Bitcoin
Hong Kong Rivals US in Bitcoin ETF Market After Crypto Revival
(Bloomberg) — A batch of exchange-traded funds that invest directly in cryptocurrencies debuted in Hong Kong on Tuesday, heralding potential competition for U.S. Bitcoin products whose popularity has sparked a record rally in the digital asset.
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Harvest Global Investments Ltd., the local unit of China Asset Management, and a partnership between HashKey Capital Ltd. and Bosera Asset Management (International) Co. have listed Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in the city.
The level of demand for the funds will provide clues as to whether Hong Kong’s push for a strictly regulated digital asset hub is gaining momentum. Officials hope the crypto pivot will help restore the city’s reputation as a modern financial center, a position that has been tarnished by the crackdown on dissent.
US Bitcoin spot ETFs from issuers including BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments went live in January and have $52 billion in assets so far in a historic launch. For Hong Kong, Rebecca Sin of Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the city’s Bitcoin and Ether funds could accumulate $1 billion in two years.
Such a projection is “very small,” said Han Tongli, CEO of Harvest Global, in an interview. This is partly because financial products and services in Hong Kong are “accepted by investors in both the West and the East,” while the U.S. primarily caters to the former, he said.
The six new ETFs had a combined trading volume of $11 million in the first session, data compiled by Bloomberg show. This is a far cry from the $4.6 billion in total volume that the 10 US spot-Bitcoin products recorded in their debut.
Issuers expect about $300 million in combined first-day inflows for Hong Kong’s new spot crypto ETFs, tilted in favor of Bitcoin funds, said BI’s Sin. Possible sources include Chinese wealth parked in the city, as well as cryptocurrency exchanges and market makers active in Asia-Pacific.
Crypto trading is banned in mainland China – driving clandestine activity – and the new funds are outside the scope of a program that gives Chinese investors access to some Hong Kong ETFs. A key question is whether this program could be expanded over time.
The launch of ETFs “opens the door for many RMB holders” seeking alternative investments, China Asset Management CEO Yimei Li said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
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She added that she hopes there may be a “new opportunity” for mainland Chinese investors in the future to “participate in this process.”
Subscription in kind
Hong Kong is adopting an in-kind ETF subscription and redemption mechanism, which allows underlying assets to be exchanged for fund units and vice versa, while US Bitcoin funds use a cash redemption model.
Harvest Global’s Han said the in-kind approach increases the appeal of the city’s products and is among the reasons why the eventual uptake of Hong Kong ETFs could be up to three times greater than that of U.S. funds.
Others warned that expected demand should be calibrated in line with Hong Kong’s smaller financial sector. The city already allows ETFs based on crypto-futures, but its total assets of about $164 million are a fraction of the $2.3 billion ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, a U.S. derivatives-based product.
Hong Kong may lag behind the US in launching spot crypto ETFs and have a smaller market for passive funds, but local products will still be attractive due to their ease of access, especially in Asian trading hours, said the head of Bosera Asset Management ( International). of Products Ethan Li said in an interview.
CEO Doris Lian said Bosera is looking to expand its team and digital asset product pipeline. “Hong Kong will have a significant place in the global virtual asset sphere,” she added.
Effervescent recovery
Digital assets recovered sharply from a deep rout in 2022, although the recovery has stalled recently. Bitcoin reversed earlier gains to fall 2% to $61,700 at 11:40 a.m. in London on Tuesday. Ether fell 4%.
The market collapse two years ago exposed risky practices and fraud, triggering a wave of bankruptcies and scathing criticism that still hangs over the industry. An alleged fraud on crypto exchange JPEX plagued Hong Kong last year.
Speaking at the ETF launch event, Christina Choi, executive director of the Securities and Futures Commission’s investment products division, said the fact that the products are being launched does not mean the regulator is endorsing crypto assets or encouraging investment in cryptocurrencies.
“A day in crypto circles is a year in the human world,” she said, referring to a Chinese meme about the strong volatility that can affect digital assets.
Investors will likely analyze data received from issuers to assess net inflows for Hong Kong vehicles. The equivalent numbers for US funds have sometimes led to fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices as demand rises and falls.
–With assistance from Sidhartha Shukla, Zheping Huang and Kiuyan Wong.
(Updates with trading volume in sixth paragraph.)
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Bitcoin
RIOT, MARA and CLSK shares at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) Mining stocks like Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) retreated in pre-market trading as BTC retreated.
RIOT, MARA and CLSK all fell more than 2%, while other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 1.5%.
Bitcoin sell-off continues
Crypto-linked stocks retreated as Bitcoin resumed its downtrend on Wednesday. After rising to $63,750 on Monday, BTC is hovering at $60,0000 and it is unclear whether it will recover.
More importantly, Bitcoin is dangerously close to the crucial support at $58,273, which is the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The next support level for Bitcoin is $56,426, representing its lowest level in May.
Bitcoin Price Chart
If Bitcoin drops below this price, it will be a sign that the bears have prevailed, which could take it to the $50,000 level, if not below.
This decline happened after a whale deposited nearly 2,000 Bitcoins to Binance in two separate transactions. While this isn’t always the case, deposits to exchanges often happen when holders are exiting their positions.
The whales’ action coincided with a period in which the German government continues to sell off its Bitcoin holdings. It transferred $52 million worth of coins to exchanges on Tuesday.
