Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos and More Week 40 2024

Keeping you updated on crypto, web3 and blockchain

October 08, 2024

TL;DR

  • HBO Documentary Proposes Bitcoin Creator's Identity

  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs Face Largest Outflows Since September

  • Vitalik Proposes Ethereum Alignment Metrics

  • Fidelity Ethereum ETF Sees Record Outflows

  • Levana Partners with THORChain and Kujira

  • LAVA Expands to PancakeSwap and Osmosis

  • SEC Wins Case Against Rivetz's $18M ICO

  • PayPal Completes First PYUSD Business Transaction

and much more!

Market & Airdrop Update

Before we dive in, make sure to check out our recent Market and Airdrop update:

Market Update - Week 40 2024

The premium weekly crypto market update to grow your portfolio

www.cryptobeat.co/p/market-update-week-40-2024

Airdrop Update Week 40 2024

The premium weekly crypto airdrop update to grow your portfolio

www.cryptobeat.co/p/airdrop-update-week-40-2024

Grab Your 7 Day Free Trial

You're invited to upgrade your subscription to our Premium membership with a 7 day FREE trial!

No catches. No strings attached. Just pure crypto alpha to get you ahead!
Upgrade now for:

Ad-Free Experience 🚫👀
Weekly News Summary 📰🔥
Weekly Market Summary 💸📈
Weekly Airdrop Summary 🎁💎

All for just $15/month after the trial.
Don't miss out! Get your FREE trial today 👇

Bitcoin Highlights of the Week

HBO’s upcoming documentary "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery," set to release on October 9, claims to reveal the identity of Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Directed by Cullen Hoback, the film suggests that Len Sassaman, a prominent cypherpunk who passed away in 2011, could be Nakamoto, as noted by Galaxy Digital’s Head of Research.

While this new theory is expected to reignite debate within the crypto community, the documentary’s conclusion is unlikely to settle the matter. Given the many individuals who have been speculated to be Nakamoto over the years, the true identity may remain unsolved.

Japan’s Metaplanet Inc. earned 23.972 BTC ($1.46 million) by selling bitcoin put options, increasing its total holdings to 530.717 BTC. The firm sold 223 put options with a $62,000 strike price, set to mature on December 27, 2024. If bitcoin's price drops below the strike price, Metaplanet will buy more bitcoin, further boosting its reserves.

CEO Simon Gerovich highlighted the strategy as a way to capitalize on bitcoin’s volatility, generating additional returns while maintaining significant pure bitcoin holdings. The company has been on a bitcoin buying spree, securing additional holdings to strengthen its financial position.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $242.53 million in net outflows on Tuesday, the largest since early September, ending an eight-day streak of positive inflows. Fidelity’s FBTC led the outflows with $144.67 million, followed by Ark and 21Shares' ARKB at $84.35 million, and Bitwise’s BITB at $32.7 million. BlackRock's IBIT was the only ETF to record positive inflows, with $40.84 million. Total trading volume for spot bitcoin ETFs reached $2.53 billion.

Spot Ether ETFs also experienced significant outflows, totaling $48.52 million. The Grayscale Ethereum Trust led with $26.64 million in outflows, while Fidelity’s FETH saw its largest-ever daily outflows at $24.97 million.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated 312,488 BTC since their approval nine months ago, vastly outpacing the 169,942 BTC created by miners. These ETFs, including BlackRock's, have seen consistent inflows, with institutions, pension funds, and wealthy investors pouring in. Despite this, smaller Bitcoin holders are selling their BTC to these ETFs, missing out on long-term wealth-building potential.

Many of these coins are being locked in ETFs, where investors only redeem for US dollars, losing the key benefits of Bitcoin’s decentralized nature. Holding BTC long-term remains one of the best strategies for building wealth in a sovereign way.

Ohio State Senator Niraj Antani has introduced a bill to mandate the acceptance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for state and local tax payments. This legislation aims to normalize cryptocurrency usage within Ohio’s financial framework, positioning the state among the few to adopt such measures.

Antani emphasized that cryptocurrency represents the present and future of the economy, drawing on Ohio’s past attempt in 2018 to allow Bitcoin tax payments, which failed due to regulatory hurdles. The new bill seeks to enable state universities and pension funds to invest in cryptocurrencies, marking a significant step toward broader crypto engagement in Ohio.

Ethereum Highlights of the Week

Vitalik Buterin has introduced a set of metrics aimed at measuring the alignment of Ethereum-based projects with the core values of the Ethereum ecosystem. In his recent blog post, he emphasized the need for collective efforts to create a unified ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated projects.

Proposed criteria for evaluation include open-source accessibility, interoperability with ERC standards, and project resilience in the absence of core teams. Buterin stressed that maintaining Ethereum's credible neutrality is essential and that alignment should be assessed by a project's positive contributions to the community and society, including financial inclusion efforts.

The EIGEN token from EigenLayer commenced trading recently, achieving a fully diluted market valuation of $7 billion. Following its initial "stakedrop" launch in April, EIGEN briefly reached a high of $4.44 before settling around $4.20. The token distribution included two stakedrops, resulting in an estimated circulating supply of 200 million tokens.

This launch is viewed as a significant milestone for the restaking ecosystem, with plans for Programmatic Incentives aimed at rewarding stakers and those supporting Autonomous Validation Services (AVSs). Additionally, features like Intersubjective Slashing are set to enhance the overall security of the protocol.

Grayscale Investments has introduced the Grayscale Aave Trust, enabling qualified investors to gain exposure to AAVE, the governance token of the Aave decentralized finance platform. This fund adds to Grayscale's existing suite of single-asset crypto investment products and follows the launch of trusts for other protocols.

