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Spot Bitcoin ETF Poised for Nasdaq Listing

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Several companies have submitted applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in recent months, seeking approval for spot Bitcoin offerings. The pace of activity is not slowing down, with newcomers like Franklin Templeton joining the race. In a recent interview with Forbes, Giang Bui, Nasdaq’s Head of U.S. Equities and Exchange-Traded Products, emphasized the fierce competition within the ETF industry.

Nasdaq has been collaborating closely with issuers and various market participants in the ETF space, positioning itself to act swiftly once permitted. Bui stated, “In this industry, everyone is constantly vying for the most innovative concepts, and when similar product ideas arise, the key is to reach the market as quickly as possible. Being the first mover can make a significant impact.”

Bitcoin ETFs: The Battle Between Spot and Futures Approaches

Multiple futures-based Bitcoin ETFs are already available in the market. However, it’s essential to remember that futures prices can be influenced by contango effects, potentially affecting the fund’s performance. Consequently, there may be occasions when these ETFs deviate from the spot BTC price. Notably, managing futures contracts requires more effort compared to dealing with spot options. As of the latest available data, Proshares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF has delivered a 28.03% year-to-date return, whereas Bitcoin itself has surged by 58.04% in the same period.

Bitcoin ETF

Giang Bui suggested that a spot Bitcoin ETF might offer greater efficiency and appeal compared to investing directly in Bitcoin. Furthermore, the spot ETF can serve both as a trading instrument and a hedge. Drawing a comparison with futures-based options, Bui explained, “Historically, when there’s a choice between a commodity ETF in spot and futures variants, we tend to observe more assets flowing into the spot version.” Nasdaq is currently monitoring various milestones, and Bui mentioned that they are particularly interested in the mid-January date, which marks the 240th day for the Ark 21 shares filing. She added,

“Our 240th day is mid-March. So we really rely on some of those milestones because those are marks that the SEC has to make some kind of action in the filing.“

Crypto Caution: Nasdaq Hits Pause On Custody Dreams Amidst Regulatory Maze

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Nasdaq, the renowned global securities marketplace, has decided to suspend the launch of its long-awaited crypto custody service. The announcement came during the firm’s Q2 results call, leaving investors and the crypto community taken aback. 

CEO Adena Friedman, in a candid revelation, cited regulatory risks in the United States as the primary reason behind the company’s decision to halt the launch. The move came as a precautionary measure considering the rapidly evolving business and regulatory landscape surrounding digital assets in the country.

During the e­arnings call, Friedman acknowledged the­ importance of regulatory compliance. He­ emphasized Nasdaq’s strong commitment to supporting and nurturing digital asse­t businesses.

Despite the temporary setback, the CEO reassured stakeholders that Nasdaq would forge ahead in its pursuit of becoming a leading provider of digital asset software solutions worldwide. The custody solution, as a technology platform, remains a core focus for serving the broader global digital assets marketplace.

Market observers now keenly await any further developments and the eventual resumption of Nasdaq’s cryptocurrency custody plans. Industry experts believe that the securities marketplace giant will be well-positioned to venture confidently into the booming digital asset space once regulatory clarity is achieved.

Nasdaq’s Q2 2023 Shows Positive Signs Amid Crypto Pause

In the meantime, Nasdaq’s financial results for the second quarter of 2023 showed positive signs of growth in several areas. Net revenues for the quarter witnessed a notable 4% increase compared to the same period in 2022. The Solutions business segment experienced a commendable 6% growth, further bolstered by organic growth of the same percentage.

However, Nasdaq’s decision to halt its cryptocurrency custody launch has undoubtedly sparked discussions within the industry. The move reflects the complex and evolving nature of the cryptocurrency market, which continues to grapple with regulatory uncertainties. 

The company me­ticulously observes the changing re­gulations. It has stirred hope among market participants, who anticipate­ that Nasdaq’s re-entry into the crypto space­ will usher in a new era of institutional involve­ment and widespread adoption.

