Bitcoin News Weekly #30

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LATEST NEWS

🙌 Adoption:

• Peer-to-Peer Rights Fund launches to protect the decentralized P2P integrity of the Bitcoin ecosystem by defending developers from regulatory overreach. Soon after, 3 Bitcoin were anonymously donated to support the Samourai Wallet defense fund.

• Over 80 Bitcoin companies have set up operations in El Salvador.

• Cake Wallet introduces silent payments, a static Bitcoin address that preserves privacy by allowing only the sender and receiver to link the address with on-chain activity.

⚖️ Legal:

• The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act passes in the House with 213 Republicans voting in favor and 192 Democrats voting in opposition.

• Alabama abolishes income taxes on capital gains made from the sale of gold and silver, an important step forward in reinforcing sound money principles.

• Ripple funds anti-bitcoin campaigns via intermediaries like Greenpeace USA, while positioning itself as a key player in the global push for CBDCs.

📈 Markets:

• London Stock Exchange approves Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs for listing.

• Metaplanet becomes Japan's top-performing stock this week, hitting a +50% daily gain limit for two consecutive days. The company plans to increase its authorized shares by 300% to acquire more BTC for its reserves.

• Bitcoin ETF inflows are on the rise with new ETFs taking in more than 36,000 BTC this month alone.

⛏️ Mining:

• Bitcoin Hashrate surges to over 700 EH/s and is accompanied by an estimated upward difficulty adjustment of 20%.

• Paraguayan government proposes seizure of Bitcoin and "crypto” mining rigs and sentences of up to 10 years in prison for carrying out illegal mining operations.

• Marathon enters into a deal with Kenya to invest $80 million in digital infrastructure in the country to help diversify the geolocation of their hashrate.

🗳️ Politics:

• El Salvador crosses $400 million in Bitcoin holdings as the country receives a credit rating upgrade by Moody’s from Caa3 to Caa1.

• Ultra-high net-worth individuals consider major geopolitical conflict, higher inflation, and a real estate correction as the top 3 short-term risk factors.

• Trump says “I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your Bitcoin,” during a major campaign speech for the Libertarian National Convention.

Bam’s 2 Sats:

This week, the SEC approved a rule change to allow the creation of Ethereum ETFs, contrary to many expectations. The approval followed a series of Congressional votes opposing Democrats and Elizabeth Warren’s “anti-crypto army.” This surprised Bitcoiners, as Ethereum is considered a security under the Howey Test, unlike Bitcoin, which is classified as a commodity.

To pinpoint some of the differences:

Unlike Bitcoin, “Ethereum had a large pre-mine, changed consensus mechanisms, has a roadmap, and a small group of insiders who coordinate hard forks.” – Matthew R. Kratter

The truth is that Wall Street is focused on making money and may not be concerned with fundamentals. If they saw a profitable opportunity in approving Ethereum ETFs, it was just a matter of time. The masses often don't understand the differences between Bitcoin, which is considered the best money available, and Ethereum, which is a technological development. This lack of understanding presents a significant opportunity for Wall Street to extract fees. Additionally, concentrating large amounts of $ETH in the hands of a few players poses a centralization risk due to its Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether there is an Ethereum, Solana, or Ripple ETF, Bitcoin will ultimately prevail and maintain its long-term shine due to its unmatched monetary properties.

Nevertheless, it's okay to feel disappointed. On one hand, it seemed that Bitcoin's exclusive ETF wrapper suggested a distinction from "Crypto," even though Bitcoin doesn't depend on Wall Street. Now some capital that might have gone into Bitcoin could "diversify" into Ethereum due to the lack of education and confusion surrounding the differences between Bitcoin and "Crypto."

On a positive note, the Bitcoin ETFs have seen significant capital inflows over the last two weeks. Despite the recent price retracement, ETFs managed to accumulate around 30,000 BTC during the last 10 trading days, equivalent to 65 days of issuance. Perhaps the ETH ETFs will prompt more capital deployment from the masses, accelerating the start of the exponential phase of this bull market sooner rather than later. As Michael Saylor recently stated, the ETH ETF will make the broader crypto asset class more appealing to everyday investors, encouraging them to allocate 5-10% of their portfolios to it, with over 60% likely going into Bitcoin.

Things are looking incredibly bullish right now, almost beyond words. Are you feeling the same way?

Stay Humble & Stack Sats,
Bam

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