Ahead of an anticipated conversion to a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the discount on the largest bitcoin (BTC) fund in the market, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), has dropped to its lowest point since April 2021. According to data, the discount hit a level last seen in June 2021 on Monday, dropping as low as

Nasdaq (NDX) and Bitcoin (BTC) have separated after the cryptocurrency moved in lockstep with Wall Street’s tech-heavy equities index for the majority of the previous four years. Fairlead Strategies, a research company, has tracked data showing that there is no link between the asset classes. The 40-day correlation between bitcoin and Nadaq is currently zero.

According to research by blockchain analytics company TRM Labs, in 2023, the rates of criminal activities among cryptocurrency service providers in nations with complete regulatory frameworks were lower than those in less regulated areas.The analysis by TRM Labs was released on Monday in a paper that examined global crypto policy for 2023 in 21 jurisdictions, accounting for 70% of all crypto exposure worldwide.According to the analysis shared with CoinDesk, up to 80% of the 21 jurisdictions have taken steps to strengthen their regulation of cryptocurrencies, and nearly half have particularly advanced consumer protection safeguards. “While differences in national philosophies and priorities persist, we observed a convergence toward certain standards,” the report said. “This increasing regulatory maturity and greater focus on compliance by the private sector have already impacted illicit finance activities.” The report predicts that in 2024 questions will remain in the DeFi space – for example, “where

Lazarus Group, a group of North Korean hackers, transferred $1.2 million worth of their illicit riches from a currency mixer to a holding wallet, which represents their biggest transaction in more than a month.The wallet belonging to Lazarus Group got 27.371 bitcoin (BTC) in two transactions, and then 3.34 BTC was sent to a wallet that was previously utilized, according to data from the blockchain analysis company Arkham.Nothing was known about the coin mixer. Coin mixers, commonly called tumblers, are essentially blockchain-based protocols that can be used to mix up coins from different users before dispersing them, making it impossible to determine who received what.The provenance and transfers of cryptocurrency are usually easy to follow because to blockchains’ transparency.According to a research from cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, Lazarus Group is suspected of being responsible for $3 billion worth of bitcoin breaches and vulnerabilities during the previous three years.The U.S. Treasury Department has connected Lazarus Group to a bitcoin heist from the Ronin bridge, which is connected to Axie Infinity, that totaled $600 million. The Lazarus Group wallet currently contains $79 million in wallets that Arkham has identified, including $3.4 million in ether (ETH) and $73 million in bitcoin.The recent Orbit attack, which cost $81 million, resembled earlier Lazarus Group attacks, according to Metamask developer Taylor Monahan.

According to an amended S3 filing, asset manager Grayscale has lowered its 2% management fee to 1.5% as part of its proposed elevation to a spot bitcoin ETF.ABN AMRO Clearing, Virtu, Macquarie Capital, and Jane Street will now be authorized participants (APs) of Grayscale, which manages assets under management (AUM) of about $27 billion. “We did a ton of research to evaluate similar product offerings’ fees, including spot and futures-based ETFs in geographies around the world that have been earlier to open access to bitcoin through the ETF wrapper,” Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, said in an interview. Sonnenshein declined to comment on any of the other

As the cryptocurrency market awaits the Securities and Exchange Commission’s final approval, BlackRock, Fidelity, and other applicants to list a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States have disclosed their listing fees. According to BlackRock’s final S-1 filing, the charge will begin at 20 basis points and increase to 30 bps after a

The likelihood of a bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) being approved in the United States has increased to over 90%, according to two prominent analysts at Bloomberg. Meanwhile, traders on the cryptocurrency market at Polymarket, a betting platform, have become increasingly negative, reducing the odds to 85%. In a post on Saturday, Bloomberg ETF analyst

Over the course of three of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs), ARK Invest sold an additional $20.6 million worth of Coinbase (COIN) shares on Friday. The total number of COIN shares offloaded by Cathie Wood’s investment firm was 133,823.98. The stock closed last week at $153.98. No single stock should exceed 10% of an ETF’s value,

This Wednesday could finally bring about the long-awaited approval for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).According to a Fox Business story, BlackRock, the biggest asset management in the world and one of the competitors looking to introduce a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, is supposedly anticipating that its application would be accepted.Several companies, including BlackRock, amended their 19b-4 files for proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Friday.Invesco, Valkyrie, ARK 21Shares, Grayscale Investments, and more businesses are included in the mix.Furthermore, last week the Cboe BZX exchange submitted documents for Franklin Templeton, VanEck, WisdomTree, and Pando Asset AG.Cryptocurrency aficionados have been eagerly awaiting the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, believing that these funds have the potential to draw billions of dollars in new investments into the cryptocurrency market. As a result of the market’s excitement for exchange-traded products that actually hold bitcoin rather than just using futures contracts to speculate on its price, the price of bitcoin has significantly increased in recent months. The volatility and absence of regulation in the bitcoin market, however, have alarmed cryptocurrency opponents. Authorizing spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would be “a regulatory mistake of historic proportions,” according to a letter sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by the nonpartisan group Better Markets, which supports more financial regulation.

