Bitcoin hits a new all-time high above $67,000, the United States saw the first exchange-traded crypto ETF begin trading, Coinbase will help Facebook test the Novi digital wallet, and other events of the week.
The United States launches the first bitcoin futures ETFs
On October 19 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker BITO began trading a bitcoin futures ETF from ProShares. The trading volume of BITO on its first day on the NYSE stood at 24.42 million shares, nearly reaching $1 billion. By this measure the instrument took second place among all exchange-traded funds.
The head of the SEC Gary Gensler commented on the event, noting that the instrument rests on “an extremely speculative asset class” with all its volatility aspects and reaffirmed the regulator’s position regarding possible approval of spot exchange-traded funds based on the first cryptocurrency.
DCG head Barry Silbert confirmed plans to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF, and the following day a corresponding form was sent to the SEC. At the same time, one of the largest American investment companies Invesco declined to launch a bitcoin futures ETF, despite being next in line for approval.
At the end of the week the SEC approved bitcoin futures ETFs from VanEck and Valkyrie Investments. On Friday, October 22, the Valkyrie instrument debuted on Nasdaq under the ticker BTF. The underlying asset of the structure, as with ProShares, were bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Meanwhile, the ProShares bitcoin futures ETF nearly reached the maximum volume of contracts allowed under CME rules.
Commenting on the launch of bitcoin ETFs in the United States, the head of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said that the central bank is not ready to allow trading of similar instruments.
Bitcoin price hits an all-time high above $67,000
Against the backdrop of the ProShares product launch, quotes of digital gold rose. On Wednesday, October 20, the price hit a new high above $67,000. Ethereum also hit a new high at $4,375.
Bitcoin failed to hold the level. At the time of writing the asset was trading near $59,900.
JPMorgan analysts concluded that the main driver of the current rally in the first cryptocurrency has been inflation fears, not the hype around the first bitcoin futures ETF.
Fundstrat projected further upside for the digital gold to around $89,000. They say the market is pricing in the results of the ProShares product launch.
ForkLog experts also expressed their views on bitcoin’s future trajectory and highlighted the factors on which it will depend.
Overall the cryptocurrency market reacted ambiguously to the launch of bitcoin futures ETFs. Most top-10 by market capitalization ended in the red.
The meme cryptocurrency Shiba Inu has moved close to the top ten by market capitalization. Over the week its price rose 72%, and the circulating supply’s market cap surpassed $21 billion.
According to Messari, the strongest gainer was the token of the medical blockchain platform Solve.Care. Its price rose 357%, and its market capitalization stood at $149 million.
The biggest drop was the Ethereum 2.0 staking service’s token Blox. The CDT price fell 35%, and the market capitalization stood at $130 million.
The cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.62 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index fell to 43.2%.
Russian oil producers propose using their equipment for mining
Deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vasily Shpak appealed to the Ministry of Digital Development and the central bank to assess the possibility of using equipment from Russian oil companies for mining.
The plan envisions using associated petroleum gas to generate electricity to power data centers and use them for cryptocurrency mining.
Tesla reports $51 million impairment from bitcoin investments
Tesla, for the third quarter of 2021, reported record profit and revenue. The electric-vehicle maker’s crypto-related revenue rose by 26.6%, but its investments in the first cryptocurrency were impaired by $51 million over the period.
The cryptocurrency on its balance sheet was valued at $1.26 billion, down from $1.31 billion in Q2. Under US accounting rules for digital assets, impairment is recognized as a loss when the value declines within a quarter; gains when prices rise are not recorded as gains on the balance sheet.
Binance Smart Chain developers propose burning a portion of fees, mirroring Ethereum
Binance Smart Chain published a proposal to improve the BEP-95 ecosystem, providing for a mechanism to burn a portion of validators’ fees.
The plan envisages burning a fixed portion of gas in each block. Validators can adjust the coefficient, which defaults to 10%.
