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Google updates policy to allow ads for US crypto trusts
Google will allow ads for U.S. based-crypto trusts from January, with the change seemingly coming in the same month that spot Bitcoin ETFs are predicted to be approved.
Tech giant Google has updated its cryptocurrency-related advertising policy to allow ads about crypto trusts from the end of January, the same month that spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded-funds are predicted to be approved in the United States.
In a Dec. 6 policy change log, Google said its crypto and related products ad policy will be updated on Jan. 29, 2024, to allow ads from “advertisers offering Cryptocurrency Coin Trust targeting the United States.”
Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts were exampled as “financial products that allow investors to trade shares in trusts holding large pools of digital currency” — likely including ETFs.
Privacy firm Nym launches $300M fund, eyes Web3 wallets, RPCs & infrastructure services
The blockchain security firm will look to support open-source projects building security and privacy tools and services for Web3.
Blockchain privacy firm Nym Technologies has launched a $300 million funding program aimed at providing capital to projects building security-focused infrastructure.
The Nym Innovation Fund will draw capital from venture capitalist investors including Polychain, KR1, Huobi Incubator and Eden Block and will focus on supporting projects building Web3 privacy-focused tools and services.
Nym Technologies CEO and co-founder Harry Halpin said that privacy remains a central cog in ensuring that a decentralized internet remains resistant to censorship and avoids the pitfalls of Web2:
“This programme will ensure the health of the privacy ecosystem but it will also advance the Web3 industry as a whole, providing mentorship and funding during this difficult macroeconomic climate.”
Halpin told Cointelegraph that prospective projects that apply for funding could receive investments from Nym's fund as well as directly from its venture capital backers:
"Nym will review the applicants and determine if & which ones to go to the investors and then investors will decide of & how much they want to fund."
The programme is set to begin in Nov. 2023 and initial considerations of applications will be centered on Web3 wallets and applications that store private keys that interact and manage access to decentralized applications DApps.
The fund will also look to support remote procedure call (RPCs) protocols that can retrieve data from a blockchain network or send transactions from DApps as well as public good services including essential resources, tools, infrastructure and initiatives that are publicly available as open-source projects.
Related: How to strike a balance between blockchain transparency and privacy: Nansen CEO
Coinciding with the Innovation Fund is the launch of the Num Grants program which will extend further funding opportunities, developer assistance, mentorship, marketing support, community engagement and operational guidance.
Eden Block managing partner of VC Lior Messika highlighted the firm’s support as an investor of the Innovation Fund to support builders and entrepreneurs within the Nym ecosystem.
“As the Nym core technology enables a host of applications and disruptive privacy use cases, Eden Block will closely support the Fund's efforts through selection, advocacy, funding, and more."
The program will prioritize support of projects and services that enhance user privacy, encourage open-source collaboration, and community engagement.
Magazine: Beyond crypto: Zero-knowledge proofs show potential from voting to finance
ARK’s amended spot Bitcoin ETF filing is a ‘good sign’ of future approval
ARK Invest and 21Shares amended spot Bitcoin ETF filing seemingly addresses earlier concerns highlighted by the SEC, which is a good sign of progress, according to Bloomberg's ETF analysts.
A recent amendment to ARK Invest and 21Shares’ joint spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application could be seen as a “good sign” of progress and impending approvals.
An amended Oct. 11 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval adds additional information about the proposed spot Bitcoin ETF, including practices for how the fund will custody assets and determine asset values.
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the changes could be in direct response to concerns the SEC has asked ETF issuers to address.
“It means ARK got the SEC's comments and has dealt with them all, and now put [the] ball back in [the] SEC's court,” Balchunas said. “[In my opinion] good sign, solid progress.”
There's 5 extra pages in new S-1 but the new stuff is sprinkled throughout like the two above egs. So what does this mean? It means ARK got the SEC's comments and has dealt with them all, and now put ball back in SEC's court. IMO good sign, solid progress.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Balchunas said the changes are “sprinkled throughout,” making the new filing five pages longer, adding in a separate post that “none of the comments were that new or insurmountable.”
Changes included ARK noting the fund’s net asset value (NAV) calculations are not in line with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) — an accounting standard used by the SEC, said Balchunas.
The new filing also clarifies the ETFs assets, held by Coinbase Custody, are in “segregated accounts [...] And are therefore not commingled with corporate or other customer assets."
This is also new (and again something we heard SEC asked about): "The Trust’s assets with the Custodian are held in segregated accounts on the bitcoin blockchain, commonly referred to as “wallets,” and are therefore not commingled with corporate or other customer assets." pic.twitter.com/57TmnNi1lE
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart added in and X post the latter change signals that ARK and others are communicationg with the SEC about what the regulator wants cleared up.
