The Breakdown First Five - Thursday, January 25, 2024

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. Bitwise Discloses Address

Bitwise have become the first US ETF to publicly disclose their Bitcoin wallet address. The asset manager’s address was doxxed by Arkham Intelligence earlier in the week, but it’s the thought that counts. Bitcoiners sent small donations overnight, including a range of ordinal inscriptions. Bitwise executives heralded the move as a big step for transparency in the financial system.

4. Blackrock ETH ETF Delayed

The SEC have delayed Blackrock’s application for an ETH ETF. The entirely expected move comes after Fidelity was delayed last week. The only date that seems to matter is May 23rd, the final deadline for a decision on the VanEck product. Bloomberg analysts currently have May approvals handicapped at 70%. 

3. Gensler: Don’t Read Into BTC Approvals

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has reiterated that Bitcoin ETF approvals were a one time deal. He said the decision was limited to Bitcoin and nothing more should be read into it. Although Gensler doesn’t want to fuel ETF anticipation, he did acknowledge that the new wrappers had improved disclosure, market access and fee competition for Bitcoin. So why not do the same for Ethereum?

2. Nexo Claims $3B from Bulgaria

Crypto lender Nexo has filed for arbitration against Bulgaria seeking $3B in damages. The firm was investigated by local authorities for most of last year, with prosecutors turning up “no evidence of criminal activity.” Nexo says the investigation was “political”. They claim the reputational damage cost them an $8B IPO and a major soccer team sponsorship. The case will be heard by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

1. GBTC Outflows Slowing?

The GBTC selling has dropped for the second day in a row, with $429M fleeing the fund. That’s the lowest outflows since the first day of trading and hopefully the beginning of continued slowdown. Overall more than 100,000 BTC has been redeemed from Grayscale since the ETF conversion, over 15% of the fund. The FTX estate is rumored to be out of their position and whispers of selling from DCG mean the whale redemption could be over.

Thanks for reading -NLW