Countdown to Approval: Will the SEC Greenlight Bitcoin ETFs This Week?
Dear Investors,
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Myth of Money. If you would like to keep in closer touch, please reach out on X below.
This is the week, we are all sitting on the edge of our seats awaiting the long awated Bitcoin ETF approval.
A Historic Moment: The Anticipation of Bitcoin Spot ETFs
BlackRock leads the charge, alongside other asset management behemoths, towards the potential approval of the first U.S. Bitcoin "spot" ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This landmark event would enable the trading of a crypto investment product that closely tracks the daily price movements of Bitcoin on public stock markets, signifying a significant leap towards the mainstream acceptance of digital assets.
Regulatory Movements and Market Readiness
As the deadline approaches, the SEC has signaled its readiness to proceed with the final decision-making process. Applicants are urged to submit their final documents, with sources indicating the SEC's recent lack of additional feedback as a positive sign towards approval readiness. The possibility that ETF approvals might be delegated to SEC staff, as reported by Bloomberg, suggests a streamlined and perhaps more rapid decision process. This readiness, coupled with the submission of final amendments by multiple firms, sets the stage for a potentially historic round of ETF approvals.
Spot Bitcoin ETF applicants who submitted 19b-4 final amendments so far include:
VanEck • Bitwise • Fidelity • Franklin • Valkyrie • Hashdex • ArkInvest • Grayscale • BlackRock • WisdomTree • Invesco Galaxy
Ether ETF: The Next Frontier
Parallel to the developments in Bitcoin ETFs, there is growing speculation and evidence that an Ether ETF might soon be a reality. James Seyffart from Bloomberg suggests that the SEC's previous approval of Ethereum futures ETFs has implicitly categorized Ether as a commodity. This distinction is crucial, as it defines the regulatory pathway and potential for future Ether-based investment products. The anticipation of an Ether ETF reflects the broader market's interest and readiness to embrace a more diversified cryptocurrency investment landscape.
Market Dynamics and Investor Interest
The market demonstrates a robust appetite for crypto investment products, with BlackRock allegedly preparing a substantial $2 billion from existing Bitcoin holders for the initial rollout of its spot Bitcoin ETF. The significant influx of stable coins into the market further supports the growth and stability of Bitcoin, indicating a strong demand for cryptocurrency investments and diminishing the likelihood of a deep market correction.
Notably, the ETF will allow Registered Investment Advisors and Brokers to direct trillions in capital to the Bitcoin markets. After the ETF approval, we can expect decreased volatility and a steady upward growth momentum.
My Top 10 Investment Ideas for 2024 🐸
Thank you for your dedication to the Myth of Money newsletter. I am committed to maintain this newsletter as a complimentary resource, free of sponsorships. My aim is to offer guidance and insights that are untainted by external influences, ensuring the highest degree of trustworthiness in the content you receive.
This week, we are offering an additional free knowledge source - My Top 10 Investment Ideas for 2024.
Here you will find my Top 10 picks across stocks and crypto, and my reasoning behind making those investments personally.
To receive this product, simply refer 3 friends using your unique shareable link 👇
This Week By the Numbers 📈
Quick Facts:
U.S. stocks conclude a 9-week bull run
Anticipation builds as earnings season commences
Venture capital fundraising plummets to a 6-year low
Most alternative cryptocurrencies dip over 20% from recent highs, while Bitcoin remains stable
FUN FACT: VanEck's spot Bitcoin ETF will be traded under the ticker $HODL
SOL's transaction volume reaches its highest since 2022
Logan Paul pledges to repurchase CryptoZoo NFTs
Arthur Hayes predicts a potential 40% decline in BTC value
Macro:
U.S. bankruptcy filings see an 18% rise in 2023
Global shipping delays due to Red Sea issues worsen
ISIS asserts responsibility for recent attack in Iran
Global airlines adhere to FAA's order, grounding Boeing Max
Top Stories 🗞️
Digital Currency Group confirms settling $700M of debt with Genesis
Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) announced it has cleared all of its short-term loans currently due to the now-defunct crypto lending platform Genesis. In a statement released on Jan. 6 on X (formerly Twitter), DCG confirmed that it is up-to-date on its financial obligations, including paying approximately $700 million to Genesis as part of the over $1 billion paid to creditors in the past year. Furthermore, DCG CEO Barry Silbert highlighted that these debt commitments were fulfilled despite the challenging conditions in the crypto market throughout 2023. “We have now repaid over $1 bn of debt, including this ~$700 mm, despite the headwinds faced by the industry,” Silbert stated. Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January 2023 after suspending withdrawals in November 2022. The company owed over $3.5 billion to its top 50 creditors, including firms like Gemini and VanEck’s New Finance Income Fund.
