From SK Pension Fund Buying Coinbase stock to Polygon gas fees spiking, here is a 2-minute breakdown of everything important that happened in crypto today.
The FTX telenovela feels like a distant memory now. With SBF's trial over, the crypto sphere has gone back to business as usual. But "usual" means a whole lotta boredom these days!
Without a scandal or crisis to shake things up, we're left twiddling our thumbs waiting for the next catalyst. 😴 Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise?
The SEC's glacial pace on spot ETF filings means we'll be holding our breath until January for any movement.
But today we've got a handful of stories to stimulate those crypto-loving brains! It may not be as wild as the gossip-filled days of yore, but we'll take what we can get.
On the docket today:
- A pension fund bet big on Coinbase stock 📈
- BlackRock wants an Ethereum ETF 💹
- Money laundering in crypto 👮
- Tether's going all in on mining Bitcoin now ⛏️
- Polygon gas fees spiked, deja vu anyone? 💸
Let's dive into the nitty gritty of each story! The drama may have died down but our hunger for crypto news never will. 😎
Pension Fund Buys Coinbase Stock 📈
A major South Korean pension fund bought nearly $20 million worth of Coinbase stock. This reflects the country's growing embrace of crypto, after passing landmark legislation this year.
Pension funds are normally wary of risky bets like crypto. But this shows perceptions slowly changing as digital assets mature.
Of course, buying before the bull market means this fund scored Coinbase shares at a steep discount.
Institutional money creeping into crypto lends some cred. Even with small bets, it's a promising sign for crypto. Read the full story!
BlackRock Files for Spot Ethereum ETF 💹
Investment giant BlackRock has formally applied to the SEC for approval of a spot Ethereum ETF. This comes right after BlackRock stealthily registered an Ethereum Trust last week.
An Ether ETF would let mainstream investors easily bet on Ethereum's price moves. Understandably people got excited, bumping Ethereum up a bit. But BlackRock's still impatiently waiting on the SEC's snail-paced decision about its Bitcoin ETF filing from months ago.
But what impact it will have on ETH’s price if this ETF gets approved? Read the full story!
Trio Charged for Crypto Laundering 👮
The Department of Justice charged three individuals with laundering over $10 million in crypto and identity theft. They allegedly recruited people in the US to hand over bank accounts to their scammy operation. Once they got the accounts, the scammers moved funds out as cash or crypto. Now they're staring down a 30-year prison sentence.
Cases like this show the government's getting better at tracking crypto crimes. But catching every launderer and criminal remains an uphill battle in these digital domains. More details on how they were caught!
Tether’s Bitcoin Mining Expansion ⛏️
Tether is going full steam ahead into Bitcoin mining! It wants to become a major Bitcoin mining player, planning to drop half a billion on becoming a mega miner. It aims to eventually control 1% of BTC's hash rate power.
Tether is tapping debt financing and partnerships to quickly scale up operations in Latin America and beyond. Makes sense to diversify away from just issuing stablecoins. But some may question if stablecoin issuers should become miners. Consolidation of power always raises uneasy questions in crypto's decentralized ethos.
More information on the countries it selected as its preferred mining sites!
And that brings us to our Word of the Day!
It’s ‘Hash Rate’!
Hash rate, in simple terms, refers to how many cryptocurrency transaction calculations a mining machine can perform each second. The higher the hash rate, the faster it can mine and earn rewards.
Miners want to maximize the hash rate to be competitive. Upgrading hardware and using faster chips increases the hash rate.
But as more miners join the network and upgrade gear, the overall difficulty goes up. A hash rate that was lucrative earlier becomes insufficient over time.
So miners need to continually invest in better equipment just to maintain profitability. It creates an arms race dynamic as miners scramble to boost their hash rate against rising network difficulty.
Is it different for different devices? Which device offers the best hash rate? Read more!
Now back to our daily stories!
Polygon Gas Fees Spike 💸
Gas fees on Polygon briefly spiked over 1000% as users rushed to mint tokens inspired by Bitcoin's Ordinals protocol. It appears the crypto community's obsession with minting coins continues. Polygon's founder was caught off guard by the surge. For all the scaling talk, raw demand still strains networks when excitement hits.
Minting yields big profits when timed right. But those slow to the game risk getting burned by the volatile gas fees. Here are some details on how many tokens were minted and what’s the demand-supply ratio!
That wraps up the key headlines today. Stay tuned for more crypto insights!
