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Bitcoin ETFs continue to bleed as Galaxy CEO warns bitcoin treasuries “have peaked”

Bearish sentiment on bitcoin appears to be rising, with options traders betting on a move below $100,000.

Bitcoin ETFs had their fourth day of outflows, with $196 million leaving the funds. Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust saw $99.1 million and $77.4 million in outflows, respectively, SoSoValue data shows.

Bitcoin is struggling to regain momentum, trading around $113,000 this morning.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital’s CEO Mike Novogratz warned in an earnings call yesterday that “we’ve probably gone through peak treasury company issuance of new companies.” He added, “What will be most interesting is which of the existing companies become monsters, right?”

Options traders are feeling bearish on bitcoin and hedging against a pullback. “For the August 29 expiry, put open interest is almost 5x that of calls. Nearly half of this is concentrated at the $95K strike, with another 25% split between $80K and $100K strikes. The positioning signals traders are heavily betting on a painful move back below $100K,” according to Derive.xyz.

But some companies are still feeling bullish and are making an effort to become the bitcoin monster Novogratz predicted:

  • BitBridge Capital Strategies entered the bitcoin pivot arena, announcing it had completed a merger with Green Mountain Merger to become a bitcoin treasury company, and will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “BTTL.” BitBridge will also launch Bitcoin Respect Loan, “a disruptive new lending product designed to reshape the way the financial system treats bitcoin collateral.”

  • CleanSpark produced 671 bitcoin in July, and now holds 12,703 bitcoin. This is a decrease from June, when it produced 685 bitcoin.

  • UK-based Satsuma Technologies announced it raised $217.6 million and added 1,097.29 bitcoin, to bring its total to 1,126.

  • Swedish public company H100 acquired 60.6 bitcoin, now holding 763.2, which makes it “the largest publicly listed bitcoin treasury in the Nordic region.” 

  • UK-based Vaultz Capital acquired 47.85 bitcoin to bring it up to a 117.85 stash.

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Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

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SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

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