Is the Bitcoin ETF Hype Overdone?
Crypto's rally is stalling — luckily Coinage has a solution...
Happy Monday! This week, Bitcoin’s ETF anticipation rally takes a breather, FTX files another $1 billion lawsuit to clawback funds, and Coinage launches the community-led search to spotlight the best projects in crypto for you to take a look at. You can watch us exploring all of these topics and more from this morning with THORChain’s founder Chad Barraford.
In Bitcoin ETF Rally News…
Odds of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF continue to rise. Now, more people are questioning whether it’s already priced into where Bitcoin is trading. In fact, analysts at JPMorgan went as far to say they believe the crypto rally is “overdone.”
Analysts summed up consensus thinking pretty well: “A spot bitcoin ETF approval would help crypto markets to attract fresh/new capital as the newly-approved ETFs see inflows,” adding that an approval would mark another setback for the SEC. Instead, JPM’s base case is merely that funds that would have otherwise sat in products like Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) wind up getting converted over. Indeed, Canada and Europe have already green-lit BTC ETFs. Not to mention, have crypto fears among the masses post-FTX collapse really cooled?
“U.S. crypto industry regulations are still pending and we do not believe U.S. lawmakers would shift their stance because of the above two legal cases especially with the memories from the FTX fraud still fresh,” analysts wrote.
Speaking of FTX…
The bankrupt exchange added to its long list of lawsuits against former parties —this time going after crypto firm Bybit for assets worth $953 million. Ouch. More from Bloomberg:
The lawsuit filed Friday in Delaware court alleges Bybit’s investment arm, Mirana Corp., had special “VIP” benefits, which most FTX customers didn’t have, and used those special privileges to get most of its assets off Bankman-Fried’s platform before it collapsed in November 2022. Mirana pressured FTX employees to fulfill its withdraw requests as regular customers of FTX.com waited hours trying to get money off the exchange as it collapsed, according to the complaint.
Interestingly, former FTX attorney Can Sun (who was one of the last witnesses to testify in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial) announced he’s now starting a new crypto exchange with an emphasis on letting customers verify their own funds. That’s a little bit of the problem creating the solution — but hey, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! The venture is looking to sell a 10% stake to investors at a valuation of over $100 million.
Crypto’s Project of the Year…
Regardless of what JPMorgan thinks, it’s clear that excitement has returned to the crypto space. That means new opportunities. But what are the best opportunities and ecosystems to pay attention to?
Coinage is looking to turn to its decentralized community of more than 6,000+ NFT holders to find out. Today, we announced we’re looking for nominees for our Crypto Project of the Year celebration. In a combination of American Idol-meets-March Madness, our NFT holders will be able to win 0.25 ETH by filling out a bracket to predict who advances and crown a champion.
Want to add a project worth highlighting? Let us know in the replies! And take a listen to us previewing whats to come with THORChain founder Chad Barraford (who is now in the running after his project spiked 170% in less than a month!) More details to come this week!
