#ETF launch

[dencyemily]

Franklin Templeton Seeks Approval for Launching Spot Ethereum ETF

In a significant move within the ETF market, Franklin Templeton has submitted a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval for a Spot Ethereum ETF launch. The proposed "Franklin Ethereum ETF" is slated for listing and trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. upon regulatory approval, according to the filed S-1 document.

Franklin Templeton views the Ethereum ETF as an investment comparable to a direct investment in Ether, providing investors with exposure to the cryptocurrency without the complexities of direct ownership. The filing emphasizes the ETF's role in simplifying the challenges and operational burdens associated with investing in Ether directly.

The asset manager's initiative falls in line with a broader trend, as major players such as Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark, 21Shares, VanEck, Invesco, Galaxy, and Hashdex have already sought SEC approval for Spot Ethereum ETF launches. James Seyffart, Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst, brought attention to Franklin Templeton's entry into the Ethereum ETF landscape in a recent X post.

According to the filing, Coinbase Custody Trust Company and the Bank of New York Mellon are designated as custodians for Ether and cash holdings, respectively. Additionally, Franklin Templeton has expressed its intention to engage in staking a portion of the ETF's Ether, potentially generating additional income in the form of staking rewards.

While the SEC's decision on Ethereum ETFs faces reported delays, Seyffart suggests that further delays are to be expected. He highlights May 23 as a pivotal date for potential approvals related to Spot Ethereum ETFs.

[finovatedaily]

XRP ETFs Launch Globally Amid SEC Approvals and Ripple Victory

XRP ETFs Launch Globally Amid SEC Approvals and Ripple Victory The cryptocurrency world is witnessing a major transformation with the rapid rise of XRP ETFs. Following Ripple’s decisive victory over the SEC, XRP is gaining mainstream acceptance with the launch of multiple futures-based ETFs in the U.S. and a spot ETF in Brazil. These developments mark a pivotal moment for XRP’s global adoption…

[chicagostarmedia1]

CBOE announces spot Ethereum ETF launch

Breaking news from the financial world—CBOE has just announced plans for a spot Ethereum ETF. This move may turn out to be the game-changing moment for Ethereum enthusiasts and investors alike, changing the face of crypto investing forever.

Now, introducing a spot Ether ETF could pose both opportunities and challenges in the market, which shall arguably affect everything from trading dynamics to their regulation.

Want the full scoop on the announcement, including what it could mean for the Ethereum ecosystem and investors? Our extended coverage drills deep into the particulars of the ETF, its expected benefits, and what you should know to stay ahead in this fast-moving crypto space.

Don't miss this important information—click to get the whole story and learn more about this breakthrough in finance!

[reasonsforhope]

"Scientists have developed a way to dramatically reduce the cost of recycling certain electronic waste by using whey protein.

Their method allows for the easy recovery of gold from circuit boards at a cost of energy and materials amounting to 50 times less than the price of the gold they recover—these are the numbers that big business likes to see.

Indeed, the potential for scalability depends on this sort of cost savings, something traditional e-waste recycling methods just can’t achieve.

Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from ETH Zurich has found that whey protein, a byproduct of dairy manufacturing, can be used to make sponges that attract trace amounts of ionized gold.

Electronic waste contains a variety of valuable metals, including copper, cobalt, and gold. Despite gold’s public persona as being either money or jewelry, thousands of ounces of gold are used in electronics every year for its exceptional conductive properties.

Mezzenga’s colleague Mohammad Peydayesh first “denatured whey proteins under acidic conditions and high temperatures, so that they aggregated into protein nanofibrils in a gel,” writes the ETH Zurich press. “The scientists then dried the gel, creating a sponge out of these protein fibrils.”

The next step was extracting the gold: done by tossing 20 salvaged motherboards into an acid bath until the metals had dissolved into ionized compounds that the sponge began attracting.

Removing the sponge, a heat treatment caused the gold ions to aggregate into 22-carat gold flakes which could be easily removed.

“The fact I love the most is that we’re using a food industry byproduct to obtain gold from electronic waste,” Mezzenga says. In a very real sense, he observes, the method transforms two waste products into gold. “You can’t get much more sustainable than that!” ...

However the real dollar value comes from the bottom line—which was 50 times more than the cost of energy and source materials. Because of this, the scientists have every intention of bringing the technology to the market as quickly as possible while also desiring to see if the protein fibril sponge can be made of other food waste byproducts.

E-waste is a quickly growing burden in global landfills, and recycling it requires extremely energy-intensive machinery that many recycling facilities do not possess.

The environmental value of the minerals contained within most e-waste comes not only from preventing the hundreds of years it takes for them to break down in the soil, but also from the reduction in demand from new mining operations which can, though not always, significantly degrade the environments they are located in.

[Note: Absolutely massive understatement, mining is incredibly destructive to ecosystems. Mining is also incredibly toxic to human health and a major cause of conflict, displacement, and slavery globally.]

Other countries are trying to incentivize the recycling of e-waste, and are using gold to do so. In 2022, GNN reported that the British Royal Mint launched an electronically traded fund (ETF) with each share representing the value of gold recovered from e-waste as a way for investors to diversify into gold in a way that doesn’t support environmentally damaging mining.

The breakthrough is reminiscent of that old fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin who can spin straw into gold. All that these modern-day, real-life alchemists are doing differently is using dairy and circuit boards rather than straw."

-via Good News Network, July 19, 2024

[saywhat-politics]

The announcement comes after complaints from Republicans that banks have treated some conservatives unfairly.

Truth.Fi financial products would focus on “American growth, manufacturing, and energy companies as well as investments that strengthen the Patriot Economy,” according to the release.

President Donald Trump indirectly owns 114,750,000 shares of the parent company, held in a revocable trust.

[darkmaga-returns]

President Donald Trump's appointee to be the next Director of the FBI has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Kash Patel won with no votes from Democrats and two RINO dissenters.

Feb 20, 2025

Kashing In: Kash Patel Confirmed as Director of the FBI

by JD Rucker

President Donald Trump's appointee to be the next Director of the FBI has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Kash Patel won with no votes from Democrats and two RINO dissenters. "Republican" Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against Patel's confirmation, making the final vote a nail-biting 51-49. Former...

Bird Flu: They Are Re-Running the Covid Script

by Rhoda Wilson

(SHTF Plan)—Bird flu is a rerun of COVID-19. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is basic pattern recognition. The pandemic planners have a playbook; they used it for COVID-19 and now they are using it for bird flu, with one difference. With COVID-19, they targeted us directly. With bird...

