Welcome back to Chain Reaction.
Happy new year! The crypto space is off to a good start for 2024, as ETF journalists and analysts have reported that the approval of a bitcoin spot ETF in the US could soon be coming. As a result, the price of bitcoin surpassed $45,000 on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since April 2022. Since then, it has retreated slightly up to $44,000 at the time of this publication. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is growing to $1.68 trillion, the highest level since May 2022.
In other news, the Financial Intelligence Unit, an Indian government agency, said last Thursday that it issued a notice to nine global crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, Kucoin and Mexc, which are allegedly operating “illegally” in the country and They have blocked their websites. More details below.
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This week on web3
- crypto Optimism in the Age of Fatalism
- India to block Binance and Kraken cryptocurrency exchange websites
- Love them or hate them, NFTs can survive thanks to the communities that drive them (TC+)
- crypto Losses Declined Over 50% in 2023 (TC+)
- Hackers stole $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2023, data shows
- Why I'm modestly optimistic about cryptocurrencies in 2024 (TC+)
- Why Puma is sticking to its web3 bets as cryptocurrencies recover from a long winter (TC+)
The last pod
For this week's news episode, Jacquelyn Dive back into the latest developments on spot bitcoin ETF applications in the US as anticipation builds.
Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, a digital asset technology company and the largest publicly traded bitcoin mining company, joined to help break down the latest developments on spot bitcoin ETFs.
As things stand, there are 14 asset management firms, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and VanEck, that are individually hoping to gain approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for their bitcoin spot ETFs. And some reports now say this could happen soon given the frequent meetings and updated presentations in recent weeks.
We also discuss what a spot bitcoin ETF could mean for investors, institutions, and miners, as well as the price of bitcoin.
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follow the money
- Arkon Energy Raises $110M to Increase bitcoin Mining Capacity in US and Launch Cloud ai Service in Norway
- Gaming company Web3 Portal closed a strategic round for an undisclosed amount
- Lending platform Tonka Finance raised $2.5 million in funding
- Animoca Brands Invested in Racing Esports Startup Veloce in Pre-IPO Funding Round
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch's own reporting.
What else are we writing?
Do you want to leave the world of web3? Here are some articles on TechCrunch that caught our attention this week.
- 23andMe tells victims it's their fault their data was breached
- I guess I'm a projector person now?
- Remembering the startups we lost in 2023
- No, spiders don't want to mate with your viral body butter
- More than 40 investors share their main predictions for 2024 (TC+)
follow me on twitter @Jacqmelinek for breaking news on cryptocurrencies, memes and more.
