Memecoins and AI are pushing Gamefi out of the spotlight

July 8, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Industry figures disagree on whether GameFi is having a good year as other aspects of Web3 hog the spotlight.

Gaming’s intersection with finance and crypto — also known as Gamefi — has been a bit of a mixed bag in 2024.

Voices from across the industry have spoken to Cointelegraph to deliver their verdicts on the current state of the GameFi industry — and their conclusions are far from unanimous.

In December 2023, Cointelegraph asked industry experts to predict what 2024 would bring for the sector, and now that we’ve passed the halfway mark, we’re revisiting the subject once more.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with M purchase, stock pops 40%

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

Bitwise files amended Ethereum ETF S-1 — experts predict July launch

July 3, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Asset Management

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that the commission could give final approvals on spot Ether ETFs sometime in summer 2024, while some analysts are predicting as early as July.

Asset management firm Bitwise has amended its S-1 registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade shares of a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

In a July 3 filing with the SEC, Bitwise amended its Form S-1 registration statement ahead of schedule, including a six-month fee waiver for up to $500 million. The filing did not include a specific launch date for listing and trading on NYSE Arca but said it would be “as soon as practicable after the effective date” of the registration.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, Bitwise filed the amended S-1 ahead of a July 8 deadline, suggesting it could begin trading after the Independence Day holiday in the United States. Balchunas said the SEC was “taking [its] sweet time” greenlighting final approvals for the spot Ether ETFs, but “all indications launch still on for this month.”

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

How ETFs are reshaping the crypto markets

July 2, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

In Cointelegraph’s latest video, experts discuss the impact of the spot Bitcoin ETF approvals on the crypto markets and the potential for a spot Ethereum ETF.

The approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has been a game-changer for the cryptocurrency market, sparking a significant surge in demand and fundamentally altering market dynamics.

In our latest video, Cointelegraph talked with experts about the profound impact of this milestone and the prospects for more ETFs being approved in the United States.

“It’s not actually just about the U.S. market,” said Ophelia Snyder, co-founder of 21Shares. “Once you remove this major risk of what is the U.S. regulator going to do about Bitcoin, it changes what the risk-return profile of the asset is,” she ad.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

Celebrity memecoins highlight crypto’s influencer problem

June 26, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Celebrity memecoins have become the latest crypto trend in 2024, with a slew of celebrity endorsements.

Celebrity memecoins are the latest influencer crypto trend, with the likes of Katlyn Jenner and Iggy Azalea recently launching their own memecoins.

However, like each bull cycle, several celebrity-linked projects have already been accused of retail dumping and scamming unsuspecting amateur investors, highlighting the crypto market’s long-running issue with influencers.

Every bull cycle, celebrities jump on the latest trend.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

Why are traders shorting Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy?

June 24, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

Short sellers are targeting MicroStrategy stock, but what is the reasoning behind it?

Investment firm Kerrisdale Capital is shorting MicroStrategy stock, which it said is trading at an “unjustifiable premium” to Bitcoin.

Cointelegraph spoke with Sahm Adrangi, chief investment officer at Kerrisdale Capital, to better understand why Kerrisdale believes MicroStrategy stock is overpriced.

Adrangi boiled the MicroStrategy business model down to six words.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

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

June 19, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

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.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

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

June 19, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

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.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

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

June 18, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin adoption

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:

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

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

June 7, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

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.

SOS Ltd to jump on Bitcoin bandwagon with $50M purchase, stock pops 40%

Franklin Templeton CEO says Bitcoin investment still in early phase

June 5, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin adoption

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.

Investments