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Don’t Expect Another Lawsuit If SEC Rejects Ethereum ETFs: Bloomberg Analyst

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U.S. regulators will likely reject Ethereum (ETH) spot ETFs – and crypto won’t put up much of a legal fight for it, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

The analyst’s latest take is a discouraging sign for Ethereum bulls and stands in stark contrast to his former optimism about Bitcoin spot ETFs preceding their January approval.

Are Ethereum ETFs Worth Fighting For?

In a Wednesday tweet, Balchunas addressed a common theory that the crypto industry will sue the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if it refuses to approve ETH spot ETFs by May, which is its final deadline to deliver a verdict for several applicants.

“I would question this as Ether futures only ETFs have 4% of the assets that bitcoin futures have,” Balchunas wrote. “That’s a lot of time and money for something that may only get a fraction of the aum.”

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) – the nation’s first Bitcoin futures ETF – hauled $1 billion within its first two days of launch in 2021. It now holds $2.7 billion worth of Bitcoin futures contracts, while its largest leveraged rival holds another $1.6 billion.

By comparison, the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF launched roughly two years later pulled a dearth of the same investor interest, and now only holds a $72 million AUM. It’s a potential sign that institutional investors don’t have the same appetite for the second-largest digital asset.

Prior comments from sponsors of some of the largest Bitcoin ETFs would corroborate this claim. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan wrote last month that Ether ETFs might gather more steam if launched well after their Bitcoin counterparts, and that BTC is “in a class of its own” regarding institutional interest.

Furthermore, Robert Mitchnick – BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets – said in March that Bitcoin is “overwhelmingly the number one priority” for crypto exposure among its client base. “Then a little bit of Ethereum, and very little everything else,” he added.

What Does Grayscale Want?

Contrarily, Ethereum bulls say comparing the performance of futures ETFs isn’t appropriate – especially given the vastly different timings of their launch.

“The better comparison here is GBTC and ETHE where GBTC was $30bil assets under management pre conversion (Jan 10th) and ETHE was $7.3bil,” tweeted sassal.eth in early March.

The SEC was formerly opposed to Bitcoin spot ETFs, alleging that such funds were more vulnerable to market manipulation compared to their futures-based counterparts.

A year-long lawsuit brought by Grayscale forced them to reverse that stance, and ETFs were subsequently approved. Ironically, however, the increased competition brought by the approvals has contributed to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) losing nearly half of its Bitcoin within three months.

“You really think Grayscale is gonna want to foot the legal bill for another BlackRock smash hit and more outflows for something that is clearly going to be much smaller opp?” Balchunas added.

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Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Maintains $63K, Dogecoin’s Rise Continues With Another 6% Surge (Weekend Watch)

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Bitcoin’s price recovery tour took it to a multi-day peak of $64,500 yesterday, but the asset failed to continue upward and has retraced by over a grand since then.

Most larger-cal alts are slightly in the red on a daily scale, with TON, ADA, and SHIB declining by 2-4%.

BTC Stopped at $64.5K

The start of May was quite painful for the bitcoin bulls as the cryptocurrency slumped hard after failing to pump above $65,000 a day earlier. The massive correction drove the asset to its lowest price tag in over two months of $56,500.

The Fed’s refusal to raise the interest rates any further brought more volatility, as BTC pumped and dumped by $2,000 in minutes on Wednesday afternoon. Only then started the gradual price recovery as bitcoin jumped to $59,000 by Friday.

The bulls initiated another leg up then that drove the asset to and beyond $62,000. This increase culminated yesterday with an increase to a multi-day high of $64,500.

However, bitcoin failed to overcome that level and has retraced by more than $1,000 since then. Still, it trades above $63,000 and its dominance over the alts has neared 51%. In contrast, its market cap has declined to $1.244 trillion on CG.

Bitcoin/Price/Chart. 05.05.2024. Source: TradingView
Bitcoin/Price/Chart. 05.05.2024. Source: TradingView

DOGE Keeps Rising

The largest meme coin – Dogecoin – was among the top performers yesterday and it has only doubled down on its run. DOGE has jumped by another 6% in the past 24 hours and now trades at $0.16.

The other impressive gainer from the top 36 alts is RNDR, which has soared to $9 after an 8.5% daily increase. AVAX, LINK, and NEAR are also in the green.

