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Andrew Throuvalas



Articles by Andrew Throuvalas

This Bitcoin OG May Come Back To Development After Craig Wright Court Loss

1 day ago

Wladimir van der Laan – the former lead maintainer of Bitcoin Core – is mulling a comeback to Bitcoin development after the high-profile industry lawsuit, COPA v. Wright, came to a close earlier this month.
In a blog post last Friday, the Bitcoin pioneer expressed relief and disbelief over the prosecutors’ victory, which saw London high court judge Edward James Mellor declare that self-styled Bitcoin creator Craig S. Wright is not, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto, nor the author of Bitcoin’s whitepaper.
Freedom From Craig Wright’s Pressure
In agreement with the ruling, van der Laan asserted that Wright is an outright fraud and “awful person” who used his fake identity to harass others and destroy lives. Wright’s absence, he said, could make Bitcoin development a less stressful

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This Is Where We Are In The Bitcoin Cycle Based On History

3 days ago

How close is the current “Bitcoin cycle” to its bull market peak? History suggests it could be closer than most think.
Lead Glassnode analyst James Check showcased a chart on Monday comparing Bitcoin (BTC)’s price action over the last three years to that of other Bitcoin epochs after touching their respective all-time highs.
The Bitcoin Cycle Top, According To Glassnode
By Check’s measure, Bitcoin is effectively in the same position it was back in December 2020. At the time, the asset had just cracked its all-time high above $19,600 originally registered on December 12, 2017 – a 36-month wait – and would blast to $64,000 within just a few months.
Bitcoin is in a very similar position today: roughly 35 months after peaking in April 2021, the asset has rebounded to a high of

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Bitcoin Skyrockets Above $70,000 As BlackRock Deems Asset A “Good Portfolio Diversifier”

3 days ago

Bitcoin surged by more than 4.5% to above $70,000 on Monday, regaining lost ground after reaching an all-time high of $74,000 earlier this month.
Until Thursday of last week, Bitcoin traded below $65,000 following a multi-day period of unusually small inflows to Bitcoin ETF products, coupled with monstrous outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
The asset’s price began to surge again on Friday following the Bitcoin Investor Day conference, when Robert Mitchnick – BlackRock’s digital assets lead – labeled Bitcoin as a good portfolio diversifier.
At the time, Mitchnick explained that the asset’s price movements have historically correlated with real interest rates and inflation expectations.
“It’s the reason Bitcoin’s generally not appropriate in large

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BlackRock Clients View Bitcoin As “Overwhelming” Top Crypto Priority

6 days ago

Bitcoin is the number one crypto investment choice among BlackRock’s clients, who have little interest in getting access to other coins, according to Robert Mitchnick – the firm’s Head of Digital Assets.
The representative’s words are sobering for the blockchain industry, much of which bore hopes of the world’s largest asset manager taking the broader crypto asset class to the traditional financial world.
BlackRock’s Clients Like Bitcoin
As reported by Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, Mitchnick said that Bitcoin is “overwhelmingly the number one priority” for BlackRock’s client base.
“Then a little bit of Ethereum, and very little everything else,” Mitchnick added during the Bitcoin Investor Day conference on Friday – a gathering of institutional capital allocators

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The Bottom Is In On Bitcoin’s Latest Pullback, Says Willy Woo

7 days ago

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has likely already bottomed from a sharp pullback that followed new all-time highs last week, according to popular price analyst Willy Woo.
The analyst provided a list of “good news” and ”bad news” surrounding Bitcoin’s fundamentals on Thursday, comparing the asset’s recent consolidation to that of past bull market cycles.
Has Bitcoin Bottomed Yet?
Woo began with a look at Bitcoin’s Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR), an on-chain metric gauging whether the average Bitcoin transaction is currently realizing a profit or a loss. The ratio recently spiked to highs not seen since January 2021, suggesting high profit-taking, and foreboding a lengthy consolidation period.
After tapping $74,000 last week, the asset slid back to $61,000 on Wednesday and has

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Bitcoin Spikes 4% After Federal Reserve Maintains Rates At FOMC

8 days ago

Bitcoin (BTC)’s price spiked on Wednesday following the latest Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting, at which the Federal Reserve announced no changes to interest rates.
The decision keeps the central bank’s benchmark rate between 5.25% and 5.50%, and pushes back investors’ hopes of a more dovish pivot for markets in the near term.
Bitcoin traded for $62,000 one hour before the announcement, before shooting to $64,600 as the updated benchmark rate was revealed.
In a statement, the central bank noted that economic activity in the country continues to expand, unemployment remains low, and inflation remains elevated.
“The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving

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Grayscale Will Lower Fees On Its Spot Bitcoin ETF, CEO Confirms

