Bitcoin News Weekly #13

TLDR:

• Adopting Bitcoin Conference takes over Cape Town.

• Bitwise spot Bitcoin ETF shares its Bitcoin address for public verification.

• Local Georgia news reports Bitcoin mining can eliminate property taxes.

• Swan Mining emerges from stealth mode, revealing 1% of global hashrate.

Hey, it's Bam! I’m excited to bring you another edition of Bitcoin News Weekly! We're proud to share that starting next week, we'll be transitioning to the Beehiiv platform. If you're already subscribed, anticipate receiving the same Bitcoin updates every Monday morning, now just delivered through a different service. For those not subscribed yet, click the button below to join the new list.

Sentiment is gradually turning positive, mirroring the increasing net flows in spot Bitcoin ETFs. As the halving approaches, miners are consistently achieving new highs in hashrate, indicating not only optimism but also courage within the ecosystem. Let's delve into the notable developments of the week in the Bitcoin world, highlighting why there’s no need for pessimism.

LATEST NEWS

🙌 Adoption:

• Adopting Bitcoin Conference makes its debut in Cape Town, South Africa, bringing together Bitcoin talent from across the continent.

• Bitfinex now allows users to buy customized Lightning channels, streamlining the channel opening process and expanding accessibility to the Lightning Network.

• Ella Hough, a Gen Z Bitcoiner, successfully secures approval for the first Bitcoin-focused degree from Cornell University’s College Scholar Program.

⚖️ Legal:

• Core Scientific, one of the largest bitcoin miners in North America, resumes trading on the Nasdaq after bankruptcy restructuring.

• Canaan, a publicly traded manufacturer of Bitcoin mining rigs, secures $50 million in preferred shares to fund additional R&D as well as expand production.

• Ark Invest purchases 94,918 shares of its ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin Spot ETF ($3.78M), while selling $3.82M worth of ProShares Bitcoin Futures ETF shares.

📈 Markets:

• Bitwise becomes the first Bitcoin ETF issuer to publish the address of their Bitcoin holdings.

• BlackRock conducts a webinar for financial advisors, guiding them on educating their clients about Bitcoin.

• AXS, a popular bills payment platform in Singapore, partners with Triple-A to enable Bitcoin payments for bills, fines, taxes, and student fees.

⛏️ Mining:

• 13WMAZ, a local news station, reports that Sandersville, GA may experience a complete elimination of property taxes, thanks to a new Bitcoin mining operation.

• Twenty-two Bitcoin mining companies, constituting 1.2% of the network's hashrate, are offsetting 7.3% of network emissions by mitigating methane.

• Swan Mining comes out of stealth mode, revealing that they are providing 4.5 Exahash, which constitutes 1% of the Bitcoin network's total hashrate.

🗳️ Politics:

• Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner, suggests using the Bitcoin precedent for spot Ether ETF decisions and rules out a second court battle for their approval.

• Senator Elizabeth Warren continues to oppose Bitcoin, referencing a new GAO report that highlights risks to enforcing U.S. sanctions posed by Bitcoin.

• Senator Cynthia Lummis counters Elizabeth Warren, highlighting that fiat currency has laundered over $900 million, while crypto stands at only $900,000.

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Bam’s 2 Sats:

In a refreshing turn of events, the Bitcoin market experienced an 'Inverse Cramer' moment when the Mad Money host stated that the new theme for Bitcoin was 'Number Go Down,' leading to a rebound above $40,000.

Of course, that's a joke! Now, let's delve into the events that unfolded throughout the week.

The spot Bitcoin ETFs have been trading for 11 days, witnessing a swift shift in sentiment from extreme optimism to significant fear. GBTC, which started with 619K BTC, experienced a rapid bitcoin exodus from day one. It has been revealed that FTX successfully sold approximately $1 billion worth of Grayscale's GBTC to generate cash for their bankruptcy proceedings, representing roughly half of the total outflow. Additionally, as highlighted in a previous issue, Bitcoin miners saw a significant outflow of Bitcoin from their treasuries in anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving.

Naturally, these outflows won't be sustained forever. It's unrealistic to expect the entire GBTC bitcoin holding, currently at 502,713 BTC, to be sold off in the market. Amidst the rapid price decline, new FUD surfaced on social media, with one popular narrative detailing how the US government filed a notice to sell over $130 million in bitcoin linked to the Silk Road forfeitures. Considering the current value, this amounts to less than 4,000 bitcoin. While it is a substantial amount, it is not comparable to the tens of thousands of bitcoin in ETF inflows and GBTC outflows.

So, the question arises: what are the indicators, and why does Bitcoin seem to be reversing its downward trend? Given that it's all about supply and demand, it appears that GBTC outflows have slowed down, and there's now a total positive inflow in the Bitcoin Spot ETFs. On the 11th day of trading, the inflow reached a net positive $14.8 million, as reported by BitMEX Research.

Perhaps this will be the final issue where we give significant attention to the ETFs, as they steadily integrate into our daily financial landscape, consistently attracting new net positive inflows. Notably, there are now substantial teams in the space with robust marketing efforts and well-educated financial advisors advocating for Bitcoin as a new addition to portfolio allocations. But don't just take my word for it; let's rewind a year and recall when BlackRock proposed an optimal bitcoin allocation of 84.9%, diverging from the traditional 60-40 equity-bond portfolio. Gradually, the flight to quality persists.

Stay Humble & Stack Sats,Bam

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