U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF Starts Trading, Circle Files for IPO, India Cryptocurrency Pullback Continues

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This past week has been all about the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF in the crypto world. Rumors began circulating last week that approval was imminent, with sources confirming it.

But the road to approval has not been easy. The SEC’s X account was hacked on Tuesday, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.This is a huge The problem stems from an “unauthorized” post from a government account claiming the agency approved a “Bitcoin ETF.”

The post, which took about 30 minutes to post, led to many news outlets and online figures reporting that the SEC had approved the highly anticipated spot Bitcoin ETF. The unauthorized post has been removed.

But all’s well that ends well. Fast forward to Wednesday, the SEC approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF application from 11 issuers (TC+). I spoke with two executives from Grayscale and Valkyrie about the prospects of their spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Read it here:

Matthew Sigel, director of digital asset research at VanEck, said that Bitcoin ETF spot trading began on Thursday morning, with a total trading volume of approximately US$2 billion.

Previously, Valkyrie co-founder Steven McClurg told TechCrunch that he expected first-week trading volume to be around $2 billion to $3 billion, so the initial inflow may indicate that demand may be greater than initially anticipated.

Note: In addition to the regularly scheduled newsletter, I will also be trying out some recurring segments and features. Not only that, but over the next few weeks we will no longer be using the name “Chain Reaction” and will be replacing it with something more compelling: TechCrunch Crypto. So please keep an eye on this!

If there’s anything you’d like to see, please let me know at jacquelyn@techcrunch.com.

Anyway, that’s it for today’s consolidation and spot Bitcoin ETF news. Let’s get on with it, shall we?

web3 this week

1. USDC stablecoin issuer Circle secretly submits IPO (TC+) application
2. Hestiia wants you to mine cryptocurrency to heat your house
3. X Removed support for NFT profile pictures
4. Apple removes Binance, Kraken and other crypto apps from Indian App Store
5. Is India done with cryptocurrencies?
6. Fox partners with Polygon Labs to address deepfake distrust
7. Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds as long as you don’t sue him

latest pod

For this week’s episode, Jacqueline Interviewed Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments.
Grayscale is a digital asset investment company that provides products and services to institutional and individual investors, best known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and now its new Bitcoin spot ETF product. The company was founded in 2014 and is one of the largest digital asset currency management companies in the world.  The GBTC fund holds over 3% of all Bitcoins in circulation, worth tens of billions of dollars.
The company and its executives have made headlines for their tireless efforts to gain approval after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initially rejected its Bitcoin spot ETF in June 2022 and was subsequently upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. . Now, Grayscale’s Bitcoin spot ETF is approved.
We dive into what the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF means for GBTC and market demand. We also discuss competition among issuers, fee structures, why regulated Bitcoin exposure matters, and what spot Bitcoin ETFs mean for the cryptocurrency space.
subscription chain reaction exist apple podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and if you like what you hear, leave us a review!
follow the money

Hedera-based web3 music startup Tune.FM raises $20 million in strategic funding
Liquidity solutions startup Eesee raises $2.85 million in seed round
DeFi developer NoahArk Tech Group receives $2.4 million in investment from EOS Network Ventures
OORT raises $10M to focus on its decentralized cloud to protect privacy and save costs
Altitude raises $6.1M in seed round to improve DeFi lending

The list is compiled based on information from Messari and TechCrunch's own reporting.
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