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News | Crypto Converter | Crypto Calculators |
Is Ethereum ETF staking likely in 2025 after SEC acknowledges 21Shares proposal? |
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Key points: |
US SEC acknowledged 21Shares' proposal to permit staking on Ethereum ETF. If approved, ETH held by ETFs could attract a 3% annual yield and be shared with investors.
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News - On February 19, the US SEC acknowledged 21Shares' 194-b filing submitted through the Cboe BZX exchange, seeking to allow staking on its ETH ETF. This has raised optimism about potential approval by the end of the year. |
ETH ETF staking - Last week, Grayscale made a similar application through NYSE Arca for its ETH ETFs, signaling a momentum that could be a game changer for the altcoin. The annual ETH staking rewards or 'yield' currently stands at 3% and could be shared with investors. |
This is an extra revenue opportunity that institutional investors in the US have sought to capitalize on. But they haven't been able to due to a lack of regulatory clarity on staking services. |
Expert views - Kean Gilbert, an institutional relations officer at Lido Dao, an Ethereum-based liquid staking provider, reinforced the strong demand for yield products. |
"We're seeing strong demand for solutions that combine the regulatory clarity of ETFs with the yield-generating capabilities of Ethereum staking," Gilbert told Forbes. |
On his part, Brian Rudick, senior strategist at crypto market maker GSR, noted that such a move would make Ethereum 'competitive.' |
"It's about making Ethereum ETFs truly competitive with direct cryptocurrency holdings, potentially unlocking billions in institutional capital that's currently sitting on the sidelines." |
That said, institutional ownership in ETH ETF increased from 4.8% to 14.5% in the last quarter, per the latest 13F filings. Whether the demand trend will continue amid staking speculation remains to be seen. |
Bitcoin could drop to $86K amid muted demand, network activity - CryptoQuant |
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Key points: |
Bitcoin has defended $90K-$100K price range, but a dip to $86K could be likely. Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index falls to a four-month low, marking record low sentiment since last November's pump.
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News - Bitcoin has remained below $100K for two weeks. However, a slump in network activity and sluggish liquidity conditions could drag BTC to $86K, according to crypto analytics firm CrypoQuant. |
BTC risk signals - BTC's sharp drop to $93K earlier in the week saw slight demand, triggering a rebound to $97K as of this writing. However, downward pressure and a potential dip to $86K could be likely, according to the CryptoQuant report. |
The report cited weak BTC demand from the ETF complex as one of the warning signals. Strong US spot BTC ETF has been associated with steady BTC rallies in early and late 2024. |
Unlike the peak ETF demand in December with 279K BTC, the appetite for the products slumped to 70K BTC in February 2025. |
For the week ending on February 14, US BTC ETFs saw $585M outflows. So far this week, the products logged an extra $131M in outflows, reinforcing the low-demand trend. |
The sluggish liquidity condition was also highlighted by stablecoin growth, which is the main drive during bull runs. The 60-day average chance in USDT market cap declined by nearly 90% from +$20B to $1.5B, underscoring low capital inflows. |
Additionally, Bitcoin network activity dropped 17% from its peak last November, signaling muted on-chain activity. |
Weak sentiment -The extended losses have dragged market sentiment to a four-month low, as the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index indicated. |
However, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, believes that BTC was still in its early innings of the bull market. He stated, |
"Some #bitcoin fundamentals data for those who aren't bullish enough... Sellers can only sell once and the ongoing buy pressure from ETFs, treasury companies and DCA is 4-5x mined rate of supply, on exchange, BTC shrinking, etc and institutions just starting. You are not bullish enough!" |
Solana ETF approval is likely in October as filings enter Federal Register |
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Key points: |
Solana ETF filings have entered the Federal Register, triggering the 240-day waiting period for approval or denial by the SEC. Polymarket odds of SOL ETF approval in 2025 was 83%.
