Lưu trữ cho từ khóa: Ethereum

Singapore’s DBS to launch OTC crypto options for institutional investors

Banking giant DBS is set to launch crypto options and structured notes for institutional and accredited clients, becoming the first Asian bank to offer such products.

Singapore-based DBS Bank announced plans to introduce over-the-counter cryptocurrency options trading and structured notes for eligible institutional investors and accredited wealth clients starting in Q4 2024.

In a Sept. 17 press release, the bank said the move positions it as the first financial lender in Asia to offer financial products linked to the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). DBS group head of trading and structuring Jacky Tai says the move comes as professional investors are “increasingly allocating to digital assets in their portfolios.”

“Now, our clients have an alternative channel to build exposure to the asset class and incorporate advanced investment strategies to better manage their digital asset portfolios.”

Jacky Tai

So far, the bank allows clients to trade crypto and security tokens via its own crypto arm DBS Digital Exchange. With the new venture, clients could gain exposure to crypto through options trading and structured notes, potentially allowing for yield on “fiat or take delivery of the underlying cryptocurrency,” the press release reads.

“For instance, a client seeking to manage the inherent volatility of Bitcoin may buy a put option, which gives the client the right to sell Bitcoin at a fixed price at a future date, even if Bitcoin prices fall below the fixed price by that future date.”

DBS

Although the bank deepens its web3 roots, crypto options and structured notes will still be available only to eligible institutional investors and accredited clients of DBS Private Bank and DBS Treasures Private Client, per the press release.

In late August, DBS launched a blockchain-based solution utilizing smart contracts to streamline government grant disbursements. The bank indicated that the pilot aimed to demonstrate how these programmable grants could enhance transparency and efficiency in the grant distribution process.

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Theo Crypto News

Crypto investment products see $436m inflows as rate cut speculation grows

Data from CoinShares shows a reversal in crypto investment trends, with $436 million in inflows following weeks of outflows.

Cryptocurrency investment products experienced their first reversal in weeks, with inflows reaching $436 million after a period of $1.2 billion in outflows.

The surge in inflows, observed towards the end of the week, is attributed to shifting market expectations of a potential 50 basis point interest rate cut on Sept. 18, CoinShares CoinShares head of research James Butterfill noted, adding that the sentiment prompted by comments from former NY Fed President Bill Dudley.

Despite the wave of inflows, trading volumes in exchange-traded funds remained flat at $8 billion for the week, significantly below the year-to-date average of $14.2 billion. Regionally, the U.S. led with $416 million in inflows, while Switzerland and Germany contributed $27 million and $10.6 million, respectively.

Weekly crypto asset flows | Source: CoinShares

As always, Bitcoin (BTC) was the primary beneficiary, reversing a 10-day streak of outflows totaling $1.18 billion with $436 million in new inflows. In contrast, short-Bitcoin products experienced $8.5 million in outflows after three consecutive weeks of inflows.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) faced continued challenges, recording $19 million in outflows, driven by “concerns over layer-1 profitability following Dencun.” Solana (SOL) marked its fourth consecutive week of inflows, totaling $3.8 million. Blockchain equities also saw a boost, with $105 million in inflows attributed to the launch of several new ETFs in the U.S., the data shows.

The inflows come just weeks after Bitcoin saw a sharp decline in exchange activity, with daily inflows dropping 68% from 68,470 BTC to 21,742 BTC, and outflows falling 65% from 65,847 BTC to 22,802 BTC in early September.

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Theo Crypto News

Circle brings USDC stablecoin to Sony’s blockchain

Stablecoin issuer Circle has partnered with Sony Block Solution Labs, making bridged USDC as one of the blockchain’s primary tokens for value exchange.

Circle has formed a strategic partnership with Sony Block Solutions Labs to expand the list of supported stablecoins on Soneium, a public layer-2 network built on Ethereum.

In a Sept. 16 press release, the stablecoin issuer said that as part of the partnership, Soneium will integrate Circle’s Bridged USDC Standard, positioning bridged (USDC) as one of the first assets available for value exchange.

Bridged USDC Standard allows developers to deploy a form of USDC compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine blockchains. The network “maintains optionality for a seamless upgrade to native issuance in the future,” according to Circle, although no timeline was provided for when native USDC might be supported.

Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solutions Labs, said the collaboration aligns with the firm’s vision of creating a “more interconnected and efficient digital ecosystem.” The partnership comes two weeks after Samsung Next, the venture capital arm of the South Korean tech giant, announced its participation in the Soneium Spark program through an investment in Singapore-based Startale Labs.

Sony introduced Soneium in late August, outlining a three-year roadmap for the blockchain. The initial focus will be on web3 users, with plans to onboard Sony Music, Sony Pictures, and Sony Bank in the second year. By the third year, the platform will open to enterprises and decentralized applications.

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Theo Crypto News

Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs log joint negative flows

Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds in the United States experienced joint outflows on Sept. 11 following the joint positive flows recorded the previous day.

According to data from SoSoValue, the 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. logged a net outflow of $43.97 million on Sept. 11, ending their two-day streak of positive flows.