Exposed: BBC Used Child of Hamas Official in Hour Long Documentary

by All Israel News

Thanks to the thorough work of investigative journalist, David Collier, the narrator in a BBC Two documentary aired on Monday has been exposed as a Hamas child propagandist. The highly emotive documentary, entitled ‘How to Survive a Warzone,’ follows four young people in Gaza, one of whom, Abdullah, 14, is...

Subscribed

New ETF to Invest in ‘Reverse-Engineered Alien Technology’

by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge

(Zero Hedge)—In a move blending speculative finance with science fiction, Tuttle Capital has filed plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on what it describes as "reverse-engineered alien technology." The proposed UFO Disclosure AI Powered ETF, which would trade under the ticker symbol UFOD, aims to invest in companies with potential...

[mariacallous]

The price of bitcoin went over $100,000 for a few hours on Dec. 5, peaking at $103,400. The financial press can’t resist constructing a hand-waving story of market forces, so bitcoin going past $100,000 has been attributed to a market reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s lining up a slate of pro-cryptocurrency cabinet, advisory, and regulatory picks after the crypto industry put more money into funding Republican candidates in this last election cycle than anyone had previously put into an election in history.

But crypto trading is thin and almost entirely unregulated—perfect conditions for commodity market manipulation. The public image of cryptocurrency is still shaped by the 2023 trial of Sam Bankman-Fried of the failed FTX crypto exchange, culminating in his conviction—and not to mention the hangover from the NFT fiasco. Crypto is seen as the domain of cheap scammers. Ordinary people are not flocking into crypto.

Coincident with the bitcoin price news was the collapse of the Hawk Tuah crypto token. Haliey Welch, who told an oral sex joke that went viral on YouTube, leveraged her momentary fame into a career as an influencer and podcaster. This culminated in the meme-coin cryptocurrency $HAWK, marketed entirely on amusement value, which crashed on launch in what looked very like a pump-and-dump—tokens were dumped on ordinary buyers soon after launch, crashing the price.

Welch denied that insiders had dumped her token and blamed automated snipers who bought the token the moment it was released, then dumped immediately. The Hawk Tuah-token fiasco only strengthened crypto’s image as a place where fools lose their money being foolish.

The price of bitcoin has recovered since the November 2021 peak of the last bubble—but actual-dollar retail trading volumes have not. Coinbase’s retail trading volumes are $127 billion so far in 2024—much better than 2023’s $75 billion, but nothing like the 2021 bubble’s $545 billion.

Bitcoin remains a strangely useless asset that doesn’t do anything. All you can do with it is buy, sell, or hold. The only use for cryptocurrency other than pure zero-sum speculation is bitcoin’s original use case: evading regulations, most often for illegal purchases, money laundering, or dodging sanctions. One might be justified in evading some regulations in some cases—but most are there for good reason.

The largest actual-U.S.-dollar crypto exchange is Coinbase. But price discovery takes place at the venue with the largest trading volume: the offshore exchange Binance. This exchange admitted a string of money laundering offenses in 2023, was fined over $4 billion, and was placed under stringent compliance monitoring by the U.S. Department of Justice and FinCEN.

But the Binance trading floor itself remains an unregulated free-for-all as long as U.S. entities are not caught trading there. Every market manipulation that would be illegal in the United States happens at Binance and similar unregulated, offshore floating crypto casinos—wash trading, flash crashes, delayed settlements, spoofing, and the exchange trading against its own customers.

Bitcoin trading volume is substantially against two dubious U.S.-dollar stablecoins: tether and FDUSD. These are minted in round billions at a time. It is frankly not plausible that anyone put billions of U.S. dollars into tethers or FDUSD to buy bitcoins on an offshore exchange with above-board intentions. They could have just used the money to buy bitcoins directly at a U.S.-dollar crypto exchange or, safest of all, to buy bitcoin ETF shares from any securities broker. The purpose of buying billions of tethers is to manipulate the price of bitcoin.

Each stablecoin is supposedly backed by a U.S. dollar held in a bank account—except when it isn’t. Tether Inc. has long created tethers out of thin air as loans, with the listed backing asset being the loan itself. Banks do this, too, but banks are regulated. Eighteen billion tethers have been created just since Trump’s election on Nov. 5, bringing the total issuance to 135 billion. How far could you pump the price of bitcoin with 18 billion instant pseudo-dollars?

The other use case for tethers is crime. Zeke Faux’s Number Go Up details the value of tethers as a dollar substitute for those too crooked to get dollars—it’s the favored currency for “pig-butchering” romance scams run by human traffickers. The U.K. National Crime Authority and the U.S. Treasury recently cracked an international money-laundering ring that used tethers to serve drug dealers, ransomware groups, Russian espionage operations, and sanctioned entities; the NCA called tether, not bitcoin, the “cryptocurrency du jour.” The news of the bust came out just before bitcoin hit $100,000. Tether-fueled bitcoin pumps seem to coincide with bad news mentioning tethers.

Tether Inc. is sensitive to the criminal use case for its coin and frequently freezes tainted tethers on the requests of the Office of Foreign Assets Control and FinCEN—but only after the fact. This requires Tether Inc.’s operations to be much more organized than they have been previously—such as during the years when the reserve was tracked, not in proper accounts but in a shared spreadsheet that was often out of date. Despite its compliance efforts, Tether Inc. is the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation by the Manhattan office of the Southern District of New York into possible anti-money-laundering and sanctions failures.

Tether Inc. has worked to mend its reputation in the corridors of power. The company does not operate in the United States, but it does keep much of the cash portion of its reserve in U.S. Treasury bills. These are custodied by Cantor Fitzgerald, whose CEO, Howard Lutnick, wanted to become Trump’s new Treasury secretary and will be brought in for commerce. Cantor Fitzgerald recently bought a share in Tether Inc.

After the crypto industry’s success with directing unheard-of quantities of campaign funding to the cause of electing Trump, we should anticipate further such attempts to curry favor. The Trump family’s own crypto project, World Liberty Financial, was set to fail until crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, proprietor of offshore crypto exchange HTX, dived in and bought $30 million of its WLFI coin—taking World Liberty over the threshold so Trump would get a $15 million payout from the project.

Sun is given to flashy stunts, like purchasing Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped banana artwork Comedian (with cryptocurrency) and then eating the banana on stage. These give the media something to talk about other than Sun’s legal and regulatory issues, most recently the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s ongoing suit against Sun for securities violations. Sun looks forward to a more “friendly” U.S. crypto market under the new administration, with the pro-crypto Paul Atkins as Trump’s planned SEC chair.

