They say journalists never truly clock out. But for Christian, that’s not just a metaphor, it’s a lifestyle. By day, he navigates the ever-shifting tides of the cryptocurrency market, wielding words like a seasoned editor and crafting articles that decipher the jargon for the masses. When the PC goes on hibernate mode, however, his pursuits take a more mechanical (and sometimes philosophical) turn.
Christian’s journey with the written word began long before the age of Bitcoin. In the hallowed halls of academia, he honed his craft as a feature writer for his college paper. This early love for storytelling paved the way for a successful stint as an editor at a data engineering firm, where his first-month essay win funded a months-long supply of doggie and kitty treats – a testament to his dedication to his furry companions (more on that later).
Christian then roamed the world of journalism, working at newspapers in Canada and even South Korea. He finally settled down at a local news giant in his hometown in the Philippines for a decade, becoming a total news junkie. But then, something new caught his eye: cryptocurrency. It was like a treasure hunt mixed with storytelling – right up his alley!
So, he landed a killer gig at NewsBTC, where he’s one of the go-to guys for all things crypto. He breaks down this confusing stuff into bite-sized pieces, making it easy for anyone to understand (he salutes his management team for teaching him this skill).
Think Christian’s all work and no play? Not a chance! When he’s not at his computer, you’ll find him indulging his passion for motorbikes. A true gearhead, Christian loves tinkering with his bike and savoring the joy of the open road on his 320-cc Yamaha R3. Once a speed demon who hit 120mph (a feat he vowed never to repeat), he now prefers leisurely rides along the coast, enjoying the wind in his thinning hair.
Speaking of chill, Christian’s got a crew of furry friends waiting for him at home. Two cats and a dog. He swears cats are way smarter than dogs (sorry, Grizzly), but he adores them all anyway. Apparently, watching his pets just chillin’ helps him analyze and write meticulously formatted articles even better.
Here’s the thing about this guy: He works a lot, but he keeps himself fueled by enough coffee to make it through the day – and some seriously delicious (Filipino) food. He says a delectable meal is the secret ingredient to a killer article. And after a long day of crypto crusading, he unwinds with some rum (mixed with milk) while watching slapstick movies.
Looking ahead, Christian sees a bright future with NewsBTC. He says he sees himself privileged to be part of an awesome organization, sharing his expertise and passion with a community he values, and fellow editors – and bosses – he deeply respects.
So, the next time you tread into the world of cryptocurrency, remember the man behind the words – the crypto crusader, the grease monkey, and the feline philosopher, all rolled into one.
Wall Street titan and Asset manager Franklin Templeton has applied for an Ethereum Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) after a struggle to gain approval for their Bitcoin Spot ETF in early January.
Asset Manager Files For Spot Ethereum ETF
Asset managers have gravitated toward the Ethereum spot ETF since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Spot Bitcoin ETF. Franklin Templeton is the latest manager to apply with the SEC to get approval for this financial product.
The asset manager’s move came after successfully introducing the BTC spot ETFs. This is a notable step toward making more crypto investment products accessible to institutional and individual investors.
James Seyffart, a senior analyst from Bloomberg Intelligence, also shared the update with the crypto community on X (formerly Twitter). Seyffart’s X post included a screenshot of the asset manager’s filing and data regarding other applicants.
According to the post, Franklin Templeton is the eighth company in the cryptocurrency market to file for product approval. Previous asset managers to file applications for Ethereum ETFs include Hashdex, BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark and 21Shares, Grayscale, VanEck, Invesco, and Galaxy.
Per the official filing, a Delaware statutory trust is how the Franklin Ethereum Trust is set up. The ETF aims to give investors access to ETH in a regulated manner by allowing them to store it directly through a custodian.
It states in the company’s S-1 filing that the proposed “Franklin Ethereum Trust” will hold ETH and “may, from time to time, stake a portion of the fund’s assets through one of the more trusted staking providers.”
Staking is the act of locking up digital currency to maintain the operations of a blockchain network. They plan to stake some of the ETF’s ETH holdings to supplement its income through staking rewards.
