On Friday afternoon, Fidelity Investments took the lead in a flurry of recent activity when they, along with a few other companies, resubmitted their applications for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previously stated that the first submissions lacked sufficient details, which led to this.Along with three other companies, Invesco, VanEck, 21Shares, and WisdomTree participated in this action in an effort to lead the development of US spot Bitcoin ETFs.This chain of events was started by BlackRock Inc. in mid-June with an unexpected file for such a fund. Each company that resubmitted on Friday noted that Coinbase Global Inc. will support market surveillance for their assets.Their earlier submissions did not provide this crucial information.A spot Bitcoin ETF’s SEC clearance may depend on how well the crypto market is being regulated.Such monitoring could greatly reduce fraud and market manipulation, problems that have so far resulted in the SEC rejecting around 30 applications for Bitcoin spot ETFs. According to an insider who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly reveal this information, Coinbase is also expected to provide a variety of services for other potential fund issuers.These companies, in addition to BlackRock, also include Valkyrie and Bitwise.In a recent filing, 21Shares claimed that Coinbase will also offer custody services.The other issuers declined to confirm Coinbase’s involvement. The surge in applications has improved token prices, which is a favorable development for those who are interested in cryptocurrencies.Excitement has been generated by the idea of cryptocurrencies being more accessible to average investors.The price of bitcoin reached its best trading levels since last year in June, when it regained a value over $30,000.The token’s price as of Friday was around $30,400, which is still less than half of the record high it reached in November 2021 of almost $69,000.However, these rule filings won’t become effective until they receive approval from the SEC. An increase in revenue from Coinbase’s collaboration with the planned ETFs is possible, especially given the current volume challenges facing the bitcoin exchange sector.The revenue generated by Coinbase was less than half of what it was in 2021, a year in which the sector saw a bull market.This information comes while Coinbase is still embroiled in a legal battle with the SEC on allegations that it ran an illicit exchange. Following BlackRock’s ETF filing in mid-June, the market’s confidence prompted seven additional businesses to submit or resubmit requests for spot ETFs in anticipation of a change in the SEC’s long-standing opposition to such funds.The fact that the SEC approved ETFs tied to Bitcoin futures in 2021 suggests a potential change of heart.

After taking advantage of a smart contract feature in the bridge tool of the cross-chain protocol PolyNetwork on Sunday morning, attackers created billions of various tokens.By locking value on one network and releasing it on another, bridges allow users to transfer tokens between multiple blockchains via smart contracts.Attackers on the PolyNetwork were probably able to modify the bridge’s operation so that it would issue tokens for a network that wasn’t actually there. Attackers created 999 trillion shiba inu (SHIB), 24 billion binance usd (BUSD), and bnb (BNB) on the Metis blockchain, as well as millions of other coins on different networks including Avalanche and Polygon.This means that shortly after the hack, the attackers’ wallet had tokens valued at nearly $42 billion (on paper).But the attackers were unable to profit from the enormous token stockpile due to an appalling lack of liquidity.Developers for Metis stated that there was no “sell liquidity available” for the BNB and BUSD, and they had locked the METIS tokens that had been fraudulently issued on the PolyNetwork bridge. However, the hacker was able to exchange 94 billion SHIB tokens for 360 ether (ETH), 495 million COOK for 16 ether, and 15 million RFuel for 27 ether after finding liquidity for other illegally created tokens, according to analytics firm Lookonchain.Lookonchain continued, “We detected that hackers are moving assets and $1 ETH to new wallets, perhaps for sale. The assault on Sunday was the second time that attackers had chosen to target PolyNetwork.Following the suspected theft of a private key used to sign a cross-chain message, the protocol was hacked for $600 million in August 2021, a then-record hack.Bridges are crucial for facilitating the transfer of tokens valued at billions of dollars between different networks, but they are also susceptible because they have historically been the top target for assaults and hacks in the crypto sector.

The Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development was recently unveiled by the Hong Kong government as a crucial effort. Together with important government and financial regulatory officials, this critical move is being led by Financial Secretary Paul Chan and includes fifteen non-official members chosen from relevant market sectors. Beginning on July 1, 2023, these unofficial

Bittrex’s arguments are very similar to those presented by Coinbase. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex are engaged in a legal dispute. Bittrex has filed a move to dismiss the case. The SEC does not have the ability to regulate cryptocurrencies as securities lacking express permission from Congress, according

Every time a transaction is made on the network, the Terra Classic burn mechanism immediately burns tokens.The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, has completed its 11th burn round by burning 2.65 billion Terra Classic (LUNC) tokens. Over 35.5 billion LUNC tokens have been burnt by Binance in total, while over 68 billion have

Hive Blockchain (HIVE), a bitcoin mining company, said on a teleconference with analysts on Friday that it wants to let customers train big language AI models in its data centers because it offers more privacy than competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Companies are now aware that they don’t want to upload private client information to an

When resubmitting its spot bitcoin exchange-traded (ETF) fund applications for a number of prospective bitcoin ETF issuers on Friday, Cboe’s BZX Exchange identified cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as the market for its surveillance-sharing agreement.In recent weeks, Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck, ARK Invest, Galaxy/Invesco, and BlackRock have submitted applications for spot bitcoin ETFs in an effort to establish a product that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has consistently denied.The other businesses are collaborating with Cboe, while BlackRock registered with Nasdaq. According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC informed Nasdaq and Cboe on Friday that their applications were “inadequate” because they failed to identify the market that the fund sponsors are collaborating with on their surveillance-sharing arrangements.In its resubmitted applications, Cboe identified Coinbase as its partner for these surveillance-sharing arrangements, noting that the Coinbase platform “represents a substantial portion of U.S.-based and USD denominated Bitcoin trading.” “The Spot BTC SSA [surveillance-sharing agreement] is expected to have the hallmarks of a surveillance-sharing agreement between two members of the ISG, which would give the Exchange supplemental access to data regarding spot Bitcoin trades occurring on Coinbase if the Exchange determines it is necessary as part of its surveillance program for the Commodity-Based

The judge overseeing the cryptocurrency loan company Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings has given the go-ahead for Celsius to start liquidating its significant interests in Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Solana (SOL), and a few other altcoins on July 1.On November 25, 2022, according to court records from last December, Celsius held control of 106,000 AAVE, 90 million MATIC, 103 million ADA, 161,000 SOL, 3.3 million LINK, 1.8 million polkadot (DOT), 200,000 litecoin (LTC), and 200,000 LINK.It was unclear how much of those assets were to be excluded from the sale as well as the company’s current holdings in those assets. At the time of publication, the total value of those positions exceeded $170 million.Along with 650 million of its own CEL tokens, Celsius also holds millions more in stablecoins. According to Coinmarketcap, that tranche has a notional value of about $100 million, but it wasn’t obvious whether Celsius could sell its original asset. But now that bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn has given the go-ahead, Celsius will soon start selling off a lot of its holdings in favor of bitcoin and ether, the two assets that will finally be awarded to creditors who have been waiting almost a year for their money back. Celsius “may sell or convert any non-BTC and non-ETH cryptocurrency, crypto tokens, or other cryptocurrency assets other than such tokens that are associated with Withhold or Custody accounts to BTC or ETH commencing on or after July 1, 2023,” Judge Glenn’s ruling said.

The Cryptocurrency User Protection Act, also known as the Cryptocurrency Investor Protection Law, has passed through the Legal Affairs Committee in an important development for South Korea’s cryptocurrency industry, signaling a significant turning point in the legalization of virtual currency. Following the Political Affairs Committee’s ruling on May 11, the Cryptocurrency Investor Protection Law was

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) recently stated that it will not advocate for a regulation approach to stablecoins and cryptocurrencies but will instead advise heightened vigilance. Ian Woolford, Director of Money and Cash, RBNZ, stated that issues brought up by crypto-assets and other developments do not cleanly fall inside agency limits. However, concerns