One of the greatest channels for payback to his crypto allies may be Trump’s proposal at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in June for a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve, apparently on the basis that the nation needs a store of this speculative commodity largely used for crime. Trump originally proposed that the government hold onto bitcoins that had been seized as proceeds of crime, rather than sell them off.

The current proposal to bolster crypto is Senator Cynthia Lummis’ Bitcoin Act of 2024, in which the Treasury and the Federal Reserve would buy 200,000 bitcoins each year for five years. The U.S. government would become the bitcoin holder of last resort, and the beneficiaries would be the crypto industry—and not ordinary Americans.

The incoming U.S. administration wants to clear “experts” from the bureaucracy. If the incoming executive branch wants crypto to operate freely, it will do its best to force crypto through and remove all possible impediments. Crypto’s perennial issues with fraud and impoverishing retail investors, and regulator’s fears of the risk of contagion from crypto to the wider economy, are likely to be glossed over so as to ensure market opportunities for administration insiders.

But in the end, gravity still works, and a balloon can be inflated only so much. The bitcoin bubble is an artifact of market manipulation and has no more economic substance than the Hawk Tuah coin does. The U.S. government may be ripe for plunder, but other nations need to take steps to shield themselves from the impact of rug-pulling on a global scale.

[unpluggedfinancial]

Institutional Bitcoin Demand

It’s easy to get caught in the waves of emotion that come with this space. One day it’s euphoria, the next it’s despair. But when you learn to stop watching the surface and start paying attention to the undercurrent — you’ll see something that never stopped flowing:

Institutional demand for Bitcoin is not only alive — it’s accelerating.

🏦 BlackRock Goes Global with Bitcoin

Let’s start with BlackRock — the $10 trillion behemoth. They already shook the financial world with their U.S. Bitcoin ETF, and now? They’ve launched their first European Bitcoin trust: the iShares Bitcoin ETP. Trading across Xetra, Euronext Paris, and Amsterdam, this ETP is designed to give institutional investors exposure to Bitcoin without needing to touch it.

And they’re not just dipping their toes in. They’re waiving fees (just 0.15% through 2025) and securing custody through Coinbase, signaling to every money manager in Europe: it’s safe to come in now.

This is a clear expansion strategy, not a test. BlackRock is laying Bitcoin rails across continents. It’s no longer “if” — it’s “where next?”

🧠 Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) Has Entered Beast Mode

Michael Saylor isn’t backing down. In fact, he just shifted into a higher gear. Now operating under the rebranded name “Strategy,” the company has purchased another 6,911 BTC for $584 million — and that’s on top of the 500,000+ BTC already in their cold storage war chest.

How did they do it? By raising funds through convertible notes and preferred stock. That’s right — they issued debt to buy more Bitcoin. Call it crazy, or call it conviction. Either way, they’ve gone full “Bitcoin standard,” and at this point, they’re basically a leveraged orange coin ETF.

While everyone else debates if the price will hit $58k or pull back to $47k, Saylor’s strategy remains unchanged: stack until your balance sheet becomes the new Federal Reserve.

🎮 GameStop Joins the Fray (No, Seriously)

And now the wild card: GameStop.

You remember the retail frenzy of 2021 — WallStreetBets, meme stock madness, diamond hands. But now, GameStop is making a completely different kind of bet. They’re raising $1.3 billion via a convertible bond offering — and part of that cash? It’s going to Bitcoin.

This isn’t just a pivot. It’s a resurrection attempt. A reinvention. GameStop knows its legacy model is outdated, and like any company with survival instincts, it’s chasing where the real innovation is — decentralized, digital value. If MicroStrategy was the first domino, GameStop might be the first meme stock to go full Satoshi.

🗺️ What Does This All Mean?

It means the narrative is no longer theoretical.

The floodgates didn’t just crack open — the institutions kicked them down. They’re no longer just researching Bitcoin. They’re allocating, integrating, and in some cases, restructuring their entire strategy around it.

And yet... retail still hesitates. People still ask, “Is it too late?”

Let me say this clearly: it’s only too late if you don’t act.

You don’t need to raise a billion dollars. You don’t need to be on Wall Street. You just need to understand what’s happening before the masses do — and front-run their future.

🔎 The Signal in the Noise

When the noise gets loud, remember this:

While your coworker is mocking crypto at the water cooler, BlackRock is onboarding Europe.

While the media tries to spook you with volatility, MicroStrategy is issuing bonds to buy more.

While Twitter fights over ETF inflows, GameStop is quietly shifting to Bitcoin exposure.

This is a monetary revolution unfolding in real time.

So do what the institutions can’t do with speed: Stack. Stay humble. Educate yourself. Spread the signal.

And when the next wave comes, you won’t be washed out. You’ll be riding it.

Take Action Towards Financial Independence

If this article has sparked your interest in the transformative potential of Bitcoin, there’s so much more to explore! Dive deeper into the world of financial independence and revolutionize your understanding of money by following my blog and subscribing to my YouTube channel.

🌐 Blog: Unplugged Financial Blog Stay updated with insightful articles, detailed analyses, and practical advice on navigating the evolving financial landscape. Learn about the history of money, the flaws in our current financial systems, and how Bitcoin can offer a path to a more secure and independent financial future.

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👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest content. Whether you’re a seasoned investor, a curious newcomer, or someone concerned about the future of your financial health, our community is here to support you on your journey to financial independence.

📚 Get the Book: The Day The Earth Stood Still 2.0 For those who want to take an even deeper dive, my book offers a transformative look at the financial revolution we’re living through. The Day The Earth Stood Still 2.0 explores the philosophy, history, and future of money, all while challenging the status quo and inspiring action toward true financial independence.

Support the Cause

If you enjoyed what you read and believe in the mission of spreading awareness about Bitcoin, I would greatly appreciate your support. Every little bit helps keep the content going and allows me to continue educating others about the future of finance.

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bc1qpn98s4gtlvy686jne0sr8ccvfaxz646kk2tl8lu38zz4dvyyvflqgddylk

[superex-media]

Why Did Ethereum Choose SharpLink? This $425M Strategy Is About More Than Just Storing ETH

#Ethereum #SharpLink #ETH

Do you remember how Saylor turned MicroStrategy into the flagship Bitcoin concept stock? Now, Joe Lubin is running the same playbook for Ethereum — and it’s already happening.