The Russian Foreign Ministry does not rule out replacing the reserve dollar with digital assets
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Panin, Russia will continue to reduce the share of the dollar in its national reserves and in settlements with other countries — in the future it could be replaced by “some digital assets.”
Walmart places bitcoin terminals in dozens of stores
The largest American retailer Walmart offered customers the ability to purchase bitcoin at several dozen stores across the United States. As part of the pilot, 200 Coinstar terminals have been deployed.
Aksakov calls for formalizing mining taxation; Deripaska urges the Bank of Russia to take crypto seriously
Head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov stated the need to separately specify the taxation procedures for individuals and legal entities engaged in mining cryptocurrencies. He stressed that mining is not illegal in Russia, but regulation of the activity is not clearly defined.
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska urged the Bank of Russia to stop “infantilisingly shutting its eyes to the growing cryptocurrency market.” He was joined by Yuri Pripachkin, president of RAKIB, who agreed with the criticism of the regulators’ failure to bring the crypto market out of the shadows.
Bitcoin price briefly falls to $8,200 on Binance.US
On Binance.US the price of bitcoin collapsed by 87% within a minute to $8,200. Other crypto exchanges also recorded a minor drop at the same time.
The incident was caused by a software bug in an institutional client’s trading algorithm — the algorithm malfunctioned.
On Reddit, a lucky user managed to buy 1.06 BTC at $11,111.
Coinbase to help Facebook test the Novi digital wallet
Facebook selected Coinbase as custodian partner for the pilot testing of its Novi digital wallet. The experiment will involve residents of the United States and Guatemala. They will be able to purchase Pax Dollar (USDP) through their wallet account and use the stablecoin for transfers between themselves.
The next day in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers urged Facebook to halt the Novi pilot, citing the company’s repeated commitments not to launch a digital currency without federal regulatory approval. Novi replied that the structure operates independently from Facebook.
Mt. Gox creditors back plan to reimburse bitcoins
According to trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, about 99% of creditors took part in the vote. Approximately 83% of the total votes supported the civil rehabilitation plan and terms of creditor payouts.
Fake Bitcoin airdrop masquerading as Apple presentation draws 30,000 viewers
On the evening of October 18, hours before Apple Unleashed’s official start, scammers launched a series of fake YouTube streams in which viewers were invited to participate in a cryptocurrency giveaway. A few days later Google stopped a large-scale hack of YouTube channels used for bitcoin fraud.
Cboe agrees to acquire ErisX, crypto-derivatives exchange
Regulated CFTC Chicago Board Options Exchange announced the acquisition of ErisX, a US-based trading and clearing platform for digital assets and their derivatives. The terms were not disclosed.
Also on ForkLog:
- The cryptocurrency startup Worldcoin by Sam Altman valued at $1 billion.
- A database with data of more than 3 million CoinMarketCap users put up for sale.
- FTX raised $420 million at a $25 billion valuation.
- Brad Garlinghouse explained Ethereum’s success by the SEC’s favorable stance.
What else to read and watch
Metaverses, virtual worlds that connect billions, have moved from the realm of science fiction and futurists to concrete goals in the roadmaps of IT firms and startups.
ForkLog delved into the history of virtual worlds and the role of cryptocurrencies in this industry of the future.
National digital currencies are being developed by central banks of economies representing more than 90% of global GDP. Find out how the adoption of these tools will affect economic freedoms.
In traditional digests we have gathered the week’s main events in cybersecurity and and artificial intelligence.
The blockchain technology remains one of the hottest trends among financial, governmental and commercial bodies around the world. ForkLog has prepared an overview of the most interesting latest initiatives.
On Monday, October 18, in a live ForkLog discussion they talked about the most current industry news. They discussed ETFs, the Bitcoin rally, and who issues signals on social networks. Guests: Denis Smirnov — DeFi/DAO consultant, Anatoly Radchenko — trader, Taissya Romanova — founder of the Telegram channel GFIS.
Read ForkLog’s bitcoin news on our Telegram — crypto news, prices and analysis.