The Breakdown First Five - Thursday, April 4, 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. Galaxy Raising $100M Venture Fund

Not to be outdone by the return of crypto venture, Galaxy Digital are said to be raising a $100M venture fund. The firm has already deployed $200M in venture funding since 2018 across more than 100 startups. However, this fund will be the first to take outside investors. Galaxy plans to fund 30 startups over the next three years through this fund, aiming for investments above $1M each. 

4. Coinbase Gearing Up for Lightning

Coinbase has finally taken concrete steps towards adding support for the Lightning network. The exchange has partnered with Lightspark as an infrastructure provider, offloading the difficult task of managing liquidity and routing at scale. Coinbase first promised Lightning support way back in September during a Bitcoin fee spike but very little progress was made until now. We have no launch date, but Brian Armstrong says “soon”.

3. ETH Public Comments

The SEC has solicited public comments on the Fidelity, Grayscale and Bitwise spot Ethereum ETF applications. This normally wouldn’t be noteworthy, it’s simply a mandatory part of the process. However many commentators latched onto this as a sign the SEC is leaning towards approval. Experts beg to differ, with some noting that public comments can be used to gather the support for a predetermined decision. 

2. Wood: Bitcoin Hedges Currency Devaluation

During an interview on CNBC, Cathie Wood pushed back on the idea that Bitcoin’s run-up has been all about the ETF launch. Instead, she noted several major currency devaluations and claimed that Bitcoin is an "insurance policy against rogue regimes and against horrible fiscal and monetary policies." This echoes previous comments from Larry Fink. Wall Street is pitting Bitcoin against flimsy fiat.

1. Binance’s Nigerian Arraignment

A pair of Binance executives will be arraigned in a Nigerian court today after being held without charge for more than a month. The pair will be charged with tax evasion along with the exchange. One executive escaped capture last month but will be tried in absentia. Talks appear to have broken down, with Binance making its first substantive statement, claiming that the executives had “no decision-making power” and therefore should “not be held responsible.”