Schlagwort: crypto business

• Grayscale announced trusts for Near Protocol and Stacks.
• Crypto market is upbeat ahead of a potentially huge announcement from the SEC on spot Ethereum ETF.

Grayscale Investments has announced two new investment trusts to provide for diversified crypto exposure – the Grayscale Near Trust and Grayscale Stacks Trust.

According to details of the announcement, the two products are similar to other single-asset investment trusts and are exclusively invested in Stacks (STX) and Near Protocol (NEAR).

“By creating distinctive solutions to address blockchain’s scalability challenges, Stacks and Near are poised to help foster greater adoption—ultimately helping to drive the crypto ecosystem forward,” Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Head of Product & Research at Grayscale, said in a statement.

Eligible individual and institutional accredited investors can now access daily subscriptions for the two trusts, Grayscale specified in the announcement.

Grayscale eyes approval for its spot ETH ETF

Grayscale is a leader in the crypto products space, with its spot Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) currently the largest by assets under management (AUM). The company is also among those eyeing an approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for spot Ethereum ETFs.

Like most other issuers, Grayscale submitted a revised 19b-4 filings for its spot Ether ETF. The platform joins BlackRock, Bitwise and other applicants in submitting the 19b-4s, with provisions for ETH staking removed.

The SEC is expected to approve the first spot Ethereum ETF for the US market, with an announcement highly anticipated on today.

Analysts forecast that an approval could catalyse an explosive run for ETH and other altcoins.

STX and NEAR tokens could surge amid this bull run, with the Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol Stacks also likely toget impetus from Bitcoin’s anticipated rally.

Stacks price was at $2.01 while Near Protocol traded at $7.64.

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• Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal announced on Thursday that the exchange now allows for XRP trading in New York.
• XRP price rose slightly immediately after the news.

Coinbase now supports XRP trading for its users in New York, the US-based crypto exchange has announced.

Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, announced the major development on Thursday, stating that the exchange had taken into account customers’ calls for XRP relisting.

“XRP trading on Coinbase is available again in NY. We heard you and put in the work in strong partnership with the State.  And now the word can be put out— we are back up,” Grewal noted in a post via his X account.

The announcement comes nearly three and half years since Coinbase halted XRP trading.

Coinbase was among those to suspend XRP in January 2021 following the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s lawsuit against Ripple.

SEC sued Ripple and its top executives in December 2020.

While Coinbase re-enabled XRP trading following Ripple’s victory against the SEC last July, it did not offer the service to its New York customers.

XRP price rose slightly on Thursday, trading around $0.53 as the community reacted positively to the news.

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• Pepe price hits $0.0000142 ATH, showcasing its resilience and market prominence.
• Ethereum’s surge and altcoin rotation among the factors fueling Pepe’s rally.
• Despite early investor profit-taking, bullish sentiment persists, fueled by whale activity.

In a remarkable turn of events, the price of Pepe price has surged to a new all-time high, reaching approximately $0.0000142.

This surge marks a significant milestone for the frog-themed meme coin, as it solidifies its position as one of the top performers in the crypto market.

Notably, the current bullish momentum in Pepe’s price comes after a period of internal challenges among developers, indicating a remarkable turnaround for the cryptocurrency.

Despite its rocky start, Pepe has gained substantial traction in recent times, with its market capitalization exceeding $5.77 billion.

What is behind the current Pepe price surge?

The altcoin market, including Pepe, has benefited from a notable shift in investor sentiment, with capital flowing from Bitcoin to alternative assets.

This rotation of funds has fueled the ongoing altcoin recovery, with Pepe emerging as a standout performer in this resurgence.

Pepe’s adoption and liquidity have also played a crucial role in its price appreciation. With deep liquidity of nearly $60 million in Wrapped Ether (WETH) and over 223,000 holders facilitating approximately 2 million transfers, Pepe has demonstrated robust on-chain activity.

However, amidst the euphoria surrounding Pepe’s price surge, there are also signs of caution. On-chain data analysts like Lookonchain have flagged instances of profit-taking by early Pepe (PEPE) investors.

Nevertheless, despite these concerns, bullish sentiment remains strong, with heightened whale purchase activity in the Pepe ecosystem fueling expectations of a fresh bull run in the coming weeks.

