By James Davis
Although there have been positive cryptocurrency headlines over the past seven days, they’ve done little to cause a rally, given that Bitcoin and most altcoins remain relatively stable.
The current stability in the crypto market was recognized by JP Morgan’s Director of the Crypto Department, Tyrone Lobban, who said during a conference in London last Tuesday that BTC has been behaving like a stablecoin in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, despite the 2022 bear market, which caused several crypto companies to file for bankruptcy, United States-based firms have doubled up their efforts to launch crypto-related products. Among these products is a spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).
Grayscale Files for Ethereum Spot ETF
On Wednesday, Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of crypto asset management company Grayscale, announced on X that his firm had filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its Ethereum Trust to a spot ETF. Before that, Grayscale had applied to make its Bitcoin Trust a spot Exchange-Traded Fund. However, the move was blocked by the Commission a few months ago. But there is hope that Grayscale could soon launch a Bitcoin spot ETF after the court ordered the review of the SEC’s decision to turn down the firm’s application in August.
That day, Eric Balchunas, a prominent ETF analyst, shared a list of 9 Ethereum futures ETFs that had started trading last Monday. Asset managers vanEck, VolShares, Bitwise, ProShares, Hashdex and Kelly launched their Ethereum futures ETFs on CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange).
Proshares rolled out three ETFs: Ether Strategy ETF, Ether Equal Strategy ETF, and Ether Strategy Fund. Bitwise, on the other hand, debuted two funds: Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF and Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF. The remaining asset managers launched one ETF each.
VanEck Set to Invest in Protocol Guild
Meanwhile, VanEck informed its over 17,000 X followers that 10% of the profits generated from its Ethereum futures ETF would be channeled to Protocol Guild in the next ten years to fund Ethereum developers building exceptional projects.
On Thursday, a video featuring digital artist Beeple, who holds the record of selling the most expensive non-fungible token (NFT), made rounds on X. In the video clip, Beeple asked traditional digital artists to consider venturing into Web3.
That day, Bitcoin Magazine revealed that Block, a venture managed by former X CEO Jack Dorsey, was quietly shipping its newly launched Bitcoin hardware wallets. Dorsey has been vocal about self-custody since he stepped into crypto. Block is one of the few crypto-friendly payment firms in the United States.
Messari CEO Rayn Selkis (@twobitidiot) shared an interesting chart on his X account. It showed a decline in the number of active Web3 developers since the start of the year. Selkis hoped it was the scammers exiting the crypto space.
FTX -Related Stories
The crypto community on X had a lot to talk about the ongoing trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was charged with several criminal counts last December.
It all began with the launch of a book by famous author Michael Lewis. In his book, Lewis defended Bankman-Fried, claiming he did not misuse customer funds as US prosecutors allege. Angry crypto enthusiasts did not hesitate to call him out. @VanceSpencer called Lewis’ book rubbish, while crypto YouTuber Coffezilla asked those who hadn’t read the book not to bother because it wasn’t worth it.
Meanwhile, crypto fan and X user @MorningBrew disclosed the amount of money celebrities who partnered with FTX were paid. Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady received $55 million, NBA star Steph Curry pocketed $35 million, and actor Larry David went home with $10 million. MorningBrew claimed that Curry and Brady only worked for approximately 60 hours.
On Friday, crypto analyst Tany Jaipuria revealed that Anthropic, a company that FTX holds a stake in, was now valued at $25 billion, pushing FTX’s stake worth to about $3 billion. Jaipuria said the funds are enough to make the exchange’s creditors whole.
Later that day, X user @Napgener noticed FTX’s sister firm Alameda Research had unstaked over 9 million Solana tokens. Whether the FTX bankruptcy state is planning to cash them out remains to be seen.