Bitcoin Sneaks Into Wall Street 🪙📈⛔️

Valko

Bitcoin Sneaks Into Wall Street 🪙📈⛔️Valko

Specs’ Insights

MicroStrategy hits $12B market cap, close to qualifying for S&P 500

⌐◪-◪ → MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) is very close to qualifying for the S&P 500. This is significant for two reasons:

It legitimizes Bitcoin in the eyes of the public and Wall StreetAnybody invested in the S&P will have indirect exposure to BTC

Today, thanks to the recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, anybody with a basic brokerage account can get exposure to Bitcoin if they choose — but many remain skeptical despite BTC’s success.

If MicroStrategy enters the S&P 500, then millions will become Bitcoin investors overnight, because basically everyone is invested in the S&P.

For context: There are over 2,200 ETFs in the US, and the top 3 all track the S&P 500.

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VanEck's Bitcoin ETF Records 2,200% Volume Surge in a Day

A sudden trading volume on VanEck’s HODL product seemed “retail armyish,” one analyst said.

⌐◪-◪ → Last week VanEck announced plans to reduce their spot Bitcoin ETF fees from 0.25% to 0.20%, making them one of the cheapest ETFs on the market.

While the market obviously approves of this decision, VanEck has a long way to go before catching up to the top ETFs, with current assets under management of $126.52M.

For context, the top 3 by AUM are:

Grayscale → $32.13B
BlackRock → $2.73B
Fidelity → $2.31B

While VanEck is definitely behind, at least they have 2 good things going for them:

Lower fees than Grayscale (1.5%), BlackRock (0.25%), and Fidelity (0.25%)
The coolest BTC ETF ticker → $HODL

So, VanEck’s might actually stand a chance at competing with the big boys. As for me, I’m still rooting for Bitwise.

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Circle Axes Support for USDC on Tron, Citing 'Risk Management' - Decrypt

The stablecoin issuer said that its decision, "aligns with our efforts to ensure that USDC remains trusted, transparent and safe."

⌐◪-◪ → I’m not sure what happened, but Circle just ended support for USDC on TRON "effective immediately”.

This is a pretty massive blow to the TRON ecosystem considering Circle’s USDC is the second-largest stablecoin after Tether (USDT).

This could genuinely be a “nail in the coffin” for TRON and Justin Sun, who are already having a bad year after the:

$114 Poloniex hack
$100M HECO exploit
SEC market manipulation charges
Being the primary subject in a 13-page letter from Senator Elizabeth about TRON’s ties to terrorist financing.

Honestly, I’ve been super sus of Justin Sun ever since the sci-fi video he produced where he saves the world from “hackers shorting crypto”. Super-mega-cringe.

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Everything Else

⛓️ Crypto & DeFi

Kelp DAO, 3rd largest liquid restaking protocol, introduces KEP points
Puffer liquid restaking protocol secures $1B deposits in just 3 weeks
Avalanche AVAX underperforms ahead of $365M token unlock
Optimism distributes over 10M OP worth $41M in 4th airdrop
Stellar starts phased rollout of 'Soroban' smart contracts
Solana tops $2B TVL for the first time since June 2022
Binance finalizes Monero delisting as XMR recovers 6.4%
Bitcoin dev proposes using DNS to coordinate BTC payments
MetaMask integrates Blockaid security alerts across multiple chains
METIS to launch L2 revenue sharing model

🏦 Wallstreet & VC

Mastercard partners with Swoo Pay on crypto loyalty rewards
Michael Saylor says “Bitcoin is the exit strategy”, and is “never selling”
Hack VC closes $150M fund to invest in web3 and AI startups
Galaxy Digital is the ‘most diversified’ crypto play, says Canaccord
CME to launch euro-denominated BTC & ETH futures next month

🏛️ Legal & Regulatory

Fairshake Super PAC raises $6.8M from Winklevoss Twins and VCs
Crypto lawyer John Deaton runs for US Senate vs. Elizabeth Warren
US OFAC bans 10 BTC addresses linked to LockBit ransomware group

🌎 Rest of the World

Hong Kong plans to submit stablecoin & OTC crypto bills soon

🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse

LayerZero and Xai Foundation form blockchain gaming partnership
Walmart tweets about second order of Pudgy Penguin plushies
Sappy Seals NFT project is up 71% on rumors of seed round
MadLads inscribed a new ordinals collection
Magic Eden wallet hits 100k downloads, 10% of their userbase

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