In contrast, TON, SHIB, and ADA have declined by somewhere between 2-4%. ETH, BNB, SOL, and XRP are also in the red but in a less painful fashion.

The total crypto market cap has declined by around $40 billion since yesterday’s peak and is now down to $2.450 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto
Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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Cryptocurrency

Ex-FTX Europe Exec Purchases Titanic Gold Watch for $1.5M: Report

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A former executive of the European arm of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has bought a gold pocket watch recovered from the Titanic wreck for £1.175 million ($1.5 million), the largest sum ever spent on any piece from the memorable incident.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, German fintech entrepreneur and former head of FTX Europe Patrick Gruhn bought the 14-karat gold watch last Saturday from the English auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, a leading seller of Titanic memorabilia.

Former FTX Exec Buys Titanic Gold Watch

The pocket watch belonged to American property mogul John Jacob Astor IV, who sank with the ship after his pregnant wife, Madeleine Astor, was rescued in a lifeboat. Astor, the richest passenger aboard the Titanic, was returning from a honeymoon in Europe with his wife when tragedy struck in 1912.

Astor’s body was found a week after the Titanic sank by a steam vessel’s crew. The items found on his body included a gold watch, a gold pencil, a diamond ring, a gold buckled belt, and gold cufflinks. Astor’s son, Vincent, kept the watch for a while before giving it to the son of his late father’s secretary, whose family eventually sold it to John Miottel, a private collector, in the 1990s.

Miottel’s collection auctioned the watch last week, and Gruhn bought it for his wife, Maren Gruhn, revealing they would display the item, engraved with Astor’s initials, in U.S. museums.

“We want people in the U.S. to be able to see and admire this historic relic,” said the former FTX executive.

Gruhn further revealed that he felt connected to Astor because their families left Germany for the U.S. in search of wealth.

FTX Dropped Lawsuit Against Gruhn

Gruhn spearheaded FTX’s European arm until the global entity went bankrupt in November 2022. CryptoPotato reported a few months before FTX’s implosion that Gruhn and the disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) were working towards establishing a regional headquarters for the exchange in Dubai.

Following the exchange’s collapse, the firm’s bankruptcy estate filed a lawsuit against Gruhn and other former executives to recover $323 million SBF spent in acquiring the Swiss company that became FTX Europe on the basis that the founder overpaid. However, the case was dropped in February, with the former executives agreeing to buy back the European assets for roughly $33 million.

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Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin Explodes Above $63K as the Bulls Eye This Level Next (BTC Price Analysis)

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Bitcoin’s price has been going through some major moves throughout the past couple of weeks. The bulls are fighting to reestablish their dominance, staging a convincing recovery above $60K. But will it last?

Technical Analysis

By TradingRage

The Daily Chart

The price has been oscillating inside a descending channel on the daily chart for the past couple of months. The channel was briefly broken to the downside a few days ago.

However, BTC quickly rebounded and climbed back inside the channel, making a fake bearish breakout. With the $60K level also turning into support, the price will likely target the $68K resistance level in the short term.

btc_price_chart_0405241
Source: TradingView

The 4-Hour Chart

Looking at the 4-hour chart, it is evident that the price has quickly recovered from below the channel and the $60K level. The midline of the descending channel is now the next target.

Meanwhile, with the RSI approaching the overbought zone, the price might experience a pullback soon. The continuation of the bullish trend is dependent on whether the price can finally break the channel to the upside.

btc_price_chart_0405242
Source: TradingView

On-Chain Analysis

By TradingRage

Bitcoin Miners Position Index

While Bitcoin’s price has been trading below the $75K level, many market participants have been offloading their coins as they assume that the bull market might be over or a much deeper pullback is probable. However, miners are not in this group.

This chart demonstrates the Miners Position Index (MPI) metric. It measures miners’ selling pressure. Values above 2 can be considered dangerous, as they show massive destruction by the miners.

btc_miners_position_index_chart_0504241
Source: CryptoQuant

As the chart depicts, the MPI has been dropping rapidly over the last few months. This is a good sign, as the Miners’ selling pressure is declining. Thus, with sufficient demand, Bitcoin’s price can once again begin a rally toward $80K and even higher prices.

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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