Dencun Upgrade Lifts Ether: On the heels of price momentum from last week, when it hit two all-time highs, Bitcoin (BTC) rocketed beyond $72,000 this morning, achieving yet another price milestone. Amidst hopes for reduced costs following Wednesday’s highly-anticipated Dencun update to the Ethereum network, which will aid in improving transaction processing rates at scale, ether slowly rose beyond $4,000, according to market analysts.
Two commissioners from the SEC have voiced their disapproval of current U.S. regulations governing the cryptocurrency business, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has made it plain that the creation of a dollar-pegged central bank digital currency (CBDC) is not in the cards at this time.
Bitcoin Hits a New All-Time High on the Back of ETFs
The upcoming halving event and the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in the US have recently driven bitcoin’s value to multiple all-time highs. The biggest cryptocurrency by market cap had steep drops after each peak, although it eventually recovered part of its losses. Bitcoin soared beyond $72,000 on Monday, maybe on the back of hopes that the UK regulator will loosen its stance and permit cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) in the nation.
Also Read: Price Analysis Bitcoin, Ether, DOGE, TONNES, Etc
The FCA will not oppose requests by Given Investment Exchanges (RIEs) to create a market segment in the UK for clients financed by crypto assets. According to the London Stock Exchange, these assets will only be available to investors with accreditation, which includes financial institutions and investment businesses with the proper authorization to trade.1
Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF and MicroStrategy are Big Bitcoin Buyers
Since its bitcoin holdings momentarily surpassed MicroStrategy’s (MSTR) last week, Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has emerged as a key player in the bitcoin trading industry. 23 Monday, though, MicroStrategy said that they had added 12,000 bitcoins to their holdings, bringing their total to 205,000.4
The total capitalization of the nine new ETFs is now more than Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), as reported by BitMEX Research. More than $10 billion has been removed from 5 GBTC since it became an ETF. Among the ten spot bitcoin ETFs available today, Grayscale’s offering stands out with much higher costs of 1.5 percent.6
Bitcoin Price Powering Gains For Some Crypto-Related Stocks
The returns on MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment are phenomenal. Approximately $1,650 was the price at which MicroStrategy shares were trading on Monday morning, marking a 16% rise. The stock’s value has risen by more than 600% in the past year, and about 140% since the start of 2024. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy, has said that investors looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin should buy shares in MicroStrategy.
How can one gain the upside of bitcoin while protecting themselves from its downside if they are now inquisitive about the cryptocurrency and wish to purchase it at its all-time high? We have $12-$13 billion of bitcoin on the balance sheet and MicroStrategy sold $800 million in debt, Saylor told CNBC in an interview on Monday. If you’re a bitcoin maximalist and you love bitcoin and you want it to hold forever, the ETFs charge you 25 basis points, MicroStrategy is accreting—we’re giving you a yield against your shares in a tax-efficient fashion.
Another stock that has benefited from the rise of bitcoin is Coinbase (COIN). The cryptocurrency exchange’s stock has increased by almost 15% in the last five days and by approximately 70% so far this year, despite challenges caused by extremely high trading volumes in the previous two weeks.
SEC Commissioners Criticize Agency’s Crypto Stance
Several commissioners on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bench criticized the agency for its handling of Shapeshift, a former platform for trading digital assets. Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, commissioners of the SEC, questioned the lack of clarification over whether tokens constituted securities, even though ShapeShift consented to pay $275,000 for allegedly enabling trades of unidentified digital assets designated securities. Since it is difficult for crypto firms to evaluate if requirements have been met, they argue that innovation suffers from a lack of transparency.
Cases like this discourage innovation and entrepreneurship rather than protecting investors, according to Peirce and Uyeda. But we disagree, with all due respect.9 In their statement, the commissioners stated their shared displeasure with the SEC’s lawsuits against Coinbase and Kraken, among others, for running illicit stock exchanges.
Fed Chair Powell Says No Reason to Worry About CBDC
The possibility of a U.S. CBDC was raised by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his speech before Congress last week. Powell made it clear that the Federal Reserve has no intention of endorsing or implementing a digital currency of any kind.
By stressing that any efforts to create digital currency would function within the current banking system, Powell hoped to allay fears that a CBDC may give the Fed the power to compete with private banks or to spy on individuals’ financial transactions. He made these comments amid ongoing discussions over privacy and the potential effects of digital currencies backed by central banks on the financial system, as well as legislative attempts to stop the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDCs without congressional approval.
What to Expect from Ether Network Upgrade
For the first time since December 2021, the price of Ether (ETH) has surpassed $4,000 ahead of this week’s Deneb-Cancun (or Dencun) network upgrade. Ether has risen over 70% so far this year and is up over 4% on Monday alone. If Fidelity Digital Assets is to be held, the upgrade will drastically cut the prices of several layer-two network protocols built on top of the Ethereum blockchain.
Also Read: Btcnewz.co.uk