The Price Of ETH Rallies Amidst The Update
Franklin Templeton’s spot Ethereum ETF application was made in light of the price of ETH experiencing an uptick. However, no solid proof exists that the latest development impacted the price of crypto assets.
Ethereum was trading at $2,661 as of press time, indicating an increase of over 7% in the past 24 hours. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that its market capitalization is also on the upside, marking an increase of over 7%.
Meanwhile, its trading volume has increased significantly by over 172% in the past day. Due to the rise, ETH now ranks third in the entire crypto market by trading volume.
ETH trading at $2,679 on the 1D chart | Source: ETHUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Bitcoin ETF applicant VanEck has pledged to donate 5% of its fund’s profits to Bitcoin Core developers, pending approval to launch by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The commitment could serve as a major lifeline for developers of the first crypto network, who are known to suffer a dearth of funding or financial incentive for their work.
VanEck’s Bitcoin Promise
VanEck has been an active ETF and mutual fund manager since 1955, holding $76.4 billion in assets under management as of September 2023.
“We’re not Bitcoin tourists at VanEck. We’re in it for the long haul,” wrote VanEck to X on Friday, adding that its pledge has already included a $10,000 donation to developers.
“Your tireless dedication to decentralization and innovation is the cornerstone of the Bitcoin ecosystem, and we’re here to support it.” the firm added.
VanEck’s donations will move through Brink, a non-profit that bridges donor money to Bitcoin code testers and maintainers.
Brink’s fellowship and grant partners include major crypto exchanges like BitMEX, Kraken, and Coinbase. The largest pledge to date is from #startsmall – a philanthropic initiative launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey – which is currently disbursing $5 million to devs over a five year period.
Unlike other networks, Bitcoin has no natural source of funding or protocol maintenance since its growth was never funded by an initial coin offering (ICO) or dedicated foundation.
Over the past several years, multiple maintainers – those who review proposals to change Bitcoin’s code, called “commits” – have stepped down from their positions. They’ve also suffered legal pressure from the likes of Craig Wright, who claims to be Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Doing The Math On VanEck’s Pledge
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart has predicted that Bitcoin ETFs will collectively absorb $10 billion worth of inflows within their first year of approval, which is expected within days.
Assuming VanEck were to absorb 10% of market share against its flurry of competitors, that would mean its fund takes in $1 billion worth of BTC within a year.
The fund hasn’t revealed its sponsor fee yet, but if it charged a 0.8% fee like what rivals Ark/21Shares and Valkyrie are aiming for, that would create $8 million in profit for the fund per year after year one.
At a 5% donation rate, that means Bitcoin developers could enjoy $400,000 worth of donations for ten years. This doesn’t factor in growth in value of the fund’s BTC over the course of many years, which some analysts believe could reach $200,000 per coin by 2025.
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Binance founder CZ must stay in US until sentencing, judge orders
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been ordered to stay in the United States until his sentencing in February, with a federal judge determining there’s too much of a flight risk if the former crypto exchange CEO is allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates. On Dec. 7, Seattle District Court Judge Richard Jones ordered Zhao to stay in the U.S. until his Feb. 23, 2024 sentencing date. He faces up to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering on Nov. 21 and has agreed not to appeal any potential sentence up to that length.
House committee passes bill to ‘preserve US leadership’ in blockchain
A United States Congress committee has unanimously passed a pro-blockchain bill, which would task the U.S. commerce secretary with promoting blockchain deployment and thus potentially increase the country’s use of blockchain technology. The act covers an array of actions the commerce secretary must take if passed, including making best practices, policies and recommendations for the public and private sector when using blockchain tech. The bill will now go to the House for a vote. If passed, it must also pass in the Senate before returning for final congressional and presidential approval.
SEC pushes deadline to decide on Grayscale spot Ether ETF
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on whether to approve or reject a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering from asset manager Grayscale. In a notice, the SEC said it would designate a longer period for considering a proposed rule change that would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. Grayscale first filed with the SEC to convert shares of its Grayscale Ethereum Trust into a spot Ether ETF in October, adding its name to the list of companies awaiting a decision from the regulator.
