Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
Bitcoin BTC $67,570 exchange-traded products investment vehicles that track the price or provide exposure to BTC have surpassed 1 million in Bitcoin holdings globally. Since spot Bitcoin ETFs first launched in the United States in mid-January, the 11 ETFs have sucked up 855,619 Bitcoin, accumulating an average of 6,200 BTC per day.
Grayscale's GBTC remains the fund's largest asset, holding 289,040 coins worth about $19.9 billion at the time. However, it is quickly being overtaken by BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which holds 287,168 BTC worth about $19.8 billion, and if inflows stabilize and GBTC outflows continue, it could be expected this week.
Grayscale has lost approximately 330,960 BTC, representing 53% of his previous holdings, since converting his GBTC to a spot ETF in mid-January. A graph showing how much BTC is held by amount at various addresses shows that self-custody will not increase from 2023 to 2024.
Ledger Chief Experience Officer Ian Rogers has begun shipping the new Ledger Stax hardware wallet to customers who pre-ordered it over a year ago, after significant delays from its original release date. The release of Stax was delayed from its original March 2023 schedule due to manufacturing issues. He said that the extra time allowed them to ensure that the operating system is refined with more features.
Fourteen months after the original release date, Ledger announced in a press release that it had now finally started shipping to customers who placed pre-orders. The executive said they shipped the device in its version 1.4 state, which Rogers claims is more refined than other new devices that normally launch in a version 0.9 state.
When asked about Fadell's role in the project, Rogers said the iPod inventor designed Stax. The CEO believes things wouldn't have been so great if Ledger had built its own devices. Rogers said Fadell's contributions brought the experience and appeal of hardware wallets to a whole new demographic of users.
Spot Ether ETFs might be weeks or months away from debuting on exchanges, as the ETF filers have yet to receive their S-1 SEC registration. In a landmark decision for the second time this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has given the green light to approve Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the country.
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 ETH $3,864 ETFs to be listed and traded on their respective exchanges.
Bitcoin ETFs require approval from the Gensler Commission, while Ether ETFs receive separate approval from the SEC. Another key difference in the certification process followed by the two ETFs is that all 10Bit ETFs also receive S-1 certification and therefore begin trading the next day.