The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day |
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Circle Internet Financial’s privately held stock is trading in the secondary market at a price implying a $5 billion to $5.25 billion valuation for the stablecoin issuer ahead of a planned initial public offering, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, is allowing some trading of its shares in the secondary market ahead of the planned IPO, two of the people said, but on a case-by-case basis and only in specific situations. The sellers are said to be early-stage investors who are divesting for liquidity reasons or Circle employees, one of the people said. Employees are often given the chance to monetize stock options they hold before a company goes public. The company is not allowing trades below a $5 billion valuation, two of the people said. |
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Bitcoin Reserve Funded by Gold |
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis's plan for a new Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would finance purchases of the cryptocurrency partly by revaluing gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve System, according to a draft of the legislation obtained by CoinDesk. Lummis, a Wyoming Republican who is known for her Bitcoin-friendly policy stance, announced her intention to propose the reserve on Saturday at the Bitcoin Nashville conference. She came onstage just minutes after former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in this year's presidential race, delivered a speech on blockchain policy before the cheering room, filled to its 8,500-person capacity. Trump, during this speech, endorsed using the U.S. government's existing bitcoin holdings – primarily obtained through forfeitures and seizures related to criminal cases – to form the "core" of a new "strategic national bitcoin stockpile." According to the draft bill, under the working short title of "Bitcoin Act of 2024," the Treasury secretary would "establish a decentralized network of secure Bitcoin storage facilities distributed across the U.S.," selecting the locations for the vaults "based on a comprehensive risk assessment, prioritizing geographic diversity, security and accessibility." |
XRP Surges on Ripple-SEC Hopes |
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Optimism from traders pushed payments-focused XRP token to the front of the market, beating bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and the broad-based CoinDesk 20 index in Asian trading hours. XRP has risen 7% in 24 hours to over 64 cents, the highest point since March 25, amid a large scheduled token unlock and increased hopes for settlement of the long-running SEC Ripple lawsuit. A Tuesday filing showed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intends to amend its complaint against crypto exchange Binance, including with respect to "Third Party Crypto Asset Securities," which likely means that the Judge won't have to decide whether ten tokens such as Solana's SOL and Polygon's MATIC are unregistered securities just yet. Although the filing did not name any token, traders are taking it to be a sign that the legal dispute between the SEC and Ripple Labs, which the regulator argues issued XRP, could be ending. Ripple and XRP aren't interchangeable. While Ripple is a fintech company focused on building a global payments network, XRP is an independent digital asset used for things like online payments and currency swaps. Ripple is set to unlock 1 billion XRP, or $641 million worth at current prices, in August as part of a pre-determined unlock schedule. |
Nvidia More Volatile Than BTC, ETH |
Nasdaq-listed Nvidia (NVDA), hailed by Goldman Sachs as the world's most important stock this year, is expected to see more significant price swings than crypto market leaders bitcoin and ether. NVDA's 30-day options implied volatility, a gauge of anticipated price swings over four weeks, has recently surged from an annualized 48% to 71%, according to data source Fintel. Meanwhile, crypto exchange Deribit's bitcoin DVOL index, a measure of 30-day implied volatility, has declined from 68% to 49%, according to charting platform TradingView. The ETH DVOL index has dropped from 70% to 55%. Options are derivative contracts that protect the buyer from bullish and bearish price swings. The implied volatility, influenced by demand for options, represents the degree of uncertainty or expected price turbulence. NVDA, a bellwether for all things artificial intelligence (AI) and the producer of graphics processing units formerly used for cryptocurrency mining, has emerged as a barometer of sentiment for both equity and crypto markets since the debut of ChatGPT in late 2022. |
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Being Compliant is the Key: Understanding the Growth of Fastex There’s a new art gallery in Yerevan, Armenia. You’ll find a sleek space, tasteful lighting, and creative works of art. Sculptures that look like eyeballs are emblazoned with bursts of color — fiery reds, bold yellows, soothing blues. But there’s a twist. Each eyeball is linked to a corresponding NFT, meaning it’s a blend of the physical and the digital. The art galleries are “phygital.” Continue reading. |
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The Takeaway: Reviving VC Tokens |
One of the undeniable realities of the past year in Web3 has been the massive surge in memecoins. This has led to a clear dichotomy between memecoins and VC tokens – the tokens of companies backed by venture capital. While I disagree with the notion that memecoins have killed VC tokens in the long run, it’s evident that the market for many VC tokens is currently stagnating. How did we get here, and what do we need to do to make VC tokens exciting again? Even more importantly, what could a savvy founder who’s willing to go against the grain do in order to revitalize the VC token market, especially as we’ve started to see memecoins fatigue? To answer that, we need to go all the way back to what would be considered the root of the problem to begin with that brought us to this point. The problem lies in the intersection of venture-funded Web3 companies and centralized exchanges. For founders and venture capitalists to profit, a successful token launch is essential. Centralized exchanges can be categorized into unofficial tiers based on their volume and liquidity. The goal is to get your token listed on the exchanges with the highest volume and liquidity, as this increases trading activity and improves market positioning. But what does it take to achieve this? It’s a complex process, but I’ll simplify it. As you’d imagine, the top centralized exchanges are quite selective. Each has different criteria, but one key factor they value is high valuations. High valuations indicate that a founder successfully raised substantial funds, making their token launch seem more promising. The specific valuation that matters is the Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV). This is calculated by multiplying the token price by the total supply, estimating the token’s market cap once all tokens are in circulation. If a company achieved a high FDV, it was seen as exciting and worthy of listing on exchanges with better volume and liquidity. Although other factors were considered, this was a crucial one. Read the full piece here. |
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