Despite the temporary pause in its cryptocurrency ventures, the se­cond-quarter financial results indicate a positive­ outlook for the company. Nasdaq’s strategic moves will undoubte­dly shape the future of cryptocurre­ncies and blockchain technology on a global scale.

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Peter Schiff Predicts Bitcoin’s Sharp Decline Despite Its Growth Compared To Other Assets

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Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff, an outspoken critic of Bitcoin, has once again predicted a sharp decline in the value of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. It comes on the heels of MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor’s tweet, where he compared Bitcoin’s performance to that of several other assets.

According to Saylor’s comparison, BTC has seen a 67% growth since August 2020, when MicroStrategy adopted its Bitcoin strategy. In contrast, the S&P 500 has seen a 15% increase, Nasdaq has only seen a 2% increase, and Gold has dropped by 10%. Bonds have seen an 18% decrease, and Silver has seen a 29% decrease.

Schiff replied to Saylor’s tweet by questioning the relevance of Bitcoin to MSTR shareholders, considering the significant financial losses the company incurred through its purchase of the cryptocurrency. 

Schiff went on to suggest that MSTR’s financial standing would be much more potent today had the company chosen to invest in Gold instead.

Despite his recent comments, Schiff’s past statements about Bitcoin were brought up by community members. In a tweet from 2018, Schiff warned against buying BTC below $3,800, stating that even at $750, it would still be considered expensive as its price could potentially drop another 80% from there.

Schiff responded by asking them, “What will you do with that tweet after BTC is back below $3,800?” The comment highlights the volatile nature of cryptocurrency and the difficulty of making accurate predictions.

While Schiff’s skepticism of Bitcoin may have some merit, the cryptocurrency has proven to be a valuable asset for many investors, including MicroStrategy. Only time will tell whether Schiff’s prediction of a steep decline in Bitcoin’s value will come true or if the cryptocurrency will continue to defy expectations and reach new heights.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

On Friday, the value of BTC experienced a surprising drop, falling below $19,700 for the first time in eight weeks. This unexpected slump has left many feeling caught off guard, particularly considering that just days prior, Bitcoin was trading at a much higher price point of $25,126.85. 

However, despite this setback, there are indications that BTC may be on the road to recovery. Currently, BTC is trading at $22,163.77, with a 7.67% increase in the 24-hour chart. Additionally, 90% growth in trading volume in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketcap.

Source: CoinMarketcap

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Bitcoin’s 32% YTD Return Outshines Major Stock Indices & Gold

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Bitcoin’s year-to-date return came at 32.23%, way ahead of some of the biggest stock indices of the world and gold, as of March 6.

As highlighted by MarketWatch, BTC surpassed NASDAQ whose YTD stood at around 12%, followed by the S&P 500 with a 5.8% gain, and the Dow Jones which surged by only 0.12% this year.

Gold, on the other hand, significantly lagged behind Bitcoin with a YTD return of just 1.17%. 

However, on the price front, Bitcoin along with the broader crypto market has been in a state of uncertainty over the past few days, as the dominant asset struggled to bounce back after a sudden price dip.

The decline has been attributed to the collapse of Silvergate Bank’s share prices, which has sparked concerns about the sustainability of the bank’s operations.

Recently, leading data analytics platform Santiment highlighted the reason behind the fall in the price.

Following a scintillating rise above $25,000 in mid-February, Bitcoin has been witnessing ups and downs, with prices going as low as $21,000 at one time.

The ongoing market downturn is causing some analysts to speculate that BTC may continue to decline, possibly hitting levels as low as $19,500.

On March 3rd, BTC took a nose dive from $23,435 to $22,259 in just an hour, coinciding with the 60% drop in Silvergate’s share prices.

Experts’ Doomsday Prediction For Bitcoin

The crypto-focused bank reported a loss of $1 billion in the fourth quarter as panicked investors rushed to withdraw deposits in the wake of crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy.

Several of its clients such as Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Crypto.com, Bitstamp, Cboe Digital Markets, Galaxy Digital, and Gemini suspended ACH transfers and other commercial dealings with the bank.

It needs to be mentioned that Federal prosecutors in Washington are currently probing the La Jolla, Calif.-based Silvergate and its dealings with the now-defunct FTX and trading firm Alameda Research.