9 days ago

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnhenshein has promised to lower the management fee of the company’s spot Bitcoin ETF, whose above-average cost has led to overwhelming outflows in recent months.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, the executive promised that the fee will drop over time as the crypto ETF market matures.
“I’ll happily confirm that, over time, as this market matures, the fees on GBTC will come down,” he said.
Upon converting into an ETF on January 11, the fund dropped its management fee from 2% to 1.5%, in line with previous promises to investors.
However, numerous identical spot Bitcoin ETF products launched on the same day, including from BlackRock and Fidelity, included fees of less than 0.5%.
At the time, Sonnhenshein justified Grayscale’s uniquely high fee due

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Ethereum L2 TEN Raises $9 Million From Banking Consortium R3

13 days ago

The encrypted Ethereum layer 2 network, TEN (aka The Encrypted Network), has announced the completion of a $9 million funding round led by the banking consortium R3.
TEN is a layer 2 rollup platform targeting encryption, MEV prevention, scalability, and gas efficiency. It’s said to offer “a balance between Optimistic-based L2s and ZK-Rollups.”
Using encryption, TEN lets developers choose which parts of their smart contract they’d like to keep private, and which parts public.
Other features include immediate bridges, and secure random number generation.
R3 is a consortium of 42 of the world’s largest banks that are exploring blockchain technology and real-world asset tokenization.
Other participants in the funding round include Republic Crypto, KuCoin Labs, Big Brain

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Is MicroStrategy (MSTR) A Better Investment Than Bitcoin? Experts Debate

13 days ago

Crypto industry veterans and investors are debating whether Bitcoin (BTC) or MicroStrategy (MSTR) is a better buy following several weeks of stellar performance for both assets.
Since the start of the year, Bitcoin has rallied 54% on the back of massive demand for newly launched Bitcoin ETFs, whose shares have appreciated at the same rate as the underlying coin. MicroStrategy, however – the company owned by Bitcoin billionaire Michael Saylor – has risen 155% in that same time.
Comparing Bitcoin to MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy is the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The asset comprises virtually all of the company’s balance sheet, which today carries 205,000 BTC – nearly 1% of all BTC that will ever exist.
Many including Saylor himself have likened the company to

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Peter Schiff Admits That He Wishes He Had Bought Bitcoin

14 days ago

Diehard gold bug and notorious crypto critic Peter Schiff has finally admitted that he regrets not buying Bitcoin (BTC).
“Of course – I’m not an idiot,” said Schiff during an interview published on Tuesday, when asked if he’d have bought the digital currency sooner if he could go back in time.
Peter Schiff Regrets Fading Bitcoin
The commentator said that he’d considered investing up to $50,000 into Bitcoin back in 2010, when the asset still traded for well under one dollar. He ultimately refused to buy, calling the idea “ridiculous.”
“Yeah, clearly I wish I’d have bought it,” Schiff said in a conversation with Tom Bilyeu and Raoul Pal.
“But even if I would have bought it, I wouldn’t have told other people to buy it,” he continued. “I would have had to keep quiet about it

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MicroStrategy Announces Another $500 Million Note Sale To Buy Bitcoin

15 days ago

MicroStrategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), has announced another senior note offering for $500 million, with which proceeds will be used to purchase even more Bitcoin.
At current prices, the next purchase is expected to take the company’s holdings beyond 210,000 coins – over 1% of the entire Bitcoin supply that will ever exist.
Per the company’s announcement on Wednesday, the convertible notes are due for repayment in 2031. Their interest rate and initial conversion rate have not been determined yet.
“MicroStrategy intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes to acquire additional bitcoin and for general corporate purposes,” the company wrote.
Earlier this month, MicroStrategy completed a $700 million convertible note sale for notes

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Here’s What Financial Advisors Think of The Bitcoin ETFs, According to Bitwise

15 days ago

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan is spreading the word about his company’s Bitcoin spot ETF to potential investors, and has discovered how the digital currency is being perceived by finance pros.
“I am no longer surprised at the size of the inflows into the Bitcoin ETFs,” Hougan wrote to X on Wednesday, noting high demand among professional investors. “The demand is widespread and strong, and will persist for a while.”
What Financial Advisors Think Of Bitcoin
Since launching on January 11, Bitcoin ETFs have experienced net inflows exceeding $11 billion, including a $1 billion inflow on Tuesday alone. Now holding over 800,000 BTC, the ETFs have shattered most people’s expectations, and left onlookers wondering who is buying them, why, and for how long.
So far, many of Hougan’s

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Jamie Dimon Says He’ll “Defend Your Right to Buy Bitcoin” After Price Pump

