Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) received its first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application. Solana-based decentralized exchange Jupiter has topped trading volumes over the last 24 hours, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Binance continue to clash behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Bitcoin miners will be unable to mine profitably post-halving if the price of Bitcoin doesn’t rally significantly, warns Cantor Fitzgerald.
Hong Kong SFC receives first spot Bitcoin ETF application
Local reports suggest that Harvest Hong Kong — one of China’s largest fund managers — submitted a spot Bitcoin ETF application to the Hong Kong SFC on Jan. 26.
The report added that the regulatory body is actively working to expedite the process for approval of ETFs in the country to launch the first Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF after the Chinese New Year on Feb. 10.
Several existing crypto companies that launched futures-based crypto ETFs in Hong Kong are also expected to be among spot Bitcoin ETF filers. Samsung Asset Management, which launched the Samsung Bitcoin Futures ETF in 2023, reportedly said it wouldn’t “eliminate the possibility of exploring to launch a spot ETF.”
Solana DEX Jupiter flips Uniswap amid stablecoin, Wen airdrop frenzy
Trading volumes on the Solana-based decentralized exchange Jupiter have topped the charts at $480 million in the last 24 hours — amid a frenzy for a new memecoin airdrop and heightened stablecoin swaps.
The trading activity has even seen Jupiter beat out the Ethereum-based volumes on Uniswap from both V2 and V3 protocols by $10 million, with the combined trading volume of those protocols only amounting to $470 million in the last 24 hours, per CoinGecko data.
A little over $50 million worth of Jupiter’s total daily trading volume came from traders buying and selling “Wen,” a memecoin that could be claimed by any Solana user who’d interacted with Jupiter in the last six months, as well as owners of Solana’s Saga phone.
However, the bulk of the volumes on Jupiter over the last day were the trading of Solana into Circle’s USD Coin and Tether, which accounted for $191 million of the total daily volume.
Legal spat between SEC and Binance simmers behind the scenes
Court filings have revealed that the U.S. SEC and Binance continue to clash over which documents the crypto exchange has to hand over to the regulator.
Per a Jan. 25 joint status report, the SEC contents that “there are important aspects of discovery from BAM that are outstanding.” BAM Trading Services is the parent company of Binance.US.
The SEC has requested extensive documentation from Binance around its custody and asset liquidity. The regulator has also been looking into whether Binance.US had a “backdoor” that would allow it to access customer funds a la FTX.
Binance settled with the SEC in November and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion settlement fine. CEO Changpeng Zhao agreed to step down from his role. He’s currently awaiting sentencing and could face up to 18 months in prison.
Source: Cointelegraph.com