“Good sign for future approval IMO,” he added.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs: A $600B tipping point for crypto
Van Buren Capital general partner Scott Johnsson noted another new addition was a comment that if BTC is increasingly used for illegal purposes and if Bitcoin mining’s environmental impact causes it to be restricted then the ETF’s value could fall.
Still chuckling a bit at this “electricity usage” risk factor. Ark couldn’t even be bothered to put in a coherent header summary or more than a couple short sentences. You know the convo w/ the SEC was like “oh yea, good call Mr. SEC attorney, this is definitely material /s” https://t.co/unIArFDKl8
— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) October 12, 2023
Johnsson said based on ARK’s amendments it “doesn't look like the agency is putting up any unnecessary roadblocks via disclosure review.”
Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Minecraft bans Bitcoin P2E, iPhone 15 & crypto gaming, Formula E
Grayscale urges SEC to approve all Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously
Grayscale's ETF was previously knocked back by the SEC and it wants it and competing ETFs approved together so none have an advantage.
Crypto fund manager Grayscale is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve all proposed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the same time to avoid one having an advantage.
A July 27 post by Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm said its legal team submitted a letter regarding eight spot Bitcoin ETF filings — including its own — arguing the SEC shouldn’t pick “winners and losers” and instead make a fair and orderly decision.
The letter claimed the SEC could approve the spot ETFs based on its approvals for Bitcoin futures ETFs saying the two fund types are “inextricably linked.”
Grayscale added recent surveillance sharing agreements (SSAs) between Coinbase and the spot ETF providers are “not a new idea” and claimed they would not meet the SEC’s standards.
The SEC should approve spot #bitcoin ETFs to trade in the US.
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 27, 2023
What’s more, their previous approval of bitcoin futures ETFs shows that they are already in a position to do so.
Read more about the latest from our legal team: https://t.co/UC8ksqNcwy $GBTC $BTC
ETF filings from Invesco, BlackRock, Valkyrie, VanEck, Wisdom, Fidelity and ARK Invest were recently updated to include SSAs with Coinbase.
Coinbase would share information on its trading books and other information so the SEC can monitor any possible market manipulation or irregular trading activity.
In late June SEC pushed back on the ETFs due to there being no SSAs, saying they were needed due to what it claimed was the potential for crypto markets to be manipulated.
Grayscale claimed, however, that the SSA’s “would neither satisfy nor be necessary” under the SEC's standards as Coinbase isn’t registered with the SEC as a securities exchange or broker-dealer nor with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a futures exchange.
It added approving the ETFs would be “a positive but sudden and significant change” in the SEC's application of its standard and would “improperly grant an unfairly discriminatory and prejudicial first-mover advantage to these proposals.”
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which aims to track Bitcoin’s price, has nearly 1 million investors, Salm claimed.
Related: Grayscale CEO: BlackRock ETF filing a ‘moment of validation’ for Bitcoin
He said if it's converted to an ETF it would return billions in value to investors, adding there’s “simply no reason” the SEC should keep GBTC investors from a spot Bitcoin ETF.
The SEC denied Grayscale’s application to convert the GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF last June.
In response, Grayscale sued the regulator saying it was acting arbitrarily by “failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.
Magazine: Should you ‘orange pill’ children? The case for Bitcoin kids books
Former FTX CEO Seeks $10M Insurance Fund for Legal Defense, Request Opposed by FTX Debtors and Unsecured Creditors
Court filings reveal that the FTX co-founder is seeking access to a $10 million insurance plan to cover his attorney fees. FTX debtors and unsecured creditors have opposed Sam Bankman-Fried’s request, arguing that every dollar spent on his defense is “one less dollar” available to cover the losses of the debtors. FTX Debtors and Unsecured […]Binance Converts $1 Billion BUSD Into Bitcoin, BNB, and Ethereum
On Monday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, announced that the company had decided to convert $1 billion worth of BUSD from the Industry Recovery Initiative fund into three different cryptocurrencies. Zhao noted that significant onchain movements would be noticeable following the announcement. CZ’s Decision to Convert $1 Billion BUSD Comes Amidst Troubles […]Hacker returns stolen funds to Tender.fi, gets $97K bounty reward
The bounty, which was offered via an on-chain message was approximately $97,000 or approximately 6% of the exploit amount.
The hacker behind the exploit of the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Tender.fi has returned the stolen funds for a $97,000 bounty reward in Ether (ETH).
The exploit was executed at 10:28 am UTC on Mar. 7, with Tender.fi confirming the incident on Twitter soon after citing “an unusual amount of borrows,” and adding it has paused all borrowing.
Blockchain data showed the exploiter used a price oracle glitch to borrow $1.59 million worth of assets from the protocol by depositing 1 GMX token, valued at around $71.
