Happy New Year and thanks as always for reading Fortune Crypto. The period between Christmas and New Year’s is one where many media outlets go dark as readers sensibly turn away from the news in favor of family and football. But that doesn’t mean nothing happened, so if you’re just tuning back in, here are some key developments in crypto you may have overlooked.
The biggest of these is that the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity, along with big crypto companies, are barreling forward with the process of applying for long-awaited Bitcoin ETFs. Late last week, firms updated their paperwork (pity the poor lawyers who spent their break amending SEC filings) to name the “authorized participants” who will handle the Bitcoin on their behalf. Jane Street appeared as the AP on some of the forms and, in a twist of irony, so did JPMorgan, whose CEO is famous for wanting to eradicate crypto—even as his bank does a thriving business in it.
The SEC filings also revealed another key detail about the forthcoming ETFs, namely their price. Fidelity is offering the lowest sticker price of any of the traditional finance firms at 0.39%—which is lower than many expected, especially for a new class of ETF. But a handful of crypto native firms, including Galaxy, are offering no fees at all for the first few months. The price competition reflects that the coming market for Bitcoin ETFs is a crowded one, and that these firms are keenly aware that ETFs are often a winner-take-all game with the first mover grabbing over 90% marketshare and the rest fighting for crumbs. We’ll see whether that holds true when the SEC goes through with an expected plan to approve a batch of Bitcoin ETF applications in the next week or two.
The other source of big news in crypto land over the break came from the courts. Notably, an influential federal judge in New York ruled that the SEC correctly identified the failed algorithmic stablecoin Terra as a security—a potential setback for Ripple and perhaps an ominous sigh for stablecoins overall. The case is still at an early stage, but keep your eye on this one. Meanwhile, the Justice Department quietly nixed a second planned trial for Sam Bankman-Fried, saying the judge had already heard the juiciest stuff during the initial trial where the feds got a resounding win. Needless to say, this explanation didn’t go over well with more conspiracy-minded people, who are suggesting the Justice Department dropped the case so SBF didn’t embarrass powerful politicians with testimony about all those campaign contributions.
Finally, an investigation by the New York Times reveals how a 23-year-old Chinese national, who is an NYU student, quietly paid for a Texas Bitcoin mining operation with Tether. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal in itself, the Times correctly points out that how those who want to circumvent U.S. laws restricting Chinese ownership can use crypto to do so. This is a fair concern, though the Times offers little evidence to show this is happening on a wide-scale basis. Read on for more recent news items.
Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
DECENTRALIZED NEWS
Bitcoin began 2024 at over $45,000, the highest it's been for over two-and-a-half years. (CoinDesk)
Vitalik Buterin resurfaced in the Ethereum world for the first time in a while, offering an update on the cryptocurrency's future roadmap—which is going to be uneventful for a while. (Cointelegraph)
Microstrategy, which holds nearly 1% of all Bitcoin, acquired 14,620 more bitcoins for $616 million in cash. (Bloomberg)
Here are the biggest crypto stories of 2023. (Fortune)
Gary Gensler annoyed people with a self-congratulatory ad for the SEC that began "Or should I say 'SE Seasons Greetings." (Twitter)
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