Prominent investors BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and Grayscale Investments are preparing to join the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) market as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) examines submissions.These companies, with their latest filing changes, are setting themselves up for what might be a historic moment in US bitcoin investing.Analysts are cautiously optimistic about the future of Bitcoin ETFs and anticipate a substantial influx of capital, notwithstanding recent turmoil in the cryptocurrency space. Through ETFs, which provide a more regulated and organized investing option, the market is searching for institutional engagement.As they get ready to enter the market, BlackRock and Fidelity have outlined the responsibilities of approved participants. Decisions regarding applications for Bitcoin ETFs are expected to be made by the SEC next week, after the deadline for submitting updated prospectuses.BTC prices are rising as a result of this trend because investors expect more institutional participation and more investment alternatives.

The Finna Protocol, a Nigerian multi-utility stablecoin ecosystem, indicates that many firms will accept it once it goes live. It includes “heavyweights” in the cNGN consortium. A look at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) approval of the cNGN stablecoin and its potential adoption rate in the country in comparison to the eNaira, the country’s

The psychology of owning a whole asset rather than just a portion of it makes investors feel more happy, and this is especially true with Bitcoin, according to VanEck advisor Gabor Gurbacs. Unit bias psychology, which favours holding full units, can make potential investors reluctant to purchase only a portion of the cryptocurrency, but the

In the days ahead, BlackRock is apparently going to inform 600 workers in the hopes that its proposal for a spot Bitcoin ETF would be approved. BlackRock, the biggest asset management in the world, is apparently going to cut about 3% of its employees worldwide in the next few days. This occurs in the context

A Bitcoin user who wishes to remain anonymous sent 26.9 Bitcoin worth $1.17 million to the genesis wallet, which was the first wallet ever created by the anonymous founder of the cryptocurrency, Satoshi Nakamoto. On January 5 at 1:52 a.m. Eastern Time, a Bitcoin transaction took place. The money was transferred from a depleted wallet

Another copyright infringement action has been filed against Microsoft and OpenAI.Authors of nonfiction Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage filed a lawsuit against the two businesses, claiming that the defendants had stolen their copyrighted works in order to use them in the development of the AI system. A week ago, The New York Times filed a similar copyright infringement case against Microsoft and OpenAI, claiming the businesses used the newspaper’s material to train AI chatbots. The action was filed on Friday, January 5, in a Manhattan federal court.The most recent legal action comes after OpenAI acknowledged that plaintiffs and other copyright holders ought to receive payment for the use of their work.“Billions of dollars” in damages are sought in the NYT case.The petition states that up to $150,000 in damages are sought in the Basbanes and Gage lawsuit for each instance of copyright infringement. In an article about its lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, the NYT said, “We respect the rights of content creators and owners and are committed to working with them to ensure they benefit from AI technology and new revenue models.” A planned class-action lawsuit against OpenAI was joined in September by a group of established writers from New York led by the Authors Guild, which included George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, George Saunders, and Jonathan Franzen.Julian Sancton, a different author, is suing Microsoft and OpenAI for allegedly exploiting his nonfiction writing without permission in order to train AI models. A separate class-action complaint has been filed against the creator of the well-known chatbot ChatGPT in California for allegedly stealing private user data from the internet.On June 28, 2023, Clarkson Law Firm commenced legal proceedings in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the lawsuit, OpenAI used data gathered from millions of blog posts, Wikipedia articles, family recipes, and social media comments to train ChatGPT without the users’ permission.

The CEO of RobinAI, an AI-powered legal copilot, claims that although AI can automate monotonous work, users should still verify the results and not just accept them as finished. According to Richard Robinson, CEO of AI legal copilot RobinAI, human rather than technological factors are the key to reducing the hazards associated with hallucinations. He

Barry Silbert, the CEO of Digital Currency Group, announced that the business had fulfilled all of its outstanding debts. The now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Genesis was the source of all of the short-term loans that venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) claimed it has paid off. DCG stated that it is current on its

Even while Coinbase wants to be a player in the EU derivatives market, bigger firms like Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Deribit will be tough competitors. By purchasing a Cyprus-licensed organisation under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014 (MiFID II), Coinbase hopes to increase the scope of its derivatives products within the European Union. The

