Welcome back to Chain Reaction.
Happy New Year! The crypto space is off to a strong start for 2024 as ETF journalists and analysts mentionted that a spot bitcoin ETF approval in the US could come soon. As a result, the price of bitcoin topped $45,000 on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since April 2022. It has since retreated slightly to $44,000 at press time. Total cryptocurrency market capitalization rises 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 has issued a notice to nine global crypto exchanges – including Binance, Kraken, Kucoin and Mexc – that they are allegedly operating “illegally” in the country and have blocked them. their websites. More details below.
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This week on web3
- Crypto-Optimism in the Age of the Destroyer
- India to block websites of crypto exchanges Binance, Kraken
- Love them or hate them, NFTs can survive thanks to the communities that drive them (TC+)
- Crypto Losses Dropped Over 50% in 2023 (TC+)
- Hackers stole $2 billion in crypto in 2023, according to data
- Why I’m Moderately Crypto-Bullish on 2024 (TC+)
- Why Puma Is Hedging Its Web3 Bets As Crypto Shakes Off Long Winter (TC+)
The latest pod
For this week's news episode, Jacqueline see the latest developments on US spot bitcoin ETF applications as expectations mount.
Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, a digital asset technology company and the largest public bitcoin miner, joined to help analyze the latest developments in bitcoin spot ETFs.
As it stands, there are 14 asset managers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and VanEck, who are individually hoping to win approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for their spot bitcoin ETFs. And some reports now say that could happen soon, given the frequent meetings and updated depositions in recent weeks.
We also discussed what a bitcoin spot ETF could mean for investors, institutions and miners, as well as the price of bitcoin.
Sign up to Chain reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to catch up on the latest episodes and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Follow the money
- Arkon Energy Raises $110M to Increase US Bitcoin Mining Capacity, Launches AI Cloud Service in Norway
- Gaming company Web3 Portal has closed a strategic round for an undisclosed amount
- Lending platform Tonka Finance has raised $2.5 million in funding
- Animoca Brands invested in esports startup Veloce in its pre-IPO funding round
This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as reports from TechCrunch itself.
What else are we writing?
Want to escape the web3 world? Here are some TechCrunch articles that caught our attention this week.
- 23andMe tells victims it's their fault their data was breached
- I guess I'm a headlight person now?
- We remember the startups we lost in 2023
- No, spiders don't want to mate with your viral body butter
- More than 40 investors share their top predictions for 2024 (TC+)
Follow me on twitter @Jacqmelinek for crypto news, memes and more.