Experts further warned that BTC could see a sharp drop, possibly hitting $19.5K, if it fails to maintain its position around the $22.3K range.

One report even compared the negative market tailwinds to that of Sword of Damocles to describe how it would affect the asset.

As the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin remains susceptible to further decline, particularly if negative news regarding the crypto sector emerges, like a Sword of Damocles hanging over its head.

Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Sells Its Helios Facility For $65M

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Argo Blockchain, a leader in Bitcoin mining, declared that it had signed binding agreements with Galaxy Digital Holdings. A subsidiary of Argo will sell its Helios facility in Dickens County, Texas, under the terms of the agreement for $65 million to restructure its asset-backed debts.

According to the press release, Argo’s mining equipment will also be hosted at Helios by Galaxy. In addition, it will be given a new asset-backed loan with a total of $35 million and an initial period of 36 months.

However, 23,619 Bitmain S19J Pro mining machines in Helios and a few housed in Argo’s Canadian data centres will be collateral for this loan.

Moreover, the Bitcoin miner can mitigate any mining machine downtime caused by the sale of the Helios facility because of the two-year hosting contract with Galaxy.

The funds from the sale of Helios, together with a part of the borrowing, will be used to repay the debt ($84 million) and interest payments ($1 million). Additionally, a collateral account managed by NYDIG ABL LLC will transfer $6 million to the company upon this repayment. 

The deal with Galaxy is transformative for Argo and advantageous to the company in a number of ways, according to Argo’s CEO, Peter Wall.

He said:

It reduces our debt by $41 million (£34 million) and provides us with a stronger balance sheet and enhanced liquidity to help ensure continued operations through the ongoing bear market.  

Bitcoin Miner’s Share Suspension Announcement

Yesterday, Argo Blockchain tweeted that Nasdaq has temporarily suspended the trading of its American depositary shares (ADS). Due to today’s news, the company claimed that trading must be put on hold. 

The move comes in the period when the company was troubled by financial issues and was the subject of bankruptcy rumours because of rising energy prices and declining Bitcoin BTC pricing.

Rumours were refuted by the team, which stated that it had not yet filed for bankruptcy but admitted that it might not have enough cash in the following month to fund continuous operations.

Additionally, since its shares had fallen below $1 for 30 straight days, it said last week that Nasdaq would be paying it more unfavourable attention. Within the next 180 days, the firm would be delisted from Nasdaq if its share price did not settle over $1.

Related Reading | FTX Hack: Federal Prosecutors Investigating Alleged Cybercrime Worth Over $370M 

Coinbase Global Now Has Options Trading, Affirms Nasdaq

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Prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, raised eyebrows when it announced that it was going public. The exchange ditched the IPO path and decided to Direct List the exchange under the ticker symbol, ‘COIN’. Nasdaq and Coinbase, both witnessed a massive plunge as the asset surged from $381 to $424. While this debut proved to be successful, the exchange has reportedly decided to roll out options trading on Nasdaq.

Reuters, in its latest report, revealed that Coinbase Global would enable COIN.O options further allowing its trading on Nasdaq.

Coinbase Expands Its Features On Nasdaq

Coinbase is touted as the largest crypto exchange in the United States. Despite its popularity, the exchange faced widespread criticism for its untimely downtime. Nonetheless, the exchange bounced back with its direct Nasdaq listing. Regardless of the fact that the first day appeared to be extremely beneficial for the exchange, users expressed concern about volatility. This did not stop the crypto platform from expanding.

Users will now be able to make a bet on the fortunes of the crypto platform with the latest equity options feature. Furthermore, it was revealed that the exchange would allow its users to trade options under, COIN,O starting from 20 April 2021.

Additionally, volatility seemed to be a grave problem for the exchange’s latest venture. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance was quick enough to announce the listing of the Coinbase Stock Token [COIN], however, the exchange went on to later assert that the listing would be postponed citing volatility concerns.