The best-performing digital asset this month was Bitcoin Cash (BCH), with most of its gains occurring in the past two weeks after it was listed on EDX Markets, a cryptocurrency exchange launched on June 20 and backed by Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Citadel.According to CoinDesk data, the token increased 171% over the course of the month, outpacing bitcoin (BTC), the biggest cryptocurrency in the world, which increased by 14%.BCH jumped 30% in 24 hours at one point on Friday, reaching a 14-month high of $320. Upbit, the most important digital asset market in South Korea, has seen an upsurge in trading activity.According to Coingecko’s data, the bitcoin cash-Korean won (BCH/KRW) pair, which is listed on Upbit, had $558 million worth of trade in the previous day.This is over three times as much as the $160 million volume in the BTC/KRW pair on Upbit and 5.5 times as much as the $87 million volume in BCH/USD on Coinbase, which is listed on the Nasdaq.According to Matt Kunke, a research analyst at GSR, Bitcoin cash’s superior performance in June may be explained by the belief that forks of the Bitcoin blockchain may carry a lesser regulatory risk. “Liquidations were also a key component of BCH strength, particularly during the last day, as ~$15m of shorts were liquidated, the most out of any coin excluding BTC/ETH,” he said. In addition to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission criticizing the two biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, which caused altcoin prices to fall in June, a number of major institutions increased their investment in the currency toward the month’s end, boosting sentiment.As a result, Bitcoin increased, reaching a one-year high above $31,000 a few days after BlackRock, the largest asset management in the world, submitted an application for a spot ETF on June 15. “In crypto, we’ve been saying ‘the institutions are coming’ every year, and that rallying cry often drives the market narrative,” said Michael

According to Alex Smirnov, CEO and co-founder of cross-chain bridge deBridge, a new feature will make it simple and inexpensive for users of Solana to access apps on other blockchains and vice versa. For the first time, according to Smirnov, a Solana user can access Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based blockchains, like Arbitrum, without relying on

A claim against the bankruptcy estate and a vote on the Chapter 11 restructuring plan must be made by former users of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the trading firm Alameda Research, and several connected businesses by September 29. An order of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware requires that each claim against the

Ankex, a new cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that was developed within the crypto custody tech company Qredo, will be overseen by Michael Moro, the former CEO of Genesis Trading. Ankex will start with perpetual futures contracts in international markets this week as it begins alpha testing. With the use of features known to experienced traders, such

On Wednesday, a measure aimed to lower taxes on the selling of digital currency passed with a 112-2 majority from the Slovak parliament.A group of Slovak National Council members released an explanation of the income tax bill, stating that it wants to “reduce the tax burden in connection with the sale of virtual currencies, thereby simplifying their use in everyday life.”It is proposed to tax income at a tax rate of 7% when selling virtual currency after one year has passed since its acquisition,” the law stated. Crypto held for shorter periods would be integrated with other taxable income, it added. The bill was read a third time by the Council, Slovakia’s only legislative body, on June 28. One method to increase the appeal of cryptocurrencies is for European Union members like Slovakia to be able to impose their own tax regulations on cryptocurrencies. Portugal’s tax incentives were a big part of what made the country appealing to the industry, but last year, officials announced a U-turn on that advantageous treatment.

The government of Canada is being urged by a committee of MPs to establish a national blockchain strategy that explains the nation’s regulatory stance and “demonstrates support for the industry,” according to a series of policy recommendations released in June. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology’s first of 16 recommendations urges the government to acknowledge the “significant long-term economic and job creation opportunities” presented by the blockchain sector. The committee’s report, which was produced after the government demanded a study of blockchain technology, includes a call for future policy on digital assets to “be guided by the principle that individuals’ right to self custody should be protected and that ease of access to safe and reliable on and off ramps should be defended and promoted.” The trading platform Coinbase recently praised Canada’s approach to overseeing the sector as it battles regulators in the U.S. Despite the country’s approach to regulating digital assets being quite strict, with a promise to tighten rules for crypto exchanges following the collapse of well-known businesses like FTX in 2022. The legislator committee also wants the Canadian government to establish a unique legal framework for stablecoins that sets them apart from other crypto assets, akin to the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework of the European Union, which treats stablecoins as a separate class of assets.Other suggestions include establishing rules for cryptocurrency custody platforms, taking steps to enable blockchain companies to use banking services, and making sure that cryptocurrency mining operations are fairly taxed. “While many emphasized Canada’s strong regulatory safeguards, such as provincial securities regulation and federal anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing obligations, witnesses stated that governments need to partner with industry to better understand this rapidly evolving sector and enact regulations that protect consumers without unnecessarily hindering innovation,” the committee said in