On May 27, SharpLink (Nasdaq: SBET) suddenly announced a $425 million private investment, led by Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO — Joseph Lubin. And this isn’t just money raised for the sake of raising — it’s real cash, going straight into buying ETH as core treasury reserves.

The moment this news broke, SharpLink’s stock price soared 650% in a single day. A previously unknown sports betting tech stock suddenly became the new frontrunner in the crypto equity sector. But more importantly, this isn’t just a financing game — it’s Ethereum officially launching a signal flare on Wall Street.

Click to register SuperEx

Click to download the SuperEx APP

Click to enter SuperEx CMC

Click to enter SuperEx DAO Academy — Space

First of All: Let’s Be Honest — SharpLink’s Fundamentals Are Not Great.In 2023, it lost over $14 million. In 2024, still in the red. Revenue is shrinking too. So how did a company that’s not even profitable get ConsenSys to throw in hundreds of millions?

Simple: SharpLink is a publicly listed micro-cap stock in the U.S., legally traded, under the radar, and dirt cheap.

Before the private investment, it was valued at around $10 million — basically a shell-company price tag. Lubin invested $425 million and bought 69 million shares at $6.15 each, seizing over 90% control. No SPAC. No IPO roadshow. No banks involved. Just like that, Ethereum gained a publicly listed “vault proxy” on Nasdaq. Classic reverse-merger move. And with the sports betting narrative, they’ll have plenty of future “Web3 + entertainment” stories to tell.

ETH’s Version of MicroStrategy: The Flywheel Begins

This is a strategy that’s already proven itself. Saylor perfected it. Now the Ethereum version of the flywheel is clearly spinning up — four steps:

Raise capital at a low price and inject ETH;

Stake ETH long-term to earn yield;

As the stock price rises, raise more capital;

Buy more ETH, add leverage, and keep the flywheel turning.

SharpLink has already completed the first step — using $425 million to purchase about 120,000 ETH (at $3,500 each). Once staked, this directly reduces market supply and creates a price floor for ETH.

Now, SharpLink stock becomes a proxy tool tied to ETH price + leverage + trading premium. If the market buys the narrative and SBET trades above its net ETH holdings, they can issue more shares, raise funds, and buy even more ETH. It becomes a printing press.

What Does This Operation Really Mean for the Industry?

We need to look at the milestone significance, not just SharpLink alone.

1. Giving Institutions ETH Exposure Without Holding Tokens

Many traditional institutions are restricted from holding crypto directly due to regulation, custody, or internal policies. But they can buy stocks. SharpLink is now effectively an ETH vault wrapped in a Nasdaq shell — a new window for legacy capital.

2. Long-Term ETH Supply Gets Squeezed

If all 120,000 ETH are staked, that’s locked-up supply — very similar to what Bitcoin ETFs are doing. This move directly removes liquidity from the market.

3. Ethereum Gets a New “Financial Narrative”

Ethereum used to be seen as infrastructure for DeFi or NFTs. Now you can say: ETH is digital gold AND a corporate treasury reserve asset. That’s a serious upgrade in legitimacy.

4. Other Companies May Follow

Just like Saylor’s Bitcoin bet with MicroStrategy kicked off a trend of corporate BTC holdings, SharpLink could become the ETH template. The first of its kind. It’s likely just the beginning — we could soon see a second, third, or even a full-blown “ETH ETF proxy stock” sector forming.

5. ETH Price Might Stay Flat — But the Narrative Just Shifted

Make no mistake: this is a pivotal moment for Ethereum’s long-term narrative.

It now has treasury-grade legitimacy.

Traditional finance is paying attention.

Staking plus treasury reserves = real supply contraction.

These three points will likely define the ETH bull case for the next 6–12 months.

6. Is ConsenSys Just Getting Started?

Some analysts believe this might be a strategic warm-up. According to official statements, the goal is to test the waters — see whether the market buys the “ETH vault meets public company” concept.Translation: if SharpLink’s story gains traction, a ConsenSys IPO could be next, and its market cap might very well be benchmarked against this ETH treasury experiment.

Final Thoughts: This $425M Game Is Ethereum’s Bid for Mainstream Finance

Ethereum has never been “just a coin.” It’s an operating system, the base asset of the smart contract economy.Now, Lubin has taken it one step further — turning ETH from “gas” to “a reserve on the Nasdaq balance sheet,” using the most seasoned financial tactics: reverse merger, private placement, leverage, reserve, and flywheel.

We are witnessing the first step of ETH becoming a corporate treasury reserve on a global scale. It’s no longer just “Ethereum for DeFi” — it’s becoming “Ethereum accepted by mainstream finance.”

Are you ready to follow this new narrative?

[rkmtimes]

BREAKING #Future #Innovation🚨⚡️Elon Musk’s DOGE Affecting Crypto market, massive Crypto Crash and Dogecoin ETFs in 2025

🚨Why Federal Reserve and the Crypto Industry fear Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E and Dogecoin in 2025?

#elonmusk #doge #cryptocurrency #FederalReserve #stockmarketcrash #investing

[mariamarcus10]

-xrp-etf-in-the-us

[dencyemily]

Transformative Moves: Bitcoin ETF Launch and Google Cloud-Flare Network Alliance Shape the Crypto Landscape

The cryptocurrency market is undergoing a significant transformation with the launch of spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) by eleven major firms, signaling a surge in institutional interest. This development, highlighted in Altcoin Daily's YouTube video, "The Bitcoin ETF Insider: Most People Don't Realize What's Coming for Cryptocurrency," showcases the growing confidence in digital assets. Additionally, Google Cloud's entry into the blockchain sector as a validator for Flare Network adds another layer to the evolving narrative of mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin ETFs: Institutional Interest and Investment Inflow:

The initiation of spot Bitcoin ETFs represents a pivotal moment for the cryptocurrency market, attracting investment from institutional players. Notable firms such as 21 Shares, Hash, Bitwise, and VanEck are among the eleven launching ETFs, collectively drawing over $1.4 billion in investments. Despite recent price fluctuations in Bitcoin, this influx of funds underscores the increasing trust and confidence in the digital asset market.

Challenges and Potential Growth:

While the launch of Bitcoin ETFs is a significant step, Altcoin Daily's video emphasizes the challenges ahead. Firms engaging in discussions with advisers and clients estimate a six-month period for these ETFs to materially impact market growth. Challenges include mutual fund accounting complexities and T+1 settlement delays. However, the anticipated fluctuations post-launch present an opportunity for strategic buying during lower price bands, according to the video, contributing to a nuanced approach to navigate potential volatility.