Interestingly, ARK 21Shares’ ARKB recorded the largest outflows among the ETFs yesterday, with $54 million in withdrawals, as reported by SoSoValue. Grayscale’s GBTC followed with net outflows amounting to $4.6 million, while its Bitcoin Mini Trust registered outflows of approximately $511,230.

On the other hand, Fidelity’s FBTC led the inflows for the day, recording $12.6 million in net additions. Invesco’s BTCO followed with $2.6 million in inflows. The remaining seven BTC ETFs including BlackRock‘s IBIT saw no trading activity on the day. Notably, IBIT, the largest spot BTC ETF by net assets has not seen any net inflows since Aug. 26.

Overall, these ETFs have seen net positive flows in the last three days, with total inflows into all spot BTC ETFs at approximately $101.7 million.

Total trading volume for the 12 BTC ETFs jumped to $1.27 billion on Sept. 11, significantly higher than the $717 million seen the previous day. These funds have recorded a cumulative total net inflow of $17 billion since inception. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) was up 2.7% over the past day, trading at $57,932, per data from crypto.news.

Meanwhile, the nine U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs also recorded a net outflow of $542,870 on Sept. 11, led by VanEck’s ETHV with $1.7 million in outflows. Fidelity’s FETH was the only ETF to record inflows, at $1.2 million. However, it was significantly lower than ETHV’s outflows and could not offset the overall loss.

The remaining Ether ETFs remained neutral on that day.

These investment vehicles have also seen their daily trading volume rise to $126.2 million on Sept. 11, a jump over the previous day. The spot Ether ETFs have experienced a cumulative net outflow of $562.6 million to date. At the time of publication, Ethereum (ETH) was also up by 1%, exchanging hands at $2,354.

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Theo Crypto News

Vitalik Buterin linked wallet dumps $2.2m in ETH in 12 days

A wallet which received 3800 ETH from Vitalik Buterin in August has sold over 950 ETH over the past weeks.

According to Lookonchain, a wallet that received approximately $9.8 million in ETH from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold 190 ETH for $441,971 USDC on Sept. 11. 

The wallet initially received 3,800 ETH from Buterin last month—3,000 ETH on Aug. 9 and an additional 800 ETH on Aug. 30. Shortly after, it sold 760 ETH for $1.835 million USDC at an average of $2,414 per ETH, before continuing with the subsequent sales.

At the time of writing the wallet had sold 950 ETH since Aug. 30, for roughly $2.28 million.

The transfers sparked accusations that Buterin was selling ETH for profits, but he recently denied these claims, stating the funds were intended for supporting ecosystem development and philanthropic efforts.

“All sales have been to support various projects that I think are valuable, either within the ethereum ecosystem or broader charity,” Buterin said in an X post.

However, he did not clarify who was the recipient of his latest transfer.

Amid this backdrop, the Ethereum Foundation, the entity supporting the development of the Ethereum blockchain, has also made several notable transactions over the past months. 

As previously reported by crypto.news, the foundation recently sold 450 ETH for 1.029 million DAI on Sep. 9, bringing its total sales for 2024 to 3066 ETH. While the Ethereum Foundation hasn’t officially commented on the rationale behind its recent ETH sales, insiders have noted that these were intended to cover the foundation’s operational expenses.

Meanwhile, the recent sales have exerted downward pressure on Ethereum’s (ETH) price, with the leading altcoin currently down 13% over the past 30 days.

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Theo Crypto News

Ethereum whales panic, $493m ETH entered exchanges in 7 days

Ethereum whales are sending bearish on-chain signals as the second-largest cryptocurrency struggles with exchange net inflows.

According to data provided by IntoTheBlock, Ethereum (ETH) witnessed a centralized exchange net inflow of $493 million over the past week. Massive CEX inflows could hint at a potential selloff, leading to bearish price movements.

ETH price and exchange net flows – Sept. 11 | Source: IntoTheBlock

Data from ITB shows that Ethereum whales recorded 283,430 ETH, worth roughly $660 million, in outflows on Sept. 10. On the other hand, the large holders’ inflows declined from 312,250 ETH to 203,630 ETH on the same day.

This shows increased selling pressure from whales.

The large holders’ net outflow reached almost 80,000 ETH, worth $185 million, on Tuesday, per ITB data. Notably, the Ethereum whale net flows have plunged by 296% over the past week.

ETH large holder net flows – Sept. 11 | Source: IntoTheBlock

One of the bearish whale movements came from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation

Consequently, the selling signals from Ethereum whales brought the asset’s market cap down to $280 billion. ETH is down by 1.1% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $2,325 at the time of writing.

The second-largest cryptocurrency plunged to a local bottom of $2,150 on Sept. 7, but soon recovered above the $2,300 mark after 40,000 ETH left derivative exchanges. 

At this point, the U.S. Consumer Price Index report, which shows the inflation rate in the country, could act as a major catalyst for financial markets, including crypto. The data is scheduled to be released today, Sept. 11.

