crypto into the state’s Bill of Rights.

Governor Greg Abbott has openly identified himself as a supporter of crypto law proposals.

As the 2024 United States primaries approach in the following months, the crypto and blockchain industry has become a prominent issue for many voters.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has urged crypto users to support pro-crypto candidates in all 435 U.S. congressional districts, emphasizing the importance of electing officials who understand and advocate for effective legislation to regulate digital assets.

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The determination of prices in any market, whether it’s for goods or financial assets, relies on the interplay between supply and demand.

When there is a scarcity of a product like tomatoes due to a flood, the price at the supermarket will naturally be higher, assuming the demand remains the same.

Similarly, if there is a fixed supply of tomatoes but an increased number of people wanting to buy them, the price will also rise.

In the financial market, the price of a mutual fund is unaffected by demand if the supply is unlimited.

In such cases, additional shares are simply issued at the net asset value (NAV) of the fund, which represents its true value based on its assets.

However, if the available shares are limited, the price will fluctuate based on the uneven supply and demand.

In such situations, the price may deviate from its intrinsic value, especially when an asset is in high demand.

Estimating the correct price of an asset can be challenging. In 2021, the author published data attempting to estimate the fair value price of Bitcoin.

By analyzing the number of wallets in circulation and the average amount held in each wallet, the author derived an estimation of Bitcoin’s capitalization and price.

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The transparency provided by the blockchain technology enables the collection of reliable information, such as tracking the number of Bitcoin addresses with non-zero balances.

The graph illustrating the average amount in wallets fluctuates due to supply and demand factors.

By considering the 90th and 10th percentiles, a range can be established to estimate Bitcoin’s price.

This approach, although simple, proves effective due to the large numbers involved and a complete price cycle analysis.

Additionally, certain market phenomena provide insights into Bitcoin’s potential price appreciation.

For example, during the last days of a crypto winter, there is often an increase in withdrawals from crypto exchanges and a decrease in balances held on centralized platforms.

This indicates a preference for long-term Bitcoin holdings, signaling bullish sentiment and contributing to cyclical price appreciation.

Based on this model, the data suggests that Bitcoin could reach its next ceiling in autumn 2025, potentially exceeding $130,000.

It is crucial to emphasize that this forecast should not be considered financial advice, but rather an expected value based on certain assumptions with a degree of confidence.

Other predictive models also support similar price growth estimates.

The growing interest in the asset class from institutional players like BlackRock further suggests a level of faith in these models, as evidenced by their pursuit of approval for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

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Monochrome Asset Management, a crypto investment firm based in Australia, has made an update to its application, aiming to introduce a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in collaboration with Vasco Trustees.

The newly proposed ETF, called the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF, will provide direct exposure to Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) for retail investors in Australia, as stated in the company’s announcement on July 14.

Monochrome CEO Jeff Yew explained in an interview with Cointelegraph that the Bitcoin ETF would allow Australian retail investors to engage with Bitcoin in a regulated environment, offering them the freedom to utilize this asset class as they see fit while operating within the established regulatory framework.

Yew emphasized the advantage of investor protection that comes with a regulated ETF, in contrast to unregulated exchanges where such safeguards may be lacking.

Yew further expressed his belief that the introduction of a Bitcoin ETF on the ASX would convey a significant message to traditional investors, signaling the end of the unregulated “Wild West” phase.

The ETF’s existence would assure investors of a familiar, structured, and protected environment, enhancing their confidence in the crypto market.

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Vasco, Monochrome’s “Responsible Entity Partner,” holds the necessary authorization under an Australian Financial Services Licence to offer regulated exposure to cryptocurrencies to retail investors, as outlined by the company.

Spot Bitcoin ETF applications have garnered considerable attention in the industry recently, particularly in the United States.

Over the past few weeks, major financial firms such as Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree, Valkyrie, and the $10 trillion asset management giant BlackRock have all submitted filings for spot Bitcoin ETFs, indicating growing interest in providing regulated exposure to digital assets.

