| Bitcoin Leveraged ETF launched; HSBC allows customers to buy and sell Bitcoin ETF (June 27th)
Headline
Ark Invest: Bitcoin reaches a crucial turning point
"Wood Sister" Cathie Wood's Ark Invest recently stated that BlackRock's application for a physical Bitcoin ETF could be a significant turning point for institutional acceptance of Bitcoin.
In an email on Monday, Ark Invest noted, "BlackRock's decision to apply for a Bitcoin ETF indicates that large institutional participants have a positive long-term outlook for digital assets."
Industry News
Volatility Shares launches its 2x Bitcoin strategy ETF today
Volatility Shares plans to launch its 2x Bitcoin strategy ETF (BITX) today. The fund seeks to provide twice the daily return of the S&P GSCI Bitcoin Futures Excess Return Index.
A spokesperson for the company said that now, cryptocurrency traders in the United States will be able to conveniently and liquidly gain leveraged Bitcoin exposure through traditional brokerage accounts, eliminating the need for cryptocurrency trading accounts during periods of legal uncertainty on such platforms.
HSBC allows customers to trade virtual asset ETFs listed on Hong Kong stock exchange
HSBC, the largest bank in Hong Kong, now allows its customers to trade virtual asset ETFs listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, making it the first bank in Hong Kong to allow customers to trade virtual asset ETFs listed on the HKEX.
This move will expand the exposure of local users in Hong Kong to cryptocurrencies. Currently, Hong Kong-listed cryptocurrency ETFs include CSOP BTC Futures ETF, CSOP ETH Futures ETF, and Samsung BTC Futures Active ETF.
Grayscale GBTC negative premium rate narrows to 31.32%
Coinglass data shows that the Grayscale GBTC negative premium rate has narrowed to 31.32%, approaching the level in mid-September 2022.
The remaining mainstream currency trust premium rates are as follows: ETH: -46.74%; ETC: -57.34%; LTC: -45.90%; BCH: -18.24%; ZEC: -20.62%.
Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity reaches 5630 BTC, hitting a new record
The Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity reached 5,630 BTC on Saturday, surpassing the peak of 5,620 BTC on April 18; valued at over $172 million when calculated in USD, also setting a new record.
In the past 12 months, with the continuous growth in adoption, the Lightning Network capacity has increased by 42% in Bitcoin terms and 105% in USD terms. (The Block)
FTX debtor releases second investigation report: FTX still owes customers $8.7 billion
FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX.com) and its affiliated debtors announced the release of their second report today, providing detailed information on the FTX management team's mishandling and misuse of customer deposits on FTX.com. As of the application date, FTX.com exchange owes customers approximately $8.7 billion. A third investigation report is expected to be released in August 2023.
Project News
Azuki Elementals to be publicly auctioned on June 28 in the Netherlands
Azuki Elementals public sale will start at 0:20 on June 28th Beijing time. Each wallet can mint up to 3 Elementals. The public sale will be conducted in the form of a Dutch auction, starting at 2 ETH. The total supply for the sale is 10,000 pieces.
Earlier news, Azuki Elementals will have a presale on June 28th, with Soulbound token airdrops for Azuki and BEANZ holders.
Huang Licheng sold 19 BAYC again yesterday, the third time in 10 days
On-chain data shows that Huang Licheng's address sold 19 BAYC at a price of 651.56 ETH in Blur yesterday.
Previously, on June 24th, Huang Licheng sold several BAYC, MAYC, and Azuki NFTs in the past 4 hours.
DWF Labs withdraws 700 million JASMY from Gate.io
According to Lookonchain, DWF Labs withdrew 700 million JASMY, equivalent to $3.1 million, from Gate.io.
According to previous reports, today the deployer of JASMY tokens deposited a total of 770 million JASMY into Gate.io, worth about $3.43 million.
DIVA Protocol launches mainnet and issues DIVA tokens, open for claiming airdrops
DIVA Protocol has been deployed on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum One, and Gnosis. At the same time, the DIVA token has been officially launched with a maximum supply of 100 million.
Currently, users can check the total eligibility for DIVA airdrop. 34 million DIVA tokens have been allocated to protocol contributors, pre-seed round investors, and testnet participants.
DIVA Protocol is a decentralized derivative protocol that provides users with diverse derivative investment products. In addition, the protocol offers derivative solutions aimed at building an ecosystem based on DIVA and allowing developers to build dApps based on the protocol.
Investment and Financing
Web3 infrastructure startup SPYCE.5 announced the completion of €1 million financing recently, with participation from angel investors and IOTA co-founder David Sønstebø.
SPYCE.5 provides sustainable blockchain and Web3 infrastructure, data, and digital identity as a service. It helps businesses leverage blockchain infrastructure and the advantages of applications with scalable and user-friendly tools and a Web3-ready platform, enabling users to easily use decentralized and sustainable technologies.
"Web3+" fintech company Velo Labs completes $10 million financing, led by DWF Labs
Financial technology company Velo Labs announced a $10 million financing, led by DWF Labs.
Velo Labs mainly uses blockchain technology to create a compliant financial ecosystem. The funds will be used to develop its "Web3+" financial ecosystem and promote the trustless, formless, borderless, and unrestricted flow of assets globally.
Velo Labs' products and services include multi-asset trading on Universe and the upcoming encrypted payment super app Orbit.
Metaverse gaming platform AvatarLife completes $1.5 million seed funding, led by Info Edge Ventures
Metaverse gaming platform AvatarLife has completed a $1.5 million seed funding round, led by Info Edge Ventures. The funding will be used for product development, community building, and expanding its global team.
Info Edge Ventures is the investment arm of Info Edge India Ltd, the parent company of Naukri.com. This is Info Edge Ventures' third investment in the gaming sector, having previously invested in fantasy esports platform Fanclash and VR-based toy manufacturer Mirana.
Hut 8 to receive $50 million credit facility from Coinbase Credit
Mining company Hut 8 Mining Corp announced that it has entered into a $50 million credit facility agreement with Coinbase Credit, Inc., as the lender, together with its subsidiary Hut 8 Holdings Inc. The loan funds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Regulatory Trends
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that the United States is wasting its early lead, partly because SBF has made some politicians and regulatory agencies that now want to be tough on cryptocurrency feel embarrassed. Others are moving forward, while countries such as the UK and the UAE are not really discussing FTX. The solution to this problem is to develop reasonable regulations, which will protect consumers and stop these issues from happening.
Binance cancels plan to delist multiple privacy coins in Europe
Binance stated that in order to comply with local regulations, the company has modified its categorization and decided to cancel the plan to delist multiple privacy tokens in Europe. "After carefully considering the feedback from our community and several projects, we have modified the way privacy coins are classified on the platform to comply with regulatory requirements within the European Union."
Insider: Binance has withdrawn its license application in Austria
According to insiders, Binance recently withdrew its license application submitted to the Financial Market Authority (FMA) of Austria. It is said that the authorities exerted pressure behind the scenes.
In an interview with Finance Forward, a Binance spokesperson said, "We cannot provide details of discussions with regulatory agencies, but wherever Binance operates, we will continue to act according to our commitments. In Europe, our current focus is to ensure that we fully comply with the requirements of MiCA when it is launched by the end of next year."