Google Cloud's Validator Role: A Tech Giant's Entry into Blockchain:

The entry of Google Cloud as a validator for Flare Network stands out as a major tech giant's foray into the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector. This collaboration signifies not only a milestone for Flare Network but also a broader endorsement of the cryptocurrency industry by leading technology companies. Google Cloud's participation is expected to enhance the security and efficiency of Flare's Oracle system, providing further legitimacy to the role of cryptocurrencies in the technological landscape.

Conclusion:

The developments discussed in Altcoin Daily's video paint a compelling picture of cryptocurrency's evolution into mainstream finance. The launch of Bitcoin ETFs reflects institutional confidence, while Google Cloud's involvement in blockchain networks marks a significant milestone. Despite challenges, the cryptocurrency market is poised for substantial growth and innovation, shaping a new chapter in its narrative.

[saturniandevil]

June 2024 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's June Forecast. Cohost Austin Coppock is back, now as a new father!

Notable mundane alignments in May: through May 10th-13th we had intense geomagnetic storms from solar radiation cause auroras over a huge area in the world, happening right as the Sun in Taurus conjoined Uranus (electricity/unexpected) and Jupiter (expansion). On May 19th the president of Iran died in a helicopter crash due officially to poor visibility in foggy mountains (but with assassination suspected), the day Mars conjoined the North Node in Aries (with the Moon opposing them)--a date that Chris & Diana singled out last forecast as hitting eclipse points affecting world leaders & Iran specifically (during the April eclipses Iran fired back at Israel to retaliate for the destruction of its embassy). The ICC arrest warrants were also issued during this Mars-Node conjunction, a continuation of the eclipse story (both in April and October). In the sign of Aries, this is the time when hostilities became overt, and generally the Aries April eclipse was an exalted Sun being eclipsed, boding ill for leaders and heads of state. The North Node is also called "the head of the dragon," so it's fitting that leaders of three countries were affected--especially since these leaders were born under eclipses as well.

In celebrity news, Kendrick Lamar and Drake released a series of diss tracks at each other from late March to early May, also aligning with eclipse season this year. The precursor to this was a line from Like That, released March 22nd under an eclipse in Libra--Kendrick's rising sign. Drake was born after an Aries eclipse, and it was just after the April eclipse that this heated up with his track release. Mars joined the fray entering Aries and that's when the beef really heated up. Mars-Rahu (North Node) contacts indicate fights where parties cross the line because they can't see it, and indeed these shots went below the belt.

On April 30th the DEA announced it may reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, which Chris connects to the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Taurus as a sudden change around a medicinal plant. Austin also connects int to Neptune in Pisces--he's been wondering if marijuana will finally be legally recognized before Neptune leaves. Also Uranus in Taurus: BitCoin and Etherium have approved ETFs now, bringing crypto to mainstream investment like retirement funds (Pluto's last peek into Capricorn is connected too, as it was invented when Pluto entered Capricorn in 2009). Also in currency, the BRICS group of nations are discussing bringing in a new currency as an alternative to the US Dollar and cryptocurrency is on the table--these talks also first began in 2009. The next BRICS meeting is in October in Russia, around the time of another eclipse. In other Saturn in Pisces finance news, Red Lobster has gone bankrupt, possibly because they gave away too much free shrimp (limits and seafood; the discussions were taking place during Mars conjunct Saturn in Pisces even though the announcement was under an Aries Mars).

We're going into the month of June just as many planets shift into Gemini, a key signature for the month. We've had one stellium after another this year, but that trend will change as June wraps up.

June 2nd - Jupiter trine retrograde Pluto In Gemini this is good for travel, such as Boeing launching a new spacecraft (right before Mercury enters Gemini). This aspect is great for enabling Pluto's Aquarian endeavors like transformative new technologies or sci-fi...but mileage may vary for Jupiter. Chris relates this to voice AI translations opening up communication as Jupiter transits Gemini. With Mercury nearby, this month has a tone of trying a little bit of many different things, generally with positive growth and stability in the Gemini parts of our charts. Jupiter is also bound, decan, and triplicity ruler of the early part of the Gemini and has lots of power here. It's a great time to learn enough of something to do what you need with it, rather than pursuing deep expertise.

June 3rd - Mercury enters Gemini, Auspicious election

Taking advantage of Mercury in Gemini this chart is at about 12:05PM local time. You'll want early Virgo rising and Mercury on the degree of the Midheaven at 0-1 Gemini. This places the Ascendant ruler (most important planet in elections) both in domicile and applying to a conjunction with Jupiter at 2 Gemini. In the 10th house this emphasizes career, reputation and work. Mercury, Jupiter, and Pluto form a trine which bodes well for communication and technology, and is furthermore close in date to the Venus cazimi (exact conjunction to Sun) in the middle of Gemini. The Moon is exalted in the 10th house and applies to a trine with Saturn in Pisces. Overall this is great not only for career matters, but also communication, short travel, and other Mercury matters. This is one of the last days this week while Mercury will be visible, so there's a small window to take advantage of this auspicious Mercury-Jupiter conjunction.

June 4th - Mercury conjunt Jupiter, Sun conjunct Venus Also known as a Venus cazimi, the Venus-Sun exact conjunction marks a reset point in Venus's synodic cycle and a new epoch for Venusian themes, including women in society. Interestingly, Mexico's election is in early June with two female candidates (spoiler alert: a woman won!), and the Venus synodic cycle was been central to Mesoamerican astrology in the past--the 2012 news was due in part to a calendar marking these calculations. Mexico's inauguration takes place in September on a Mercury cazimi in Libra (Venus-ruled sign) and the day before a solar eclipse in Libra. Four years ago in June 2020 the Sun conjoined Venus during Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd's and Breonna Taylor's murders, connecting Venus cazimi to questions of equality and fairness in society. However, a square from Saturn in Pisces days later brings obstacles to our hope. In fact, all the Gemini planets will go through this optimism & speed before hitting Pisces Saturn's big melancholy iceberg this month. The last Venus-Sun conjunction in Gemini was June of 2016, so it's a good time to look back and see how far we've come over the past 8 years, as well as to sow the seeds for a new cycle. With Venus invisible during a cazimi, much of this work is internal; similarly, often the biggest advancements made possible during these times isn't visible until later.

