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VC Roundup: Investors double down on funding for crypto, blockchain startups

This edition of Cointelegraph’s VC roundup features Plural Energy, Everclear, Ava Protocol, GoPlus, and other startups.

Venture capitalists are increasingly raising capital to pour into blockchain-based startups. Over the past two weeks, Paradigm closed a third fund to invest $850 million in early-stage crypto projects, while Pantera Capital is seeking more than $1 billion for a new fund that will offer exposure to a “full spectrum” of blockchain assets by 2025.

Also worth noting is that another $1 billion for startups might come from Tether's coffers. Over the next 12 months, the company plans to invest in areas like emerging markets, artificial intelligence and biotech. Tether’s VC arm has already spent about $2 billion in the past two years on technologies such as AI and alternative financial infrastructure.

As for startups, June’s highlights so far include Avail’s $43 million funding to address data availability issues across blockchains and Mirror World Labs’ $12 million in Series A funding promised to accelerate its Sonic protocol.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

Moody’s assigns ‘A-bf’ rating for OpenEden’s tokenized fund

OpenEden’s TBILL received an ‘A-bf’ rating from Moody’s Ratings on June 19, as more T-Bills are going onchain.

Global credit rating agency Moody’s Ratings has granted an ‘A-bf’ bond fund rating to Hill Lights International Limited, responsible for the issuance of OpenEden’s tokenized U.S. Treasury bills, known as TBILL Tokens. 

The “A-bf” rating is a high credit rating, suggesting that the bond fund is viewed as having a strong capacity to meet its financial goals. A superior grade would be the classic triple-A (AAA) rating. Moody’s is considered one of the top three global credit rating agencies, alongside Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

The fund primarily invests in U.S. Treasury bills, or government securities. They are considered a safe investment since they are backed by the U.S. government.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

Bitcoin and Ether can ‘greatly improve’ portfolio performance: BBVA

Bitcoin’s price has outperformed the returns from the S&P 500 more than threefold in 2024.

Exposure to Bitcoin and Ether, the two largest cryptocurrencies, will significantly boost the returns of traditional investment portfolios.

Adding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to investor portfolios will “greatly improve” the return on investment (ROI), according to Philippe Meyer, head of digital and blockchain solutions at BBVA.

During a panel at the Web3 Corporate Innovation Day, Meyer said that the firm had observed that introducing a small portion of digital assets like Bitcoin or Ether is “greatly improving the performance” of investment portfolios:

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

US elections are a ‘huge variable’ for Solana ETF approval

The approval of spot Ether ETFs has opened Pandora’s box for another altcoin ETF. Solana, XRP, Chainlink or Dogecoin could be next, but is the crypto market overly optimistic?

The prospect of another altcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States could depend on political changes following the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election.

This is despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving the green light for fund managers to list spot Ether (ETH) ETFs on May 23.

Although SEC Chair Gary Gensler admitted that “it will take time” until the Ether ETFs are launched, speculation about the next crypto ETF has already begun, with Solana’s (SOL) emerging as a top contender.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

Franklin Templeton CEO says Bitcoin investment still in early phase

CEO Jenny Johnson believes institutions will deploy a second wave into Bitcoin funds and attract the truly big players.

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson believes we are still in the early days of the Bitcoin (BTC) investment cycle, and that big institutional money has not yet been fully deployed into the asset class.

“This is really the first wave of the early adopters, and I think the next wave is the much bigger institutions,” Johnson told CNBC in a recent interview.

The CEO noted that institutional interest will continue to grow as previously apprehensive investors and fund managers become more comfortable with handling digital assets and their underlying technologies.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

TradFi execs say crypto derivatives will play larger role in Bitcoin’s future

Experts say BTC and ETH derivatives will be instrumental in integrating crypto to TradFi and sending each to new all-time highs.

