Bitcoin
US Lawmakers Demand that the SEC Allows Trading in Bitcoin Spot ETFs
U.S. lawmakers called for the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve bitcoin spot exchange traded funds (ETFs). Since the SEC has approved the trading of bitcoin futures ETFs, the lawmakers said it “should no longer have concerns with bitcoin spot ETFs and should show a similar willingness to permit the trading of bitcoin spot ETFs.”
U.S. U.S. Representatives Tom Emmer and Darren Soto wrote a bipartisan letter Wednesday to Gary Gensler (SEC) regarding bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETFs). The SEC approved two bitcoin futures ETFs so far but has not yet approved any bitcoin spot ETF.
Rep. Emmer stated:
The SEC’s approach towards cryptocurrency regulation is unacceptable. Although trading bitcoin futures ETFs represents a significant step forward for millions of American investors, it is absurd that bitcoin spot ETFs can’t also begin trading.
Reps Emmer and Soto noted that the SEC approved two Bitcoin Futures ETFs. They wrote: “We are questioning why, if we are comfortable allowing trading into an ETF based upon derivatives contracts, why are you not equally or greater comfortable allowing trading trading to begin in ETFs which are based spot bitcoin .”
They explained that “Bitcoin spot ETFs” are directly based on the asset and inherently provide more protection for investors. Futures products, however, are “potentially much more volatile than a Bitcoin spot ETF and may impose substantially greater fees on investors .”
Referring to the SEC’s prior reasoning for disallowing spot Bitcoin ETFs, lawmakers stated that “Since [the SEC] no longer has concerns about bitcoin futures ETFs,” then “it therefore presumably has changed it view about the underside spot bitcoin market since bitcoin futures are, in definition, a derivative the underlying Bitcoin spot markets.”
The SEC should not have any concerns about bitcoin spot ETFs. They should also be open to permitting the trading of bitcoin spot eTFs.
The letter also notes that while the SEC continues to deny bitcoin ETFs, “numerous spot bitcoin investment vehicles have been offered,” with more than $40 billion in assets under management (AUM).
” However, since these products were unable to register with the SEC as ETFs, public trading usually occurs at a value which is not equal to net asset valuation. In fact, these products are currently trading at steep discounts to net asset values,” the congressmen stated. They explained:
Permitting futures-based ETFs while simultaneously continuing to deny spot-based ETFs would further perpetuate these discounts and clearly go against the SEC’s core mission of protecting investors.
The letter concludes with: “The SEC has the ability to approve Bitcoin futures ETFs as evidenced by the trading of such products. So it should also have the ability to approve bitcoin spot ETFs .”
What do you think about the SEC approving bitcoin futures ETFs but not bitcoin spot ETFs? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or in connection to the content, goods, or services discussed in this article.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops to 4.33%, Largest Reduction in 10 months
It’s now 4. 33% easier to mine bitcoin over the next two weeks as the difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) dropped from 31. 25 trillion to today’s 29. 85 trillion. It’s the largest DAA drop since July 17, 2021, when the difficulty dropped 4. 81% at block height 691,488.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Drops 4. 33% — The Largest Drop Since July 2021
- Mining bitcoin is a lot less difficult than it was before May 25, 2022, as Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA) saw a 4. 33% reduction in difficulty.
- Prior to the drop, Bitcoin’s difficulty was approximately 31. 25 trillion and today, it’s approximately 29. 85 trillion after the largest drop since July 2021. The DAA change occurred at block height 737,856 on Wednesday.
- Bitcoin’s USD value has been lower in recent times, so a downward difficulty adjustment helps miners recoup some of the losses by making it 4. 33% easier to find bitcoin block rewards. Currently, a Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro+ Hyd. with 198 terahash per second (TH/s) in hashpower can get an estimated $9. 24 per day in BTC profits.
- Bitcoin’s global hashrate has been consistent and above the 200 exahash per second (EH/s) region for quite some time now. On May 2, 2022, Bitcoin’s hashrate tapped an all-time high at 275 EH/s at block height 734,577.
- Right now, there are 1,864 bitcoin (BTC) blocks left to be found until the next DAA change on June 8, 2022, and 101,992 blocks left until the next reward halving. There will be roughly 51 consecutive DAA changes every two weeks before the block reward halving occurs.
- Bitcoin’s current difficulty, the USD value, and a cost of $0. 12 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) makes it so machines that produce 30 terahash per second (TH/s) are not very profitable, unless the miner pays less than $0. 12 per kWh. For example, the Innosilicon T3+ (52 TH/s), gets around $0. 21 per day in BTC profits if electricity costs $0. 12 per kWh.
- Three-day mining pool statistics indicate that there are 12 known mining pools today dedicating SHA256 hashpower to the BTC chain. Around 1. 44% of the global hashrate is operated by unknown or stealth miners with roughly 3. 04 EH/s of hashpower.
- Metrics over the past 72 hours show Foundry USA has been the top bitcoin mining pool in terms of global hashrate and blocks found. At the time of writing, Foundry’s hashrate is approximately 24. 28% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate or 51. 10 EH/s. The pool found 101 BTC block rewards out of the 416 blocks found during the past three days.