The Africa Stablecoin Consortium (ASC) has been given permission by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to test the cNGN stablecoin in its regulatory sandbox.On February 27, 2024, the new stablecoin is scheduled to launch. The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, and the CBN have established regulatory requirements and standards, and the cNGN stablecoin complies with them, according to a blog post by the ASC, a partnership of Nigerian banks and fintech companies.The group stated that in order to guarantee compliance, consumer protection, and transparency, it is interacting with the regulators.The CBN issues the eNaira, which is the central bank digital currency (CBDC), and the cNGN is meant to be used in addition to it.The CBN established the eNaira, which has more capabilities, but the ASC is in charge of the cNGN.With intentions to rapidly expand compatibility to all major blockchain networks, the stablecoin is now compatible with strategic blockchains including Bantu and BNB Smart Chain. The blog article states that the cNGN token is backed by Naira reserves kept in specific commercial banks and is fixed 1:1 to the Nigerian naira, the nation’s fiat currency.Using blockchain technology, the stablecoin seeks to close the value gap between the naira and other digital currencies on the international market. The cNGN seeks to facilitate the instantaneous transfer of funds between Nigerians living overseas and their families back home.It also seeks to do away with the costly costs related to conventional international transactions.The blog post states that the CBN desires for blockchain technology to be supported and enabled by the financial sector.The CBN eased limitations on Nigerian banks supporting cryptocurrency transactions in a circular addressed to banks on December 22, 2023, in recognition of the growing demand and usage of cryptocurrencies worldwide.

Out of the 24 applications received over the past year, Cecabank, Abanca, and Adhara Blockchain have been selected. After releasing an open request for partners to take part in central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments, Spain’s central bank, Banco de España, has selected its partners one year later. The central bank announced its collaboration with

According to the Guardian, Australia’s Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, announced that he would be questioning the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on why the agency failed to alert investors to the HyperVerse cryptocurrency scheme when other countries have. As early as 2021, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany,

Former executives at Citigroup intend to market securities backed by bitcoin that they claim don’t require SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) approval.Depositary receipts resembling the American depositary receipts (ADRs) that trade as foreign stocks on U.S. equity exchanges will be made available by Receipts Depositary Corp. (RDC).A news statement on Thursday stated that the “BTC DRs” will be made available to institutions and cleared by the Depository Trust Company (DTC). For investments that are not subject to Securities Act of 1933 registration requirements, RDC will provide bitcoin depositary receipts to investors.The announcement states that the offering will begin in the upcoming weeks.According to Ankit Mehta, co-founder and CEO of RDC, “there are many benefits to using depositary receipts, such as their tried and true structure, providing direct ownership of the underlying asset and easy inclusion in institutional products.”The purpose of RDC is to fulfill the institutional need for bitcoin investments, which an exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the spot might not be able to meet.In the very near future, the SEC is anticipated to authorize the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States. Mehta told Bloomberg, which first broke the story, that while shares in bitcoin ETFs could be exchanged for cash, depositary receipts would give direct ownership of the cryptocurrency.The underlying bitcoin will be kept under the control of Anchorage Digital Bank National Association

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued instructions for banks regarding digital assets, indicating an easing of the nation’s regulators’ strict position on cryptocurrencies. The rules shed further light on the authorities’ decision to allow virtual asset service providers to register accounts last month. They were made public on the bank’s website on Tuesday.

After falling as much as 7% on Wednesday due to a leverage flush and market reactions to analyst forecasts, Bitcoin (BTC) recovered some of its losses and was trading slightly around $43,000 in the early hours of Thursday in Europe. According to Yield App’s chief investment officer Lucas Kiely, the biggest cryptocurrency might increase in

Coinbase (COIN) shares from two of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were sold for more than $25 million on Wednesday by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest. 166,183 COIN shares, valued at $25.3 million at the closing price of the cryptocurrency exchange, were sold by the investment business from its Innovation ETF (ARKK) and Next Generation Internet ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to deny every application to market a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) this month, according to cryptocurrency investing services provider Matrixport. “The current five-person voting Commissioners leadership critical for the ETF approval of the SEC is dominated by Democrats,” wrote the firm in a note on Wednesday. “SEC Chair Gensler is not embracing crypto in the U.S., and it might even be a very long shot to expect that he would vote to approve bitcoin

On Wednesday, Bitcoin fell 8% as investors started to get nervous about the expected approval of a spot bitcon (BTC) ETF.The whole upward run that started on January 1st was retraced by the decline, which prompted the liquidation of positions totaling $500 million on derivatives markets. “The likelihood of the ETF’s passage became less and less likely, and the market saw a stalemate,” options analyst GreeksLive wrote on X. “Weakness in crypto mining stocks, and the sell-off in several crypto-related U.S. stocks, also reinforced the market’s skepticism.” Last week, Retuers reported that a bitcoin ETF could be approved as soon

According to Etherscan, the acquisition of Solscan was a “collaborative merging” that would enable the company to provide blockchain data services across more networks. Etherscan, a company that runs an Ethereum blockchain explorer, is kicking off the new year with new acquisitions pertaining to the Solana blockchain. The purchase of Solscan, a top block explorer