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The SEC has requested updates to the 19-b4 filings for Ethereum ETF candidates, boosting optimism for future approvals. As the deadline for the decision on Ether ETFs approaches, the market is anxious. In response, volatility in the cryptocurrency market increases, with mixed expectations about the outcome.
Lucas Kiely of Yield App advises caution. Jeff Owens of Haven1 suggested that approval could further boost altcoins. Geoffrey Kendrick from Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) predicts a substantial impact on market flows if the ETFs are approved, possibly exceeding the effects on BTC ETFs. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas raised the odds of approval to 75%, citing growing political influence in the process.
Several other analysts and sources indicate that new filings are expected, stirring the cryptocurrency market which reacted positively, with the price of Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) having surged following the announcements. Ethereum saw an impressive increase of nearly 20%, reaching $3,841, while Bitcoin also rose, hitting a peak of $71,980 on Tuesday. These market fluctuations triggered more than $260 million in short position liquidations, the largest amount since February 28. Specifically, short position liquidations in Ether totaled more than $115 million and in Bitcoin exceeded $99 million. Currently, Ethereum is at $3,733 and Bitcoin has retreated 2.6% to $69,612 in the last 24 hours.
Fidelity Investments has withdrawn plans to use Ether staking (COIN:ETHUSD) in its proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF), as revealed in a recent update to the S-1 form to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Previously, the firm had expressed the intention to invest part of the fund’s assets in staking infrastructure. However, the latest update explicitly excludes Ether staking by the custodian.
Tether (COIN:USDTUSD), the stablecoin issuer, recently added $1 billion in USDT tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, in a moment of market optimism with the possible approval of an ETH ETF by the SEC. The action was highlighted by Whale Alert and confirmed by Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who clarified that it was a pre-approval stock replenishment, not yet issued. Experts indicate that this strategic minting aims to prepare liquidity to boost the market if the ETF is approved. The practice of holding “authorized but not issued” tokens is common at Tether, especially during periods of expected demand increase.
Dankrad Feist, a prominent developer at the Ethereum Foundation, announced that he will take a paid position at the Eigen Foundation, a non-profit entity that guides the EigenLayer, a new protocol raising systemic risk concerns. This announcement follows a similar revelation by Justin Drake, another developer from the foundation. Both will receive a significant allocation of the EIGEN token.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD), expressed concerns about the rushed advancement of superintelligent AI and the centralization of power in the sector. Buterin specifically criticized plans to invest $7 trillion in server farms, a reference to funding goals proposed by Sam Altman. He advocates for a decentralized approach to AI development, promoting open models that operate on consumer hardware, which would help prevent the monopolization of AI by a few central entities. Buterin also supports differentiated regulation for AI models, with larger models under greater restrictions.
On May 20, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (COIN:BTCUSD) recorded a significant inflow of $237.2 million. Among the issuers, Ark’s 21Shares ETF (AMEX:ARKB) led with an inflow of $68.3 million, raising its total to $2.6 billion. The ETFs from BlackRock (NASDAQ:IBIT) and Fidelity (AMEX:FBTC) also saw substantial inflows, with $66.4 million and $64.0 million respectively. Despite a total of $17.6 billion in outflows, Grayscale (AMEX:GBTC) still managed to attract $9.3 million that day. In total, the ETFs accumulated 3,519 Bitcoins, eight times more than the daily mining output.
The Web3 gaming project, Gala Games (COIN:GALAUSD), suffered a security breach on May 20, where a hacker manipulated the platform’s smart contract to mint 5 billion GALA tokens, valued at about $214 million. This caused significant disruption and speculation in the cryptocurrency community. On May 21, Gala Games gained an unexpected $23 million in ETH tokens. Eric Schiermeyer, CEO of Gala, announced on Discord that the profit obtained would be used to buy back and burn GALA tokens, aiming to reduce the quantity in circulation.
The individual responsible for the $25 million exploitation of Kronos Research diverted an additional $2.6 million in Ether to the cryptocurrency mixer service Tornado Cash. The transaction, equivalent to 700 Ether, occurred in the attacker’s “0x3” wallet on May 21, as detailed by PeckShield. This move raises the total transferred to 1,000 Ether, valued at over $3.7 million. The wallet still holds just over 60 ETH, valued at more than $223,000.
ZkSync, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network developed by Matter Labs, plans to hold its token generation event (TGE) this week, with an airdrop expected in the next 30 days, according to news site The Block. The token, which will have a total supply of 21 billion, is part of an effort to decentralize control of the protocol. There is ongoing debate about the token’s ticker, as “ZK” was claimed by another network, but ZkSync may still opt to use it. Full decentralization is expected by the end of June.
The AEVO token, from the decentralized crypto derivatives trading platform Aevo, appreciated on Tuesday following an announcement from Binance Labs about an investment in the protocol. Aevo, which is an evolution of Ribbon Finance, operates on an Ethereum Layer 2 network and offers trading in futures, options, and pre-launch tokens.
Phantom, one of the leading wallets in the Solana ecosystem (COIN:SOLUSD), acquired Bitski, a browser extension wallet focused on Web3, the companies announced. The Bitski team will integrate with Phantom to develop embedded wallets for Solana. The growth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has expanded the Web3 ecosystem, bringing usability challenges, especially on mobile devices. David Wu of Phantom highlighted that embedded wallets will facilitate the adoption of decentralized apps, simplifying the registration and use process for users. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
OP3N announced the inauguration of the first Web3 Content Creator House in Portugal, a collaboration with Avalanche (COIN:AVAXUSD) and AvaxDAO. The house, called OP3N House Lisbon, will operate from May 28 to June 2 during NFC Lisbon, and aims to be a meeting point for Web3 influencers and opinion leaders, hosting ten influencers with a total audience of over 580,000 followers. The event will include an opening party and will focus on fostering collaboration and raising the standard of digital Web3 content.
The CEO of Yuga Labs, Greg Solano, declared that the company will withdraw from future projects with the NFTs CryptoPunks, in response to negative reactions to the launch of the Super Punk World collection. The new series of NFTs, presented on May 20, featured 500 3D sculptures by artist Nina Abney. Despite the intention to honor the irreverent spirit of the CryptoPunks, the collection was criticized by the community, leading Solano to state that Yuga Labs will no longer interfere with the CryptoPunks, keeping them decentralized on the blockchain.
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