Hodler’s Digest, May 26 – June 1 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top Stories This Week

Ethereum ETF June launch ‘legit possibility’ as BlackRock files S-1

United States spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could potentially launch by late June, following recent positive developments in the approval process. BlackRock updated its necessary Form S-1 filing for the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 29, a week after the SEC approved its 19b-4 filing. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, these are good signs that indicate other applications might soon follow. According to Balchunas, a late June launch is possible, but an approval around July 4 is more likely.

Binance France changes ownership following regulator warning

Binance France has undergone a complete ownership change, now fully owned by new shareholders, following a warning from France’s Financial Markets Authority. The move was intended to remove former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao from the company’s control due to issues with U.S. regulatory bodies, including the Justice Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Zhao pleaded guilty to U.S. charges in November and was sentenced to four months in prison.

ChatGPT-coded memecoin reaches $638M market cap

A memecoin called Turbo, created using the OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT with an initial investment of $69, reached a market capitalization of $638 million a year after its launch. The coin’s price peaked at $0.009302 on May 28, setting a new all-time high and bringing its valuation up significantly from $27 million three months earlier — a 2,262% increase. At its peak, the memecoin has risen by 13,192.3% from September 2023. The token’s creator, digital artist Rhett Mankind, claims it “exploded in popularity” due to his lack of involvement in its management.

Bitcoin dips 2% as Mt. Gox wallets move over $7B to unknown wallet

Bitcoin dipped 2% on May 28 after wallets labeled as belonging to the collapsed crypto exchange Mt. Gox moved 107,547 BTC worth nearly $7.3 billion to an unknown wallet — with more transactions coming in by the hour. The move is ahead of the defunct crypto exchange’s plan to return BTC holdings to creditors before October. All transactions pointed to a single unlabeled address that holds 107,547 BTC worth nearly $7.29 billion at the time of writing.

Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF could bleed $110M daily in first month: Kaiko

Grayscale’s proposed spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) might face significant daily outflows averaging $110 million if it experiences the same initial pattern as its Bitcoin ETF. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust converted to an ETF on Jan. 11 and witnessed outflows of 23% of its assets under management, totaling $6.5 billion in the first month. Similarly, if Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust, with $11 billion in assets, experiences similar outflows, this would represent about $110 million leaving daily, or 30% of Ether’s average daily trading volume on Coinbase, according to a report by Kaiko analysts.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $67,004, Ether (ETH) at $3,749 and XRP at $0.51. The total market cap is at $2.5 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Notcoin (NOT) at 141.82%, JasmyCoin (JASMY) at 46.40% and ORDI (ORDI) at 28.46%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Akash Network (AKT) at -12.94%, Bittensor (TAO) at -9.82% and Ronin (RON) at -9.69%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“ZK cryptography was developed for the good of all. It’s shameful to witness an IP land grab by a company trying to expropriate ‘ZK’ as private intellectual property.”

Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare

Carlos Lei Santos, co-founder and CEO of Uplink

“If a blockchain becomes publicly understood as being ‘the casino chain’ and nothing else, it becomes hard to get non-casino applications onboard.”

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum

Donald Trump, former president of the United States

“They [spot Ether ETFs] serve as another line of defense for Bitcoin.”

Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin has ‘3 bullish reasons’ to head higher after $68K dip — analysis

Bitcoin bulls have little to worry about when it comes to the BTC price uptrend, QCP Capital argues. Movement of coins from wallets belonging to defunct exchange Mt. Gox, which sparked a 2% BTC price dip overnight, does not warrant a rethink on market trajectory.

“Movement of BTC from a Mt. Gox cold wallet this morning triggered a sell off below 68k,” QCP analysts wrote. “However, these bouts of supply anxiety are likely to be blips in a broader trend higher into the end of the year.”

QCP highlighted what it called “3 bullish reasons” to keep the faith in Bitcoin’s robustness going forward.

These focused on strong United States stocks performance spilling over into crypto, political support by U.S. presidential candidates and uptake of the forthcoming spot Ether exchange-traded funds.

FUD of the Week

U.S. DOJ busts botnet boss for orchestrating $130M cyberscam

Yune Wang, a 35-year-old People’s Republic of China national and St. Kitts and Nevis citizen-by-investment, has been arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice for his alleged involvement in operating the 911 S5 botnet. This botnet, active from 2014 to 2022, reportedly compromised millions of residential Windows computers globally, affecting over 19 million IP addresses. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis identified that wallet addresses linked to Wang held over $130 million in cryptocurrencies, derived from illicit activities.

Terraform, Do Kwon to reach fraud settlement with SEC

Terraform Labs and its former CEO, Do Kwon, have reached an agreement in principle to settle a fraud case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as revealed in court filings. The preliminary agreement was disclosed during a telephone conference with Judge Jed Rakoff on May 29. The final terms of the settlement are expected to be completed and submitted for court approval by June 12, 2024. Kwon and Terraform were found liable for defrauding investors in a February ruling.

Matter Labs files for ‘ZK’ trademark, industry demands withdrawal

Matter Labs has sparked controversy by attempting to trademark the term “zero-knowledge” in nine countries, aiming to make it their exclusive intellectual property. The company, known for developing zkSync, has previously tried to register the ticker symbol “ZK” with crypto exchanges. Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, criticized Matter Labs’ actions as an “absurd IP grab,” asserting that zero-knowledge cryptography was developed for the benefit of the entire community.

Read also

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Aligned Incentives: Accelerating Passive Crypto Adoption

Features

How to stop your crypto community from imploding

Top Magazine Pieces of the Week

Caitlyn Jenner memecoin ‘mastermind’s’ celebrity price list leaked

Sahil Arora allegedly offered access to big name celebrities for up to $315K, and has left a trail of disgruntled investors behind him.

Pundits are no longer wondering if crypto voters could affect November’s presidential election — signs are they already have.

Ronin is back after a near-death experience but its recovery is not dominated by Pixels as commonly believed.

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Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.