🎉Weekly Recap: SEC Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs

Happy weekend Defiers!

The sudden approval of spot Ether ETFs dominated headlines this week.

ETH and Ethereum ecosystem assets rallied on Tuesday after rumors swirled that the SEC had suddenly pivoted towards approving spot Ether ETF hopefuls, with reports claiming the regulator requested updated filings from applicants. The SEC received a spate of amended 19b-4 filings immediately after.

The SEC approved the 19b-4 filings for eight spot Ether ETFs on May 23, crucially signaling that ETH comprises a commodity rather than a security asset. The U.S. House of Representatives also passed the FIT21 bill on May 22, indicating that the SEC and the CFTC will collaborate on regulating the crypto industry in the United States moving forward.

In other Ethereum news, drama ensued after Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake, prominent members of the Ethereum Foundation, disclosed high-paying advisory positions with EigenLayer. Some Ethereum community members fear the roles could impact Feist and Drake’s neutrality moving forward.

A sustained spate of low gas fees also resulted in Ether’s supply inflating by $238M worth of ETH over the past six weeks. While cheap fees are good for adoption, they also appear to be threatening Ethereum’s deflationary value proposition.

It was also a bullish week for Solana, with assets in the Solana ecosystem continuing post gains. Phantom, a popular wallet among Solana users, overtook Facebook on the Google Play store with 770,000 downloads in April.

EtherFi announced it will soon launch a credit card linked to users’ restaking balances. The project said holders can use the card to make payments worldwide either by deducting funds from restaking holdings or borrowing USDC against users’ assets.

Restaking remains a hot topic in web3, with developers scrambling to replicate Ethereum’s booming restaking sector leveraging BTC.

NFTs experienced a volatile week, with Miladys rallying while Ethereum NFTs continue to suffer drawdowns. Yuga Labs also garnered pushback after revealing the first official CryptoPunks collaboration.

Plus, Pump.Fun’s purported hacker appears to be in hospital following an unhinged Twitter rant, Whales Market rallied after launching its own memecoin launchpad, and Railgun adoption grows as rival mixers exit the market,

And don’t miss our latest podcast with Safe co-founder Lukas Schor!

Enjoy!

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PODCAST & INTERVIEWS

$100B+ in Digital Assets: Lukas Schor on Safe, $SAFE, Smart Accounts and Quantum Computing

In this week’s podcast, Cami Russo was joined by Lukas Schor, the co-founder of Safe, an on-chain asset custody protocol securing roughly $100 billion worth of digital assets today. Originally developed under Gnosis as a smart account, Safe later spun off and became an independent project.

The discussion covers the recent launch of Gnosis’s $GNO token, the asset’s use cases, and the early days of Gnosis as an on-chain prediction market. Lukas also presents his thesis on the impact quantum computing will have on blockchain security and smart accounts, explores the challenges and opportunities facing web3 in achieving mainstream adoption of Web3 wallets, and shares insights into Safe's forthcoming upgrades.

How zkVerify Collapses ZK Proof Costs by 90% | Robert Viglione on zkVerify, ApeChain & Horizen Labs

Cami Russo spoke to Robert Viglione, the co-founder of Horizen Labs, to learn about zkVerify, a new scalability solution from Horizen that reduces the costs associated with zero-knowledge proofs by 90%. The conversation also explores the latest developments on ApeChain and their implications for the Ape ecosystem, updates to the incentivized testnet for zkVerify, and its mainnet timeline.

VIDEO & TUTORIALS

ETH ETF Approval, EigenLayer x Ethereum Foundation Conflict, US Politics Turns Crypto Friendly

Cami Russo dives into all of the top web3 headlines from the week in our latest episode of Crypto With Cami.

Ethereum ETF Approval Imminent? Here's What It Means for ETH Prices in 2024

Amid rampant rumors that spot Ether ETF approvals could be just around the corner, Jack Dunham explores what the funds getting greenlit could mean for the Ethereum markets.

Friday

Investors Look to Blackrock’s Next Target: Real-World Assets Tokenized real-world assets and adjacent tokens have soared following the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs on May 23
Analysts Predict ETH Price Will Shoot to at Least $6,000 Following ETF Approval Analysts say ETH could surge to $6,000 after the U.S. securities regulator approved spot Ether ETFs.
Solana Wallet Phantom Overtakes Facebook on Google’s App Store Data shows that Phantom, a popular Solana wallet, was downloaded an estimated 770,000 times in April.
Crypto Markets Drop Following Ethereum ETF Approvals Traders ‘sell the news’ after the SEC approved eight exchange-traded funds backed by spot Ether.
Ethereum ETF Approval Signals Ether Is A Commodity, Not A Security The ruling sets the stage for collaboration between the SEC and the CFTC on crypto regulations in the United States.
Railgun Privacy Protocol Surpasses $1B in Volume Amid Crackdown On Crypto Mixers Railgun, an on-chain privacy protocol, is enjoying strong adoption as rival crypto mixers cease operations, including from Vitalik Buterin.
Low Ethereum Gas Fees Inflate Supply By 50k ETH In One Month A spate of unusually low Ethereum gas fees resulted in Ether’s supply growing by 50,550 coins over the past 30 days.

