The past week has been eventful in the cryptocurrency world, with significant developments including a surge in Bitcoin ETF volumes, Binance’s decision to delist Monero, and ARK’s plans to stake Ether. These events have had notable impacts on the market and the broader crypto ecosystem. Here’s a detailed look at the key happenings from February 4 to 10, 2024.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin ETFs saw a significant increase in trading volume, with BlackRock leading the charge.
- Binance announced the delisting of Monero and other tokens, causing a drop in XMR’s value.
- ARK 21Shares proposed staking Ether in its spot ETF to generate additional income.
- FTX and Alameda Research transferred $39 million to exchanges amid restructuring efforts.
- AI-generated fake IDs are being used to bypass KYC checks on crypto exchanges.
Bitcoin ETFs See High Volume
On February 7, the total daily trading volume for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed a billion dollars, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust leading the way. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart described it as a “big volume day” for BlackRock, which saw a daily trading volume of $341.2 million. This volume eclipsed the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s $296.5 million. Fidelity’s FBTC fund came in third with $200 million in volume, and the remaining seven funds had a combined volume of $188 million.
Binance Delists Monero
Binance announced it would delist Monero (XMR) and other tokens like Aragon, Multichain, and Vai on February 20, 2024. This decision led to a significant drop in XMR’s value, hitting a five-month low on February 6. Binance will remove all trading pairs involving Monero, including those trading against Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and Binance’s native coin, BNB. Withdrawals for XMR tokens will be suspended after May 20, 2024. Binance cited factors such as contribution to the crypto ecosystem’s health, ethical conduct, and responsiveness to due diligence requests as reasons for the delisting.
ARK Plans to Stake Ether
ARK 21Shares has amended its spot Ether ETF application to adopt a cash-creation model, similar to its approved spot Bitcoin ETF. The firm also proposed staking a portion of the ETF’s Ether to generate additional income. Under the cash-creation model, ARK 21Shares would purchase Ether equivalent to the order amount and deposit it in the trust’s account with the custodian. The staking rewards would be treated as income for the trust. Additionally, the U.S. SEC delayed a decision on whether to approve an Ether ETF proposed by Invesco and Galaxy Digital.
FTX and Alameda Transfer $39M to Exchanges
Crypto wallets linked to the defunct FTX exchange and its sister company, Alameda Research, have transferred over $38.8 million in digital assets to various crypto exchanges since January 2024. These fund movements occurred amid the fallen exchange’s restructuring efforts and plans to fully repay its customers. On January 31, FTX stated in a U.S. court hearing that its restructuring plans would focus on repaying customers in full, although this objective is not guaranteed.
AI-Generated Fake IDs Bypass KYC Checks
A new service claiming to use artificial intelligence to create fake driver licenses and passports has reportedly succeeded in passing Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on multiple crypto exchanges. These fake documents are available for only $15 and can generate realistic IDs from 26 countries. The site takes payment in multiple cryptocurrencies through Coinbase’s commercial payments service. On February 5, 404 Media reported that it successfully bypassed the KYC verification of crypto exchange OKX using a photo of a British passport generated by the site.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) was at $47,497, Ether (ETH) at $2,491, and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap stood at $1.78 trillion. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the biggest gainers were Dymension (DYM) at 79.19%, Kaspa (KAS) at 31.70%, and BitTorrent (New) (BTT) at 29.38%. The biggest losers were Monero (XMR) at -27.20%, Jupiter (JUP) at -17.89%, and Ronin (RON) at -10.52%.
Memorable Quotations
- “You cannot transform how society moves, manages, tokenizes and stores value if you don’t understand the foundations and history of the problem.” — Monica Long, president of Ripple
- “I would like to see a future where we don’t talk about Web2 versus Web3.” — Khori Whittaker, executive director at ENS
- “A federal regulator should have the ability to decide if a stablecoin issuer should be barred from issuing such an asset.” — Janet Yellen, United States Treasury secretary
- “Investments that self-audit, self-authenticate, prove reserves and are publicly viewable 24 hours a day have never existed until the Bitcoin ETF.” — Darin Feinstein, founder of Core Scientific and Blockcap
- “ETFs are eating the world. They ate every other asset class, and they’re having Bitcoin for dessert.” — Fred Krueger, investor and author
- “Digital dollars are happening around the world, other governments are regulating dollar digital currencies before the United States. So I think there is a very strong desire to act and assert U.S. leadership.” — Maxine Waters, United States representative
Prediction of the Week
Bitcoin shorts should brace to ‘get squeezed’ as BTC price eyes $50K. This week saw Bitcoin’s strongest performance since October, leading to some analysis that Bitcoin shorters would be playing a risky game. Popular trader Jelle noted that Bitcoin is attacking $48,000 again and not much stands in the way of new all-time highs once it breaks. However, Keith Alan, CEO of Material Indicators, observed significant sell-side liquidity below the two-year range highs and $50,000.
FUD of the Week
- Hut 8 CEO steps down: Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 announced a leadership transition, replacing its CEO weeks after “pump-and-dump” allegations against the company were published by J Capital Research.
- Bakkt running low on cash: Crypto company Bakkt warned it may not have enough cash to stay in business over the next 12 months, filing an amendment to its quarterly report with the SEC.
- Ransomware payments hit record $1B in 2023: Criminals made off with a record $1 billion in cryptocurrency ransomware payments in 2023, targeting high-profile institutions and infrastructure.
Top Magazine Pieces of the Week
- Real-life Doge at 18: As SpaceX’s Doge-1 space probe prepares to launch to the moon, Magazine looks back on the colorful history of Dogecoin and the life of its namesake, Kabosu.
- ChatGPT trigger happy with nukes: AI doomsday scenarios, Bittensor surges 90%, SEGA’s 1986 AI, GPT-4 no longer lazy, ChatGPT Apple Vision Pro app, crypto exit strategies, and AIs suck at travel planning.
- Wen Notcoin listing?: Notcoin has already exceeded Axie Infinity’s peak user count by 7X, MetalCore CTO advises gamers to approach release dates with skepticism.
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Sources
- Bitcoin ETFs see high volume, Binance delists Monero, and ARK plans staking Ether: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 4-10 – Cointelegraph Magazine, Cointelegraph.
- Bitcoin ETF race has a new player, Binance ends support for BUSD, and more: Hodler’s Digest: Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 – Cointelegraph Magazine, Cointelegraph.
- Fears over Silvergate, $8B hole at FTX, Binance’s numbers sought, Cointelegraph.
