Cryptonews of the Week

CryptoNews of the Week

– On May 23, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved form 19b-4 applications from eight issuers of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, trading of ETH ETFs will only commence after the SEC signs the form S-1 statements. According to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, this could take "weeks or months." Before trading begins, the price of Ethereum could rise to $4500, as predicted by Arthur Cheong, founder and CEO of DeFiance Capital. Commenting on the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, JPMorgan referred to this regulatory move as a political decision ahead of the U.S. presidential elections.

– The theme of cryptocurrency continues to strengthen in the pre-election rhetoric of U.S. presidential candidates seeking votes from the crypto community, which, according to NYDIG, comprises over 46 million U.S. citizens or 22% of the adult population. Former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump reiterated his support for the industry, this time in a post on Truth Social. "I am very positive and open to crypto companies, and everything related to this new and growing industry. Our country must be a leader in this field. No second place. Dishonest Joe Biden, on the other hand, the worst president in our country's history, wants [the crypto industry] to die a slow and painful death. This will never happen under my watch!" Trump wrote.

– On May 24, the Shiba Inu dog named Kabosu, the meme hero and symbol of Dogecoin, passed away. In November, Kabosu would have turned 19 (approximate birth year - 2005). Kabosu first gained attention in 2010 when her owner posted photos of the dog on her blog. It was Kabosu who inspired programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer to create the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin in 2013. Memes featuring Doge also became popular on Reddit, where a dedicated section now boasts over 330,000 users. American politicians used the meme in their social media, and one of its most famous fans, businessman Elon Musk, even temporarily changed the logo of the social network X (formerly Twitter) to the most famous image of Kabosu used in Dogecoin.

– In one of his recent posts on the social network X, popular analyst Lark Davis forecasted bitcoin's growth to $150,000 and ethereum's to $15,000, explaining this sharp increase by the emerging market dynamics. According to Davis, the main reason for the rapid growth of these coins will be the inflow of funds already observed in spot BTC ETFs, which attract hundreds of millions of dollars daily. Spot ETH ETFs will further fuel the crypto market's enthusiasm, resulting in billions of dollars flowing daily into exchange-traded funds based on the two leading cryptocurrencies. Currently, spot bitcoin ETFs hold 2,343 coins (≈ $70 billion), about 5% of the flagship asset's circulating supply. This significant figure, according to Davis, clearly indicates the growing recognition of cryptocurrency and the interest from institutional investors, especially from the U.S.

– Strike payment service CEO Jack Mallers predicts that during the ongoing bull rally, bitcoin could reach $250,000 and potentially grow to $1 million. In a podcast with Pomp Investments founder Anthony Pompliano, Mallers explained his bold forecast by stating that bitcoin is still in its early development stage. He noted that the bond market is facing issues, so central banks might introduce a significant amount of liquidity into the financial system to stabilize it. Such an influx of liquidity will provoke a rise in the value of risky assets, including the leading cryptocurrency. Jack Mallers disagrees with the notion that bitcoin is a bubble or a speculative tool. The asset is becoming increasingly popular among financial giants on Wall Street, and its limited supply of 21 million coins makes BTC highly resistant to inflation, unlike government currencies and gold. "Bitcoin can be considered the hardest form of money – thanks to its fixed issuance schedule and halving events every four years. The rate of new coin issuance gradually decreases, thus increasing bitcoin's long-term value," argued the Strike CEO. The Lightning Network, created for instant and cheap transactions, a second-layer solution based on the BTC blockchain, can further increase demand for the first cryptocurrency. Thanks to this, Mallers believes, bitcoin can be used for everyday purchases, such as paying for a cup of coffee in a bar.

– Analysts from the financial investment company Motley Fool suggested similar figures. They hypothesized that bitcoin's rate could rise to $400,000 and might even reach $1 million. This will happen due to money inflows from institutional investors through spot BTC ETFs. Motley Fool analysts noted that more pension funds and hedge funds, managing multi-billion-dollar sums, are entering the bitcoin market. Thanks to cryptocurrency ETFs, they can seamlessly include bitcoin in their investment portfolios.
According to analysts, about 700 investment companies have already invested in such funds. Nevertheless, institutional investors currently make up only about 10% of the total number of bitcoin ETF holders. Motley Fool estimates that if financial institutions invest approximately 5% of their assets in bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency's market capitalization could exceed $7 trillion, explaining its forecasted rate of $400,000.

– On the contrary, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed an opposing viewpoint. He equated bitcoin to a religion and stated that the industry has outgrown its dependence on it. According to Hoskinson, "the industry no longer needs bitcoin to survive." The Cardano founder pointed out critical threats to the leading cryptocurrency, including insufficient adaptability and dependence on the Proof-of-Work algorithm. Franklin Templeton analysts, on the other hand, considered L2 protocols, along with Ordinals, Runes, and DeFi primitives, as one of the main drivers of innovation resurgence in bitcoin. Former BitMEX crypto exchange CEO Arthur Hayes called the native token of the Cardano blockchain (ADA) "dog shit" due to its low usage in protocols.

– Bloomberg senior analyst Mike McGlone believes bitcoin's volatility makes it less attractive for investment compared to gold and the U.S. dollar. He also thinks that stocks will soon crash amid the anticipated recession, but BTC will suffer even more than the stock market.
The expert emphasized that the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT) is usually traded twice as much per day as bitcoin. "I can access U.S. dollars anywhere in the world at any time from my phone with Tether. Tether is the number one trading token. It's the number one cryptocurrency for trading. It's the dollar. The whole world has switched to the dollar. Why? Because it's the least bad of all fiat currencies," McGlone argued.

– Unlike the optimism of many experts, Wall Street legend Peter Brandt felt it necessary to warn investors about a catastrophe that could arise from the launch of spot ETFs on Ethereum. "The biggest disasters in the cryptocurrency sector that are yet to come will be related to staking," Brandt believes, emphasizing the likelihood of significant financial losses and bankruptcies in the future. Staking is a way of earning cryptocurrency by "freezing" a certain number of coins in a wallet on the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm to support the network's operation. In return, the user receives rewards in the form of additional coins. Brandt noted that such assets as Ethereum are often rented out to earn this kind of income, often in the form of interest, and this reminds him of collapsed financial pyramids. As staking becomes more widespread, Brandt warned, it might attract increased attention from central banks, government treasuries, and other authorities. This will lead to stricter regulation, significantly changing the crypto space and potentially ending staking and bankrupting those involved.

– A criminal case on the largest bribes has been initiated in Russia. The former head of the Investigation Department of the police in one of Moscow's districts, a 35-year-old major, and one of his subordinate officers are accused of 10 counts of receiving bribes amounting to more than $1.5 million and 2,718 BTC ($180 million). In total, flash drives and hard drives with crypto wallets containing 5,213 BTC (about $350 million) were seized during the operation.

Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.

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