Moreover, the potential approval of spot Ether ETFs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could provide further catalysts for Pepe’s upward trajectory. The current Pepe price surge seems to closely mirror that of Ethereum (ETH) amid the hype created by the potential ether ETFs approval.

Pepe followed suit, highlighting the interconnectedness of various cryptocurrencies within the broader market ecosystem.

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• Binance US wins appeal to reinstate its Florida money-services business license.
• Court ruled OFR lacked legal justification for the emergency suspension order.
• Binance US suspension posed financial risks to over 170,000 Florida account holders.

Binance US has successfully appealed the suspension of its money-services business license in Florida.

The Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled that the emergency suspension order issued by the state Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) lacked sufficient legal justification.

Binance US suspension was unjustified

The suspension, initiated following Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s guilty plea on November 21, 2023, to federal charges of violating U.S. Anti-Money Laundering laws, was deemed unjustified by the court.

The court noted that the relevant state law uses the term “may,” indicating discretion rather than a mandatory action, for suspending a license.

In its ruling the court has said that it requires the OFR to provide additional reasoning beyond merely citing the statute and to explore less severe alternatives to outright suspension.

The court’s decision further emphasized that the suspension posed significant financial risks to over 170,000 Florida account holders.

The court stated, “For Petitioner to immediately comply with the ESO, it would be necessary to liquidate the digital asset holdings of every customer [which] threatens financial harm because of digital asset price fluctuations.”

Binance US resumes operations in Florida

The suspension in Florida was one of the first among several states following Zhao’s plea, with similar actions in Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, and Oregon.

In addition, the status of Binance US’s operations remains uncertain in Georgia and Ohio, while it has never operated in Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Vermont.

Although the ruling is subject to appeal, Binance US can resume its operations in Florida for now.

The crypto exchange has, however, temporarily paused new user onboarding in Florida while continuing to serve its existing customers in the state.

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• MetaMask integrating native Bitcoin support, bridging Ethereum-Bitcoin gap.
• Although no exact timelines, the integration is expected within a month.
• Currently, MetaMask uses Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) to bridge Bitcoin to Ethereum’s decentralized applications.

MetaMask, renowned as the most-used Ethereum (ETH) wallet, is poised to transcend one of the biggest tribal divides in the crypto sphere by extending support to Bitcoin (BTC).

The move, anticipated within the next month, will mark a significant step towards interoperability in the ever-expanding world of cryptocurrencies.

This news comes at the backdrop of Metamask’s integration with Coinbase Onramp allowing Coinbase users with an active Coinbase account to seamlessly buy and transfer crypto directly to their MetaMask wallet by selecting the Coinbase Pay option.

Bitcoin addition part of MetaMask’s multi-chain approach

This development underscores MetaMask’s commitment to embracing a multi-chain approach in the Web3 landscape.

Currently, MetaMask does not directly facilitate Bitcoin transactions but utilizes Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), an Ethereum-compatible ERC-20 token, to bridge Bitcoin to Ethereum’s decentralized applications.

However, the forthcoming integration of native Bitcoin functionality within MetaMask holds the potential to streamline user interactions across different blockchain ecosystems, fostering greater interoperability and expanding the utility of both Ethereum and Bitcoin for users worldwide.

With over 30 million monthly active users, MetaMask serves as a vital gateway into the world of decentralized applications (dApps) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain.

As Ethereum continues to pioneer innovations like smart contracts, MetaMask has played a crucial role in facilitating user navigation within this smart contract-based environment.

Now, with plans to incorporate Bitcoin functionality, MetaMask is poised to broaden its utility and appeal to a wider audience of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

No exact timeline for the integration

While the exact timeline for the integration remains uncertain, sources familiar with the matter suggest that access to native Bitcoin functionality could arrive within the MetaMask platform in the coming month.

However, the specific features and capabilities of Bitcoin support are yet to be finalized. It is anticipated that initial functionalities may be limited, with expansions and enhancements rolled out gradually over time.

MetaMask’s parent company, ConsenSys, led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, has expressed excitement about the prospect of embracing the multi-chain world of Web3.

A spokesperson for MetaMask emphasized the company’s ongoing commitment to enhancing usability and security while exploring new integrated features for its self-custodial wallet.

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