King Charles on Thursday gave his approval to a U.K. bill, the final official step before it becomes law, granting regulators the authority to oversee cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.The Financial Services and Markets Bill becomes an Act and includes provisions to incorporate crypto and stablecoins under the purview of regulation after receiving royal assent, a purely formal step following agreement from MPs. The upper chamber of Parliament last week approved the bill. Following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, the Act “gives us control of our financial services rulebook,” allowing regulation of crypto assets to encourage their secure adoption in the United Kingdom, according to Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith.The legislation, which was submitted in July 2022, increases the authority of regulators over the financial sector, including cryptocurrency. The addition of modifications to treat all cryptocurrency as a regulated activity and to oversee crypto marketing occurred while the bill was being discussed in Parliament.Stablecoins will also be covered under the bill’s payment regulations. The Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England, Treasury, and Payments Systems Regulator of the United Kingdom will soon be able to propose and enforce regulations to control the industry. To support the Conservative Government’s goal of making the nation a hub for the cryptocurrency industry, the Treasury has been conducting consultations on its proposed regulations for the industry since February. Griffith told CNBC in April that new specific regulations for the cryptocurrency industry could be introduced in the next year.

According to a notification from the U.S. commodities watchdog, a former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) broker has been forced to pay $54 million in damages and penalties by a federal court for running a fraudulent crypto trading scam.According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a judge in the Southern District of New York court barred Ohio resident Michael Ackerman from trading in any markets under the watchdog’s jurisdiction.Ackerman was charged with fraud in 2020 after he allegedly defrauded 150 investors out of $33 million by promising “extraordinary profits.” Ackerman amended his plea in September 2021 after previously entering a not guilty plea to operating the scam.The CFTC enforcement case against Ackerman is concluded as a result of the final order, which was signed on June 13 and was announced by the regulator. “It also requires him to pay $27 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $27 million civil monetary penalty in connection with a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme,” the notice said.

Market analysts are currently evaluating the likelihood that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the venture following the recent frenzy of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings.The top analyst for Bloomberg thinks that BlackRock, a company that manages assets, has a 50% probability of receiving what it wants. Eric Balchunas, senior market analyst at Bloomberg, stated that BlackRock has an equal probability of having its Bitcoin spot ETF file approved by the US SEC in a tweet on June 27.Balchunas ascribed the likelihood to knowledge gained about Grayscale, another well-known asset management company, from his colleague. Elliot Stein, a senior litigation analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, claimed that Grayscale had a 70% success rate in its legal battle with the SEC for the authority to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF.Following oral arguments before a panel of three judges earlier this year, Stein said that the chances considerably increased from 40% to 70%.These federal judges appeared to favor Grayscale’s position as events developed, increasing the likelihood of a favorable decision.The SEC could be preparing for a significant loss with such a high figure, but the leading agency is not going down without a fight. Stein suggested that, out of spite, the SEC would eventually agree to a Bitcoin spot ETF around the time a decision on its lawsuit against Grayscale will be rendered.The regulatory body, headed by Gary Gensler, would therefore prefer to work with a “trusted” and reputable asset management company like BlackRock.Due to this, the $10 trillion corporation has a good chance of achieving its goals in the upcoming weeks. Even though its CEO Larry Fink has previously made disparaging remarks about the digital asset market, BlackRock has been one of the companies paying close attention to it. Fink’s perspective has changed recently, though.He stated that it appears that many individuals are interested in Bitcoin.He said that 3,000 hits for monetary policy and 600,000 for Bitcoin were recorded on the BlackRock website. A big surge occurred in the last week, with Bitcoin surpassing the $30,000 mark, as a result of this abrupt shift in the narrative and the influx of institutional investors into the cryptocurrency industry.

