11th August 2023 > > ETFs, Revolut, and the KLF.

tl;dr

The first BTC ETF draws very close. Revolut is driving global retail adoption. I suspect the KLF have announced the first of their own crypto projects.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

We have the US CPI print today with expectations firmly anchored to ongoing improvements. Any material deviation from the 3.3% prediction could roil markets for interest rates, and for cryptos.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – BTC ETF

Sunday is the first deadline for the SEC’s approval or otherwise for Ark’s application for a spot based BTC ETF. The most likely outcome? A further delay, though you cannot discount the possibility that the SEC makes a strong statement by rejecting the SSA (surveillance sharing agreement) that all current applications now include.

If the SEC did go down that route, I suspect it would come in for a lot of criticism. Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, keeps banging on that current rules and regulations are sufficient for the crypto industry. The SSA is an invention by Blackrock, a tool that they believe satisfies all requirements. As the largest asset manager in the world, and the most successful issuer of ETFs, a rejection could only be seen as a deliberate ploy by Gensler to prevent investors gaining exposure to BTC in the safest, and most liquid form possible.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Revolut

I have long been a fan of Revolut. For anyone with income or expenses in foreign currency, it is so much cheaper than any of the alternatives. And though there is no telephone help line (one of my major bugbears especially regarding tech firms) the online chat is fast, efficient, and effective.

Buying cryptos using the Revolut app is easy, with very small bid-offers. At times, the offer price on Revolut can be the best one out there. Maximalists refuse to countenance anything but self-custody, but leaving crypto assets with Revolut is one of the very safest options. Ease of execution, and safe storage, are the two key requirements that must be catered for before global adoption takes place.

And perhaps that is what is happening here.

Though Revolut recently announced that it would no longer offer crypto services to its US clients – citing “regulatory uncertainties” – the company is planning a 20% increase in its crypto headcount before the end of this year, 40% of whom will be based in the UK. That’s 400 new, highly paid, fintech jobs about to land in Shoreditch.

Despite the UK government’s negligence and antipathy towards cryptos, one hopes that the prospect of accruing tax dollars here rather than in the EU, might help focus some minds.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Are you mad?

Cryptos stray sometimes into a world of inexplicability.

On July 26th, 2023, crypto user nd4.eth (an Ethereum Name Service identification which we looked at back in May 2022 and again in April this year) sent 2,500 ETH valued at around $4.5mm to a burn address:

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x36f899bb27aa365c30a6f559c3512c063c366dae515d43fe05ec530ed440bb5a

Yesterday, the same user burnt another nearly $4mm work of GNS and GMX bought earlier this year on Uniswap, in addition to NFTs from Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and Crypto Punk 5237:

All very KLF if you ask me.