Cryptocurrencies Get Political, NFTs Plunge, ETF Inflows Surge

Today's edition of the weekly roundup: Donald Trump makes a radical turn to cryptocurrencies; nft market experiences drop in trading volume; and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are seeing a resurgence in inflows.

Trump pleases the cryptocurrency community

• The Republican Party's 2024 presidential candidate openly crypto-biden-00157051″ target=”_blank” rel=””>declared support the crypto industry. In a speech, the quadruple-impeached Trump urged his supporters to donate digital assets to his campaign.
• Trump is using campaign donations to pay for mounting legal expenses.
• Mark Cuban, billionaire and minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, argued on May 10 that regulators' tough stance on the crypto industry is doing President Joe Biden no favors in the upcoming election.
• SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is a Biden designated person.
• Meanwhile, political action committee Stand With crypto announced plans to provide financial support to politicians seeking to protect the interests of the cryptocurrency industry.
• As Trump's support for cryptocurrencies gains traction, major financial institution Standard Chartered stated in a report that voting a Republican victory in November could benefit bitcoin (btc) and the broader cryptocurrency industry due to de-dollarization, relaxed regulations and approval of US spot ETFs.

Global regulatory developments

• The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed plans to enact extensive crypto regulations in the second half of this year.
• Binance faced regulatory issues in Canada as Canadian authorities fined the exchange $4.4 million for violating anti-money laundering provisions in the country.
• Regulatory issues in Nigeria also made headlines this week. The company's CEO, Richard Teng, accused the Nigerian government of demanding bribes to resolve the issue regarding the arrest of two of its officials. However, the government denied these claims.

Wave and Kraken

• The US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee revealed on May 10 that it will consider voting on enacting the Financial Innovation and technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act, which aims to clarify the digital assets.
• On May 8, the US SEC filed its final response to Ripple in the remedies phase of the three-year-old SEC lawsuit against Ripple. The agency argued against multiple claims from Ripple, maintaining that its $1.95 billion fine for the company's securities law violations is fair.
• Kraken, another cryptocurrency-focused company in a legal battle with the SEC, filed to dismiss the regulator's lawsuit, citing incorrect terms and lack of evidence that it processed services related to investment contracts or unregistered securities.

nft market records fall

• The non-fungible token (nft) market made headlines this week due to a combination of favorable and unfavorable trends. On the one hand, reports confirmed that the Magic Eden marketplace overtook Blur for the first time to lead nft trading volume in April, with a volume of $468 million.
• The broader nft market saw a drop in volume last week, with cumulative weekly volume falling 11.16% to $144.3 million. bitcoin-based nfts accounted for $49 million of this volume, representing 34% of the total figure.
• The proliferation of cryptocurrency-focused hacks also hit the nft scene this week, with one nft trader losing $145,000 worth of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) nfts due to a phishing attack on May 8.

Grayscale Scalpers Spot ETF Revival

• Reports this week confirmed that the crypto ETF spot market witnessed a resurgence in inflows, as all bitcoin ETF spot products in the United States recorded positive net inflows for the first time on May 3. However, ETF analysts doubt the sustainability of this trend. in later days.
• Grayscale bitcoin Trust (GBTC) took advantage of this revival of investor interest to record its first net inflow, totaling $63 million on May 3. Additionally, on May 6, the GBTC product recorded another net inflow, marking its second consecutive day of steady activity. tickets.
• CoinShares reported this week that the outflows of cryptocurrency investment products observed the previous week could be much higher than the actual figure, which amounted to $251 million. According to the data, inflows to Hong Kong-based spot ETFs, totaling $307 million, helped soften global outflows of crypto products.
• Interestingly, in a classic case of institutional adoption, data from the US SEC website confirmed that US banking giant Wells Fargo invested in ETF products from Grayscale and ProShares.