Spot Bitcoin ETF developments stir investor interest in crypto market

by Francisco Memoria

DATA from CryptoCompare shows that the price of Bitcoin started the week with a significant upward move that saw it surpass the $45,000 mark for the first time since April 2022, before enduring a slight correction that saw it drop to $42,000 before recovering. BTC is now trading at $45,100.

Ethereum’s Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, moved in a similar way, starting the week with a jump to $2,400 but quickly correcting to around $2,150 before recovering, to now trade at $2,220.

Headlines in the cryptocurrency space this week mostly focused on new developments surrounding the various spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings in the United States from major asset managers, at a time in which investors are eagerly awaiting the potential launch of such a fund.

Over the week, major asset managers, including BlackRock, Valkyrie, and VanEck submitted revised S-1 forms with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to meet the regulator’s consideration deadline.

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Later on, Fidelity Investment and Galaxy/Invesco, two issuers of proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs, started setting the fees they would charge if the funds were to be approved. Meanwhile, leading crypto asset manager Grayscale has reportedly had discussions with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs regarding their potential involvement in key roles for its planned spot Bitcoin ETF.

It is reported that both JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are being considered for the role of authorised participants - a position that would empower them to create and redeem shares of the fund.

The excitement surrounding the potential launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US has seen the asset under management of cryptocurrency investment products surge by 14.6% to $49.6 billion, the highest level since March 2022, according to CCData’s latest Digital Asset Management Review report.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the excitement surrounding the potential launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF the Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin with around 189,000 BTC in its treasury, has initiated the sale of $216 million in stock options.

The move involves the sale of 310,000 stock option awards granted to him, with Saylor pretending to use the funds to “address personal obligations as well as acquire additional bitcoin (BTC) to my personal account”.

Over the week, it was also announced that a group of former Citi executives are set to launch a new venture to offer Bitcoin-backed securities, which they say won’t require approval from the SEC.

Crypto phishing scams surged in 2023, leading to $295m in losses

Last year, cryptocurrency phishing scams surged, to the point where they affected more than 320,000 users and led to losses of around $295 million in an alarming trend analysed by blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer.

The report underscored a continuous rise in phishing scams over the year, noting that phishing groups do not halt their activities even when their wallet drainers are shut down. Rather, they shift their operations to different platforms.

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The analysis uncovered a variety of tactics used by scammers to drive traffic to phishing sites. These tactics include hacking into official Discord and X (previously known as Twitter) accounts of projects to disseminate phishing links, orchestrating counterfeit airdrops of cryptocurrencies or NFTs, and seizing control of expired Discord links. Additionally, they post spam comments and mentions on X to entice potential victims.

Meanwhile, the Legal Daily website in China, which is run by the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, has issued a statement advocating for a crackdown on bribery through cryptocurrencies and other digital payment methods.

The website shared the views of Zhao Xuejun, an associate professor at Hebei University Law School. He pointed out that virtual currencies and electronic gift cards serve as “hidden channels” for bribery because they can be transported overseas and redeemed in “cold storage”.

Mo Hongxian, a professor at Wuhan University Law School, explicitly mentioned Bitcoin and expressed concerns about the issues of anonymity and traceability associated with virtual currencies in the publication. Legal Daily concluded that the country’s legal and regulatory system needs to be improved to address and deter new types of corruption.

Finally, over the week, leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance added a “monitoring tag” to a number of cryptocurrencies, including privacy-focused tokens Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), Horizen (ZEN), and Firo (FIRO).

Binance notes that tokens marked with the monitoring tag “exhibit notably higher volatility and risks compared to other listed tokens” and could be delisted from the platform.

Francisco Memoria is a content creator at CryptoCompare who’s in love with technology and focuses on helping people see the value digital currencies have. His work has been published in numerous reputable industry publications. Francisco holds various cryptocurrencies.