Bitcoin Price: US$ 63,453.91 (-3.88%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 3,101.99 (-1.68%)
Hong Kong has approved its first Bitcoin and Ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) granting conditional approval to three local issuers, including Harvest Fund Management, Bosera Asset Management, and China Asset Management. The ETFs are set to be launched soon, with Bosera collaborating with HashKey Capital and OSL Digital Securities acting as the sub-custodian for ChinaAMC and Harvest. The approval allows ETF shares to be issued directly using BTC and ETH, contrasting with the cash-create model used in the US. Meanwhile, Real Vision’s Jamie Coutts sees the ETFs as a gateway for Chinese investors despite concerns raised by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas about their potential inflows. Additionally, Trust Wallet advises Apple users to disable iMessage due to a zero-day exploit, though skepticism arises regarding the credibility of the threat.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s impending sentencing on April 30 for a felony count related to Binance’s Anti-Money Laundering program failure has sparked speculation about the potential severity of his sentence, although optimism arises from his cooperation with authorities. In a separate incident, the Filecoin Foundation is grappling with reported detentions of team members by Chinese police, leading to a halt in withdrawals from the STFIL protocol. Meanwhile, the Grand Base protocol reels from a $1.7 million loss stemming from a compromised private key, resulting in a drastic depreciation of its native token’s value. Despite efforts to track the hacker’s wallets and collaborate with exchanges to freeze any illicitly moved funds, questions linger about the underlying security vulnerabilities of the protocol and its impact on investors’ confidence in decentralised finance initiatives.
Solana’s recent mainnet beta update, v1.17.31, marks a significant effort by developers to alleviate network congestion issues plaguing the Solana blockchain. This update, released on April 12, introduces various enhancements aimed at improving network performance and addressing issues related to open interest spikes. Meanwhile, in a notable move reflecting the growing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies, Germany’s largest federal bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, has announced plans to offer cryptocurrency custody services in collaboration with Bitpanda, responding to rising demand from corporate clients for digital asset solutions. In parallel, the surge in the price of PAXG, a gold-backed digital asset, amidst escalating tensions in the Middle East has sparked discussions about Bitcoin’s role as a geopolitical hedge, with contrasting perspectives on its efficacy compared to traditional safe-haven assets like gold.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com
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