On this graph of Venus's synodic cycle we're at the superior conjunction, where Venus is obscured from us by going behind the Sun. Her conjunctions when retrograde are also important turning points--April 2025 is the next conjunction (in Aries).

June 6th - New Moon in Gemini

At this point Mercury is already separating from the conjunction with Jupiter but is still close, while the Sun, Moon, and Venus are all conjunct at 16 Gemini. Thus the Gemini stellium is really concentrated at this lunation. We have so many new beginnings in Gemini on different scales at this time; the events set into motion here won't go away when planets move into Cancer. Whatever was brought up by the cazimi on the 4th will continue here, though in mid-Gemini the lights & Venus are poised to square Saturn. Venus wants to connect people, while Saturn wants to push away, so the immediate aftermath of the New Moon may see cooling in relationships. Communication is important; can we address the obstacle hanging over us? Sometimes you can't talk your way out of the emotions freezing each other out. On a positive note, this can be productive for setting boundaries and expectations. Saturn in Pisces generally can indicate emotional, professional, or spiritual exhaustion: now's the time to take a rest and a step back. Darkness and silence are often needed for mental healing to begin.

June 9th - Mars enters Taurus This brings a tone shift, as Mars was activating eclipse points while he traversed Aries in April in May. On the 11th he'll immediately square Pluto (1♒), raising issues like the abusive of power, going overboard in conflict, and crossing the line because we can't see it. We can see disproportionate escalations where the person doesn't even really know why they did it, but also the very real power of those who aren't in the public eye, pulling strings behind the scenes. Mars-Pluto brings up control, manipulation, power plays, and covert actions--and the paranoia that makes us worry about these things when they're not there. Though an unpleasant introduction, this doesn't last for most of the sign.

As soon as he enters Taurus Mars also approaches a conjunction with Uranus (culminating in mid-July). We've had Jupiter transiting Taurus for the past year bringing a positive spin on events, but now we have the explosive tension on its own. A famous Mars-Uranus conjunction without Jupiter there was January 6th events. However, there are about 20 degrees between the Pluto and Uranus aspects, during which time Mars will make some nice sextiles to Mercury and Venus in Cancer, so we'll have a chill period for some time. Mars in Taurus is also generally less fiery (in detriment), which can be an advantage for us.

June 14th - Mercury conjunct Sun (cazimi) At 24 Gemini, this is the fourth and final peak/reset point in Gemini. In his home sign, Mercury really locks in the preceding resets. This also really marks the second half of the year where we won't have all these massive pileups in one particular sign. He also brushes past a square to Neptune (29♓) while conjoining Venus in the last 10 minutes of this sign. Beware of miscommunications.

June 17th - Venus and Mercury enter Cancer, Mercury conjunct Venus Venus and Mercury enter Cancer together, bringing communication and relationships together. Both planets are invisible at this point, but are working their way out from under the Sun's beams as evening stars and will be visible by the end of the month. Mercury-Venus connects our minds with the arts, giving us the technical know-how to implement aesthetic ideas and the charm to communicate our ideas in a beautiful way. Diplomacy and agreements are also signified here.

June 20th - Sun enters Cancer

June 21st - Full Moon in Capricorn

This lunation occurs just a day after the Sun's ingress into Cancer and right after Mercury & Venus sextiling Mars, bringing a great directness and mental acuity. Once in Capricorn the Moon begins applying to Venus, though Neptune's proximity to the cardinal signs means its square to all the Cancer/Capricorn planets weighs in on things. Saturn has also begun to move within conjunction distance of Neptune, bringing questions around what's real and what's not to the end of June and into July. Some of the clarity we had before will seem to dissolve. We saw a lot of new tech developments earlier this month, but now it's muddied the waters.

June 29th - Saturn stations Retrograde This will likely activate news stories around danger in the water, water-borne pathogens, and events like the submarine disaster (A/N: or naval blockades). Jupiter will also square Saturn and later Neptune later this summer (Saturn entering Pisces corresponded with a spike in inflation) so continued issues with inflation and economy will likely come into play. Neptune stations within a week of Saturn as well, intensifying these issues and bringing what Austin calls season 2 of the Saturn-Neptune story--though season 3 is where things will get really crazy. This is another indicator of what kinds of contraction we'll experience in the Pisces parts of our charts. Saturn doesn't leave Pisces until next year, and even after entering Aries he'll retrograde back into Pisces for a bit.

[ecosmining]

Is Bitcoin a Good Investment For Beginners?

What is Bitcoin, and Why is it Popular?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates on a decentralized network. Unlike traditional money, it’s not controlled by banks or governments. Instead, Bitcoin transactions are verified by thousands of computers worldwide. This makes it resistant to censorship and inflation.

People are drawn to Bitcoin for different reasons. Some see it as digital gold — a scarce asset that could increase in value over time. Others use it for fast, borderless payments. In countries with unstable currencies, Bitcoin offers a way to store wealth without relying on banks. Businesses and institutions are also adopting Bitcoin, seeing it as a hedge against economic uncertainty.

Bitcoin is popular, but it’s still evolving. It has the potential to reshape finance, but it also faces challenges like regulatory uncertainty, environmental concerns, and security risks.

Bitcoin Halving 2024: Less Supply, More Hype?

In April 2024, Bitcoin underwent its fourth halving. This event reduced block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. Historically, halvings decreased Bitcoin’s supply rate. This scarcity often led to price surges. For instance, post-2012 halving, Bitcoin soared from $12 to $1,000. Similarly, after the 2016 halving, prices escalated. By March 2025, Bitcoin’s price dynamics remain influenced by the 2024 halving. Investors anticipate potential bullish trends. However, market conditions and external factors also play pivotal roles. Thus, while halving impacts supply, other elements shape Bitcoin’s price trajectory.​

The Benefits and Risks of Investing in Bitcoin

Bitcoin is one of the most exciting and controversial investments of the 21st century. It has made some investors millions, but it has also wiped out fortunes overnight. Let’s break down the pros and cons.

Bitcoin Investment Pros

High potential for long-term growth. Over the past decade, Bitcoin has outperformed traditional investments like stocks, gold, and real estate. Some analysts predict it could reach $150,000+ by the end of 2025 if adoption continues.

Fixed supply. Only 21 million BTC will ever exist. Unlike dollars or euros, which governments print endlessly, Bitcoin’s scarcity makes it resistant to inflation and a hedge against economic instability.

Borderless transactions. Send Bitcoin anywhere, anytime without banks, restrictions, or excessive fees. In countries with weak financial systems, Bitcoin provides financial freedom like never before.

