Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin and ether traded flat Wednesday.
- Spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) switched to daily net inflows after four days of having more funds leave them. Bitcoin ETFs had a rare day of outflows on Tuesday.
- XRP initially rose nearly 3% after news Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) won’t pursue a ruling on third-party digital assets named in its case against Binance.
- The Mt. Gox estate late Tuesday moved a further $3.1 billion worth of bitcoin to a new digital address believed to be that of the custodian helping return the failed exchange’s assets to creditors.
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) and ether (ETHUSD) traded flat Wednesday, with bitcoin steady around $66,000 and ether trading a a bit under $3,300.
Ether ETFs Turn Positive, Bitcoin ETFs Trip
Exactly a week after they made their debut on U.S. stock exchanges, spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their second day of positive inflows at $33.7 million.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) experienced the third-strongest day of any of the new spot ether ETFs so far with $118 million of inflows, according to Farside Investors. But cumulative net outflows for the spot ether ETFs stood at $406.4 million at end of Tuesday, driven largely by Grayscale Ethereum Trust’s (ETHE) $1.84 billion of outflows so far.
Tuesday also delivered a rare day of net outflows for the spot bitcoin ETFs, with $18.3 million leaving that market, according to Farside Investors. As expected, the Grayscale Mini Bitcoin Trust began trading Wednesday morning. Its launch included a distribution of 10% of the existing fund’s bitcoin holdings to seed the new ETF, which led to a drop greater than that percentage in the value of GBTC shares the day before the new investment firm’s Mini Bitcoin Trust started trading.
XRP Jumps Amid Optimism Around SEC Lawsuit
XRP (XRP) has been a big mover among larger digital assets, initially rising nearly 3% after the SEC made a filing Tuesday in its case against crypto exchange Binance that indicates the regulatory agency may not pursue a ruling on whether third-party tokens, such as Solana (SOL) and Polygon (MATIC), are unregistered securities.
While some traders see this as a sign the SEC will be abandoning lawsuits against digital assets that could be considered unregistered securities, others advise caution.
“There is no reason to think SEC has decided SOL is a non-security. That they don’t want to do discovery on a dozen tokens in the Binance case appears to be a litigation tactic, not a change in policy,” Variant Fund Chief Legal Officer Jake Chervinsky posted on X, adding that SEC still considers these tokens securities in other lawsuits.
Mt. Gox Distributions Continue
In addition, failed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox on Tuesday night transferred $3.1 billion more in bitcoin to a new bitcoin address, believed by crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence to be that of custodian firm BitGo, which is helping the Mt. Gox trustee return bitcoin to creditors.
The Mt. Gox estate has been distributing funds to former customers over the past couple of months.