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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - The top U.S. securities regulator's approval of all spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications,
- FTX's plans to sell its properties in the Bahamas,
- Elon Musk's opinion on the idea of using Bitcoin as a currency on Mars, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved all the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications that had filed their final amendments addressing the agency's feedback, meeting analysts' expectations related to the Jan. 10 deadline. The move marked the first time the regulator approved such a product. More: - The applicants receiving approval include VanEck, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Hashdex, Ark Invest, Grayscale, BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy.
- The approvals came a day after the SEC announced that its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was hacked to share a fake post claiming that the agency approved all the spot Bitcoin ETF applications.
- Three of the five commissioners, including Chair Gary Gensler, voted to approve the products, while two Democrat commissioners voted against the proposal.
- In a contradictory statement, Gensler said they did not approve or endorse Bitcoin despite the approvals of spot Bitcoin ETF products, underlining that investors should remain cautious about the risks associated with crypto.
- The approvals paved the way for the Bitcoin ETF products to begin trading as soon as today.
- The decision will mainly allow retail and institutional investors to get exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, through traditional brokerage accounts without dealing with crypto-native platforms that have come under scrutiny by regulators over the past years.
- The SEC's green light is also expected to bring the crypto industry closer to the more regulated environment of traditional finance, broadening access to Bitcoin for millions more investors.
Zoom Out: - The SEC had been refusing to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs since 2013, when the U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini's twin co-founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, first proposed such a product.
- However, Grayscale Investments' victory against the SEC in court in August 2023 played a key role in forcing the agency to approve the Bitcoin ETFs.
- At the time, the court ruled in favor of Grayscale, defining the SEC's decision to deny its application as arbitrary and capricious since the regulator failed to explain under what conditions it approved similar products.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: A recent study conducted by the Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has shown that female-led blockchain startups with at least 50% of its executives women have managed to raise $1.77B in venture capital (VC) funding from Q1 2022 to Q3 2023. The figure represents only 6.34% of the total $27.85B funding raised by all blockchain startups during the same period. On the other hand, male-led Web3 startups secured $27.08B between the specified quarters, making up more than 93% of the total. The study also revealed that the number of female-led blockchain startups has experienced a 45.2% decline since the beginning of 2022, though it has lately started seeing a slight recovery. The research also pointed out that female-led firms represented 8.6% of all startups in the sector as of Q3 last year. Relevance: In September 2023, other research also pointed to a similar gender disparity in the crypto industry, revealing that females are quite underrepresented in leadership positions across the digital asset market. The study analyzing 50 leading crypto and blockchain companies found that women account for only 6% of CEO roles at the crypto firms, while men hold a 94% share of the cake. The report also discovered that women occupy just 22.4% of other leadership positions, while men have a 77.6% rate. Brands that should care: Meanwhile, the same study showed that Chainalysis, BitOasis, and Coinbase were the top three firms in female leadership representation, with women holding 46%, 42%, and 33% of senior positions, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | Stablecoin issuer Circle has submitted its plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of its plans to go public in the U.S., filing a draft registration statement. If the plan gets over the SEC's review process, it will see the privately-owned company listing its shares on a stock exchange, making them available for purchase by the general public. More: - In the filing, the firm pointed out that it will determine the number of shares it plans to sell and the price range at a later date.
- In November last year, a Circle spokesperson said becoming a U.S.-listed public company has long been part of their strategic aspirations.
- The latest move came over a year after Circle made another attempt to go public through a merger with Concord Acquisition Corp.
- At the time, the stablecoin issuer was valued at $9B, but the deal was later terminated.
- Besides, in a financing round in 2022, the firm raised funding from several high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., General Catalyst Partners, BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Management and Research LLC, and Marshall Wace LLP, at a valuation of $7.7B.
Zoom Out: - Circle is the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin with its $25B market cap.
- Stablecoins, whose value is pegged to another reference asset like a fiat currency, are generally used by customers to trade with different cryptocurrencies without converting their funds back into fiat currencies.
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| 4 | | Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's new management has requested the court to allow it to sell 35 units of FTX-owned real estate in the Bahamas, including the property where former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) resided before his extradition to the U.S. The firm plans to use the proceeds from the sales to repay its creditors. More: - The list of properties in the proposal includes the Orchid Penthouse, which is the luxurious apartment shared by SBF with FTX's several other co-founders, such as Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison.
- Most of the FTX staff and senior executives worked and resided in the Bahamas before the exchange's collapse.
- In the filing, FTX attorneys proposed the properties to be sold for at least 80% of the price estimated by the assigned broker.
- When FTX filed for bankruptcy, it reported $8.7B owed to its former users.
- In December, FTX and its Bahamian unit agreed to pool their assets and synchronize their repayment approach to ensure that customers in both U.S. and Bahamian legal proceedings are treated equally.
- The latest move is also part of FTX's wider efforts to recover funds, repay its creditors, exit bankruptcy, and ultimately relaunch the exchange.
- The firm's management expects an ultimate plan for a potential relaunch to be confirmed within Q2 this year.
Zoom Out: - FTX, previously the third-largest crypto exchange, 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 sister company Alameda Research.
- In November 2023, the former CEO was found guilty of all the seven criminal charges brought against him by U.S. prosecutors, including money laundering and misappropriation of customer funds, after a month-long trial process.
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| 5 | | Blockchain-based payment protocol firm Ripple has started buying back its $285M shares from its early investors and employees. The buy-back plan has increased the valuation of the firm to $11.3B. More: - The owners of the shares were only allowed to sell up to 6% of their stake in the company.
- The firm said it plans to spend $500M to cover the costs of converting stock units into shares and taxes as part of the buy-back plan.
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that they plan to implement more buy-back programs for the firm's shares regularly to provide liquidity for their investors.
- The firm executive also underlined that they have no plan to go public in the U.S. anytime soon due to the regulatory uncertainty in the country.
- Ripple currently has over $1B in cash and $25B in crypto, mostly including its native token, XRP, on its balance sheet.
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| 6 | | Speaking in a Spaces conversation on X, formerly known as Twitter, the worldwide-known CEO Elon Musk has brainstormed about the potential of using Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as a currency on Mars. The debate took place as part of Musk's ongoing plans to build a human colony on the red planet by 2050. More: - During the conversation, Musk initially said Bitcoin could not be used as a currency on Mars since it takes a significant amount of time for its network to settle transactions.
- However, after a short brainstorming, he concluded that the plan might actually be feasible since Earth is only eight light minutes away from the sun, while Mars is approximately 12 light minutes away.
- Musk later added that it would still be difficult to use Bitcoin a lot on Mars, but the blockchain's slow transaction speed could be tackled with a localized Lightning Network.
- The Spaces conversation was mainly related to the recent approvals of the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications in the U.S.
- The conversation also featured the investment management firm ARK Invest's crypto-friendly CEO, Cathie Wood.
Zoom Out: - Musk mainly aims to build a human colony on Mars since he believes humanity should become an interplanetary species to survive.
- On the other hand, the Bitcoin blockchain currently secures and settles transactions in nearly one hour.
- Lightning Network, Bitcoin's Layer-2 scaling solution, aims to make transactions faster and cheaper by decreasing the congestion on the main network.
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- Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX's ex-CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has added former federal prosecutor Marc Mukasey to his defense team ahead of his sentencing hearing in March.
- Crypto data platform CoinGecko's official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, was briefly compromised to share a scam link promoting a fraudulent token airdrop.
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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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