Bitcoin ETFs Finally Approved and ETH Soars Past $2.5K

Bitcoin ETFs Finally Approved and ETH Soars Past $2.5K

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has authorized multiple Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), a landmark decision that broadens investment avenues in the cryptocurrency sector. These spot ETFs, holding Bitcoin directly, stand apart from the previously sanctioned Bitcoin futures ETFs. This move, long-awaited by the asset management industry, is expected to significantly increase mainstream Bitcoin accessibility, especially following a 2023 court ruling that criticized the SEC's prior refusals to approve similar ETFs.

Leading financial entities, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, are at the forefront of this development, with the SEC's approval signalling the start of robust competition to attract investments. However, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw expressed concerns over the integrity of the Bitcoin spot market, despite SEC Chair Gary Gensler's acknowledgment of the court's decision as a pivotal factor in the approval process.

In the wake of this regulatory advancement, Ethereum is witnessing a surge in investor interest, propelling its value beyond $2,500. The rising ETH/BTC ratio, driven by anticipation of an Ethereum ETF and the significant Ethereum Cancun upgrade featuring EIP-4844, highlights the growing investor confidence in Ethereum. The optimism extended to other Ethereum-based tokens, with Lido’s LDO and RocketPool’s RPL, as well as layer 2 network tokens like Mantle’s MNT and Optimism’s OP, also seeing gains.

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Fox, Polygon Debut “Verify”, Blockchain Anti-Deepfake Tool

Fox Corporation, known for Fox News, has launched the Verify blockchain platform, in collaboration with Polygon Labs, to track content use by AI firms. This platform, developed by Fox’s in-house technology team and Polygon, aims to verify the origin and history of media content, which is especially important in the era of AI-generated texts and images. 

Verify is designed to ensure that readers can identify the true source of content, giving media publishers better control over how their content is used by AI platforms. This initiative addresses the rise in content usage by AI tools, amidst growing concerns about citation and copyright issues in media.

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Celsius Aims to Reverse Pre-Bankruptcy Withdrawals

Celsius, a cryptocurrency lender that declared bankruptcy has filed an intent to reclaim funds from creditors who withdrew large sums prior to its bankruptcy declaration. Specifically, those who withdrew over $100,000 in the 90 days before July 13, 2022, the date Celsius declared bankruptcy, might have to return these funds. The administrators offer a settlement option for these account holders: they can settle their liability by paying 27.5% of the withdrawn funds by January 31, 2024. 

Those failing to settle by this deadline risk legal action to recover the funds. This move comes as Celsius also focuses on Bitcoin mining as part of its post-bankruptcy strategy and has been unstaking and withdrawing Ethereum, making up a significant portion of the withdrawal queue, to facilitate distributions to creditors.

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XAI Airdrop on Arbitrum Distributes $70M to Gamers

Arbitrum’s new “layer-3” gaming network, Xai, launched its XAI token, achieving a market cap of over $154 million following its airdrop. The Xai network, developed on Arbitrum, a layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution, offered 125 million XAI tokens (5% of the total supply) to eligible users, including specific Xai NFT owners and Sentry Node operators. Despite initial price volatility, the airdrop’s total value neared $70 million. 

The Xai Foundation, in collaboration with Arbitrum’s creator and Ex Populus game studio, has hinted at more airdrops in “Season 2”. The network focuses on competitive games, with partnerships like Team Secret in esports and games like “Final Form” and “LAMO” in development.

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Other breaking news

• Finoa Secures $15M in Funding, Maintains $100M Valuation
• MicroStrategy Nears $1B Profit from 2024 Bitcoin Investments
• Cosmos Devs Eye ATOM Inflation Rate Cut
• SAMO Meme Coin Surges 24% with Solana Saga Phone Airdrop
• PayPal Stablecoin is a Part of Curve’s Third Largest Liquidity Pool

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