After months of anticipation, the US Securities and Exchange Commission finally stamped its approval for the first set of spot Bitcoin ETFs. Let’s find out more.

BITCOIN

After a misleading tweet from the SEC on January 9, the regulatory body officially gave the green light for America’s first regulated spot Bitcoin ETFs.

All applicants for the proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) submitted their final amended S-1 applications by the given deadline.

The world’s second-largest asset manager, Vanguard, has stated it will not allow customers to purchase any spot Bitcoin ETFs launched on Thursday.

Bitwise Asset Management has pledged to donate 10% of profits from the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to non-profits supporting the open-source development of BTC.

ETHEREUM

In a recent AMA, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested raising the Ethereum gas limit by 33% to 40 million to improve network throughput and overall scalability.

As the SEC announced the approval of all Spot Bitcoin ETFs, $BTC remained flat. On the other hand, $ETH set off like a rocket ship, gaining more than 10% in a day.

DEFI

PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, which has been trailing more established stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, is leveraging DeFi to give itself a liquidity boost.

The CFTC has released a detailed report on the challenges faced by DeFi, highlighting major concerns around the need for more accountability and clear lines of duty.

TECHNOLOGY

Blockchain security firm SlowMist revealed despite US sanctions, crypto mixer Tornado Cash managed to launder over $500 million worth of crypto in 2023.

Polygon Labs has unveiled the Libre Chain, a protocol powered by the Polygon CDK and backed by the biggest names in institutional blockchain adoption.

The FOX Corporation and the Polygon blockchain have partnered to launch ‘Verify’ – a tool designed to establish the authenticity and origin of digital content.

BUSINESS

Stablecoin firm Circle has revealed that it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the SEC.

Bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius has filed an intent to retrieve funds from those who withdrew $100,000 or more in the three-month period leading up to the firm’s bankruptcy filing.

Ethics-first blockchain ecosystem HAQQ has struck a strategic partnership with the pioneer decentralized home delivery service GoMeat to streamline the availability of halal meat and other food products in the US.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) completed all its short-term loans to Genesis. In an announcement, DCG said it repaid the crypto broker a $700 million loan.

NFT

In a significant development, video game retailer GameStop has decided to take a step back from crypto and shutter its NFT marketplace.

WEB3

Binance Futures, the dedicated derivatives arm of leading crypto exchange Binance, has announced a bumper campaign to promote its recent introduction of USDC-margined perpetual trading pairs.

SECURITY

Hedera and Algorand join forces to introduce a decentralized recovery protocol, DeRec, streamlining digital asset security across Web3.

REGISTRATION

Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized the SEC for its decision to approve the spot Bitcoin ETFs, stating that the commission was “wrong on the law” regarding the approval.

Known for her pro-crypto perspective, SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce expressed her discontent with the SEC's handling of spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

In a recent move, Apple has removed the apps of nine major cryptocurrency exchanges, including industry giants like Binance and Kraken, from its App Store in India.

United States Senators J.D. Vance and Thom Tillis have called on the SEC to provide a report about the Jan 9th breach of its X account.