Monthly Archives: May 2024

At the Consensus 2024 conference hosted by CoinDesk, Goldman Sachs said that the new spot Bitcoin ETFs are an astonishing success.

Google leak shows it might be lying about its Search algorithm

Mathew McDermott, the investment banks global head of digital assets, said the SECs approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year marked a big psychological turning point, CoinDesk reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved eight spot Ethereum ETFs, and McDermott is hopeful that more progress will be made. This is a natural progression that ETH will hopefully be approved to be a fully tradable ETF, McDermott said at the conference.

A few years ago, Goldman Sachs was skeptical of crypto, saying it wasnt suitable for investment. Soon, the investment bank said it recognized its potential, saying that not calling it successful would be arrogant.

Along with Goldman Sachs, other financial institutions, such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and others, entered the crypto world and introduced different financial products. Earlier this year, after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the crypto industry became more mainstream than ever. Recently, BlackRocks spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, became the worlds largest Bitcoin fund, amassing nearly $20 billion in total assets.

Financial giants such as BlackRock have started tokenizing assets, and McDermott believes this trend is growing due to its digital lifecycle advantages, CoinDesk reported.

When asked if crypto would ever replace banks, he said financial institutions like Goldman Sachs see crypto and blockchain as a way to improve efficiency and transform the financial world, per the report.

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Bitcoin ETFs are an 'astonishing success,' Goldman Sachs executive says - Quartz

Movement of bitcoin from the known Mt Gox wallet to a new address earlier this week caused a bit of panic as investors wondered what was happening.

Former CEO Mark Karpels assured people that the move was made to prepare for distributions. The estate then put out a statement echoing Karpels. None of this is out of the norm, as the trustee has to prepare for the distributions which have a deadline of Oct. 21.

Obviously, the distributions have the potential to apply a lot of pressure on the market. Its also a hotly discussed topic, with research firms like K33 saying that theres the potential for downside as more creditors receive their distributions.

Now the thing with Mt Gox is that its a lot murkier for a few reasons than some of the US bankruptcies weve talked about.

Read more: Empire Newsletter: Could bitcoin take a hit from Mt Gox creditors?

Its also the oldest crypto bankruptcy of the current bunch at 10 years old. The lack of clarity around the process comes from a few things: the overseas aspect, missing bitcoin, etc.

As mentioned above, K33 said earlier this year that the payout could apply pressure to bitcoin. The movement earlier this week just served as a reminder that the overhang is nearing, K33 analysts wrote on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, people on Reddit said that they began to receive emails from the estate asking them to confirm their account and identity details. The emails also added that distributions would be in-kind, lining up with the timeline established after some creditors were repaid in yen late last year.

In-kind means that a creditor receives bitcoin or bitcoin cash, rather than fiat.

Today, the market indicated that it expects Bitcoin cash to underperform once the Mt. Gox floodgates are opened, as shorts piled into BCH perps shortly after wallets reactivated.

But it might not be all doom and gloom once the distributions are made, depending on who you talk to.

Galaxy Researchs Alex Thorn offered some clarity in a research note late Tuesday, noting that the creditors had options for their payouts and some could opt for earlier payouts that take a bit off the top to make it more timely. Those willing to be patient could opt to wait a bit longer and receive a larger payout at a later date.

Thorn also believes that roughly 65,000 BTC/BCH will be returned to 20,000 individual creditors from late May to June, or even as late as September.

Speaking to funds with large claims, Thorn said theyre likely to distribute their BTC to LPs in-kind, and from speaking with several LPs in these funds, [he] does not believe there will be significant selling from this cohort.

Overall, Thorn says the creditors hes chatted with seem to be longer-term bitcoiners who wouldnt be so willing to hit the sell button once the bitcoin is moved to their wallet.

Although its impossible to quantify, we believe the creditor base is comprised primarily of die-hard bitcoiners. Thousands of these creditors have waited 10 years for payouts and resisted compelling and aggressive claims offers during that time, suggesting they want their coins back, he wrote.

But, were talking about billions of dollars in bitcoin here. The payout is tremendous and even 6,500 of the 65,000 bitcoin being sold could have a market impact.

