Bitcoin (BTC) tops $71000 as UK FCA opens door to crypto ETNs

Chesnot | Getty Images News | Getty Images Bitcoin prices rallied on Monday to hit a fresh record high above $71,000, after the British financial watchdog said it would allow institutions to file applications for cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded products for the first time. The Financial Conduct Authority said in a notice Monday that it would not object to requests from recognized investment exchanges to create a U.K.-listed market segment for crypto-backed exchange traded notes, or ETNs. Exchanges would need to ensure they have sufficient controls in place, so that trading is…

UK’s FCA Opens the Door for Institutional Investors to Build Crypto-Backed ETN Market

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will not object to requests from Recognised Investment Exchanges (RIEs) to build a listed market segment for crypto asset-backed exchange-traded notes (ETNs), the regulator said in a press release on Monday, a further sign of the increased institutionalization of cryptocurrency markets. The products would be available to professional investors, including investment firms and credit institutions, the FCA said.ETNs are a type of exchange-traded product, often issued by a bank or an investment manager, that tracks an underlying index or assets. Source

Robinhood opens all 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs for trading

Online broker Robinhood has added all 11 spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs approved by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the company, all approved exchange-traded funds are now available for trading on the platform. As another benefit, the platform offers a 1% bonus when users transfer their brokerage account into Robinhood. Before this, the company’s CEO, Vlad Tenev, noted that Robinhood would list all 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs “as soon as possible.” This solution facilitates the integration of crypto assets into TradFi. Also, according to Tenev, spot Bitcoin ETFs…

Liquidity-Focused Berachain Opens Layer-1 Testnet to Public

Under PoL, ecosystem players help secure the Berachain network by providing liquidity to the trading infrastructure built on top of it. Infrastructure can mean many things: an automated market maker, a crypto game, a lending protocol – basically anything that needs a pool of user-supplied tokens to facilitate transactions via smart contracts. Source

Google slashes price of Gemini AI model, opens up to developers

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced on Dec. 13 that it plans to slash the cost of a version of its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) model Gemini and make it more accessible to developers.  According to reports, the company said the price for the pro model of Gemini has been cut 25-50% of what it was in June. Gemini was introduced in three variations on Dec. 6, with its most sophisticated version being able to reason and understand information at a higher level than other Google technology, along…

‘Clear runway’ opens for all Bitcoin ETF approvals in Jan: Analysts

Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States now have a “clear runway” to potential simultaneous approvals after an advanced decision to delay the bids of Franklin Templeton and Hashdex ETFs, according to ETF analysts. In a Nov. 28 X (Twitter) post, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said the Securities and Exchange Commission delayed its decision on the applications 34 days earlier than the Jan. 1, 2024, decision deadline. The SEC requested comments on forms by Templeton and Hashdex that are necessary for the ETFs to eventually be…