“It looks like your oracle was misconfigured. contact me to sort this out,” wrote the hacker in an on-chain message.
Eight hours later, the DeFi protocol announced it had come to an agreement with the “White Hat” exploiter, in which the hacker would repay all loans minus a 62.16 ETH “bounty,” worth around $97,000 at current prices.
Translation: The White Hat will repay all loans minus 62.158670296 ETH, which will be kept as a Bounty for helping secure the protocol. The https://t.co/H4ZMPLH9pz Team will repay the Bounty s value to the protocol, so that there will be no bad debt and users will remain… https://t.co/5bbmKu7zEe
— Tender.fi (@tender_fi) March 7, 2023
Another hour later, Tender.fi confirmed on Twitter that the exploiter had completed the loan repayments.
“Funds are officially SaFu, post mortem on the way,” it wrote.
Related: DeFi lender Tender.fi suffers exploit, white hat hacker suspected
Last year in August, cross-chain Nomad Bridge appealed to exploiters that participated in a smart contract exploit that extracted $190 million in funds from the bridge in less than three hours.
Mere hours later, approximately $32.6 million worth of funds were already returned, suggesting some of the exploiters may have been white hat hackers attempting to extract funds for a later safe return.
Later in the month, nonfungible token (NFT) firm Metagame even offered a “Whitehat Prize” in the form of an NFT for anyone that proved they returned at least 90% of the funds they stole from the protocol.
1/ Our friends at @metagame created an earned NFT as a thank you to whitehats who returned funds from the Nomad Bridge Hack. Head over https://t.co/TWwuJwnRXj to claim it! pic.twitter.com/V87rkGhBEE
— Nomad (⤭⛓) (@nomadxyz_) August 23, 2022
Blockchain data from the Official Nomad Funds Recovery Address shows that funds continued to be returned to the recovery address since then, with the latest transaction recorded on Feb. 18, 2023, for $7,868 in Covalent Query Token (CQT).
Investment Fund Focused on Crypto Mining to Be Created in Russia
The establishment of Russia’s first mutual investment fund dedicated to financing cryptocurrency mining operations is underway. According to a report by the Russian press, it will be available to qualified investors and will finance the acquisition of coin minting equipment. Russian Crypto Mining Sector to Attract Shareholders Through Investment Fund Work has begun to set […]Gate.io to enter Hong Kong following city’s $6.4M budget allocation to Web3
Gate’s founder called Hong Kong a “hub,” meanwhile, the city’s financial secretary said the region “must keep up” with the “huge potential” of Web3.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io is gearing up to launch a presence in Hong Kong following the local government's planned $6.4 million (50 million Hong Kong dollar) cash injection into Web3 as per the city’s 2023-24 budget.
Gate Group said on Feb. 22 that it will apply for a crypto license in Hong Kong allowing it to launch “Gate HK.” The firm's local company, Hippo Financial Services, gained a license in August 2022 to provide virtual asset custodial services.
It comes as Hong Kong financial secretary, Paul Chan, announced the Web3-related funding and the creation of a crypto task force in a Feb. 22 budget speech.
He added Web3 has “huge potential” and the Special Administrative Region of China must keep pace with its “continuous development.”
“We must keep up with the times and seize this golden opportunity to spearhead innovation development.”
Chan outlined the funds would go toward expediting “the Web3 ecosystem development” by organizing international seminars, promoting business cooperation and arranging “workshops for young people.”
He noted a “large number” of companies are considering setting up shop in the city due to the government’s cryptocurrency laws. Gate Group’s founder, Dr. Han Lin, called Hong Kong “a global strategic market” and a “hub” due to its “industry-leading regulatory regime.”
Very excited about Hong Kong. Having obtained the TCSP License in HK, Gate Group is also preparing for a crypto license and fine tuning Gate HK, a new entity tailored to serve HK’s growing crypto market, stay tuned.
— Lin Han (@han_gate) February 21, 2023
Hong Kong shared its plans on Feb. 20 with a new licensing regime and a proposal to allow retail traders access to licensed crypto platforms.
Due to the influx of business interest, Chan said he “will establish and lead a task force” on virtual asset development made up of members from financial regulators, market participants and “relevant policy bureaux.”
Related: Hong Kong securities regulator adds crypto personnel for industry supervision
The task force would “provide recommendations on the sustainable and responsible development of the sector” according to Chan.
Hong Kong started its push to gain status as a global crypto hub in October 2022 by launching crypto-friendly policy frameworks to regulate the industry within the city.
Despite being a region of China, the city’s special status allows for its own laws and governance. Hong Kong’s crypto push would seem to be in contrast to China’s crypto ban, but it's reported that officials in Beijing are quietly backing the region's crypto ambitions.