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News - Recently acknowledged SOL ETF 19b-4 filings from various issuers have entered the Federal Register. Now, market watchers are eyeing mid-October for the SEC decision on the applications. |
SOL ETF filings advance - The US SOL ETF filings from Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, Bitwise, and Canary Capital have officially entered the Federal Register. |
According to experts, this has triggered the 240-day waiting window for the agency to green-light or dismiss the application by October 16. |
The update has boosted market optimism on more altcoin ETFs. But, like in XRP ETF applications, BlackRock didn't submit SOL ETF filings, maintaining its stance that its investors were only focused on BTC and ETH. |
Meanwhile, Polymarket odds of U.S. spot Solana ETF approval in 2025 were 83% at press time. This underscored massive market optimism of a likely positive outcome despite the ongoing criticism of the Solana ecosystem after the LIBRA memecoin scandal. |
However, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart placed a 70% odds of SOL ETF approval. The analysts noted that the approval could soar if Solana's 'security' status is clarified. |
SOL price - The altcoin dropped from $200K to a low of $160 after the LIBRA scandal. Despite stabilizing above $160 at press time, Options traders appeared well positioned for further downward risks ahead of +$2B token unlock in March. |
In the past 24 hours, puts (bearish bets) targeting $140 were the most bought, followed by those eyeing $160 targets. Simply put, traders expected these extremes to be tapped after the unlock. |
Crypto VC says memecoins are 'unquestionably over' after LIBRA fallout |
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Key points: |
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News - After being the most dominating narrative in late 2023 and throughout 2024, memecoins could have a hard time in the short term as the LIBRA fall-out continues. |
Memecoin play - Memecoins maintained their dominance because they were touted as the best way for retail to trade and shun the VC-backed tokens. |
It was a rebellious stance against VC-backed tokens that were always dumped on retail during token unlocks or listing on top exchanges. Unfortunately, the LIBRA fiasco showed the memecoin game was rigged, too. |
Hayden Davis of Kelsius Ventures, the marker maker behind LIBRA, admitted to sniping (insider trading) it and extracted over $100M. Interestingly, he did the same for TRUMP memecoin and others. |
Market commentary -Top Solana ecosystem players, like Meteora and Jupiter, have been implicated but have denied the allegations. Now, Nic Carter, partner at crypto VC Castle Islands, believes that the fallout has killed the famous 'memecoin trade.' |
"Memecoins are unquestionably over. Obviously, they won't fully disappear, but the trade is gone," stated Carter. |
He added that he would be 'surprised' if Pumpfun, Raydium, and other ecosystem memecoin players would be 'functional' for a year. |
On his part, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that memecoins have a part to play in driving the adoption of on-chain. However, he castigated memecoin teams driving insider trading. |
"Some memecoins have clearly gone too far lately, to the extent people are insider trading. This is illegal, and people should understand that you will go to prison for this." |
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More stories from the crypto ecosystem |
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Interesting facts |
About 94% of the Bitcoin supply has already been mined. Out of its 21 million BTC fixed supply, only 1.2 million BTC is yet to be mined. Given its fixed supply schedule, all BTC will be mined by around 2140 - Over a century left (115 years). Solana inflation jumped nearly 1% after a recent validators' move to get 100% of priority fees. The SIMD (Solana Improvement Document 96) scrapped the 50% priority fee burn and awarded validators to advance network efficiency and security. However, the short-term impact has been an uptick in Solana inflation, which could further drag SOL's value per analysts. While the US national BTC strategic reserve debate has faded, state-led bills have ramped up, with Utah, Arizona, and Montana in advanced stages. VanEck estimates that 20 state-led BTC reserves could drive a $23B demand for the king coin if they are adopted.
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Top 3 coins of the day |
Bitensor (TAO) |
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Key points: |
TAO was up 31% in the past three days and topped the daily top performers on CoinMarketCap. The AI coin has been making higher lows, a bullish trend that could fuel further pump.
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What you should know: |
TAO appeared ready to reverse the losses incurred during the DeepSeek AI chatbot debut. Contrary to the weaker sentiment in the broader market, TAO recovered 31% in the past three days. Besides, the AI token has been making higher lows, a bullish trend that suggested it could sustain the recovery. At press time, it was valued at $460 and reclaimed the pre-November rally levels. With daily RSI climbing above the neutral level for the first time since early January, the strong demand could set $493 as the immediate target. |
Aptos (APT) |
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Key points: |
Since December, APT has dropped 64% from $15 to $5. The altcoin bounced +25% in the past two days but faced key overhead hurdles.
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What you should know: |
APT was amongst the daily top performers on CoinMarketCap and was up +25% in the past two days as of this writing. However, the pump faced price rejection at $7, marking it as a potential resistance level. The daily RSI positioning further reinforced the overhead hurdle at $7. The indicator has faced rejections at the neutral level for the past two months. A sustained trend could keep APT muted below $7. However, an extended BTC recovery could embolden bulls to clear the hurdles at $7 or $8. |
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Movement (MOVE) |
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Key points: |
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What you should know: |
MOVE was one of the daily losers on the price chart, extending its December losses to 65%. Additionally, the daily RSI maintained its downtrend, suggesting that the altcoin was under sell pressure and was far from hitting a local bottom for possible reversal. Should the sell pressure be sustained, a drop to $0.33 couldn't be overruled. However, a jump above the trendline resistance (white dotted line), could offer bulls a renewed chance to recover early 2025 losses. |
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