The introduction of a Bitcoin ETF on the ASX through Monochrome Asset Management’s application update marks a significant step toward facilitating mainstream adoption and regulatory acceptance of cryptocurrencies in Australia.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the regulatory body for financial markets in the European Union, has released a consultative paper on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) mandates.

This paper, which is the first of three consultative packages, focuses on the technical specifications for crypto asset service providers (CASPs).

Under MiCA, entities that are already licensed are presumed to be capable of providing crypto-asset services.

However, they will be required to provide additional information to the national competent authorities (NCAs) of their respective countries through notifications.

The consultative paper seeks feedback on regulatory and technical standards for these notifications from CASPs.

ESMA is also seeking feedback on regulatory and technical standards related to CASP authorization applications, handling complaints, managing and preventing conflicts of interest, and disclosures to NCAs by entities planning to acquire shares in a CASP.

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Interested stakeholders and market participants have until September 20 to respond to the consultative paper.

ESMA plans to submit a draft of the finalized standards to the European Commission by June 30, 2024, as mandated by MiCA.

The second consultative package will be released in October, followed by the third in the first quarter of 2024, aligning with the deadlines set for ESMA in MiCA.

In addition to specific feedback, ESMA has posed four general questions to respondents.

These questions aim to gather more insight into the current and planned activities of market participants and their expectations for the future development of the EU crypto-asset markets.

The questions cover topics such as expected turnover, the number of white papers respondents plan to publish, and their utilization of on-chain and off-chain trading.

MiCA, approved by the European Parliament on April 20, will be implemented in three stages between 2024 and 2025.

It represents a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets within the European Union. The consultation process conducted by ESMA is an important step in shaping the technical standards and guidelines that will govern the operation of CASPs under MiCA.

Submit A Crypto Press Release

PwC recently published its fifth annual global crypto hedge fund report on July 12, which was based on surveys conducted in the first quarter of 2023 among both crypto-native and traditional hedge funds.

Despite the recent crypto winter and ongoing regulatory uncertainties, the report revealed a predominantly positive outlook among the funds.

According to the report, crypto-native hedge funds are actively working towards rebuilding confidence and ensuring their needs are heard.

An overwhelming majority of these funds (93%) expect the market cap to rise over the course of the year. Interestingly, more than half of them (53%) reported no exposure to FTX or the Terra Luna ecosystem.

The report also highlighted that most of the funds performed better than the price of Bitcoin (BTC), which stood at $30,553 in 2022.

This finding emphasizes the popularity of crypto hedge funds as investment vehicles for those seeking exposure to the crypto-asset market.

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While over half of the funds (54%) operate in the United States, they did not respond differently from others to U.S. regulations. In fact, 42% of these funds stated that they do not expect the regulations to impact them significantly.

The report further revealed that the funds expressed a desire for trading venues to implement certain requirements, including asset segregation (75%), financial audits (62%), and an independent statement of reserve assets (60%).

The report also shed light on the limited impact of tokenization within the sector. Only 15% of the surveyed funds are considering investments in tokenized securities, and merely 4% tokenize units within their own funds.

Regarding traditional hedge funds, the proportion investing in crypto decreased from 37% in 2022 to 29% in 2023.

Among those still investing in crypto, 62% allocate less than 5% of their assets under management to the crypto market, while only 8% hold more than 20% in crypto.

The survey found that 46% of these funds plan to increase their crypto investments this year, a decline from 67% in the previous year. Notably, none of the respondents mentioned a decrease in their capital deployed in crypto.

For traditional funds that do not invest in crypto, “client reaction or reputational risk” has become the primary reason, surpassing “regulatory uncertainty.”

Moreover, 40% of these funds stated that the removal of regulatory barriers would not motivate them to begin investing in crypto.

The survey was conducted in collaboration with CoinShares, an alternative asset manager, with 131 crypto-native funds participating. Data from 59 traditional hedge funds was obtained by the Alternative Investment Management Association.