However, Galaxys report Tuesday notes that the firm believes the market is anticipating much larger sell pressure on BTC than is likely to occur.

Both Thorn and research firms like K33 can agree, however, that the repayments are going to weigh on bitcoin cash.

This massive payout is likely to impact the performance of both coins negatively, K33 wrote Tuesday. We argue that BCH is the single most exposed asset and an attractive pair hedge against Mt. Gox distributions.

Thorn wrote that one of the big reasons BCH could face such an impact is due to the fact that creditors didnt originally buy or own any BCH, given that it was created three years after the bankruptcy.

The selling pressure may not be as intense if his thesis about the original bitcoiners holds, because the cohort typically does have a higher rate of BCH sympathy than the market as a whole. However, that wont abate all of the pressure.

K33 noted that there could be heavy shorting in BCH. Notional open interest in BCH perps has ballooned by 9.1% following the Mt. Gox wallet consolidation today, alongside deeply negative funding rates, analysts wrote.

To echo that, Galaxy thinks that 90% of the distributed BCH would eventually be sold.

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Mt Gox distributions may not be all doom and gloom for bitcoin - Blockworks

Investing.com-- price remained flat on Wednesday, staying squarely within a recent trading range as caution over U.S inflation and interest rates kept traders largely averse towards risk-driven assets such as crypto.

Earlier in the day, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency saw some price relief after media reports suggested that crypto exchange Mt Gox clarified had no immediate plans to sell its massive Bitcoin holdings, although it was preparing a plan to repay creditors.

Bitcoin stood nearly unchanged over the past 24 hours to $67,709.6 by 10:32 ET (14:32 GMT). The token remained squarely within a $60,000 to $70,000 range seen over the past two months.

Bitcoin was spooked by bankrupt crypto exchange Mt Gox moving about $9 billion worth of the token this week, which sparked speculation that the exchange was planning to offload the token in order to repay its creditors and account holders.

But later reports said that the exchange had no plans to immediately offload any tokens, although it was still preparing to repay its obligations.

Former Mt Gox CEO Mark Karpeles said that the Bitcoins being moved were likely the trustees moving the tokens in preparation for an eventual distribution, and that there was no imminent sale happening.

Mt Gox has been a key point of contention for Bitcoin traders, given that the now defunct exchange has a massive pool of tokens it is likely to liquidate to repay creditors. Such a liquidation could present massive immediate selling pressure on the worlds biggest cryptocurrency.

Most major altcoins fell on Wednesday, with world no.2 token Ether down 2.3% at $3,771.55. The token remained close to two-month peaks, retaining a bulk of its recent gains after the Securities and Exchange Commission marked some progress towards the approval of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that directly tracks the token.

Similar spot products also began trading in UK markets.

Other altcoins were also in the red amid persistent concerns over high-for-longer interest rates and sticky inflation.

rose 0.4%, while SOL dropped 1%. Meme tokens performed better, with SHIB jumping 6%, while DOGE added 1.8%.

Focus this week was squarely on data, which is the Federal Reserves preferred inflation gauge. The reading is due on Friday and is likely to factor into the central banks plans for interest rates.

The data comes as a string of Fed officials warned that rates will remain high for longer- a scenario that bodes poorly for crypto.

BlackRocks spot bitcoin ETF is now the largest fund of this kind, surpassing Grayscale's GBTC following a $102 million inflow on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday morning, BlackRock's IBIT holds nearly $20 billion worth of bitcoin, while Grayscale's GBTC holds $19.7 billion after witnessing $105 million in outflows on Tuesday. Since its launch in January, IBIT has attracted $16.5 billion in investments, while investors have withdrawn $17 billion from the Grayscale fund.

On Tuesday, BlackRock incorporated the bitcoin ETF into its income and bond-focused funds. The firms Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX) now holds over $3.5 million worth of IBIT, and its Strategic Global Bond Fund (MAWIX) holds $485,000.

The increased buying activity for IBIT comes amid a bullish trend for bitcoin and the broader crypto market. This momentum has been fueled in part by the listing approval for ether ETFs and renewed support for cryptocurrencies among U.S. political parties.