Bedroom crypto traders and analysts have frequently expressed concern at Bitcoin’s (BTC) inability to overcome is all-time high, but professionals from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), TradingView and TJM Institutional Services believe that the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF will play a key role in sending BTC’s price to the highs traders dream of. 

While speaking at Consensus on the role crypto derivatives will play in tomorrow’s market, TradingView general manager Pierce Crosby explained that derivatives have always been a integral part of the crypto traders’ experience, but trading at the centralized exchanges available from 2015 to 2022 meant many spot and margin traders had their “face ripped off” by high fees and slippage.

Crosby said,

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

Spot Ether ETFs receive official approval from the SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light to several spot Ether ETFs after speculation that the regulator was considering treating ETH as a security.

In a second landmark decision this year, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has given the regulatory green light to spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. 

Ina May 23 filing, the SEC approved the 19b-4 filings from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise — approving the rule changes allowing spot Ether ETFs to be listed and traded on their respective exchanges. The landmark decision came despite speculation that the securities regulator has been investigating whether to label Ether (ETH) as a security.

While the 19b-4s have been approved, ETF issuers still need the SEC to sign off on their respective S-1 registration statements for the spot Ether ETFs to officially begin trading. Industry analysts say this could take days, weeks or even months. The SEC reportedly instructed applicants to accelerate their 19b-4 filings on May 20. The removal of staking is the most notable amendment seen across several filings. 

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

BlackRock, Grayscale and Bitwise amend ETF filings before SEC decision

With the SEC expected to decide by May 23 whether to approve or disapprove a spot Ether exchange-traded fund, three asset managers amended their 19b-4 filings.

Three additional United States-based asset managers with spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund applications in the pipeline have amended their 19b-4 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a May 22 filing from the Nasdaq Stock Market, asset management firm BlackRock amended its spot Ether ETF 19b-4 application to remove provisions for staking. Grayscale and Bitwise filed similar amendments with the New York Stock Exchange Arca. Having the SEC approve the 19b-4 filings would be a step toward greenlighting the listing and trading of spot Ether ETFs on exchanges.

“Neither the Trust, nor the Sponsor, nor the Ether Custodian [...] nor any other person associated with the Trust will, directly or indirectly, engage in action where any portion of the Trust’s ETH becomes subject to the Ethereum proof-of-stake validation or is used to earn additional ETH or generate income or other earnings,” said the amended BlackRock filing.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

CPI report spurs $932M inflows into crypto investment funds

Digital asset investment funds attracted $932 million in weekly inflows, according to CoinShares data.

Crypto-based investment products saw a significant inflow over the previous week, marking the second consecutive week of positive flows since the recent market downturn. 

According to CoinShares data, digital asset investment products amassed $932 million between May 13 and 17, driven by an immediate response to the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which seemed to show that inflationary pressures were moderating again. Despite higher nflows, weekly volumes remained relatively low at $10.5 billion, a sharp contrast to the $40 billion observed in March.

The May 15 CPI report revealed that inflation rose by 0.3% in April, following a 0.4% increase in March. The CPI grew by 3.4% year over year, driven by significant increases in the energy and food sectors.

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017

SEC rumored to be reconsidering spot Ether ETF denial, say analysts

ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas said they had increased their odds of the SEC approving a spot Ether exchange-traded fund from 25% to 75%.

Two exchange-traded fund analysts have said they are reevaluating the chances of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund after “hearing chatter” about the financial regulator.

In May 20 X posts, Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas said the SEC might be “doing a 180” on their expected denial of spot Ether exchange-traded funds this week. Filings from the regulator, public statements from SEC Chair Gary Gensler and reports of investigations previously suggested that the commission may have been preparing to deny spot Ether ETF applications.

However, according to Seyffart and Balchunas, the two analysts changed their prediction on the odds of spot Ether ETF approval from 25% to 75%. Seyffart hinted that the investment vehicle was becoming an “increasingly political issue.”

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Ripple faces securities suit in Cali over ‘misleading’ statements from 2017