The final countdown to Bitcoin ETF approval has begun, MicroStrategy is adding more BTC to its stack, and what were the biggest crypto stories of the last year? These stories and more, this week in Crypto.
Lowest Bitcoin balance since 2018
Over 28,000 Bitcoins worth $1.2 billion left centralized exchanges on Thursday, marking the largest daily outflow since December 2022. As investors express their preference for holding their own coins for the long term, the result is the lowest Bitcoin balance on exchanges since April 2018. The altcoin rankings fluctuated somewhat as Solana's SOL stumbled, while BNB gained 15% to reclaim the fourth spot among cryptocurrencies in total market capitalization.
MicroStrategy is pushing BTC holdings
MicroStrategy announced that it acquired over 14,000 BTC in December at an average price of $42,000. Its stock price rose 8% after announcing the $600 million purchase, and in 2023 the stock rose 350%. The strategy of increasing reserves with Bitcoin has increased the stock's appeal given the closely correlated price movement with Bitcoin's price movement.
Final countdown for Bitcoin ETF approval
When applying for approval for Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock and Valkyrie disclosed their authorized participants, or APs. ETF issuers are not allowed to purchase Bitcoin themselves, so APs source and manage the underlying assets to create and redeem ETF shares on their behalf. BlackRock will work with JP Morgan and Jane Street, while Valkyrie has also named Jane Street as one of its APs alongside Cantor Fitzgerald.
Bitcoin ETF approval event criticized
While experts expect the SEC to approve all spot Bitcoin ETFs as early as this month, Bitcoin is expected to correct next month following potential approval at a “Sell the News” event, according to data provider CryptoQuant . Meanwhile, a former SEC official, John Reed Stark, criticized spot Bitcoin ETFs as a potential “fee-based Wall Street scam,” saying the concept was simply ridiculous.
Cathie Wood rejects the grayscale position
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest Expresses Caution Ahead of SEC Ruling on Bitcoin ETFs, Selling $81 Million in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Stock Due to Conversion Uncertainty and $27 Million in Coinbase Stock. At the same time, ARK bought shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, investing $92 million in Bitcoin futures.
India blocks major crypto exchanges
India's Financial Intelligence Unit has targeted nine major crypto exchanges, labeling them as operating illegally and not compliant with anti-money laundering laws. In line with India's efforts to integrate crypto into traditional finance, the regulator made KYC collection mandatory for crypto firms back in March. Binance, Kraken and Huobi are among the exchanges that face URL blocking in India if they fail to comply.
Elon Musk supports Bitcoin ordinals
Elon Musk pointed to problems with regular NFTs and hinted at support for Bitcoin-based inscriptions. Musk criticized regular NFTs saying they could leak content due to the way data is stored and suggested encoding the images directly on the blockchain to protect them. He noted that unlike traditional NFTs, Bitcoin-based inscriptions are stored securely on the blockchain.
The Biggest Crypto Stories of 2023
Fortune has compiled the biggest crypto stories of 2023 in a year it is calling a recovery year for crypto. Spot Bitcoin ETF applications and new Bitcoin inscriptions were the main conversations in the second half of the year, while the industry also saw conclusions from scandals such as Do Kwan and the Terra debacle, FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and the resignation of Chengpeng Zhao with Binance's settlement with the SEC.
This is what happened in the crypto space this week, see you next week.
