1️⃣ ETH ETF Approved in Groundbreaking Pivot
Thursday marked another historic event with the SEC's approval of eight Ethereum spot ETFs from institutions including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity and VanEck. While these approvals signal a change in regulations, especially after the 180 the agency appeared to pull, trading cannot begin until S-1 registration statements are approved, which could take weeks .
While the ETFs are expected To attract billions in capital, thereby building institutional interest in crypto, it appears the next few weeks or months could be the calm before the storm.
2️⃣ House Passes CBDC and FIT21 Anti-Surveillance State Law
Also on Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Lawpreventing the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency without congressional approval.
The bill, supported by 213 Republicans and 3 Democrats, aims to align any US CBDC with American values of privacy and free market competitiveness – which is essential given the potential for these tools to significantly undermine individual rights to freedom.
In the meantime, the House also adopted the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), allowing the CFTC alongside the SEC to regulate the digital asset market. Both bills are now before the Senate, marking significant milestones in shaping the U.S. crypto regulatory landscape.
3️⃣ Jupiter's GUM alliance aims to put everything on chain
Aggregator Solana DEX Jupiter announced its Grand Unified Markets (GUM) initiative to create a “single atomic market» on Solana.
Through partnerships with the Solana Foundation and market makers like Wintermute and DWF Labs, the GUM Alliance intends to create liquid markets not only for crypto, but also for real estate, forex, stocks and bonds on Solana. In other words, symbolize everything.
4️⃣ Farcaster raises $150 million to grow its user base
The decentralized social network Farcaster announced a A fundraising of 150 million dollars led by Paradigm, with participation from a16z, Haun Ventures, Union Square, and more. The funds will be used to grow its user base and add development tools.
Since October, Farcaster has seen its network activity increase 50-fold, with nearly 35,000 unique daily users. While he struggles with some spam and bot activityas all social media does, Farcaster's growth indicates strong demand for its network and, therefore, on-chain social media.
5️⃣ Genesis gets approval to pay creditors, beating DCG
The debauchery of the last round officially appears to have ended with a U.S. bankruptcy court approving Genesis' Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, allowing about $3 billion in cash and assets to be returned to creditors.
Victim of 3AC and FTX, Genesis won its case parent company DCG, which will now suffer a loss due to the judge's decision. Gemini, one of Genesis' largest creditors, will begin reimbursing its customers 97% of their losses from its defunct Gemini Earn program by the end of the month.