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| Hey Insider! Welcome to the week's last Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter! The plummet in Bitcoin's price hit the headlines within the day as the U.S. securities regulator delayed its decisions on applications for the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) until October. Today's issue also covers some of the other most prominent stories in the digital asset market, including OKX's decision to enter India, Robinhood's purchase of its 55.3 million shares from FTX's former CEO, Nexo's new dual-mode crypto card, and more. Enjoy your reading, and if you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | A recent study analyzing 50 leading crypto and blockchain companies has found that women account for only 6% of CEO roles at the crypto firms, while men hold a 94% share of the cake, revealing that females are quite underrepresented in leadership positions across the industry. The report also pointed out that women occupy only 22.4% of broader leadership positions while men have a 77.6% rate. More: - Chainalysis, BitOasis, and Coinbase became the top three firms in female leadership representation, with women holding 46%, 42%, and 33% of senior positions, respectively.
- Also, the study found that only seven of the top 50 crypto influencers on X, formerly known as Twitter, were women, meaning that females represent just 14% of prominent voices among influencers.
- According to the report, Vietnam hosts the highest proportion globally in crypto ownership of women, with over 24%.
- India, the Philippines, Kenya, Colombia, and Indonesia also saw strong involvement in crypto ownership from women.
Q: Why is it more difficult for women to become CEOs of crypto companies than men? Join the conversation here. |     | |
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What the numbers say: Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, declined by over 6% in price after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its decisions on applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). The leading cryptocurrency's price retreated to the $25,000 level, down from $27,161 yesterday. The popular token's value decreased to as low as $25,438 within the day following the postponement. The agency started reviewing applications last month, but a recent order has given the SEC another 45 days to consider the applications. The regulator will decide to approve, deny, or delay each application individually until October. Bitcoin reacted to the move negatively with a sharp price decline. Relevance: The SEC's postponement came several days after digital asset management company Grayscale Investments won a legal fight against the agency in its efforts to launch a Bitcoin ETF. The company filed a lawsuit against the regulator after its application to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF was rejected. In a three-judge appeals panel in Washington, the court voted in favor of Grayscale on Tuesday. Following the ruling, Bitcoin increased by as much as 8.3%, reacting to the news positively. However, the latest delay for the decisions on the spot Bitcoin ETF applications caused the leading cryptocurrency's price to retreat to the $25,000 level again. Brands that should care: The companies waiting for approval for their applications to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF include some leading traditional finance (TradFi) giants like WisdomTree, BlackRock, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, and Wise Origin. | | | |
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| 3 | | Crypto and stock trading app Robinhood has purchased its 55.3 million HOOD shares back from the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The shares were bought at around $10.96 each for a total of $605.7M. More: - Robinhood agreed with the U.S. Marshal Service (USMS), a federal law enforcement agency, to buy back the shares.
- The purchase was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 28 and completed on Aug. 31.
- The shares were seized by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a holding company founded by SBF earlier in 2023.
- SBF initially wanted to protect the Robinhood shares held by Emergent Fidelity Technologies from debtors, stating that he would use the funds to finance his legal defense.
Zoom Out: - FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022, with all the 130 entities under the roof of FTX Group.
- The downfall followed the claims that SBF used customer funds in FTX to compensate for losses at the sister company Alameda Research.
- The 31-year-old former executive will appear in court in October to defend himself against a bunch of charges, including money laundering and misappropriation of customer funds.
NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Robinhood. | | | |
| 4 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX has announced its plans to enter India, hiring local employees to explore and build new Web3 applications. The announcement was made by the company's chief marketing officer (CMO), Haider Rafique. More: - Rafique said they plan to dramatically expand the scope of their wallet services by leveraging India's famous developer community.
- OKX currently has around 200,000 wallet users in India, accounting for only 5% of the nation's Web3 users.
- The firm does not have an office in India, and its CMO stated that they do not plan to immediately open one since it is not necessary to offer Web3 services.
- However, the exchange will build a team in the country to explore new potentials in the Web3 space and support its efforts to scale up its services.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, crypto exchanges have experienced a decline in trading volumes by more than 90% in India since the government started imposing high taxes, including a 30% tax on crypto profits and a 1% tax on crypto transactions, in July 2022.
- The market downturn forced some local crypto exchanges, such as CoinDCX and CoinSwitch, to reduce their headcount, causing a decrease in profits.
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| 5 | | Crypto lender Nexo has launched the world's first dual-mode crypto card featuring both credit and debit card modes in partnership with the payment processing giant Mastercard. The new product aims to minimize the challenges of handling multiple physical cards. More: - Nexo's new dual-mode crypto card allows holders to switch between debit and credit modes based on their transactional needs.
- The card can be used at more than 100 million merchants worldwide, supported by Mastercard's infrastructure.
- Users can spend their available stablecoin funds in euros (EUR), U.S. dollars (USD), and British pounds (GBP) while paying for goods and services in online and physical stores through the card.
- The product also allows for withdrawals up to €10,000 (~$10,800) per month with no fees.
- Also, holders earn up to 9% annual interest on their holdings in debit mode and 2% cash back on every purchase in credit mode.
- The new offering mainly expands the functionality of a crypto payment card launched in 2022 in partnership with Mastercard and DiPocket.
Zoom Out: - Nexo's new crypto card product was unveiled several days after Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, announced that it would halt offering its crypto debit card services as its partners Mastercard and Visa decided to withdraw from their partnerships with the company amid an increased crackdown by the regulators worldwide on the platform.
- At the time, Mastercard said its crypto card programs with other companies would not be affected by the decision.
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| 6 | | A relief fund dubbed The People's Fund of Maui has added cryptocurrencies to its options of donation to support those affected by the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui financially. The fund was launched by several high-profile celebrities, such as Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson. More: - Johnson has confirmed that 100% of donations will go to the victims.
- Every adult resident who lives in the affected area and was displaced by the wildfires will be eligible to receive $1,200 from the fund per month.
- The fund accepts donations in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), as well as several other options in fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.
- The wildfires that broke out in Maui earlier in August caused more than 2,500 acres to burn, taking the lives of more than 100 people and destroying properties.
- Government officials reported that rebuilding the affected areas could cost over $5.5B.
- According to official records, the island hosts more than 160,000 residents.
Zoom Out: - Some other disaster relief organizations and charity platforms, including All Hands and Hearts and The Giving Block, also collect crypto donations to help residents recover from the wildfires.
- Over the past years, crypto has been used as a medium of donation for humanitarian aid causes many times on some occasions, such as the earthquake affecting Turkey and Syria and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
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- Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho, has denied the claims that he participated in a crypto scam during his appearance before a legislative commission investigating the alleged scheme.
- French data watchdog, National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), has carried out checks at Worldcoin's office in Paris as the regulatory pressure worldwide against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's crypto project heightens.
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 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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