The Block
Quick Take SEC Chair Gary Gensler told CNBC that the agency’s “new look” at spot bitcoin ETF applications had involved recent court rulings. Over the last several months, several big firms including BlackRock and Fidelity have jockeyed for a spot bitcoin ETF.
Quick Take Tether froze an address with funds stolen by the Ledger code library exploiter. Ledger said its former employee was compromised in a phishing attack.
Quick Take Analyst Markus Thielen said he expects higher crypto prices in 2024 — with or without spot bitcoin ETF approvals — as increased liquidity, the Bitcoin halving event and the potential for Donald Trump to be elected again provide further catalysts.
Quick Take Lolli has raised $8 million in a Series B funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures. The funding comes two and a half years after Lolli’s Series A round, with an amount lower than that round.
Quick Take EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan unpacks the vision behind EigenLayer and discusses the next generation of modular blockchain technology.
Quick Take A significant security vulnerability has been reported by several decentralized applications. The issue stems from a compromised software library connected to Ledger.
Quick Take Bitcoin hitting an all-time high above $80,000, spot bitcoin ETF approvals and Taylor Swift launching NFTs are among Bitwise’s predictions for 2024. The asset management firm also expects Coinbase and Ethereum’s revenue to double, more money to settle using stablecoins than Visa and AI assistants to start using crypto by the end of next year.
Quick Take The London-based blockchain firm processed the first live payments through its Sterling Fnality Payment System after previously delaying the launch.
Quick Take Ark Invest sold another 283,104 Coinbase shares on Wednesday — worth around $43 million — following the $13.4 million COIN it has already sold this week as the stock rose 7.8%. Ark also offloaded 45,864 Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares ($1.6 million), coinciding with a 6.5% gain for GBTC yesterday as its discount to NAV reduced to the lowest level since July 2021.
Quick Take During a meeting on Wednesday, the agency voted to propose a rule called the “Protection of clearing member funds held by derivatives clearing organizations.”