Growing institutional adoption. Hedge funds, Fortune 500 companies, and even countries are adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets. The launch of Bitcoin ETFs has made it even easier for big money to flow in.

Open and decentralized. No single government, bank, or corporation controls Bitcoin. No one can freeze your funds or block your transactions. This makes it one of the most independent financial assets ever created.

Bitcoin Investment Cons

Extreme price volatility. Bitcoin is not for the weak-hearted. Its price can skyrocket 200% in a year or crash 50% in weeks. If you panic-sell during dips, you will lose money.

Security risks. If your wallet is hacked, or you lose your private key, your Bitcoin is gone forever. Unlike banks, there is no customer support to recover lost funds.

No consumer protection. Send Bitcoin to the wrong address? Stolen funds? Too bad. Unlike traditional banks, there is no way to reverse a mistaken transaction.

Uncertain regulations. Some governments embrace Bitcoin, while others ban or heavily tax it. New laws could impact how Bitcoin is traded, owned, or even mined.

High energy consumption. Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than some countries. This has raised environmental concerns, though new advancements like renewable energy mining are helping reduce the impact.

Bitcoin vs. Traditional Investments: What’s Better for Beginners?

Investing is all about balancing risk and reward. Some assets are stable but offer slow growth. Others are risky but can deliver massive returns. Let’s break it down.

Which One is Better?

Bitcoin is high risk. High reward. It has outperformed every traditional asset over the past decade, but it also experiences wild price swings.

Stocks offer steady growth with dividends. They are less risky than Bitcoin but still require knowledge of the market.

Gold is a safe-haven asset. It doesn’t crash like Bitcoin, but it also grows much slower. Investors use it to protect their wealth rather than grow it quickly.

Bonds are the safest but offer the lowest returns. They provide stability and guaranteed income but won’t make you rich.

What’s Best for Beginners?

A balanced approach. Don’t go all-in on Bitcoin. Diversify your investments across multiple asset classes to manage risk.

A simple beginner-friendly strategy.

50% stocks for steady long-term growth.

20% Bitcoin for high-risk, high-reward potential.

20% bonds for stability.

10% gold as an inflation hedge.

This way, you maximize potential gains while protecting yourself from major losses. Investing isn’t about betting on one asset. It’s about building a smart portfolio.

Read the continuation at the link.

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Futures

Lena The world is full of opposing forces, some benevolent, most not. In order for the wheels to keep on turning, all these forces need to be monitored and balanced. That is where we come in. Gwen That doesn’t mean anything. Lena And yet it is the only explanation you’re going to get for now. Gwen So what? We’re the bad guys? Lena We are… managing the “bad guys”. – The Magnus Protocol: Futures

Do they now? Do they really? At least in The Magnus Archives it was more that the various forces just were balanced, whether you wanted them to be or not. Oh, sure, there was all the business with Robert Smirke and architecture, and the tunnels beneath The Magnus Institute – but that seemed to be more a matter of accurately observing a phenomenon than of creating one.

John/Jonah Magnus You see, the thing about the Fears is that they can never be truly separated from each other. When does the fear of sudden violence transition into the fear of hunted prey? When does the mask of the Stranger become the deception of the Spiral? Even those that seem to exist in direct opposition rely on each other for their definition as much as up relies on down. To try and create a world with only the Buried makes as much sense as trying to conceive a world with only down. – The Magnus Archives: The Eye Opens

You can't bring one entity into the world; it has to be all of them. If you kick one entity out of the world, the rest must follow. It isn't even entirely clear that they actually are separate beings.

Attempting to use the concept of "balance" to control and empower himself did not work out all that well for Robert Smirke. Frankly, even with all his extra knowledge and study, it did not work out all that well for Jonah Magnus either, in the long run.

But of course, this particular bit of dialogue is immediately followed by a case about the illusion of control. In a lot of ways, Darrien feels like the brother of the gambler from Rolling With It. There is a lot of similarity – except that the gambler had a better understanding of what was happening.

Chester/Statement Giver The thing is though I still don’t really know if they ever made me roll them. I mean, I did. A lot. And I knew that the risks probably outweighed the rewards but I don’t think I ever felt them like “calling” to me or anything y’know? It always felt like my choice. Even if it was a shitty choice. Besides, I've never gotten anything good in my life except by blind chance, so why should this be any different? – The Magnus Protocol: Rolling With It

He knew he was gambling. Yes, there was a "system" but he recognised that it was never going to be perfect. And over time, he got more caught up in the allure of being a mysterious agent of fate than in the benefits he got from actually rolling the dice. The gambler's mistake wasn't in failing to recognise the peril in the act of gambling, it was in underestimating the hold it had over him.

But Darrien – this poor idiot thinks he's in control.

Darrien I took my entire student loan out and got straight to shorting using your app. This was back when it had only just launched. I struggled through your first janky interface, your weird background checks, all those damn glitches but I stuck with it because unlimited Margins and Deposits was pretty sweet. Made some quick cash shorting failing startups then used that to broaden into Crypto, leveraged some EM ETFS, scraped up a few pennies then started to go long on a few obvious winners like Omni and Sparkhub for some hedging. Easy peasy. – The Magnus Protocol: Futures

Shorting is a very high-risk strategy, meaning that Darrien is effectively gambling just as much as the guy with the dice was. But he doesn't think of it like that: to him it's "the plan", and when it transitions to destroying his own life in order to "earn bank" it's "the loophole".

Except ... well, except. He's pretty obviously not gambling, or investing, or anything else within his control. Darrien is being lured. He has only ever invested using Zorrotrade, which had perks that drew him in ... and almost certainly ensured his success, and the eventual failures that led him to the Personal Projection Short Selling settings. He was set up, but is too arrogant to see it – right up to the end.

It's interesting. Looking back at The Magnus Archives, altruism, personal gain, or most often some combination of the two, were perfectly acceptable as entry points for most of the people who got tangled up with supernatural entities. John plied his questioning powers, largely in seasons three and four, to attempt to stop rituals. Oliver Banks attempted to warn people of their impending deaths. Trevor Herbert started out from the perfectly reasonable position of killing vampires who were eating people right in front of him.

That's logical. People in these stories may not be wholly moral but – "Hey, why don't you serve an eldritch god that will eat up your life and strip you of your humanity?" isn't exactly a winning argument. It makes sense that there's a reason. That a person could think doing this could, conceivably, be for the best.

But eventually, you are supposed to stop caring about helping others, or even your own wellbeing, and just give yourself over.

