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- 12/19/23: BlackRock Ticker Secured 🪨🔏💰
12/19/23: BlackRock Ticker Secured 🪨🔏💰
Valko
December 19, 2023
Top News
🪨 BlackRock’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETF gets ticker ‘IBIT’
🔏 Inscriptions are responsible for 90% of EVM transactions this week
💰 EigenLayer deposits surpass $900 million amid increased LST caps
Specs’ Insights
1. 🪨 BlackRock’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETF gets ticker ‘IBIT’
⌐◪-◪ → It feels like a spot Bitcoin ETF approval is imminent, as BlackRock updates their S-1 filing for the third time this Monday.
The updated filing also includes language about the creation and redemption mechanism, which has been the focus of recent conversations between BlackRock and the SEC.
If these ETFs get approved before the April 2024 Bitcoin halving, then Michael Saylor’s otherworldly price predictions may come true.
2. 🔏 Inscriptions are responsible for 90% of EVM transactions this week
Inscriptions are responsible for ~90% of transactions on many EVM chains this week.
Is this just another crypto FAD? Or are inscriptions actually genius, and here to stay long-term?
To find out, I spent the past few days exploring them.
Here's everything I learned:
— Jarrod Watts (@jarrodWattsDev)
5:49 AM • Dec 19, 2023
⌐◪-◪ → The NFT inscription hype train is not slowing down anytime soon, with the Bitcoin network recently surpassing 400,000 inscriptions per day.
A new Coinbase report said, "a large portion of NFT activity has shifted to Bitcoin Ordinals."
Due to this surge, Bitcoin fees have hit a two-and-a-half-year high of $37.58 on average per transaction, the highest since April 2021.
3. 💰 EigenLayer deposits surpass $900 million amid increased LST caps
⌐◪-◪ → EigenLayer provides a protocol that enables users to deposit and "re-stake" ether from various liquid staking tokens.
They have recently reached $900 million in ether staked, marking a remarkable 4x increase in just four days. For comparison, the Base network currently has a total value locked (TVL) of only $420 million.
This is a project worth keeping an eye on; they have gained significant traction and successfully closed a $50 million Series A round in March, led by Blockchain Capital.
Peripheral Vision
⛓️ Crypto & DeFi
Bitwise airs viral commercial with ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’
Bitcoin fees continue to surge thanks to ordinals mania
Helium Mobile cracks down on MOBILE token farmers
METIS announces ecosystem development fund, token surges
Solana search volume increases 250% over the past 2 months
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox steps down from Electric Coin CEO role
Bad actor sells access to Binance’s law enforcement portal for $10k
Elastos looks to capture BTC staking demand with new L2 offering
Lisk blockchain will become an ETH L2 via Optimism and Gelato
🏦 Wallstreet & VC
7RCC files for spot BTC ETF, but with an ESG-twist
Galaxy Digital's assets under management 3x’d from $1.7B to $5.3B
Michael Saylor still believes Bitcoin will hit $1M
🏛️ Legal & Regulatory
Elizabeth Warren pushes back at blockchain lobbying efforts
SEC delays decisions on Hashdex and Grayscale Ethereum ETFs
Federal judge approves settlement between CFTC and Binance
DCG can’t sell or decrease ownership of Genesis yet, Judge rules
🌎 Rest of the World
Circle adds Solana to list of chains used by EURC stablecoin
Astar Network to focus more on Korean market after Upbit listing
Revolut will suspend trading for UK business customers: report
UK introduces new regulations for its Digital Securities Sandbox
Indonesia VP candidate promises to create 'crypto experts'
Do Kwon appeals extradition decision by Monetengro Court
🖼️ NFTs & Metaverse
Solana game 'Aurory' suffers $830K exploit, disables arbitrum bridge
Azuki team, Chiru Labs, is building out a gaming team
Flooring Lab begins compensations for last week’s hack
Metaplex inscriptions and engravings launch on Solana