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Solana soars on CME futures announcement

Derivative marketplace CME Group, which already offers futures on bitcoin and ethereum, said that it will add Solana to its roster, spiking the cryptocurrency up 4% immediately after the announcement at 9 a.m. ET to $145.

Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME Group, said in the press release that the move is in response “to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products to manage cryptocurrency price risk.”

“The launch of SOL futures is a significant milestone in the ongoing maturation of the cryptocurrency market,” Teddy Fusaro, president of Bitwise Asset Management Inc., said in the press release.

Solana, which is also the blockchain underpinning many meme coins like $TRUMP and dogwifhat, also is likely benefiting from the SEC’s new guidance released yesterday that meme coins are not securities as they do not pass the Howey test. The long-awaited guidance clarifies the regulatory environment for traders, who will “not need to register their transactions” in meme coins per the guidance, which likens the coins to collectibles.

A smaller win for solana came from popular wallet MetaMask, which announced it will add support for solana in May, followed by bitcoin in the third quarter.

The one-two-three punch is a nice win for solana, which has seen huge growth in the past year largely due to the explosion of meme coins. Next, it hopes to join the list of crypto ETFs.

Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME Group, said in the press release that the move is in response “to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products to manage cryptocurrency price risk.”

“The launch of SOL futures is a significant milestone in the ongoing maturation of the cryptocurrency market,” Teddy Fusaro, president of Bitwise Asset Management Inc., said in the press release.

Solana, which is also the blockchain underpinning many meme coins like $TRUMP and dogwifhat, also is likely benefiting from the SEC’s new guidance released yesterday that meme coins are not securities as they do not pass the Howey test. The long-awaited guidance clarifies the regulatory environment for traders, who will “not need to register their transactions” in meme coins per the guidance, which likens the coins to collectibles.

A smaller win for solana came from popular wallet MetaMask, which announced it will add support for solana in May, followed by bitcoin in the third quarter.

The one-two-three punch is a nice win for solana, which has seen huge growth in the past year largely due to the explosion of meme coins. Next, it hopes to join the list of crypto ETFs.

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$1.2B

Crypto liquidations reached $1.2 billion in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data, as bitcoin continued its downward trajectory. Bitcoin suffered $458.24 million in liquidations, with the bulk of them — over $334 million — in long positions. Meanwhile, the second-biggest crypto, ethereum, saw the second-biggest figure for liquidations yesterday, with $278 million.

Bitcoin slipped as far as $103,856 early Friday morning, its lowest level since July, and is down 13% in the past seven days. The sell-off dragged the total crypto market cap down to $3.67 trillion, down 5.5%. Underscoring the market anxiety, CoinMarketCap’s fear and greed index is now at 28.

Bitcoin ETFs also suffered, registering $536 million in outflows on Thursday. The Ark 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF took the biggest hit, with $275.15 million in outflows. Since Monday, bitcoin ETFs have seen $864.5 million in outflows. 

Maja Vujinovic, CEO and cofounder of digital assets at FG Nexus, told Sherwood News that bitcoin’s slump looks like a classic risk-off chain reaction.

“Credit jitters and trade tensions pushed money into gold at record highs while leveraged crypto longs were forced to unwind. Once the liquidations exhaust and policy fog clears, the same macro buyers chasing safety today are likely to hunt value in BTC again,” Vujinovic said. 

$15B

The US government seized 127,271 bitcoin, worth $15 billion, in what it calls the Department of Justice’s “largest ever forfeiture action.”

The indictment against Chen Zhi, chairman of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, alleges that he engaged in wire fraud conspiracy using forced labor in Cambodia.

“Individuals held against their will in the compounds engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, known as ‘pig butchering’ scams, that stole billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world. The defendant is at large,” according to a DOJ press release.

This is “exactly the kind of outcome the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was designed to enable,” Zack Shapiro, managing partner at Rains Law and head of policy of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, said on X.

This significantly increases the size of the US’s strategic reserve, which held over 197,000 bitcoin before the seizure. As of today, Arkham Intelligence data shows it’s holding 324,780 bitcoin, worth over $37 billion.

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