ETH broke above its November 2021 record high, and analysts say a dovish Federal Reserve and institutional adoption will send Ether well above $5,000. Key takeaways: Ethereum has rebounded by over 250% from its April lows. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish stance is fueling the ETH price rally. Read more
Tariffs slam US Bitcoin miners with nine-figure bills, Polkadot courts Wall Street, SharpLink loads up on ETH and Beijing hints at a yuan-backed stablecoin pivot. The Bitcoin mining industry is squarely in the crosshairs of the US-led trade war, with publicly traded miners receiving hefty invoices from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Yet, in a twist, a mining venture backed by US President Donald Trump’s family secured more than 16,000 rigs from China’s Bitmain without incurring additional duties. Beyond mining headwinds, the broader blockchain sector is intensifying efforts to court Wall Street as institutional adoption accelerates across exchange-traded funds, corporate treasuries and tokenized real-world assets. Ether (ETH) treasury firms are also ramping up accumulation, while reports suggest China may be preparing to greenlight yuan-backed stablecoins. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter explores these developments, highlighting The Miner Mag’s latest findings, Polkadot’s new capital markets divisi...
VanEck has filed to launch the first US ETF backed by a liquid staking token, JitoSOL, testing the SEC’s evolving stance on staking. The global asset manager VanEck has filed an S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) to launch the VanEck JitoSOL exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to the filing, this fund will hold only JitoSOL, the liquid staking token issued by Jito Network. The submission marks the first attempt to register a US exchange-traded fund backed by a liquid staking token, potentially exposing investors to Solana’s staking yields through a regulated product. JitoSOL represents Solana (SOL) locked with validators while providing a transferable token that accrues rewards, a process known as liquid staking. The product would extend VanEck’s expansion into digital asset funds, following its spot Bitcoin ETF launched in early 2024 and Ether ETF earlier that year. Unlike those vehicles, the JitoSOL ETF could test the SEC’s stance on staking. Read more
After a BlockFi investor withdrew an objection filed in February, a judge appeared to clear the way for the next step in a settlement of a class-action lawsuit. A New Jersey judge has given preliminary approval for a $13-million settlement between a group of investors and cryptocurrency lending company BlockFi after months of delays. In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Judge Claire Cecchi ordered BlockFi’s insurers to pay more than $13 million to an escrow account within 30 days as part of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2023. The order followed a February motion for preliminary approval, which was held up in part due to an objection from one investor. The judge scheduled a Dec. 11 hearing to determine final approval of the settlement plan and discuss any objections from parties to the lawsuit. About 89,000 users who held interest accounts at the company from March 2019 until its bankruptcy in November 2022 were eligible for distributions under the settlement. Read mo...