This Week in ?? Crypto & Macro

Hey, it's Marc. ??

Let's jump in:

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Ethereum ETFs are officially trading

• The SEC has green lit several spot Ethereum ETFs, which began trading on US Exchanges starting July 23, 2024.
• Grayscale launched the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH), which will have one of the lowest fees of all spot ETH ETFs in the U.S. market at 0.15%.

Why it matters: People can now buy Ethereum through traditional brokerage accounts. The approval of Ethereum ETFs signals a maturing regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies. It could classify ETH as a commodity, NOT a security.

Zooming in: Nine ETFs got listed on Cboe, NYSE Arca, and Nasdaq exchanges by Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, VanEck, Bitwise, 21Shares, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, and Galaxy Digital.

By the numbers:

• U.S. spot ether ETFs debuted with $1.07B in trades, led by Grayscale's Ethereum Trust at $450M, but fell short of the $4.6B seen in bitcoin ETFs in January.
• It saw $113.3M in net outflows on day two, with $811M outflows from Grayscale's Ethereum Trust (ETHE) over two days, shedding just over 9% of its holding.

What they’re saying:

Ether ETFs could drive ether prices to a record above $5,000. The new ETFs will garner up to $15B in new assets over 18 months.

–?Matt Hougan, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer

Ether is an extremely volatile asset, and the Ethereum network itself has features that make it vulnerable to fraud and manipulation. By approving the applications to list and trade spot ether ETPs, the SEC failed to live up to its mission to protect investors and the markets.

– Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy, Better Markets

Prediction Markets: Ethereum price is a hot topic on Polymarket post ETF approval.

Poll

Will ETH hit an all-time high in 2024?

?? See the votes

Devil’s Advocate: Ethereum is not just a store of value like Bitcoin; it's the foundation for the vast decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. Large-scale accumulation of ETH by ETF providers could potentially impact DeFi liquidity and functionality, and raise concerns about centralization and control over the network.

Punchline: It has only been just two days since launch. The the value accrual of ETFs is typically assessed over months or even years.

More Crypto Highlights:

• President Joe Biden's decision not to seek re-election has led to a record $28M daily volume on Polymarket, as bets on the U.S. presidential race exceed $300M. Link
• Mt Gox has transferred 42,587 BTC, worth $2.82B, to a new address as part of its repayment plan to creditors. The move also included 2,238 BTC sent to Bitstamp, likely signaling upcoming bitcoin distributions. Link
• Ferrari will expand its cryptocurrency payment system to Europe by the end of July, following its successful U.S. launch. The scheme will also roll out to other international dealers where crypto payments are legal by the end of 2024. Link

??Don't miss the full Web3 notes, covering Web3 consumer, AI & more.

That’s all for now, folks.

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Thank you for being part of the journey. Talk soon,

– Marc

CEO, FiftyOne Ventures

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