Jude Perry I know now they were simply guiding me upon the path to my true epiphany. All this time I was serving my god, but only for my own glory. But with each new gift, each renewal of the fire, I saw how lifeless and hollow it was, how grey and ashen my existence had become. It became clear that, where once I had destroyed to fuel my life, I now lived for the pain that I caused. And for Agnes. My sweet, hopeless Agnes. – The Magnus Archives: Twice as Bright

And here you have the gambler, who perhaps had the temperament for this business: the sense of drama, the deep addiction to the dice rolls – but ultimately not the stomach for it. And Darrien. Well, he's got the stomach for it: an amputated limb, a coma and a dozen other serious injuries and he's still not fazed. But he was never ever going to give up the self interest. He clung to the illusion of control, the idea that he could demand his "goddamn money" right up until something consumed him.

You can see hints here, of Sam and Gwen and even Celia. Sam the underachieving gifted kid, desperate to find something in The Magnus Institute to explain his circumstances; Gwen the rich woman in the crap job trying to get "in" on the big secret; Sam and Celia together, trying to take control of their odd relationship by putting all their cards on the table – but both clearly hiding a couple of doozies up their sleeves.

Mostly, though, it seems to be a commentary on Lena. She says that there are benevolent forces out there, and that balance is necessary. And sure, maybe. New universe, new rules. Anything's possible. But it would be a new thing, and there's been little evidence of it so far. If you tell yourself these things, though, you can feel like you're in control. So who is she kidding – Gwen, or herself?

And ye gods there is something very wrong with the tech in this world. The Magnus Archives had its haunted tape recorders, sure, but that was a single point of weirdness in a world where the technology largely behaved as expected. But here?

Someone or something seems to be able to listen through virtually any device that has a microphone

Making Adjustments involved streaming inking someone with a cursed tattoo to the world

Personal Screening had an obviously evil website, and closed with a cursed film

Needles and the threatening call to emergency services

Mr Bonzo, who is summoned by recordings of his theme song

... and now the cursed investment app

And Freddy, of course. Can't forget Freddy. It's not every case, but it's enough cases that I'm sure there's a pattern. I am more certain that The Magnus Protocol refers at least in part to network protocols – and that Colin has largely been kept quiet because he could say too many useful things. Colin is stressed, in part, because somebody wants an app.

Yeah. I don't think an app would improve anything about this situation.

Meanwhile, there is Alice's small tragedy. Of course, it was clear even from the trailer that she recommended Sam for the job. But this:

Sam I had a breakdown. Stress. There was an… incident at work. I… freaked out during a presentation. After that they “encouraged” me to move on and I did. Six unemployed months later and I took a job at the O.I.A.R. Celia (slightly cautious) Alice hooked you up? Sam (noticing) Yeah. Full disclosure, we dated at uni and stayed in contact after. I did my best to help her though her parents’ deaths, but… after that we pretty much dropped out of touch. According to her, she dropped me a line about the job after “the most pathetic vague-post she had ever seen.” – The Magnus Protocol: Futures

That Sam had a breakdown and Alice, unprompted, invited him into the OIAR. He didn't reach out to her. They didn't reconnect for other reasons and it just came up. She made that move. Alice who knows her workplace is sinister and advises everyone not to look to closely at the cases – and is suspicious of anyone who does. Alice who clearly still has feelings for Sam. She can chide Sam all she wants about his poking around The Magnus Institute, but she brought him here.

I keep thinking about Tim, and the way he blamed John for trapping him in the archives. John had his share of screw ups, of course, but that one always felt a bit unfair. There was no way John could have known the archives job was extra evil. But this time? If something does happen to Sam – whether that be physical danger or mental distress, or even a descent into evil – Alice can't say her hands are clean. Some of it will be her fault.

[nightpool]

> "A highly anticipated decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether to approve a spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded fund quickly morphed into a major cybersecurity incident on Tuesday.

> "The SEC’s X account was compromised and a fake post claiming that the agency had green lit plans for the products fueled a brief surge in the price of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. It also has sparked an investigation by US authorities into how a social media account at Wall Street’s main regulator was compromised. …"

Look, I have no inside information, but most of the reporting I have read about spot Bitcoin ETFs has said that 1. the SEC is going to approve them, 2. by the end of today, and 3. this is public knowledge that everyone believes.

So you would think it would be pretty priced in? It just does not seem to me like there would be a ton of alpha in (1) constantly refreshing the SEC’s Twitter account, (2) looking for a tweet saying “okay spot Bitcoin ETFs are cool now,” and (3) buying Bitcoin on the news. Which implies there would not be a ton of alpha in (1) buying a bunch of Bitcoin, (2) hacking the SEC’s Twitter account, (3) tweeting “okay spot Bitcoin ETFs are cool now” and (4) selling your Bitcoin into the resulting enthusiasm.

[...]

Doesn’t it seem at least possible that this hack was just trolling? It didn’t move Bitcoin prices that much, and it shouldn’t have: The fake announcement was something that everyone expects to actually be true today. But it is very funny? The key element of online trolling is irony, and there is plenty of irony here. Like:

1. The crypto community and the SEC do not particularly like each other: Gensler’s SEC has launched a broad and aggressive crackdown on crypto, and it is only going to (probably!) approve spot Bitcoin ETFs today because a court forced it to. If you’re a Bitcoin enthusiast with the skills to hack the SEC’s Twitter, you might want to manipulate the price of Bitcoin, but you might also just want to make the SEC look bad.

2. Having the SEC (1) announce that Bitcoin ETFS are approved, (2) walk back that announcement, and then (3) announce it again, for real this time, the next day, really is quite embarrassing. Like if the hacker made the SEC say something outlandish and false, that would be a little funny. But making the SEC say something true a day early is extremely funny.

3. In addition to cracking down on crypto, one of the SEC’s big regulatory priorities under Gensler has been punishing companies for cybersecurity incidents.[2] The SEC once sued a company for using weak passwords, and its enforcement director said that the case “underscores our message to issuers: implement strong controls calibrated to your risk environments.” But apparently the SEC’s Twitter was compromised because it didn’t turn on two-factor authentication. Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!

[...]

Anyway, the great counter-troll here would be for the SEC to announce today “you know what, all the Bitcoin ETF applications are rejected, we’ll see you in court again. We were going to approve them, but it turns out that the Bitcoin market is still too vulnerable to manipulation, as you can tell by the fact that someone hacked our Twitter to manipulate Bitcoin.”