Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Standard Chartered has predicted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will likely approve a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May. The banking giant’s analyst foresees the price of ether rising to $4,000 by the expected approval date. Standard Chartered’s Ethereum ETF Prediction Standard Chartered published a note on Tuesday detailing why it expects the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve spot ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May, Bloomberg reported. The bank’s head of crypto research and Western emerging markets FX, Geoff Kendrick, anticipates the SEC’s approval of spot ethereum ETFs to mirror the agency’s approach to spot bitcoin ETF approvals. The analyst explained that May 23 is the last date by which the securities regulator must approve or deny spot ethereum ETF applications from Vaneck and Ark 21shares. He expects the SEC to make a decision on the final date, similar to its Jan. 10 approval of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs. Ken...

During a panel discussion at the recent Foundation for Defense of Democracies event, Arkansas Republican French Hill shared a positive update on the trajectory of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act and the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act. US Representative French Hill Foresees Bright Future for Crypto Bills at FDD Event In a recent event hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) on Jan. 29, Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican and chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, shared promising updates on the progress of two significant crypto-related bills. Rep. Hill, during a panel discussion at the FDD event, conveyed a sense of optimism about the advancement of legislation concerning stablecoins and the broader regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. He noted that by the end of 2023, lawmakers had marked up two bills: the Financial Innovation and Technology for t...

A Finnish law enforcement agency, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), recently claimed that it may have found a way to trace the privacy coin Monero. However, proponents of the privacy coin have dismissed the agency’s claims and insisted that the cryptocurrency is still untraceable. Identification of Hacker Behind Vastaamo Data Breach Revealed The Finnish law enforcement agency, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), recently claimed that it has found a way of identifying individuals who use the privacy coin Monero ( XMR ) to launder money. To back this claim, the agency produced a report explaining why it concluded that Julius Aleksanteri Kivimäki was the criminal behind the Vastaamo breach. Finnish authorities have long believed Kivimäki to be the cybercriminal behind the hacking of the private psychotherapy service provider Vastaamo’s patient database in October 2020. After gaining access to patients’ records, Kivimäki demanded 40 bitcoins ( BTC ) in exchange for no...

Douglas Boneparth, the president and founder of Bona Fide Wealth, recently articulated his perspective on bitcoin, describing it as a digital equivalent of gold or a store of value in the digital realm. In addition, Boneparth further highlighted the contrasts in approach between traditional trade finance behemoths such as Blackrock and Fidelity, and those more ingrained in the cryptocurrency world, such as Bitwise and Vaneck. Investments That Produce Alpha — ‘These Are Things That Clients Will Always Have Some Appetite for,’ Says Boneparth In a recent discussion , Douglas Boneparth, president and founder of Bona Fide Wealth, shed light on the emerging spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the categorization of bitcoin as an asset class. Engaging with Eric Balchunas , Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, on the “Bloomberg ETF IQ” show, Boneparth compared bitcoin to what he terms digital gold. “I do view it in its most simplistic form as digital gold, as a digital store of value,”...