Bitcoin’s rally is turning out to be bad news for Coinbase, the crypto trading app that has just confirmed some of its customers are seeing a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts.
The price of Bitcoin climbed in the wake of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, driving a 42% price rally this month.
Users of the Coinbase app grew concerned on Wednesday as they logged in to find their accounts showing a zero balance, despite owning crypto assets.
We are aware that some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts & may experience errors in buying or selling.
Remarked one user on X, who shared a picture of a zero balance, “My mom called and asked me and mine was at zero also,” they said.
It’s hard to keep track of crypto’s technical development, but one thing hasn’t changed much: blockchain applications are notoriously hard to build.
This stems in part from their decentralized nature, resulting in a lack of uniform standards across different infrastructure pieces.
Initia, founded by a group of developers in their late 20s, is trying to bring more interoperability to multi-chain networks and simplify the process of creating app-specific blockchains, or app chains.
In layman’s speak, Initia is abstracting away app chains’ technical complexity, aiming to make them more friendly to both end users and app developers.
They paused the project after the FTX implosion and eventually changed tack to work on blockchain infrastructure.
Crypto fund Asymmetric Financial is creating its Bitcoin DeFi Venture Fund I to focus on investing in the blockchain’s nascent space with a target raise of $21 million.
The fund will be spearheaded by general partner Dan Held, former director of growth at Kraken and long-time Bitcoiner.
Many Bitcoin-focused VCs ignore DeFi because it’s speculative, and broader crypto VCs see it as a “dead boomer rock,” he added.
Much of this activity has centered on the Ethereum blockchain, but Held believes Bitcoin’s blockchain has tons of future potential as an ecosystem.
“It will be a Bitcoin DeFi renaissance.”“Bitcoin is worth more than every other crypto asset combined,” Held added.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria faced accessibility issues for users, prompting speculation of imposed restrictions on crypto sites, the Financial Times reported.
On Wednesday, local media reported that Nigeria’s telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), received instructions from the country’s apex bank to suspend access to crypto websites, including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken.
According to Bloomberg, a presidential spokesman confirmed Nigeria’s issuance of a directive instructing telecoms and internet service providers to block access to cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Only users attempting to access the website are impacted, although the app is currently available,” Binance stated.
While several Binance users in Nigeria reported difficulties accessing the site in the early hours of Thursday, it appears that the directive to restrict access has been temporarily halted, as these cryptocurrency trading platforms, including Kraken and Coinbase, are currently accessible.
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Prior to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the spot bitcoin ETFs, some experts told me they expected trading volumes to hit $10 billion in a year, not a week.
Monica has spent the last 10 years at Ripple, working her way up from the director of communications to now, president.
What else we’re writingWant to branch out from the world of web3?
According to PitchBook data, VC investments in crypto companies are down by 68% in 2023 compared to 2022.
But that’s a small number compared to 2022, the year during which crypto companies raised $30 billion.
French crypto startup Kiln just closed a $17 million funding round in December 2023.
As a reminder, staking consists in locking crypto assets in a blockchain to secure a blockchain and its transactions.
Several proof-of-stake blockchains let its users stake crypto assets, such as Polygon, Solana and Avalanche.
How low can bitcoin ETF fees drop before it hurts a business?
On Thursday, Franklin Templeton’s Franklin Bitcoin ETF ranked sixth among the 11 for first day trading volume at $65.45 million by the end of the day.
(Note: A number of issuers, Franklin included, are waiving fees for a limited time.)
There’s reason to believe that spot bitcoin ETFs and other related products that may come to market will see strong demand over time, and major investment houses want a piece of the action.
An additional preexisting $2.3 billion from Grayscale’s GBTC fund, which converted into a spot bitcoin ETF on Wednesday, brought the 11 issuers’ total to $4.6 billion.
Fast-forward to Wednesday and the SEC approved the first spot bitcoin ETF applications for 11 issuers (TC+).
I spoke with two executives from Grayscale and Valkyrie about what’s in store for their spot bitcoin ETFs.
Anyways, that’s enough housekeeping and spot bitcoin ETF news for today.
And now, Grayscale’s bitcoin spot ETF was approved.
We dive into what a spot bitcoin ETF approval means for GBTC and market demand.
It’s been a long road for spot bitcoin ETF filers – and today the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved all 11 standing applications from issuers.
“We always knew the investor sentiment would get there, regulators would get there and the financial advisor community would get there.”Grayscale, a digital asset investment firm that was one of the 11 firms to file for a bitcoin spot ETF, is best known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has now been converted, or “uplisted,” into its new bitcoin spot ETF product.
The 10 other issuers are BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, Hashdex Bitcoin ETF and Franklin Bitcoin ETF.
While futures ETFs marked a big milestone in 2021, Sonnenshein believes the most critical one that brought these bitcoin spot ETF approvals was the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in favor of Grayscale against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision in the case of a bitcoin spot ETF in the Summer of 2023.
It’s been over a decade since the first application for a spot bitcoin ETF was filed.
After a number of denials over the years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved all 11 applications from spot bitcoin ETF issuers, marking a potential watershed moment for the crypto industry and potentially opening the floodgates by making it easier for institutional investors and consumers alike to invest in the biggest digital asset.
The issuers are BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, Hashdex Bitcoin ETF and Franklin Bitcoin ETF.
In 2021, BITO, the first bitcoin-linked futures ETF in the U.S., launched and immediately saw a lot of demand during its first year.
It eventually grew to become one of the largest and most traded crypto ETFs., according to ProShares data.
