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Headlines
There was mainly only one headline that mattered all month as it relates to price action:
Other notable headlines include:
- CFTC won its court case against Ooki DAO, setting a precedent for future DOA regulations
- PoolTogether lawsuit dismissed
- UK Passes Bill Recognizing Crypto as Regulated Financial Activity
- “Hinman Emails” Released in Ripple vs SEC Case, May Provide Legal Protection for ETH
- SEC Approves Levered Futures BTC ETF
- SEC claims SOL, MATIC, ADA, and ~ten other crypto projects as securities in Coinbase and Binance lawsuits
- Solana Foundation responded to the SEC's claim that SOL is a security
- Polygon Labs responded to SEC's claim that MATIC is a security
- TrueUSD pauses TUSD minting
- Robinhood ends support for Solana, Polygon, and Cardano.
- Frax announces their Fraxchain L2
- Uniswap decides to partner with Axelar for cross-chain swaps
- Uniswap v4 plans announced, full release later this year
- BNB Chain - Launch EVM-compatible L2, opBNB on testnet
- Binance begins Bitcoin Lightning Network node integration, joining Kraken and Bitfinex
An Update on Crypto Hacks and Exploits
Bitcoin and Macro
In June 2023, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Fed maintained the federal funds rate within the range of 5.00% to 5.25%. The Fed was insistent that this decision, however, should not be misconstrued as a deviation from the Fed's tightening policy. The committee's stance remained decidedly hawkish, with a majority of its members forecasting two additional rate hikes within the year. The question that arises then is: why did the Fed choose to pause the rate hike at this juncture?
The answer lies in the complex interplay of factors that influence monetary policy decisions. The Fed's mandate is to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. In balancing these objectives, the committee must consider a wide array of economic indicators and forecasts. The decision to pause the rate hike could be attributed to a variety of factors such as inflation trends, labor market conditions, and global economic developments. Depending on in which section of the economy one looks and whether the indicator is forwards or backward-looking, you may find a metric to support your bullish or bearish bias. However, one notable metric from all of the macro messiness is that BTC’s correlation to the wider stock market is near zero, breaking a nearly two-year-long pattern in which BTC acted as a leveraged stock play.
Source: Yahoo Finance
BTC Breaks Out Thanks to ETF Filings
Bitcoin (BTC) has roared back onto the financial stage with an impressive increase of approximately 20%+ last month, staking its claim as the top-performing large-cap cryptocurrency. This resurgence appears to have been ignited by a variety of heavyweight institutions from the traditional finance sector, each of which unveiled new plans to enhance their exposure to Bitcoin and other digital assets. Beginning with Blackrock's announcement last month, a series of esteemed asset managers and financial product developers have publicized their new applications for Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), reviving a once dormant bullish narrative. Blackrock, Fidelity, Wisdomtree, Invesco, and VanEck have all entered the spot BTC ETF race.
An ETF, a type of investment fund traded on stock exchanges, reflects the value of its underlying assets—in this case, Bitcoin. This allows investors to participate in the asset's price fluctuations without the need to navigate challenges such as custody.
The renewed enthusiasm surrounding the prospect of a Bitcoin ETF is largely due to the impressive history of product approvals held by the latest applicants, most notably Blackrock. In addition to the ETF applications, banking titan Deutsche Bank announced its application for a digital asset custody license in Germany. This news coincided with the US launch of EDX crypto, supported by Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab, and Citadel Securities.