Elon Musk’s xAI files with SEC for private sale of $1B in unregistered securities
Elon Musk’s X-linked artificial intelligence modeler, xAI, has an agreement for the private sale of $865.3 million in unregistered equity securities, according to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission made on Dec. 5. The company is seeking to raise $1 billion. XAI’s product, a chatbot called Grok, has recently rolled out to X’s Premium+ subscribers. Musk announced the launch of xAI in July and claimed its goal was to “understand the universe.”
Bitcoin new high set for late 2024, Binance to lose top spot — VanEck
Bitcoin will hit a new all-time high in late 2024 because of a long-feared United States recession and regulatory shifts after the next U.S. presidential election, asset manager VanEck predicts. The firm is confident that the first spot Bitcoin ETFs will be approved in the first quarter of 2024. However, it also made a gloomy prediction for the general U.S. economy. VanEck is among several firms, including BlackRock and Fidelity, that are vying for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF. VanEck also believes that the BTC halving, due in April or May, “will see minimal market disruption,” but there will be a post-halving price rise.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $44,402, Ether (ETH) at $2,364 and XRP at $0.66. The total market cap is at $1.65 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Bonk (BONK) at 203.10%, ORDI (ORDI) at 134.34% and BitTorrent (BTT) at 114.32%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Maker (MKR) at -6.48%, UNUS SED LEO (LEO) at -6.22% and Kaspa (KAS) at 4.98%.
“It takes a community and the whole industry to figure out how to better educate people. That’s the hard part. It’s not a technology issue; it’s an operational problem.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 7, entrepreneur Alistair Milne noted that should current performance continue, Bitcoin will witness a crossover of two weekly moving averages (MAs), which have never delivered such a bull signal before.
The 50-week and 200-week MAs are key trendlines for Bitcoin traders and analysts alike. The latter is the ultimate bear market support level, and it has so far never decreased in value.
BTC price strength is on the way to taking the 50-week MA trendline above the 200-week counterpart. Known as a “golden cross,” on lower timeframes, this is considered a classic bullish signal, and for Milne, the impetus is that considerable upside could be in store should the phenomenon play out.
“The 50-week moving average will now soon cross back above the 200-week MA making a ‘golden cross’ for the 1st time. QED: Early bull market,” he wrote.
FUD of the Week
Crypto is for criminals? JPMorgan has been fined $39B and has its own token
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is being criticized by the crypto community after claiming Bitcoin and cryptocurrency’s “only true use case” is to facilitate crime. However, according to Good Jobs First’s violation tracker, JPMorgan is the second-largest penalized bank, having paid $39.3 billion in fines across 272 violations since 2000. About $38 billion of these fines came under Dimon’s watch, who has been CEO since 2005.
British regulator adds Justin Sun-linked Poloniex to warning list after $100M hack
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has added crypto exchange Poloniex to its warning list of non-authorized companies. The Seychelles-based exchange is one of the three companies owned by or affiliated with entrepreneur Justin Sun that have suffered four hacks in the last two months. The warning to Poloniex was published on the FCA’s website on Dec. 6. It doesn’t offer a reason but says that “firms and individuals cannot promote financial services in the UK without the necessary authorization or approval.”
US senators target crypto in bill enforcing sanctions on terrorist groups
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States Senate introduced legislation aimed at countering cryptocurrency’s role in financing terrorism, explicitly citing the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. The bill would expand U.S. sanctions to include parties funding terrorist organizations with cryptocurrency or fiat. According to Senator Mitt Romney, the legislation would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to go after “emerging threats involving digital assets.”
Lawmakers’ fear and doubt drives proposed crypto regulations in US
If the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act were to become law, many cryptocurrency providers would have to learn how to comply with the same regulations as traditional financial institutions.
Expect ‘records broken’ by Bitcoin ETF: Brett Harrison (ex-FTX US), X Hall of Flame
Investment management firm VanEck has unveiled its 2024 predictions, forecasting not only record-breaking highs for Bitcoin but also an anticipated peak in the NFT market, signaling a significant transformation in the industry.
The introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs is expected to align with the prolonged anticipation of a U.S. recession, while the forthcoming halving event may not generate as much impact as previously anticipated.
New Peak for Bitcoin But No Flippening for Ethereum in 2024
Bitcoin may hit an all-time high in Q4 of 2024, according to VanEck’s prediction. With increased optimism for the dismantling of the SEC’s adversarial regulatory stance, Bitcoin could reach a new high on November 9th, exactly three years from its last peak in November 2021.
Ether is not expected to surpass Bitcoin in performance until post-halving and may outperform for the year, a complete, however, “flippening” is not anticipated. Despite posting a strong performance in 2024, Ether is projected to experience a decrease in market share as other smart contract platforms, like Solana, gain traction due to a clearer and less uncertain scalability roadmap.
Meanwhile, the introduction of the first-ever spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could potentially coincide with the US recession.
VanEck also said the 4th Bitcoin halving slated for April 2024 will occur with minimal drama. As the issuance of new coins is halved, unprofitable miners are likely to disengage, allowing those with cost-efficient power sources to gain a larger market share.
Despite this, the public markets are expected to experience minimal distress owing to the improved financial positions of listed miners, currently controlling approximately 25% of the global hash rate. Post-halving, it is expected that at least one publicly traded miner will experience a tenfold increase by the end of the year.
Turning Points for Binance and DEXes
Following Binance’s $4 billion settlement with US regulators, it is anticipated to relinquish its position as the top centralized exchange by volumes. Competitors such as OKX, Bybit, Coinbase, and Bitget, backed by substantial funding, are poised to contend for the leading spot.
As Binance undergoes a rigorous three-year DOJ examination, VanEck predicted that Coinbase’s international futures market would thrive, surpassing a daily volume of $1 billion, a significant increase from approximately $200 million per day in November 2023.
The market share of spot cryptocurrency trading on Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) is expected to reach unprecedented levels, driven by the enhanced on-chain trading experience facilitated by high-throughput chains like Solana.
Simultaneously, the adoption of significantly improved wallets, which integrate “account abstraction” as a crucial feature enabling automated payments, will contribute to more users engaging in on-chain transactions and embracing self-custody solutions.
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SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain, has been one of the biggest winners in the crypto market lately, delivering another positive price performance over the past week. This impressive price action reflects the increased interest in the altcoin and the recent shift in the climate of the general crypto market.
VanEck Predicts Potential 10,000% Rally For Solana
In a report published on Friday, October 27, prominent asset management company VanEck created different valuation scenarios for the SOL token. This price projection revolved around the current capability and potential of the Solana blockchain.
In a base case, VanEck believes that Solana can hold a 30% share in the smart contract market, a significant increase from the network’s current market share. Using this valuation framework, the asset manager projects SOL price to reach $335 by 2030.
Comparatively, Ethereum can achieve a 70% market share of value transmitted across open-source blockchains, according to the report. This projection makes $11,800 a possible destination for ETH’s price by 2030.
Nevertheless, VanEck presented a bull case for SOL in its analysis, putting forward a $3,211 price target for the altcoin in the best possible scenario. The asset management firm said:
Were Solana to avoid Ethereum’s event horizon and achieve Ethereum-like dominance, our bull case reveals $51.8B in revenues and a $3,211 price target in 2030.
It would take the Solana token a massive 10,000% price rally to reach $3,211 from the current price point. Now, it is worth mentioning that there was also a pessimistic scenario for SOL in the VanEck report, with the token projected to trade below $10 in a bearish case.
As earlier inferred, Solana has been on an upward trajectory over the past few weeks. Since initial concerns of a significant sell-off by FTX have subsided and the general market sentiment has improved, the altcoin’s price performance has been positive.
As of this writing, the SOL token is valued at $32.19, reflecting a 2% in the last 24 hours. However, the cryptocurrency has maintained most of its recent profits on the weekly timeframe, with a 14% price jump in the past seven days.
Solana price continues ascent on the daily timeframe | Source: SOLUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Dreamstime/Aivaras Sakurovas, chart from TradingView
