Bitcoin Price: US$ 63,190.80 (-1.26%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 3,062.60 (-2.35%)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to postpone its verdict on Galaxy Invesco’s Ether ETF application until July 5. This has led analysts to predict a blanket denial of all Ether ETF applications by the SEC on May 23. Despite this looming uncertainty, Ethereum advocate Anthony Sassano holds onto his confidence that the regulator could still greenlight the funds by VanEck’s final deadline. Meanwhile, Marathon Digital, the world’s largest Bitcoin miner by market cap, has seen an 18% surge in its shares following its confirmation to join the S&P SmallCap 600 index fund, replacing the heating and ventilation manufacturing firm Aaon. This positive trend was also mirrored by Marathon’s rival Bitcoin mining firms on May 6, despite a decrease in miner revenue due to the halving. Amid these developments, Rostin Behnam, chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), anticipates a continued regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency firms as long as the market continues to draw investor interest. He forecasts another cycle of enforcement actions within the next 6 to 24 months, driven by the cycle of asset appreciation and retail investor interest.
Ethereum L2 EigenLayer’s ongoing airdrop has sparked controversy due to its restrictive qualifications for claiming rewards, leading experts to suggest that the era of life-changing airdrops is likely over. The surprise announcement of the airdrop initially generated excitement, but the subsequent disappointment has led to criticism of the model’s sustainability. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s spot Bitcoin ETFs are significantly underperforming their U.S. counterparts in the first week of launch, attracting a total of $262 million in assets under management (AUM), a figure dwarfed by the billions that flowed into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Despite being seen as significant improvements to their U.S. counterparts, these Hong Kong spot crypto ETFs have strict restrictions on investor qualifications, limiting their accessibility and resulting in low transaction volume. In a related development, Hermetica has announced the launch of the first-ever Bitcoin-backed synthetic United States dollar, USDh, with yield-generating capabilities, offering users yields of up to 25%. Despite concerns about the sustainability of such a high yield, Hermetica’s CEO maintains that the yield is sustainable and derived from futures funding rates, marking a significant development for Bitcoin-native decentralised finance (DeFi).
The popular trading platform Robinhood recently received a Wells notice from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), leading to a 2.5% drop in its share price. This was due to the SEC’s investigation into Robinhood’s cryptocurrency listings and crypto custodian operations, which led to a preliminary determination to recommend an enforcement action related to alleged securities violations. In the midst of this, Bitcoin Runes has managed to regain its top position in the Bitcoin network, surpassing the original Bitcoin, Ordinals, and BRC-20 tokens in terms of daily transactions. Despite experiencing a temporary decrease, Runes transactions began to recover from May 3, regaining a transaction share above 60% and racking up 2,253 BTC in fees for the mining community within 16 days. However, the Bitcoin mining industry faced a significant drop in earnings in May due to the effects of the fourth Bitcoin halving event, which reduced mining rewards to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC. Despite this setback, miners worldwide have taken proactive measures to remain profitable, with Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms allotting $240 million to upgrade their mining equipment and triple their hash rate.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com
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