The first tokenized carbon credit transactions were resolved utilizing the Chia blockchain by Carbon Opportunities firm, a private equity firm for the advancement of carbon credit verification. The fund was created on Chia by World Bank affiliate International Finance Corporation (IFC), and investment company Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) purchased a batch of tokenized carbon

The Ledger Enterprise Tradelink network, announced recently to have signed up a number of crypto exchange and broker partners including Crypto.com, Bitstamp, Huobi, Uphold, CEX.IO, Wintermute, Coinsquare, NDAX, Damex, Bitazza, Flowdesk and YouHodler. With an open, enterprise-grade trading platform created to satisfy their risk management and regulatory standards, Ledger, a company best known for its

Following criticism from international regulators, Horizen, a self-described layer 0 blockchain, has abandoned its privacy coin moniker. The choice was made under pressure from regulators over privacy currencies. Following the publication of draft guidance by the European Banking Authority in March that highlighted the anti-money laundering risk connected with the tokens, the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi

JPMorgan’s economists offered some light on the global perspectives they anticipate revealing in 2023 and 2024.They contend that there is a greater chance of the US entering a recession than of preventing one.The investment bank outlined four likely global outlook scenarios, with the “boil the frog” recession emerging as the justifiable consequence, according to a statement by Business Insider. The expression “boiling the frog” is frequently used to describe a scenario in which individuals ignore a potential issue until it worsens and eventually bubbles over.The company highlighted the likelihood of a recession by stating that it is the most likely result.The outcome, which has a 36% likelihood, involves the US entering a recession along with the rest of the world’s economies.The main cause of this problem is aggressive monetary tightening in reaction to inflation, which JPMorgan expects to remain consistently high.  “The Central bank aspirations for a soft landing have tempered the pace of tightening. However, hopes for a painless slide in inflation back to target are likely to be dashed, requiring policy to turn sufficiently restrictive to break the back of the expansion,” the analysts explained. “Broad-based developed-market tightening points to a more

The federal judge presiding over the criminal trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried denied his pretrial motions to have the charges against him dismissed. In his ruling, the judge stated that the founder of the exchange lacked standing to have many of these charges dismissed and that he did not meet the requirements for a dismissal under “extraordinary” circumstances. Bankman-Fried filed seven pretrial motions last month to have the majority of the accusations against her, including campaign funding, bribery, running an unregistered money transmitter, and wire fraud, dismissed. The last three of those motions were rejected by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York following a hearing earlier this month. On Tuesday, he rejected Bankman-Fried’s requests to have the allegations against her for bank fraud, money transmission, campaign finance, bribery, wire fraud, and other types of crime dismissed. The judge’s reasoning for rejecting the remaining four pretrial motions to dismiss is outlined in a 41page memorandum that also addresses the issues of venue and whether the prosecution has shown a strong case for property rights in bringing the fraud allegations. The judge’s reasoning for rejecting the remaining four pretrial motions to dismiss is outlined in a 41page memorandum that also addresses the issues of venue and whether the prosecution has shown a strong case for property rights in bringing the fraud allegations. “The Second Circuit has deemed dismissal an ‘extreme sanction’ that has been upheld ‘only in very limited and extreme circumstances,’ and should be ‘reserved for the truly extreme cases,’ ‘especially where serious criminal conduct is involved,” the judge wrote. Five of the 13 allegations that were presented against the

Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL), two cryptocurrencies, had worse losses on Tuesday than the overall crypto market, right before trading platform Robinhood was scheduled to delist them at 6:59 p.m. ET. According to a statement made by Robinhood on June 9, support for ADA, SOL, and MATIC would terminate on June 27 “based on [their]

Small-scale investment company Arceau has created a platform to streamline the verification of bitcoin bankruptcy claims in companies like FTX or Celsius, enabling it to acquire smaller creditors who had trouble accessing traditional bankruptcy markets. Many major cryptocurrency companies went out of business last year, turning thousands of investors into unsuspecting creditors and trapping their