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Bitcoin price today: flat at $67.7k amid rate fears; MT Gox risk eases By Investing.com - Investing.com

Bitcoin (BTC) will need to see a slowdown in United States inflation when results are released next month before it can consider surpassing its all-time highs reached in March, according to a crypto analyst.

If inflation prints 3.3% or lower, Bitcoin should make a new all-time high, 10x Research head researcher Markus Thielen stated in a May 29 report ahead of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releasing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) results on June 12.

This represents a 0.1 percentage point decrease from the previous CPI result, which came in at 3.4% on May 15. Thielen believes that in these two weeks before the May CPI results are released, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) inflows will remain strong in anticipation.

But, if CPI results turns out to be higher than exp, momentum could weaken, as seen earlier this year.

Over the past two weeks, since May 13, spot Bitcoin ETF inflows tracked by Farside data have been positive day-on-day, with the highest day of total inflows on May 21 at $305.7 million.

Thielen argued that there are no random moves in Bitcoins price; it all comes down to critical drivers, with its main driver being inflation.

There have been several instances throughout this year when Bitcoins price declined following higher-than-expected CPI results.

On April 10, the CPI was printed at 3.5%, just 0.1% higher than expected. Just a few weeks later on April 30, Bitcoins price dropped 6.67% to $56,000.

Related: Bitcoin in 42-day boredom zone traders debate next move

Thielen noted that when spot Bitcoin ETFs launched on Jan. 11, despite $611 million in inflows on the first day, the rest of Januarys inflows were disappointing.

He claimed that the main reason for this was that CPI results printed higher than expected.

The CPI came in at 3.4%, higher than the 3.2% expected number and higher than the 3.1% recorded in the previous month, Thielen wrote.

It is no coincidence that Bitcoin was weak in January and stronger into March but consolidated for two months, he added.

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Bitcoin needs '3.3% or lower' CPI print to reach new ATH - Cointelegraph

Last updated: May 31, 2024 02:03 EDT | 2 min read

Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to attract significant investor interest as they record thirteen consecutive days of net inflows.

On May 30, the total net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $48.706 million, according to data from SoSo Value.

Grayscale ETF GBTC experienced no outflows on that day, while Fidelity ETF FBTC witnessed an inflow of $119 million.

The historical net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs has now surpassed an impressive $13.809 billion, underscoring the sustained growth and popularity of these investment options in the cryptocurrency market.

Earlier this week, BlackRocks iShares Bitcoin Trust took the lead as the worlds largest fund for Bitcoin, accumulating nearly $20 billion in total assets since its listing in the United States earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the exchange-traded fund held $19.68 billion worth of Bitcoin, surpassing Grayscale Bitcoin Trusts $19.65 billion.

Fidelity Investments holds the third-largest spot with an $11.1 billion offering.

The launch of BlackRocks Bitcoin ETF, along with Fidelitys, was part of a group of nine funds that debuted on January 11, coinciding with Grayscales conversion into an ETF.

The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs marked a significant milestone for the crypto industry, making Bitcoin more accessible to investors and sparking a rally that saw the token reach a record high of $73,798 by March.

Since its launch, the iShares Bitcoin Trust has attracted the highest inflow, totaling $16.5 billion, while investors have withdrawn $17.7 billion from the Grayscale fund during the same period.

Bitcoin ETFs have emerged as one of the most successful categories of ETFs, amassing a total of $58.5 billion in assets.

These funds have experienced remarkable growth, fueled by the quadrupling of Bitcoins value since the start of last year.

While Bitcoin ETFs have proven to be lucrative investments, critics raise concerns about the suitability of volatile digital assets for widespread adoption, even within the structure of ETFs.

Some countries, including Singapore and China, have implemented restrictions or outright bans on investor access to cryptocurrencies, highlighting the regulatory challenges faced by these investment vehicles.

Despite the success of Bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard Group, the worlds second-largest asset manager, has firmly stated its lack of plans to offer any crypto-related products, emphasizing the cautious approach taken by some institutions in the face of digital asset market volatility.

The positive momentum for cryptocurrency ETFs extends beyond Bitcoin.

Last week, the SEC also signaled its willingness to allow ETFs for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value.