If the CPI comes below the expected 2.6%, potential bullish momentum would be expected for digital assets, and vice versa.

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Theo Crypto News

Linea’s growth lead resigns over vision discrepancies

Linea’s growth lead Marco Monaco has stepped down from his role, citing misalignment in vision with the project’s future direction.

Marco Monaco, the growth lead for Linea, the zk-rollup developed by Consensys, has left the project, citing a misalignment in vision as the primary reason for his departure.

In an announcement made via X on Sept. 11, Monaco, who had been a key figure in driving Linea’s growth, disclosed that he is “no longer working on Linea in any capacity,” explaining that his resignation follows a period of decreased engagement over the past few months after previously resigning from Consensys.

Throughout his two-year tenure, Monaco says he devoted “nearly 20 hours a day” to developing Linea’s business vision, emphasizing his efforts to “build a vibrant ecosystem” and leverage tech stack by Consensys to advance the platform. Despite his achievements, Monaco expressed a desire to shift the network’s perception from “just farming” to a focus on community engagement and organic growth.

As Linea undergoes a significant transition, Monaco noted that the review process and vision discussions led to a mutual agreement with Consensys leadership that his continued involvement was no longer aligned with the project’s future direction.

“[…] Consensys leadership and I agreed that the best path forward for Linea does not involve me personally as our visions are not aligned anymore.”

Marco Monaco

However, he did not elaborate on the specific points of disagreement with Consensys.

Monaco’s departure comes a few months after Linea faced scrutiny for pausing its entire network to block an address associated with a hacker who exploited the Velocore decentralized exchange, built on Linea, for $7 million. In June, Linea confirmed it had suspended block production to prevent the hacker from selling a large sum of stolen tokens, a move that drew criticism from the broader crypto community.

The pause, which spanned one hour, allowed Linea to assess the situation and coordinate with the Velocore team and centralized exchanges to freeze the hacker’s funds. However, the decision raised concerns about the project’s centralization, with some criticizing the ability to stop the entire network, which at the time held over $1.2 billion in locked value, according to L2Beat data.

Linea acknowledged that its reliance on centralized operations was a vulnerability, but reiterated its commitment to transitioning toward a decentralized, censorship-resistant network.

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Theo Crypto News

FRIEND surges 60% as FriendTech dismisses shutdown rumors

Social media platform Friend.Tech says it has no plans to shut down its web app, reassuring users that smart contract changes will not impact current functionality or fees.

Web3 social media platform Friend.Tech has reassured users that it has no plans to discontinue its web app, following concerns that recent changes to its smart contracts might signal a shutdown.

In a Sept. 10 post on X, the platform’s developers confirmed that the app will continue to function as usual and that there will be no impact on current operations or the introduction of new fees due to the changes made to its Base-based smart contracts.

The statement comes after Friend.Tech appeared to be effectively shuttered on Sept. 8, when developers transferred control of the platform’s smart contracts to Ethereum‘s null address, basically locking the system in place, preventing future updates to the platform.

Launched in August 2023, Friend.Tech quickly gained traction by allowing users to purchase “keys.” Their holders get access to closed channels and exclusive content. After registration, platform users can start selling their shares to other participants or buying “keys” to the accounts they are interested in.

The platform experienced a surge in user activity early on, with daily earnings even surpassing Ethereum’s at one point. The model, which allowed users to trade keys to access private feeds, created a unique monetization avenue for influencers in the web3 space.

However, user activity has declined since its peak, and the platform has struggled to maintain momentum. Despite these challenges, Friend.Tech emphasized that while no new features will be introduced due to the contract changes, the platform will remain fully operational. The reassurance has positively impacted the platform’s native token, (FRIEND), which soared by 60%, reaching $0.097 following the statement.

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Theo Crypto News

Ether.fi partners Scroll to unveil new Visa ‘Cash’ card

Liquid restaking platform Ether.fi has announced a partnership with native zero-knowledge layer 2 Scroll to launch a new Visa-enabled credit card and wallet app.

The ether.fi (ETHFI) team revealed the collaboration in a post on X on Sept. 9. Per the Ethereum (ETH) restaking platform, the alliance allows it to use Scroll as the settlement layer for its card dubbed ‘ether.fi Cash’ card.

Borrow and lend

This card will function like a typical Visa card and will be accepted wherever Visa is available. More importantly, the card is a true credit card, not a preloaded debit card.

According to Ether.fi, the partnership aims to enable a lending and borrowing market for the new credit card. The crypto-linked card will allow holders to access fiat credit using their cryptocurrencies as collateral.

Ether.Fi said its decision to work with Scroll “allows us to offer our users a faster, cheaper, and more rewarding onchain meets real-world experience. Users will also benefit from access to rewards, including cash back on their crypto holdings. The Ether.fi Cash card will support everyday purchases and offer up to 8% cash back, which will be available to users completing online or in-store transactions.

Ether.fi is currently the fourth-largest decentralized finance protocol by total value locked, with over $5.5 billion. According to DeFiLlama, the platform’s TVL reached $6.9 billion in July.

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Theo Crypto News