According to Fabio Panetta, a member of the board of the European Central Bank (ECB), cryptocurrencies have “no societal benefits” and should be viewed as a kind of gambling.Panetta stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) do not have any useful use in society in a lecture delivered at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) last week.He also stated categorically that he thinks digital assets lack fundamental worth because they are not supported by any central authority or institution, which further undermines faith in them. Cryptocurrencies are hence “inherently highly volatile and unsuitable as a means of payment,” Panetta told the audience at the BIS’ 22nd Annual Conference in Basel, Switzerland. Panetta also compared the dangers of gambling to the characteristics of cryptocurrency.He cautioned that “the very instability of unbacked cryptos does make them appealing as a means of gambling,” and claimed that centralized crypto exchanges had essentially made this possible.Policymakers in all nations should simply recognize this industry as a kind of gambling and subject it to “rigorous regulatory standards” that “address their social cost,” Panetta added, rather than providing support to it. According to Panetta, if cryptocurrency is not adequately controlled, it may eventually develop to the point where it poses a risk to the stability of the financial system. The ECB leadership said that in order to prevent this, self-custodial wallets and decentralized finance (DeFi) should both be regulated.Although the new MiCA legislation are a significant step in this direction in the EU, he pointed out that more has to be done. Panetta also emphasized that regulating cryptocurrency should not be viewed as a means of legitimizing it.Instead, he suggested using the “same activity, same risk, same regulation” premise, adding that investors must be fully aware of the hazards.

According to a press announcement on Monday, Hut 8 Mining (HUT) has obtained up to $50 million in loans from Coinbase Credit to finance its operations, which at the moment involve finalizing a highly anticipated merger with rival US Bitcoin Corp (USBTC). In particular, with its plans to serve as the custodian for BlackRock’s well-publicized bitcoin exchange-traded fund, subject to regulatory approval, Coinbase (COIN) has been making inroads into the institutional market. Coinbase purchased institutional digital asset manager One River in March. The press release stated that Hut 8’s new credit facility is made up of a $15 million term loan “which is expected to be funded at or shortly following closing,” an option to draw an additional $20 million between one and two months later, and an additional $15 million within 15 business days after concluding the merger with USBTC.Hut 8 shares did not change appreciably in early Monday trade. In one of two recent high-profile cases, the other one being launched against Binance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Coinbase with running an unregistered securities exchange. A subsidiary of the cryptocurrency exchange is Coinbase Credit, according to the company’s annual financial report for 2022. It was identified as a “finance subsidiary” in a prior filing.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe stated that the cryptocurrency custodian has further acquisitions in the pipeline and anticipates more industry consolidation in the second half of the year, days after the company abandoned its proposed acquisition of Prime Trust.“We’ve got [other acquisitions] pending,” Belshe said on Monday to CoinDesk TV’s First Mover.“Over the next six months, I believe there will be consolidation in the space,” the speaker said. “I haven’t been able to announce them yet.” On June 22, BitGo canceled the purchase of Prime Trust amid rumors that the target was filing for bankruptcy.Subsequently, Prime Trust was cited by Nevada’s Financial Institutions Division (FID) as having “a shortfall in customer funds” and being unable to fulfill all withdrawal requests this month. based in Palo Alto, CaliforniaBefore the $1.2 billion deal was scrapped in August, BitGo itself came close to being acquired by Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency merchant bank Galaxy Digital (GLXY).Other approaches have “from time to time” since Galaxy withdrew, according to Belshe, but BitGo is currently more interested in expanding its business than being acquired by a significant player. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), which BlackRock (BLK) selected as the custodian for its fund-management unit iShares’ planned bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), is one potential contender in the custody market.Coinbase has a very strong balance sheet and is a publicly traded firm, so it does receive some of those first movers, according to Belshe.To differentiate its custody service from its trading operation, Coinbase may eventually be forced to do so. “These are not custodians, these are exchanges. Coinbase is going to have to choose which side of the fence they want to be on,” he said. Belshe noted that BitGo is “talking to pretty much every big deal that’s out there” and that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has his phone number.