On May 23, the SEC officially approved 19b-4 applications from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise for issuing spot Ether ETFs.

Notably, several ETF issuers removed staking from their final amendments.

As reported, analysis firm Kaiko has said that Grayscales forthcoming spot Ethereum ETF may face significant outflows, potentially averaging around $110 million per day.

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Bitcoin Spot ETFs See 13 Consecutive Days of Net Inflows, Maintaining Strong Momentum - Cryptonews

Hardware hacker Joe Grand, also known as Kingpin, along with a partner from Germany, successfully cracked into a 10-year-old crypto wallet by utilizing a flaw in the password manager RoboForm, as requested by the wallet's owner. Since losing access to his wallet in 2013, the owner finally has access to his 43.6 Bitcoins, now worth over $3 million.

Joe Grand, or Kingpin not to be confused with EVGA legend Kingpin was first requested to break into this Bitcoin wallet by Michael (last name unknown per Wired) in 2022 after Grand went viral for breaking into another wallet. Grand turned down this first request; Kingpin's skills are in the world of hardware hacking, so his initial break into a hardware wallet was a far cry from Michael's request for help with his software wallet. But the second time the call was issued in 2023, Grand had the help of his friend Bruno, a software hacker, and got to work.

The problem with the wallet arose from Michael's redundant security failing. When creating his cryptocurrency digital wallet, Michael generated a password using RoboForm's password manager and then stored the password in a file encrypted with TrueCrypt rather than RoboForm. The TrueCrypt file corrupted soon after creation, and with no secondary storage for the password, Michael found himself locked out of his 43.6 Bitcoins.

Thankfully for Michael, RoboForm releases pre-2015 have a major flaw: their randomly generated passwords are not actually random. RoboForm used to link its random generation software to the date and time when the password was created, meaning anyone who can reverse engineer the software and determine the date and time a password was generated can recreate a password. Grand and Bruno did precisely this. Following some pains in determining the date and time the password was created, Grand and Bruno gave Michael access to his account in November 2023, when the unlocked Bitcoin wallet was worth $1.6 million (roughly $38,000 per Bitcoin versus the $68,000 current price). Grand and Bruno reserved a percentage of the unlocked Bitcoin wallet for their services before handing over the password.

Kingpin's greatest takeaway from the months-long ordeal is the potential danger behind old passwords made with RoboForm. Any password generated before RoboForm version 7.9.14, released in 2015, is vulnerable to the same exploit and should be replaced immediately. "We know that most people don't change passwords unless they're prompted to do so," said Grand. "I'm still not sure I would trust [RoboForm] without knowing how they actually improved the password generation in more recent versions."

Bitcoin will forever be linked with stories of lost passwords and corrupted wallets though a recent $25 million Ethereum heist cut out the middleman to acquire crypto straight from the tap of mining rigs. If you want to improve your password safety with less risk of losing them forever, check out our list of the best password managers (RoboForm didn't make the cut even before this discovery). However, be careful when typing those passwords in, as recent research reveals that noisy keystrokes can reveal your passwords to nefarious ne'er-do-wells.

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Researchers cracked open $1.6 million Bitcoin wallet after 20-character password was lost well worth the six months ... - Tom's Hardware

Bitcoins ecosystem is changing due to new tech and high fees, demanding scalability solutions. Recent findings from Binance stress the pressing need to tackle Bitcoins scalability challenges.

Bitcoins ecosystem is changing because of new technologies and rising transaction fees. It is getting clearer that Bitcoin has a scalability issue. Innovations in the ecosystem, highlighted in a recent report from Binance, reveal an urgent need to address Bitcoins (BTC) scalability issues.

Ethereum (ETH) is valued at $450 billion, with $45 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its Layer-2 (L2) solutions, representing about 10% of its total value, per the report.

In contrast, Bitcoin, with a market cap of $1.4 trillion, only has $2 billion in L2 TVL, just 0.13% of its total value.

This highlights how Bitcoin needs to catch up in adopting effective Layer 2 solutions, which is crucial for enhancing its scalability. Addressing these scalability issues is urgent to ensure Bitcoins continued growth and usability in the face of increasing transaction volumes.