16 days ago

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon believes citizens should have every right to buy Bitcoin (BTC) if they want to – even if it’s a haven for criminal activity.
“I defend your right to smoke a cigarette, [and] I’ll defend your right to buy a Bitcoin,” said Dimon at the Australian Financial Review summit in Sydney, according to the Financial Review.
Would Jamie Dimon Still Ban Bitcoin?
The executive’s words starkly contrast with what he told the Senate Banking Committee in December, stating “If I were the government, I’d close it down,” regarding crypto.
At the time, he argued that the digital currency’s primary use cases include drug trafficking, money laundering, tax avoidance, sex trafficking, and the like – a belief he continues to hold. “When governments look at all this stuff,

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Bitcoin Will Save The World When The U.S. Government Steals Our Money, Predicts Balaji

17 days ago

The U.S. government will likely seize citizens’ assets in an impending fiscal collapse – but Bitcoin will save the day when it happens, according to ex-Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan.
The tech entrepreneur and Bitcoin bull, who forfeited $1.5 million in a high-profile bet on Bitcoin’s price last year, is again raising concerns about the United States’ seismic national debt and fiscal deficit, which could force the state to take drastic measures to stay solvent.
Why The Government Will Seize Our Property: Balaji
In a post to X on Sunday titled “Bitcoin > Budgeting,” Balaji highlighted the largely inefficient fiscal spending in blue states like California and San Francisco. The unaffordable spending, now having reached $10 billion+ per year in the latter state, has prepared

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Bitcoin Will Likely Reach $250k This Cycle, Says Lead Glassnode Analyst

20 days ago

Bitcoin (BTC) will blow past $250,000 this cycle thanks to years of HODLer conviction slingshotting its price to the moon, according to lead Glassnode analyst James Check.
In an interview with What Bitcoin Did on Thursday, the analyst broke down why the Bitcoin market appears far more robust compared to the last time the asset’s price touched $69,000.
Why This Cycle Is Different: Glassnode
According to Check, the Bitcoin network entered a “bull market distribution phase” after U.S. Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity went live in January. That means that high-conviction HODLers who kept coins for over 155 days are starting to sell their assets at a profit – a trend that normally helps identify Bitcoin cycle tops.
At both the start of 2017 and in 2021, entry into this

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Is Ethereum (ETH) a Security? SEC Chair Still Won’t Say

21 days ago

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), still won’t give a straight answer on whether Ethereum (ETH) legally classifies as a security.
During a Thursday interview with Bloomberg, the chairman was asked to clear the regulatory fog surrounding the second-largest cryptocurrency, given that Ethereum spot ETF applications are now piling up on his agency’s desk.
Why Won’t Gensler Answer?
Gensler’s response was, as usual, vague – and re-directed listeners to the near-century-old legal precedent established called the Howey Test.
“On any one of these crypto tokens, it’s about the facts and circumstances as to whether the investing public is anticipating a profit based on the efforts of others,” he said seemingly amused after receiving another

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South Korean Police Request Aid in Extraditing Do Kwon: Report

21 days ago

The National Police Agency of South Korea is calling for help with extraditing Do Kwon shortly after a Montenegro court refused to send him to the United States.
Per a report from local outlet Newsis, the agency sent a telegram to the Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Thursday.
“We hope for interest and support at the Secretariat level so that the subject can be extradited to Korea,” reads a translation of the request.
“The Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Division and the National Police Agency are working together to repatriate Mr. Kwon through the International Criminal Cooperation Channel and Interpol’s International Cooperation Line, respectively,” added Lee Yong-sang, an international cooperation officer.
At

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More Pain: Over $1 Billion Of Liquidations As Bitcoin Slides To $61,000

23 days ago

Crypto market sell pressure was relentless on Tuesday, with Bitcoin’s price drifting as low as $61,000, triggering more than $1 billion in liquidations across the crypto market.
Data from Coinglass shows that $1.17 billion in liquidations have occurred over the past 24 hours, including $876 million of long trades and $292 million of shorts.
This follows Bitcoin’s brief and narrow reclaim of its all-time high on Tuesday morning, rising to $69,200 before the market dumped.
Over 313,000 traders have been liquidated over the past day. The largest single liquidation occurred on a LINK/USD trade on Bitmex valued at $11 million.
Popular Bitcoin veterans on Twitter say the pullback is largely healthy and expected after claiming historic highs. “Large sellers use the anticipation

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Bitcoin HODLers Are Finally Starting To Take Profit: Glassnode

23 days ago

Bitcoin (BTC)’s meteoric rise over the past few months has many long-term holders starting to cash out their positions, on-chain data suggests.
In a research newsletter published on Tuesday, Glassnode noted that long-term investors have already distributed 480,000 BTC since December 2023, from which time BTC has appreciated 45%.
Bitcoin’s Distribution Phase
According to lead Glassnode analyst James Check, roughly half of the old coins to started changing in the last three months came from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
As the largest Bitcoin fund in the world, Grayscale has suffered nothing but outflows since converting into a Bitcoin spot ETF on January 11, dumping 202,873 BTC on the market.
Overall, long-term holders are distributing coins at a rate of 257,000 BTC per