Futureverse partners with Ready Player 1 author
Ernest Cline, the author of Ready Player One, and Dan Farah, the producer of Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of the story, have partnered with artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse company Futureverse to develop a digital universe for Ready Player One. Together with Futureverse’s Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald, Cline and Farah will co-found Readyverse Studios, a firm that will launch a metaverse called the “Readyverse,” which they described as a “platform of interconnected digital experiences.” Futureverse announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Readyverse Studios has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring the Ready Player One franchise exclusively to the metaverse and across Web3. In addition, Readyverse will maintain exclusive Web3 rights to all future intellectual property (IP) from Cline.
Apple shares slip on report U.S. government preparing antitrust lawsuit
Apple shares slid less than 1% on Friday after The New York Times reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker, which could be filed as soon as this year. The agency’s lawsuit could target how the Apple Watch works exclusively with the iPhone, as well as the company’s iMessage service, which is also solely available on Apple devices. It could also focus on Apple Pay, the company’s payments system, according to the report. The lawsuit, if it comes to pass, would be the biggest antitrust risk for Apple in years. The U.S. is Apple’s largest market, and Apple says the way in which iMessage and the Apple Watch work are essential features that distinguish iPhones from Android phones.
Microsoft, OpenAI sued for copyright infringement by nonfiction book authors in class action claim
Two nonfiction book authors sued Microsoft and OpenAI in a would-be class action complaint alleging that the defendants “simply stole” the writers’ copyrighted works to help build a billion-dollar artificial intelligence system. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan federal court, comes more than a week after The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI, which created the AI chatbot ChatGPT, in a similar copyright infringement complaint that alleges the companies used the newspaper’s content to train large language models. Microsoft is an investor in and supplier to OpenAI. The new suit by authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage notes that on the heels of the Times’ suit, the defendants “publicly acknowledged that copyright owners like Plaintiffs must be compensated for Defendants’ use of their work.” The Times suit seeks “billions of dollars” in monetary damages.
North Korean hackers stole $600M in crypto in 2023
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has reported that groups tied to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) were responsible for roughly 33% of all crypto stolen through hacks in 2023. According to a Jan. 5 report, TRM Labs said North Korean hackers potentially stole up to $700 million in crypto in 2023, with $600 million confirmed by its research. DPRK hackers have stolen roughly $3 billion worth of crypto since 2017, suggesting that the country’s attacks involving digital assets increased in the last year. The blockchain firm reported that the DPRK’s methods for money laundering were “constantly evolv[ing] to evade international law enforcement pressure.” Research suggested that the hackers almost always compromised users’ private keys or seed phrases, transferred funds to DPRK-controlled wallets and then swapped the assets for Tether.
Deal of the Week 💰
This week I’m investing in a new AI + Web3 crossover play - Sapien AI.
Sapien offers a comprehensive data labeling solution designed to enhance the efficiency of mid-market AI models and bridge the gap with major industry players. With immediate access to an extensive, diverse workforce of motivated labelers worldwide, Sapien ensures high-quality data annotation services.
The company is spearheaded by Ahmed Rashad (MIT, Amazon, McKinsey, Scale AI), alongside Trevor Koverko, founder of Polymath, Tokens.com, and Matador.
Sapien is finalizing its Seed Equity round, backed by a varied consortium of prominent Web3 investors. For more information or to establish a connection with the company, please reply to this email.
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Myth of Money.🚀
Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe below.
Until next week,
Tatiana Koffman
About the Author: Tatiana Koffman
Hi there and thanks for reading! If you stumble upon my newsletter, you will notice that I write about money, economics, and technology. I hold a JD/MBA and spent my career in Capital Markets working across Mergers & Acquisitions, Derivatives, Venture Capital, and Cryptocurrencies. I write to make financial topics more accessible and create equal opportunity for the next generation of investors. I have personally invested in 20+ companies and funds (👉 my portfolio).