The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, July 9, 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. New Bitfarms CEO

Bitfarms has promoted Ben Gagnon from Chief Mining Officer to CEO amidst an ongoing leadership tussle. The CEO seat had been empty for several months as Bitfarms fought off a hostile takeover attempt from Riot Platforms. Riot are still pushing to replace board members and are calling for a special meeting of shareholders. It seems any deal is still at an impasse and this could take more time to resolve. 

4. ETH ETFs Inch Closer

Asset managers filed updated S-1s for the Ethereum ETFs. All that’s left is the final approval from the SEC and fee disclosures. Best guess from Eric Balchunas is that trading will commence next Thursday. Only real interest is Grayscale launching with a spin off mini-trust holding 10% of ETHE assets, preventing them from being sold.

3. ETF Boomers Hit the Bid

Bitcoin ETF traders are buying the dip. Last week saw strong inflows for the first time in the past month. This was followed up by $295M in net inflows on Monday, the strongest day in three weeks. Two weeks in a row of above average inflows. Whether its market makers arbitraging price dislocations or retail boomers buying discounted Bitcoin for retirement, the demand for Bitcoin ETFs has returned. 

2. Massive German Selling

Monday saw the largest day of Bitcoin sales from the German government so far. They sent out $900M in BTC across a range of exchanges and trading desks, including a massive $300M to Flow Traders. $210M was returned later in the day from the major exchanges, presumably because it couldn’t be sold. We’re now half way through the German stack, with Monday representing 20% of their starting total. Market seemed to absorb the excess selling pressure well. 

1. GOP Bitcoin Policy

The GOP has launched the first official Bitcoin policy platform in US history. Ahead of next week’s convention, the GOP have formalized their platform including a short section on crypto. While it’s still a minor policy position, the pro-crypto stance is part of a broader pro-tech and pro-innovation push. After years of hard work, Bitcoin and crypto rights are official on the ballot for the first time.