Thursday

SEC Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs in Landmark Decision Just over four months after Bitcoin ETFs began trading in the U.S., the SEC has greenlit trading of eight exchange-traded funds backed by spot Ether.
ETH Climbs While Rest of Major Cryptocurrencies Slide Ahead of ETF Decision ETH was the only major digital asset to climb on Thursday ahead of the much-anticipated SEC’s verdict on spot Ether ETFs.
Coinbase Relists Ripple’s XRP Token in New York The move reverses Coinbase's January 2021 suspension of the token amid a legal challenge from the SEC.
Ethereum ETF Approval: Here's What You Need to Know About Today's Deadline Analysts anticipate that the SEC’s decision on spot Ether ETFs is fast approaching.
Xapo Launches Lightning Network Deposits Amid Growing Adoption In Key Latin Markets Argentina and Brazil accounted for 43% of Lightning Network payments executed via Xapo in March.
Robinhood Taps 0x For Gasless Swaps On Arbitrum The move is Robinhood’s latest move to provide on-chain services to its users.
EtherFi Unveils Plans For Credit Card Tied To Restaking Holdings EtherFi said users will be able to make payments anywhere worldwide with the card.
NEAR to Focus on User-Owned AI Near launched an initiative to incubate and invest in native AI infrastructure.
Community Erupts as Key Players From Ethereum Foundation Become Advisors to EigenLayer Dankrad Feist and Justin Drake are catching flak for their multi-million-dollar deals with the pioneering restaking protocol.

Wednesday

Milady NFTs Soar Amid NFT Market Volatility Milady Maker NFTs surged 35% despite most Ethereum-based NFT collections slumping.
Crypto Markets Consolidate Ahead of Fed Minutes Ether is holding above $3,700 after a flurry of updated 19b-4 filings from spot Ethereum ETF applicants.
White House Said It Will Not Veto Crypto Bill in Major Industry Win The Biden administration said it opposes the bill but is eager to work with Congress to regulate the crypto industry.
Spot Ether ETF Hopefuls Update Filings, Extending Timeline For SEC Approval Five prospective spot Ether ETF issuers amended their 19b-4 filings with the SEC.
Kakarot ZK-EVM Launches Testnet, Paving The Way For EVM-Compatibility On Starknet Kakarot aims to introduce EVM-compatibility to the Starknet ecosystem, opening the floodgates to established DeFi protocols from across the Ethereum ecosystem.

Tuesday

Yuga Labs’ First “Punk in Residence” Release Sparks Controversy The CryptoPunk community pushed back against Yuga Labs after the first “Punk in Residence” collaboration was revealed.
Z kSync Could Launch Token This Week Polymarket traders are betting that ZkSync will drop its long-awaited token by July.
Ethereum Ecosystem Tokens Surge on Spot ETF Approval Hopes Ethereum ecosystem tokens are rallying in response to a sudden shift in spot Ether ETF sentiment.
Fantasy.Top Creators to Receive Nearly 600 ETH in Rewards The on-chain trading card game’s user base has collectively earned almost 600 ETH, but not everyone is happy.
Whales Market Token Surges 30% After Releasing Memecoin Launchpad Whales Market has launched Whales.meme, a Solana-native competitor to Pump.Fun.
Here Are All the Signs an ETH ETF Approval May Be Around the Corner Rumors that the SEC is asking applicants to update filings sent the price of ETH flying.
Bitcoin Halving Strains Miners as Revenues Drop Bitcoin’s hash rate has fallen 9% since the halving as inefficient miners are forced out of the market.

Monday

Solana Surges While Rest of Crypto Majors Start Week Flat Solana assets have recently outperformed the broader crypto markets.
Purported Pump.Fun Hacker Claims To Be In Hospital After Arrest and Release The Twitter user claiming to be a former Pump.fun employee who stole $1.9M from the platform in an exploit said the project is planning an airdrop.
Web3 Teams Compete To Bring Restaking To $1.2T Bitcoin Ecosystem Developers are racing to replicate Ethereum's booming restaking ecosystem leveraging BTC.

🎉Weekly Recap: SEC Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs

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