Month: May 2024

Deadly tornado outbreak in western Iowa. Ireland, Norway and Spain are taking steps to recognize a Palestinian state. Former President Trump backtracks after signaling restrictions on birth control. CBS News Correspondent Steve Kathan will have those stories and more in the World News Roundup:

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 Plus, the “stunning success” of Bitcoin ETFs and why Michael Sonnenshein stepped down as CEO of Grayscale.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Just when everyone thought that spot Ether ETFs were going to be denied on Thursday, news broke Monday that they are now likely to be approved, with Bloomberg analysts tripling their odds to a 75% chance of approval. 

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, and Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise Asset Management, say this reversal definitely has to do with politics, citing the fight of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, a rule that was unfriendly to financial institutions wanting to engage with crypto. 

Plus, they delve into the reasons why Michael Sonnenshein stepped down as CEO of Grayscale after 10 years (hint: it has to do with GBTC), what the 13F filings revealed about who’s been buying the spot bitcoin ETFs since the beginning of the year, and what Vanguard’s incoming CEO, Salim Ramji, who was instrumental to getting BlackRock to launch its Bitcoin ETF, could mean for crypto’s future at the asset management firm.

Show highlights:

• Why Eric believes the ether ETFs will be approved
• Why Matt thinks the Bitcoin ETFs set off a "complete sea change in Washington around crypto"
• Whether the spot Ether ETFs will be approved with or without staking
• Who the authorized participants and other behind-the-scenes players in the ether ETFs will be
• When the ETH ETFs could start trading and why Eric believes they won't be as successful as Bitcoin ETFs
• What the 13F filings revealed about the spot Bitcoin ETFs buyers and why their identities are  "stunning"
• Why Michael Sonnenshein stepped down as CEO of Grayscale
• Grayscale’s new mini ETF, BTC
• Whether Vanguard's new CEO appointment could mean a change in attitude by the asset management firm towards crypto
• What a buffered ETF is and why they could be significant
• Matt's prediction for the BTC price
• Their outlook on the future of ETFs and developments in the space

Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

Thank you to our sponsors!  Polkadot  |  VaultCraft

Guests:

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise Asset Management

Previous appearances on Unchained: 

How Small Bitcoin ETF Issuers Will Compete With the Likes of BlackRock

Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10

Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

Previous appearances on Unchained:

How, in 7 Weeks, Bitcoin ETFs Reached Inflows That Took Gold ETFs 3 Years

Why Spot Bitcoin ETFs Are Likely to Finally Start Trading on Thursday

Will a Spot Bitcoin ETF Finally Get Approved?

Links  | 

Ether ETFs

Unchained: Analysts Up Odds of Spot Ether ETF to 75% as Prometheum Launches Product That Treats ETH as a Security

CoinDesk: Ether ETFs Filing Process Sees Abrupt Progress, Though Approval Not Guaranteed: Sources

The Block: Fidelity files amended S-1 registration statement, removing staking rewards from prospective Ethereum ETF

SAB 121

Bloomberg: As Bitcoin Rallies, Banks Are Pushing US Regulators to Change Crypto Guidance 

Unchained: Senate Votes to Kill SAB 121 Custody Bill: How Crypto Became So Political

13F Filings

Unchained: Large Institutions Betting Big on Bitcoin ETFs Revealed in SEC Filings

Leadership changes

CoinDesk: Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein Steps Down, to Be Replaced by TradFi Veteran

WSJ: Meet Salim Ramji, Who Is Going to Oversee the Retirement Assets of Tens of Millions of Americans

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Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC.  Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz. 

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The leaders of Ireland, Spain and Norway announce their countries will recognize Palestinian statehood and the Israeli foreign minister says he's recalling the country's ambassadors for consultations in response. Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and two co-defendants are in court in Florida today asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges against their clients. And a ransomware attack on a major health care system continues to affect hospitals and patients two weeks after it happened.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by John Helton, Russell Lewis, Diane Webber, Alice Woelfle and Lisa Thomson. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Nina Kravinsky. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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Domestic divisions are already complicating the daunting task William Lai Ching-te has set himself: strengthening Taiwan while maintaining its ambiguous geopolitical status quo. With more and more big firms choosing to stay private—with good reason—the stockmarket is shrinking (09:37). And dating apps are putting an end to the lonely-hearts advertisement (16:47).

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Alabama

• Dale Strong visits NYC courtroom, calls trial against Trump- election interference
• AG Marshall files amicus brief in NY re: Amish families and vaccine exemptions
• AL Dept of Health starts program to prevent maternity deaths in state
• Groups fighting to protect AL children upset at Legislature's lack of priority
• Task force in W. Alabama results in 3 dozen arrests for human trafficking
• Opelika's 11 year old Bryson McGlynn wins Master Chef Jr. competition 

National

• Biden chooses to release millions of barrels of gas from NE Reserve
• Biden gets GOP outrage for sending condolences to Iran's "Butcher of Tehran"
• Hunter Biden's trial in June include 3 former lovers as witnesses to drug problem
• Trump to hold rally in Bronx this Thursday as his NYC trial continues
• 2 lawyers make brutal observations re: NYC trial, Michael Cohen and judge
• Rudy Giuliani and 12 others are charged in AZ for challenging 2020 election
• RFK Jr. says he supports $5B in reparations to black farmers in US
• Klaus Schwab to step down as Executive Director of World Economic Forum