The Breakdown First Five - Monday October 2, 2023

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. FTX Hacker on the Move

The FTX hacker has woken up for the first time since November, moving over $8M in ETH. At least $300M in crypto was stolen as the exchange collapsed last year, with many speculating that it was an inside job. Funds were streamed through a cross chain bridge into Bitcoin all weekend using privacy tools. The hacker’s identity remains a mystery and there’s still over 280,000 ETH left in their wallets.

4. Templeton CEO: “Bitcoin a Distraction”

Tradfi is waking up to crypto in a big way. Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson said that Bitcoin is the “greatest distraction” from the fundamental technology shift set to disrupt tradfi. She highlighted tokenization opportunities that could extend well beyond real world assets. Johnson is excited for tokenization of song royalties and sports star contracts. She said the tokenization revolution could look like “Securitization done on steroids”

3. VanEck Aligned with Ethereum

VanEck has differentiated itself among the field of asset managers spruiking their new Ethereum ETFs by aligning themselves with the community. After a pair of sizzling ad spots, VanEck put their money where their mouth is. They pledged to donate 10% of ETH ETF profits to the Protocol Guild over at least 10 years. Protocol Guild supports 150 Ethereum developers to continue working on protocol improvements including the next upgrade, protodanksharding.

2. Nine ETH ETFs to Launch

The SEC has cleared the runway for nine Ethereum futures ETFs to launch this morning. Some funds are mixing ETH exposure with Bitcoin but none are giving short exposure. The battle will be on to capture AUM, with an estimated $200M up for grabs. Asset managers will battle it out using fees and marketing as their only real differentiation. With first mover advantage nullified, will one ETF find supremacy or will liquidity fragment across multiple products?

1. Uptober Begins

A massive green candle welcomed crypto traders to October on Sunday night. October has been one of the most consistently bullish months in crypto markets, with only two months with negative returns over the past 10 years. Bitcoin gained 3% and Ethereum rose by 4.7% across just 15 minutes. $70M in short positions were liquidated across 2 hours. Many noted that, out of a sample size of one, ETF launches have always marked the top. Will Uptober continue?