TLDR: TradFi Heavy Hitters Participate in BlackRock’s ETF, U.S. Government Move 30,175 Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETF’s Reach Record Highs, Ripple Announces USD-pegged Stablecoin, VanEck Suggests Ethereum L2s May Reach $1T Base Valuation by 2030, Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol Turn 3, Grayscale Cuts ATOM in Quarterly Rebalancing, Frax Finance Joins Cosmos with Noble, Solana Network Transaction Turmoil, Galaxy Trading Swoops Up FTX’s $SOL, Clearpool Joins the Avalanche Network, Do Kwon Found Liable by Jury & PayPal Announces PYUSD to USD Zero-fee Transfers.

Premium Content of the Week

Bitcoin Highlights of the Week

TradFi Heavy Hitters Participate in BlackRock’s ETF

BlackRock's announcement of the inclusion of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Citadel, and UBS as participants in their IBIT ETF indicates a significant expansion of TradFi players into crypto. Despite Goldman Sachs stating that their clients showed no interest in these assets, this move suggests otherwise.

U.S. Government Move 30,175 Bitcoin

Allegedly, the U.S. government has moved 30,175 BTC (valued at $2 billion) to Coinbase. This substantial transfer of BTC has sparked interest as it constitutes a noteworthy portion of the coins seized by the U.S. government in late 2022 in relation to the notorious Silk Road case.

Bitcoin ETF’s Reach Record Highs 

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in the U.S. amassed trading volumes reaching $111 billion in March. This marks a threefold increase compared to the volumes seen in January and February of $42 billion, coinciding with the remarkable surge in the value of the largest cryptocurrency to date.

Genesis Acquires Bitcoin Worth $2.1B Post GBTC Sell-off

Bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis sold off around 36 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to acquire more Bitcoin as part of its strategy to settle its debts with creditors. Genesis liquidated approximately 36 million GBTC shares on April 2nd, priced at about $58.50 per share at the time. Since Genesis initially sought approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to sell the 36 million GBTC shares on February 2nd, when the shares were at $38.50, the share price has surged by roughly 50%. The total proceeds from the sale amounted to $2.1 billion, enabling the acquisition of 32,041 Bitcoin on April 2nd at a price of $65,685. Genesis intends to use the Bitcoin to continue its efforts in repaying creditors.

First Australian Spot Bitcoin ETF is Set to Launch

Australian investment firm Monochrome is set to introduce its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the worldwide listing exchange Cboe Australia. Monochrome submitted an application for their spot Bitcoin ETF in July 2023. If approved, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF will be Australia's inaugural spot Bitcoin ETF, allowing direct holdings of Bitcoin. While Australian regulators have already sanctioned two exchange-traded products (ETPs) offering exposure to spot crypto assets on Cboe Australia, these ETPs do not directly possess Bitcoin. Instead, they invest in financial instruments providing exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs. Monochrome expects to launch their sport Bitcoin ETF by mid 2024.

Ethereum Highlights of the Week

Ethena Making Waves in Ethereum DeFi

After an airdrop of approximately $1.4 billion this week and significant adoption leading to a feud among some of crypto's major DeFi protocols, Ethena remains focused on the future. The launch of Ethena's second season, the Sats Campaign, began officially on Thursday this week, introducing Bitcoin as collateral in the protocol. This addition significantly broadens Ethena's total potential market.

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