At the time of writing, COIN was trading for $333 and continued to emerge as a promising asset. The exchange decided to lure in several indiviuals with a Bitcoin giveaway. The exchange tweeted,

“To celebrate $COIN, we’re giving away $1.5M in bitcoin. Sign up for a new Coinbase account before April 22 for a chance to win. Contest rules and details are at https://bit.ly/2QwFGdm Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Restrictions apply.”

Binance Postpones Coinbase’s COIN Stock Token Listing Citing ‘Volatility’ Concerns

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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it has postponed the listing of Coinbase Stock Token [COIN] due to market volatility issues. The official press release stated that investors will be notified once the COIN/BUSD pair is available for trading on the platform.

This came just hours after the exchange announced adding support for tokenized version of Coinbase stock for trading. This was the second stock token listing after TSLA which were zero-commission digital tokens that are fully backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities representing the outstanding tokens.

Events that unfolded after the high-profile Coinbase’s debut on Nasdaq

The Coinbase listing occurred without the IPO route. The cryptocurrency exchange, instead, went ahead with the Direct Listing route under the ticker symbol ‘COIN’. 

COIN’s reference price was set at $250 by Nasdaq. However, the shares made a debut of more than 50% higher at $381 before making a climb to $424. It was no less than a landmark event for the cryptocurrency market with Coinbase’s valuation briefly rising to above whopping $112 billion.

Failing to retain this level following the excessive market frenzy, COIN dropped to $313 subsequently closing at $328.28 per share on Wednesday, with the valuation of the exchange at $85.8 billion on a fully diluted basis.

In the wee hours of 15th April, however, the shares of the platform rose to $361 in premarket trading. This could have been triggered due to the three funds at Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management buying the shares. According to reports, the flagship Ark Innovation ETF, Ark Fintech Innovation ETF as well as Ark Next Generation Internet ETF made a massive purchase of a combined 749,205 shares of Coinbase.

Despite the high-profile launch, concerns regarding volatility in the realm of digital assets and regulatory uncertainty continued to linger in the Brian Armstrong-led company’s share price. However, several experts weighed in that Coinbase’s growth has been quite impressive and despite its competitors creeping in closer, it still has an upper hand.

In the latest edition of CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”, Carol Alexander, a professor at the University of Sussex Business School, opined that risk management from a regulatory and the operational point of view is “much better on Coinbase” as opposed to its rivals.

Alexander also went on to add,

“They’ve got this solid revenue stream from the fees and the custodial services as well. There’s no real competitor to them on the centralized exchanges because Kraken, Gemini — I don’t think they’re the next ones to go.

Binance Adds Support For Coinbase Stock Token Hours Before NASDAQ Listing

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Coinbase’s IPO is a big moment for the entire cryptocurrency industry. Its decision to enter the market through a direct listing sparked enough curiosity and has generated high expectations.

Taking the opportunity, its counterpart, Binance has announced support for Coinbase Stock Token [COIN] on the 14th of April which will market the beginning of the COIN/BUSD trading pair. According to the official press release by Binance, the stock tokens are zero-commission digital tokens that are completely backed by a depository portfolio of underlying securities representing the outstanding tokens.

COIN holders would qualify for economic returns on the underlying shares, which includes dividends. This is the second such listing by Binance which had announced zero-commission, tradable stock tokens on the 13th of April starting with Tesla.

Coinbase happens to be one of the most valuable companies and the first-ever in the crypto industry to enter the US stock exchange.

Things To Expect After Coinbase Debut

The highly-anticipated development has triggered Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry to go for a record-breaking surge. The market expects to see dramatic, and potentially protracted, swings in the days to come as the space strives for mainstream adoption.

Coming back to Coinbase’s D-Day, Nasdaq had set a reference price for the firm at $250 per share.

If the shares in circulation, coupled with stock options and restricted shares, are taken into consideration, it can be found that the cryptocurrency exchange’s overall valuation will start a little above $65 billion. In addition, of the SF-based exchange hits the public market around its latest private market valuation of $100 billion, it would straight away be one of the 85 most valuable US companies.