- Bitmain’s Antpool managed to find 61 blocks out of the 416 found in three days, making it the second largest pool in terms of computational power. Antpool’s 30. 86 EH/s of hashrate equates to 14. 66% of the global aggregate.
- With BTC‘s difficulty running at 29,850,529,410,160 estimates currently show another reduction is in the cards, but 13 days can change the estimation a great deal. The DAA has a reduction of 0. 16% lower.
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What do you think about the downward difficulty change on May 25 at block height 737,856 on Wednesday? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News, is a Florida-based financial journalist. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or in connection to the content, goods, or services discussed in this article.
Bitcoin
LimeWire signs major deal with Universal Music Group to provide music-based NFTs
LimeWire, the new NFTs marketplace that sprung from the discontinued popular music app of the early 2000s, has scored a huge deal with Universal Music Group (UMG). LimeWire’s continued rise into the spotlight is due to the partnership with UMG. UMG is a global leader in entertainment and music. Per a press announcement released on…
Bitcoin
Smart Token Labs supports Carla Chan & La Prairie in First NFT drop
Manly, Australia, 17th May, 2022, Chainwire Bringing Art and Beauty Lovers Into Web3 The first NFT art collection by La Prairie, the leading luxury skincare brand in the world, was created with the help of Carla Chan, a world-renowned digital artist. It is more than just the inspiring and innovative art it contains. “Space Beyond”…
Manly, Australia, 17th May, 2022, Chainwire
Bringing Art and Beauty Lovers Into Web3
The first NFT art collection by La Prairie, the leading luxury skincare brand in the world, was created with the help of Carla Chan, a world-renowned digital artist. It is more than just the inspiring and innovative art it contains.
“Space Beyond” by Carla Chan involves 365 + 1 editions of unique, forever-changing artworks generated in real-time with weather and demographic data. Each artwork represents a day in the year of the 31 most populated cities across the globe.
The artwork will be dropped on May 18 at FRIEZE New York and proceeds will benefit the preservation of glaciers around the world.
The drop can be accessed at www.nft.carlachan.com from 11am EDT on May 18.
Smart Token Labs supports Carla Chan, La Prairie and brings the NFT drop to life in order to attract an art buyer audience that isn’t necessarily crypto-native.
“Our TokenScript framework was used to make it simple for people to buy the NFT without having a digital wallet, and then to unlock unique experiences using the La Prairie brand via NFT,” stated Victor Zhang, CEO of Smart Token Labs.
‘ The payment flow allows you to buy the NFT using a credit card. A magic link attestation will be sent to the buyer to prove ownership. The magic link can be used to mint the NFT at a later date via a digital wallet.
NFT holders will have access to exclusive experiences and custom software via TokenScript Brand Connector, which connects the NFT with a La Prairie brand website.
Carla Chan stated : “We are thrilled that holders of Space Beyond NFTs can seamlessly interact with La Prairie brands at locations around the globe via experiences such as events and product reveals. Smart Token Labs has provided world-class technology and support to us in bringing art buyers from all over the globe into our first NFT collection. We are grateful for their help. We couldn’t have been happier with the scope and excitement of this project. Now I’m super excited to launch my collection at Frieze New York and Art Basel Hong Kong. It will certainly bring/attract old collectors into web3 with no hassle “
About Smart Token Labs
Smart Token Labs has set a new standard in tokenized future. Since 2017, it has been building two core bridges to this future: AlphaWallet, a superuser agent for smart tokens and TokenScript, the smart token interface for token composability. TokenScript is a token-centric framework that allows you to build composable smart tokens across all NFTs, PlayFi and DeFi.
About Carla Chan
Carla Chan, a media artist based in Berlin from Hong Kong, is . Her approach to media art is similar to the ever-evolving technology. It challenges conventional perceptions of media interfaces and opens up new possibilities for artistic expressions. Chan’s work has been exhibited at many international venues, including the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HK), ZKM (DE), Art Basel (HK), Frieze New York (US), Today Art Museum (CN), among others. At the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards, she was awarded the Toy Berlin Masters Award in DE and Young Artist Award in Media Arts. Her works are in the Burger Collection (CH/HK), and M+ Museum, (HK )
).
About La Prairie
La Prairie is the leader in luxury skincare, present in 90 countries around the world. Rooted in Switzerland, La Prairie evokes innovation, performance, high-touch service and Swissness — the purity, precision and excellence inherent to the extraordinary land that saw the brand’s inception in 1978.
About La Prairie and Art
La Prairie is intrinsically connected to the world art from its inceptions. It finds inspiration in contemporary aesthetic codes which fuel the House’s creative approach. Paul Niehans, La Prairie’s founder, has been a tireless pursuer of timeless beauty. La Prairie creates new connections with other art worlds in an effort to preserve beauty for all time.
Contacts
Chief Marketing Officer, Brent Annells, Smart Token Labs, [email protected]
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