Aave, which facilitates transparent borrowing and lending through smart contracts, has seen significant growth, boasting nearly $12 billion in total value locked (TVL) and a 110% price increase over the past year. The recent tokenomics upgrade, approved by Aave tokenholders, channels a portion of protocol revenues to AAVE stakers, enhancing the token’s attractiveness.

On October 1, the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) experienced unprecedented outflows, exceeding $25 million, marking the highest daily withdrawal for U.S.-based spot Ether ETFs, excluding Grayscale. Total outflows across nine Ether ETFs reached $48.6 million, with FETH, Grayscale's Ethereum Trust (ETHE), and Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) contributing significantly.

Meanwhile, only 21Shares’ Core Ethereum ETF (CETH) and VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) recorded positive inflows. Despite the outflows, FETH maintains a solid total investment of $453.5 million, trailing only BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which surpassed $1.14 billion.

On October 1, asset manager Hashdex submitted an amended registration for its proposed Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, signaling progress towards a potential listing in the U.S. The filing comes after the SEC requested additional time to decide on the fund’s trading authorization in August.

Initially, the ETF will consist of Bitcoin and Ether, the only assets currently included in the Nasdaq Crypto US Index, but may later expand to include more cryptocurrencies. Industry experts view crypto index ETFs as the next significant focus for issuers, following recent launches of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, with total U.S. ETF assets recently surpassing $10 trillion.

Cosmos Highlights of the Week

Levana has partnered with THORChain and Team Kujira to develop Ruji Perps, a unique DeFi perpetual swap platform on Rujira. The collaboration will benefit $RUJI and $RUNE stakers through a model where all platform fees are distributed to them.

With THORChain’s ability to support native liquidity for assets like BTC, ETH, and SOL, Ruji Perps aims to capture a significant portion of the $5.97 billion DeFi perpetuals market. Levana also announced a swap for $LVN holders to convert to $RUJI, with 5% of the total supply reserved for the swap process.

Lava Network, an infrastructure protocol connecting users to over 30 blockchains, now has its LAVA token available on PancakeSwap (Base and BNB chain) and Osmosis. With over 2.5 million users, Lava previously offered its token on Uniswap Arbitrum but has expanded to ensure users from multiple ecosystems can access the network.

LAVA tokens, which operate on both Cosmos and ERC-20 standards, are crucial for interacting with blockchain applications, staking, and boosting providers for faster, more reliable performance. Users are urged to verify they are using the correct LAVA contract addresses to avoid scams.

Persistence One has integrated B² Network, a leading Bitcoin Layer-2 solution, into its BTC interoperability platform. This integration enhances cross-chain BTC swaps without relying on centralized exchanges, supporting BTC variants like Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC) and Binance Bitcoin (BTCB).

B² Network, known for its EVM-compatible BTCfi platform and zero-knowledge proof rollup, boosts scalability and programmability in the BTC ecosystem. The collaboration will improve user experience, liquidity, and adoption by enabling seamless asset transfers across BTC Layer-2 networks, accelerating growth and reducing the fragmented nature of the BTCfi landscape.

The Cosmos Hub has successfully upgraded to Gaia v20, introducing features that lower barriers for new Consumer Chains and validators. The upgrade includes Permissionless Interchain Security (ICS), allowing chains to launch without governance approval, simplifying the onboarding process.

Additionally, inactive validators can now secure Consumer Chains, broadening participation beyond the Hub's active set. The removal of unbonding pauses enhances efficiency by eliminating dependencies between the Hub and Consumer Chains. With these changes, Gaia v20 streamlines chain launches, boosts validator diversity, and accelerates the growth of the Cosmos interchain ecosystem.

Namada's Pre-Genesis Stage 2 has commenced, allowing eligible $NAM holders to stake their tokens for two weeks prior to the mainnet launch. A minimum 5% fee applies, and users are urged to select their validators carefully due to the introduction of cubic slashing.

Current validator rankings reveal @mandragora_spem leading with nearly 100% uptime, followed closely by @CosmicValidator, which is developing a comprehensive mainnet dashboard. Resources are available for staking through Kintsugi's tool, and tutorials are provided for users to navigate the staking process effectively.

Other Highlights of the Week

The SEC has won a case against Rivetz, a mobile crypto wallet provider, for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017, raising $18 million. The SEC accused Rivetz of violating securities laws, with CEO Steven Sprague personally promoting the ICO without filing the required registration.

By October 22, the SEC and Sprague will work on a proposed judgment for both injunctive and monetary relief. This case highlights the SEC's continued scrutiny of ICO-era projects, underscoring that past violations still face regulatory action years later.

PayPal successfully completed its first business transaction using its PYUSD stablecoin by paying an invoice to Ernst & Young, showcasing the utility of digital currencies in business-to-business payments. This transaction highlights the potential benefits of stablecoins, including near-instant transfers and real-time settlement, as stated by PayPal's Director of Market Development, Steve Everett.

While PYUSD's market cap has decreased from over $1 billion to $716 million, PayPal remains focused on growing its digital assets division. Recent initiatives include enabling U.S. businesses to buy, sell, hold, and transfer crypto, signaling the company's commitment to expanding PYUSD’s utilization.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an appeal against a prior judgment regarding Ripple, arguing that it contradicts established Supreme Court precedents and securities laws. An SEC spokesperson stated that the agency looks forward to presenting its case to the Second Circuit.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse criticized the appeal, asserting that the ruling affirming XRP’s status as a non-security is already the law. On August 7, a judge ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million civil penalty, significantly lower than the SEC's initial $2 billion request, while recognizing that XRP's programmatic sales did not violate securities laws.

Thanks for reading our newsletter!
Upgrade to get premium content below 👇