As a result, data from CoinGlass shows that the volume of Bitcoin balances on exchanges has started to increase. The volume rose to 2.49 million on Tuesday, from last month’s low of 2.47 million.
Bitcoin balances on exchanges
Bitcoin Mining Companies at Risk
If the Bitcoin sell-off continues, it will put Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms at risk. These companies have tended to have a close correlation with Bitcoin in the past.
This drop is happening a few months after the halving event, reducing the amount of Bitcoins that miners receive.
To compensate for this drop, most of these companies have added their mining equipment. CleanSpark has reached a hash rate of 20 EH/swhich helped her mine 445 coins in June after mining 417 coins the previous month. She did this after purchasing 5 mining sites in Georgia.
Digital Marathon mined 590 coins in June, down 40% from the same month in 2023 and flat from May.
Riot Platforms, on the other hand, focused on acquiring Bitfarms, a company that mined 189 coins in June.
Bitcoin
Michael Saylor Issues Statement on Bitcoin Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off by U.Today
U.Today – Amid an ongoing sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Michael Saylor, a prominent advocate and president of MicroStrategy, made a statement on X (Twitter) that reverberated across the crypto space: “Just Bitcoin.”
This two-word tweet comes as the cryptocurrency market faces significant sell-offs as the price of Bitcoin plummets.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, began its decline in Tuesday’s trading session, hitting $63,223 at one point before falling further.
Losses deepened on Wednesday as investors considered remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with Bitcoin hitting intraday lows of $59,509. At the time of writing, BTC is down 2.85% over the past 24 hours to $60,274.
According to data from CoinGlass, the sell-off has resulted in a significant amount of cryptocurrencies being liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $166 million. However, this has not deterred Saylor’s confidence in Bitcoin, as he reiterates his longing for the crypto asset in his tweet.
Cryptocurrency market crashes
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, which are now at 5.25%-5.50%. Powell revealed at a monetary symposium in Sintra, Portugal, that the United States is moving closer to a disinflationary path.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably downward toward 2% before we begin the process of tapering or easing policy,” Powell said.
Market losses deepened after Wednesday’s economic releases that indicated the labor market is cooling. Recent data showed weaker-than-expected private payroll growth in June, but weekly jobless claims were higher than economists had forecast. The latest figures come ahead of the highly anticipated June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
As the cryptocurrency market goes through a period of uncertainty, the coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining the direction of BTC’s price.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? Still rumors — for now
Rumors that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will use cryptocurrency that has been circulating for more than a year now—and they’re spinning again.
On Wednesday, a pseudonymous Crypto Twitter influencer named Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” —shared to his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far only Bitcoin, EthereumIt is USDT [are] confirmed.”
But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite ongoing chatter about the rumors. Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week on the subject, nor have they made any prior announcements, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of cryptocurrency being included.
However, the tweet — which also included a fake trailer for the game — quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views as of this writing in a matter of hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon for his sources, he would jokingly respond that his “uncle works there” or say that previous reports on the matter were “old” at this point.
But really, nothing has changed since then. DecipherGG’s reported in previous rumors in May 2023, not even since the first official trailer — which initially leaked with “BUY BTC” stamped on itApparently by the leaker in question—premiered last December.
DecipherGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Could Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it releases in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for cryptocurrency adoption by the traditional gaming industry.
Take-Two Interactive has explored the space before, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, when Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” that they could explore better as a team. Zynga has launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called Sugartownbut Take-Two has yet to get involved with other brands.
Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibited the use of cryptocurrency or NFTs on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a rise in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets on modded game servers.
And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game may be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto fans and NFTs, for example, rather than trying to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s all speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details about GTA 6.
For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially closed the door on cryptocurrency usage in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. However, it’s sure to remain a hot topic in the long run leading up to release, which is currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Bitcoin
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
Chris SenyekChief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Researchrecently expressed his opinion on the potential impact of a Donald Trump win the 2024 elections in the cryptocurrency market.
What happened: Senyek suggested that a Trump presidency could ease cryptocurrency regulations, benefiting companies like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN due to its importance Bitcoin BTC/USD Leverage.
“Trump would be less harsh on crypto regulation, and Coinbase would be a big beneficiary of that given its influence on bitcoin,” Senyek said during CNBC’s “Last Call” on Tuesday.
See too: Enhance Your Retirement Portfolio: The Benefits of Adding Cryptocurrency
Why does this matter?:Senyek’s comments come in the context of the former president Donald Trump‘s reported plans to participate at the Bitcoin 2024 convention, which could reinforce his image as a “Crypto President”.
Trump’s potential participation in the Bitcoin 2024 convention, a major event on the cryptocurrency calendar, could have significant implications for the industry.
Pratik KalaHead of Research in DigitalX Limitedhe has predicted a Trump victory in the upcoming elections, but warns that immediate cryptocurrency-friendly regulations may not be a priority.
A recent report by 10x Search explore the recent rise in Bitcoin price and its potential connection to Trump’s strong position in the 2024 election race. The report, titled “Is the Bitcoin Trump Pump Sustainable?”, highlights a 4% spike in Bitcoin’s price following the news that the president Joe Biden will remain in the race despite a poor performance in the presidential debate.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading 2.10% lower at $60,860.66, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read next:
Image created using photos from Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
News and market data brought to you by Benzinga’s APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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