The largest Bitcoin investment vehicle, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), is now trading at its biggest ever discount to the spot market. Data from on-chain analytics resource Coinglass shows GBTC shares down 34% versus Bitcoin (BTC)/USD on major exchanges as of June 17. GBTC suffers in market downturn Amid continued turmoil in decentralized finance (DeFi) spilling over to infect the crypto market, conditions have deteriorated for investors big and small. The latest figures now show that institutions have definitively failed to avoid the contagion, and the already underperforming GBTC has hit new lows. The GBTC premium, long a misnomer due …

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Hester Peirce, sometimes known as Crypto Mom for her ardent support of the industry, spoke Tuesday at a conference hosted by the conservative-libertarian Federalist Society titled “Regulating the New Crypto Ecosystem: Necessary Regulation or Crippling Future Innovation?” Her lengthy remarks — over 4,000 words in the prepared version, which was augmented extemporaneously as she presented it — contain some of the bluntest criticisms of SEC policy she has made yet. Peirce characterized the SEC’s attitude toward the crypto market as a “refusal to engage” and suggested that the SEC’s refusal so far …

“Everything is bigger in Texas” proved to be true during Consensus 2022. The crypto conference took place June 9–12 in Austin, Texas, this year, attracting over 20,000 people from across the globe, despite the 100-degree plus weather. According to the event sponsors, Consensus 2018, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in New York, had previously drawn in almost 9,000 attendees. Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia — the Wyoming-based digital asset bank — told Cointelegraph that the event this year speaks volumes. “New York has sent a lot of this industry fleeing to places like Austin, Wyoming and Miami. It …

On June 2, 2022, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated an action against Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Among other things, the complaint alleges that Gemini made a number of false and misleading statements to the CFTC in connection with the potential self-certification of a Bitcoin futures contract, the prices for which were to be settled daily by an auction (the “Gemini Bitcoin Auction”). In the complaint, the CFTC specifically articulated the position that these statements were designed to mislead the commission as to whether the proposed Bitcoin futures contract …

Hong Kong-based Samsung Asset Management (SAMHK), a local subsidiary of Samsung’s investment arm, is moving forward with a blockchain-themed exchange-traded fund (ETF). The firm expects to launch its Samsung Blockchain Technologies ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 23, SAMHK announced on Thursday. The ETF seeks to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in stocks of companies actively involved in the development and adoption of blockchain technologies, the fund prospectus reads. The fund will invest in blockchain-related research and development firms, data providers, industry investment firms and others. The ETF’s composition will be managed by SAMHK’s portfolio management …

Grayscale Investments has hired a former U.S. Solicitor General in preparation for a potential legal spat with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), should the regulator reject its application for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on July 6. The company has been waiting on a decision from the SEC to convert its flagship $19.8 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based ETF, since filing its application to the regulator on October 19, 2021. The SEC has pushed back its decision on multiple occasions, once in December and again in February. A final decision on the application …

On Tuesday, Borsa Italiana — Italy’s stock exchange — listed a “Bitcoin-thematic” exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Melanion Capital, bringing Bitcoin (BTC) exposure to Italian institutions and retirement plans. Cyril Sabbagh, managing director of Melanion Capital, told Cointelegraph that “The Melanion BTC Equities Universe UCITS ETF is an equity ETF around stocks in the crypto ecosystem.” He explained that the ETF would be “accessible to as many people as possible.” “The Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana) has not accepted any ‘spot ETFs’ but welcomes our thematic ETF!” Following the successful launch of a Bitcoin-thematic ETF in October 2021 on Euronext Paris, …

A further two cryptocurrency-backed exchange-traded funds (ETF) have launched on the Cboe Australia exchange on Monday, bringing the total amount of crypto ETFs available to Australian traders to six. The Canada-based 3iQ Digital Asset Management launched two spot ETFs, the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin (BTC) Feeder ETF and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether (ETH) Feeder ETF. Both of the Australian funds feed from the firm’s Canadian ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, and the 3iQ CoinShares Ether ETF. The underlying assets of the Canadian ETFs are holdings of BTC and ETH held in cold storage …

Digital asset investment products registered positive inflows last week, though the gains were mainly concentrated in Bitcoin (BTC) funds, signaling a more cautious approach to crypto allocation on the part of institutional investors. Bitcoin investment products saw cumulative inflows totaling $126 million in the week ending Saturday, according to the latest fund flows report from CoinShares. Year-to-date, Bitcoin investment funds have quietly added $506 million in net inflows. Investors appear to be allocating to Bitcoin at the expense of Ether (ETH) and other altcoins. Ether funds saw $32 million in outflows, marking the ninth consecutive week of declines. Outflows from …

Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicles are seeing “gargantuan” inflows this month, which is a fresh sign that traders’ appetite for BTC exposure is mounting. Data from monitoring firm Arcane Research published this week shows that Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) now have record high BTC under management. "Happier days" for Bitcoin ETPs as buyers pile in Despite BTC price action failing to draw in buyers at over 50% below all-time highs, not everyone is feeling risk-off. According to Arcane’s data, Bitcoin ETPs have seen a flurry of interest from institutional investors both this month and last. In total, Bitcoin ETPs, which include …

Despite May’s price correction, which took Bitcoin (BTC) as low as $23,800, institutional investors seem unwilling to lose confidence in the cryptocurrency. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF, launched in February 2021, has been seeing a consistent inflow over the last five trading days. The fund’s holdings have increased to 43,701.7 BTC as of Tuesday, according to Glassnode data reported by Jan Wustenfeld. That’s the highest level on record. The Canadian #Bitcoin Purpose spot ETF has seen persistent inflows over the last 5 trading days. Wed: 752 BTC Thu: 2.06k BTC Fri: 1.82k BTC Mon: 6 BTC Tue: 2.78k BTC Assets under …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) maintained its perfect record for rejecting Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications Friday when it disapproved a rule change to allow cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund One River Digital to offer the One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust on the New York Stock Exchange Arca. The decision comes somewhat ahead of schedule, as the agency had extended the original deadline to June 2 to allow more time for consideration. The commission wrote that, when considering One River's proposed rule change, it applied "the same standard used in its orders considering previous proposals to …