It is safe to say that with a figure as huge as this, Coinbase not only has more users and revenues than many of the largest Wall Street biggies but also becomes the biggest US stock market entrant since ride-hailing business company Uber back in 2019.

Kraken’s Head of Growth Dan Held tweeted about about potential spillover effect into other crypto sectors following Coinbase’s big debut:

“Exchange valuations will likely be surging post-Coinbase IPO. That + general organic upswell of users could cause a spillover into other types of Crypto companies like wallets, custodians, etc.”

Coinbase Estimates $1.8B In First Quarter Revenue Ahead Of Equity Market Debut

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US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase revealed amassing a revenue of $1.8 billion in just the first quarter of 2021. According to the preliminary report, the platform estimated to report net income somewhere close to $730 million and $800 million on revenue of $1.8 billion in contrast to a dwarf of just $190.6 million revenue from the same time last year.

In fact, the first quarter financial have surpassed for all of 2020 when the company earned $322 million on revenue of $1.3 billion. In short, Coinbase did more revenue in the first quarter of this year than in all of 2020. With this, the latest revenue surged by more than nine-fold from a year earlier. This news comes a week prior to the cryptocurrency exchange’s public listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker COIN.

In the second quarter of 2021, Coinbase expects nearly $35 million of one-time expenses related to its direct listing. The company revealed that it intends to “augment” historically strong organic growth with customer acquisition and engagement by meaningfully increasing its investment in sales and marketing.

What drove Coinbase’s earnings and revenues?

Coinbase’s fortunes are tied closely to the swings of the crypto market and hence the meteoric rise of Bitcoin to $60,000 is what led the first-quarter revenue to climb to a record high. While the world’s largest crypto-asset was up by more than 700% over the past year, Ethereum raked in gains of more than 1000% around the same time frame.

This, in turn, catapulted the collective market cap to hit an astonishing $2 trillion and this amplification of the manic rally is what hellped the exchange to profit handsomely.

Coinbase also said,

“We expect meaningful growth in 2021 driven by transaction and custody revenue given the increased institutional interest in the crypto asset class”

According to reports, the company said that it has 56 million verified users which is 4x more than Robinhood. Meanwhile, the monthly active users on the platform has increased to over 6 million, thanks to the bull market. The figure surged from 1.3 million in the first quarter.

Bitcoin Usurps Charts To Become Best-Performing Asset In Last 10 Yrs

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Bitcoin [BTC] has created a niche for itself over the past. Exceeding the $1.3 trillion market cap has been another crucial milestone for the digital asset in the backdrop of massive institutional support.

Despite the fact that the crypto-asset underwent a correction from over $61,000 to a modest $57,680, in less than 24-hours, the technicals have never been more positive and have aided in triggering a buying season. On the derivatives side as well, trade volume in Bitcoin options was found to be surging steadily consistent with the trade volume on spot and derivatives exchanges.

Bitcoin Vs Other Assets

With its monumental rise above $60K, Bitcoin has now usurped the charts to become the best-performing asset in the last decade. Since 2010, the crypto-asset registered an average annualized return of 230%. With this, it became the only asset in the charts to have noted triple-figure gains. The only other year Bitcoin did not experience at least a triple-figure gain was in 2019 where it recorded a surge of 95% over the year.

Notably, in the year 2013, it saw a massive 5507% increase.

The data was published by Charlie Bilello, Founder and CEO of Compound Capital Advisors in his latest tweet:

Bitcoin has defeated all the other asset classes by at least a factor of 10. In doing so, it surpassed the US Nasdaq 100 Index which recorded an average annualized return of just 20%.

Trailing far behind in the chart of the last decade were the shares in the US-headquartered companies with market caps more than $10 billion, i.e., US Large Caps has generated an average annualized return of 14%. US Small-Cap stocks followed suit with just a 12.9% annualized return for the past ten years.

Other asset classes projected single-digit returns over the same time period. The precious metal, Gold, for instance, stood at an average annual return of just 1.5% in the last decade as opposed to Bitcoin’s stunning three-digit gains. While Bitcoin’s price recorded 109% YTD gains, Gold stood in the red with a net loss of 9.5%.