Projects like Ordinals, Inscriptions, BRC-20 tokens, and Runes show demand for these features. As a result, the average transaction fees for BTC have increased from $1.5 in 2022 to $9.5 in 2024, indicating the networks increased usage and limitations.

According to the report, helping and fixing Bitcoins scalability solutions involves addressing several things, such as trustless two-way bridges, which should ensure seamless and secure asset transfer between layers without intermediaries.

Due to the limited smart contract functionality of Bitcoin, a trustless two-way bridge has not been possible. This means that some form of centralization is typically required to move assets from Bitcoin to the L2 and back, the report stated.

In the world of Bitcoin, a two-way bridge is like a superhighway that lets you move your stuff between the main Bitcoin system and a Layer 2 solution without needing an intermediary.

Determining if a solution necessitates a blockchain fork and balancing interests between users, developers, and newcomers are crucial considerations for improving Bitcoin scalability. This will help maintain coherence with Bitcoins core principles and infrastructure.

This means that the viability of Bitcoin scalability projects, which are relying on a fork, is relatively limited in the short term, the report read.

According to the report, recent developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem, such as Taproot and BitVM, have opened up new possibilities for Bitcoin protocols. These advancements are still in the early stages, but they are laying the groundwork for Bitcoin to improve scalability.

The report highlighted Bitcoin-native projects like the Lightning Network and RGB as leading the way in enhancing peer-to-peer transactions and other solutions, such as sidechains and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Layer-1s that utilize bridged Bitcoin as a staked asset but may involve centralized components.

As Bitcoins transaction fees rise and its mempool becomes more congested, the importance of Bitcoins L2 solutions grows. Projects like the Lightning Network represent a great start but still have user experience and functionality limitations.

The Bitcoin scalability landscape is poised for significant development in the coming months, with various solutions aiming to address its growing scalability challenges.

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Binance: Bitcoin has a scalability issue, but there's hope in solutions - crypto.news

Recently, we asked OpenAIs ChatGPT to suggest the potential value of XRP in a scenario where Bitcoin attains a new peak at $155,000.

This comes amid suggestions from market analysts that the $155K price point could be in the cards for the premier crypto after the recent $71K re-entry. Meanwhile, XRP continues to underwhelm, even threatening to retest the $0.4 price channel in the last 24 hours.

ChatGPT recognized that estimating XRPs price in the event of Bitcoin reaching $155,000 is complex. While noting the absence of a straightforward method to determine XRPs value from Bitcoins price, it pointed out that past trends might offer some clues.

Accordingly, the AI chatbot highlighted the historical correction in the movement of Bitcoin and altcoins like XRP, noting that a significant surge in Bitcoin generates a proportionate upswing for altcoins.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT noted that as Bitcoins price approaches $155,000, its dominance would determine altcoins fate. Specifically, it mentioned that if Bitcoin maintains a high dominance after reaching $155K, altcoins may not witness comparable increases. On the flip side, a decline in Bitcoins dominance could redirect investment into altcoins like XRP.

Backing this view, ChatGPT cited historical records, such as the 2017 cycle, when XRP peaked at $3.84 after Bitcoin settled above $20K. Notably, XRP outperformed Bitcoin by registering an above-750-foldprice gain.

To gauge XRPs outlook for this season, ChatGPT drew on the peak values of Bitcoin and XRP in the 2021 cycle. Given an increase from approximately $69K to $155K at a ratio of 2.25, ChatGPT projected a similar growth ratio for XRP. Applying this ratio suggests that XRPs 2021 high of $1.96 could rise to $4.41.

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However, unlike Bitcoin, which is currently close to its 2021 all-time high, XRP is significantly down from its 2021 peak. In particular, XRP trades at $0.5199 as of today. Applying Bitcoins projected growth ratio of 2.25 suggests that XRPs attainable price point would be $1.16.

Meanwhile, independent analysts have expressed strong disagreement with this outlook. They believe XRP would similarly set a new all-time high should Bitcoin attain $155k. For instance, Crypto Benny, who recently projected the $155K price for Bitcoin, set $5 as XRPs target.

Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basics opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

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Here's What XRP Price Could be if Bitcoin Hits $155,000 - The Crypto Basic