The biggest regulatory story of the week, if not the year, has been the United States Security and Exchange Commission’s lack of opposition to the launch of the first-ever Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds, which took eight long years to materialize. While the first ETFs are tracking CME-traded Bitcoin futures rather than the asset’s spot price, the crypto space is already anticipating a pure-Bitcoin ETF as a logical next step. This bar might prove to be immensely difficult to clear, however, as SEC Chair Gary Gensler seems far less convinced of the stringency of investor protections that such products offer. Below …

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower, revealed that her refuge in Puerto Rico is currently being supported by an auspiciously timed cryptocurrency investment. Haugen worked as a Facebook product manager before accusing the company of spreading controversial and insensitive misinformation. She allegedly possesses numerous confidential research documents, which, according to her, shows that “Facebook prioritizes profit over the well-being of children and all users.” Previously, Facebook has been accused of influencing the 2016 United States presidential election with the help of Russian agencies. In a follow-up interview with The New York Times, Haugen was asked about her financial …

Bitcoin (BTC) has a long history of forming local tops when events that are anticipated by the market occur. The recent Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launch on Oct. 19 was no different and led to a 53% monthly rally to an all-time high at $67,000. Now that the price has briefly fallen below $60,000, investors are attempting to understand if the 10% correction was a healthy short-term profit taking or the end of the bull run. To determine this, traders need to analyze BTC's previous price activity to evaluate the possible similarities. The chart above depicts the day of a …

Hong Kong, one of the most significant and leading financial centers in the world, has played a large role in the development of cryptocurrencies. For instance, the Chinese territory has birthed some of the most established and successful crypto companies to date including the crypto derivatives exchange FTX, along with the digital asset platform Crypto.com. Yet, as trillions of dollars are traded regularly through crypto exchanges founded in Hong Kong, the “Vertical City” also contains an abundance of physical over-the-counter crypto shops as well. Henri Arslanian, PwC crypto lead and former chairman of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, told …

The Texas Ethics Commission proposed a new rule that permits government officials and politicians to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency contributions. The proposal was filed with the Texas Secretary of State, which sought to address and clarify the reporting requirements of political contributions made with cryptocurrencies. According to the filing: “The new rule permits candidates, officeholders, and political committees to accept cryptocurrency. It does not distinguish between any types of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.” If approved, cryptocurrency donations and contributions will need to be reported as in-kind contributions or as investments, not currency. According to the Commission, this move “mirrors the …

On Oct. 22, Bitcoin (BTC) price entered what some traders predict to be a "consolidation phase" as investors lock in profits following a non-stop run-up in price that began on Oct. 1, seeing BTC increase by 55% in just three weeks. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that a wave of midday selling on Friday dropped the price of Bitcoin from support at $63,300 down to the $60,000 level. Here’s what market analysts are saying about Bitcoin's current price action for the short-term. “Bitcoin could be ready for another leg higher” The current price action is seen as …

The long-awaited day finally came on Oct. 19 as the first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) went live on the New York Stock Exchange, thrusting the crypto asset into the limelight across mainstream news outlets and alternative media alike. Despite the fact that the ETF in question will hold no actual Bitcoin and is instead a futures-based instrument, investors and pundits across the ecosystem have largely hailed its launch as proof that Bitcoin has hit the big leagues and will soon surpass the coveted $100,000 price target. Many investors either don’t have access or will choose not to interact with …

United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and ProShares head of investment strategy Simeon Hyman discussed the launch of the first Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) with CNBC on Tuesday. ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, also known as BITO, is based on CME Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts. CNBC commentator Bob Pisani shared concerns from some investors that BTC futures could deviate from the BTC spot price. “The futures market is a better place for price discovery,” said Hyman. “The CME futures market trades more volume than the largest U.S. crypto exchange. We launched a similar mutual fund on 7/28, and …

It’s been 150 days since China banned Bitcoin (BTC) mining — and BTC price action has only benefited as a result. Five months ago, China caused a considerable but not unsurprising stir by doubling down on its hostile environment policy toward cryptocurrency. Bitcoiners to China: Thanks for the ban Just like every “ban” before it, China’s move against miners saw temporary price turbulence, matching the biggest physical upheaval in Bitcoin’s history. As miners powered down and relocated out of China, Bitcoin’s network hash rate fell 50%, with difficulty slowly adjusting for the changes in the months that followed. Since then, …

The Salvadoran government has moved to prevent users of its Chivo digital wallet from gaming the app’s price freeze feature to glean risk-free profits through arbitrage. On Tuesday, Chivo’s Twitter account announced that wallet users will be unable to see the reference price provided for trades executed using the price freeze feature — which allows traders to retain the Bitcoin (BTC) price quoted by the app for up to one minute. Chivo tweeted that opportunistic traders have been using the price freeze feature to scalp for arbitrage across other cryptocurrency trading platforms globally during periods of significant price volatility for …

Between fever-pitch anticipation over the impending approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s $42-million-plus settlement with Tether and Bitfinex, and Vladimir Putin brooding over cryptocurrency’s capacity to transfer value, this past week has been saturated with major policy news. While all the above are instances of state figures’ and institutions’ top-down actions and statements on digital assets, an arguably even more interesting tide has emerged on the side of the crypto industry itself. Two major players of the digital space, Coinbase and a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), came forward with proposed visions for regulating internet-native economic activity Below …

Optimism is bordering euphoria in the cryptocurrency market after a trove of documents pointed toward the eventual approval of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, or ETF, application by the United States Securities Exchange Commission before the end of the month. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that price action for BTC spiked in the early trading hours on Friday, with bulls managing to rally to an intraday high at $61,880, marking the first time BTC has surpassed $60,000 since April. Here’s what traders and analysts are saying about what comes next for Bitcoin now that its price is …