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Bloomberg Expert Says Ethereum ETF Approvals Are Overhyped Next To Bitcoin

24 days ago

Crypto fanatics eager for a market-shattering Ethereum spot ETF launch may be in for an underwhelming surprise, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
While the recent launch of multiple Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States has proven phenomenally successful, Balchunas claims a follow-up launch for Ethereum would be “small potatoes” compared to the original.
Do Ethereum ETFs Matter?
In a post to X on Saturday, Balchunas wrote:
“No offense to the ETH people but this is such small potatoes vs spot bitcoin ETFs. It’s like the opening act coming on after the headliner. Using GenX bands, it’s like Sister Hazel trying to follow Nirvana.”
Balchunas explained that his prediction is based on both anecdotal and public data suggesting that the Ethereum ETFs will be

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Got Bitcoin? Another US Bank Shows Signs of Weakness After Acquiring Signature

26 days ago

Worrying developments at New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) have several Bitcoin investors anticipating a renewed U.S. banking crisis – which could bring money crashing back into the digital currency.
The bank’s stock is down 41% over the past month, including a 28% plunge on Friday. Trading for $3.55 at writing time, it has now reached its lowest share price since 1996.
What’s Happening at NYCB?
NYCB had already suffered major losses in early February after disclosing that CEO Thomas Cangemi had stepped down. Executive chairman Alessandro DiNello has effectively been the bank’s new boss since Feb 6.
In a letter on February 25, NYCB director Hanif “Wally” Dahya said he “did not support the proposed appointment” of DiNello as CEO. Dahya also resigned from the board.
The most

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Bitcoin Set for 10 Months Of Face Melting FOMO, Says PlanB

27 days ago

Bitcoin (BTC) is beginning a parabolic bull run of epic proportions that will last throughout the rest of the year, according to popular price analyst PlanB.
In a post to X on Friday, the pseudonymous Bitcoin bull published a graph plotting Bitcoin’s “market cycle,” noting that the price has now emerged from this cycle’s “accumulation phase.”
Bitcoin Bull Market Has Begun
“No more easy buying opportunities in orderly and slowly increasing markets,” wrote PlanB.
“If history is any guide, we will see ~10 months of face-melting fomo: extreme price pumps combined with multiple -30% drops,” he added.
PlanB grew into one of the most popular online analysts during the 2021 Bitcoin bull market, after predicting several of Bitcoin’s monthly closes with remarkable accuracy.

He also

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Reversal: Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Begin Offering Bitcoin ETFs To Clients

28 days ago

Leading U.S. investment platforms Meryll Lynch and Wells Fargo are now offering clients access to Bitcoin spot ETFs despite initially hesitating on the move.
As reported by Bloomberg, the firms are offering the ETFs to certain wealth management clients who specifically request the product, which allows clients to directly invest in BTC through an ETF wrapper.
Merrill Lynch Embraces Bitcoin
Last month, Merrill Lynch, the investment management division of Bank of America, was one of U.S. financial giants to receive major rebuke for its initial refusal to allow customer access to the ETFs after their historic launch last month.
At the time, Fox Business reported that Merrill Lynch was waiting to see whether the ETFs could trade efficiently before changing their internal

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Shiba Inu Brings Privacy To SHIB Holders Through New Encryption Standards

29 days ago

The development team behind Dogecoin spinoff Shiba Inu has introduced a new tool for enhancing user privacy in the SHIB and Web 3 ecosystems.
The innovation, known as “Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) brings “complete on-chain data protection.” to members of the SHIB community, according to a press release shared with CryptoPotato.
SHIB has launched the technology in collaboration with Web3 encryption leader Zama, which builds similar solutions for other blockchain and AI-focused technologies.
According to IBM, FHE lets users unlock “the value of data on untrusted domains without needing to decrypt it.” For crypto, it lets users protect their personal and transactional data against the rising threat of data breaches.
Shytoshi Kusama, the pseudonymous developer leading

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BTC Rejected Off $64,000 As Crypto Market Suffers $600 Million Of Liquidations

29 days ago

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) experienced massive volatility on Wednesday, soaring to nearly $64,000 before sinking again to $60,500 within one hour.
Amid the chaos, crypto traders have experienced $638 million in liquidation over the past 24 hours, including $391 million of liquidations in the past 4 hours alone.
According to Coinglass, about $55 million of liquidations in the last hour impacted a consortium of little-known altcoins, while $96 million was liquidated on BTC trades directly.
Meanwhile, ETH traders suffered $45 million of liquidations, and DOGE traders lost $29 million.
In the past 24 hours, a massive 168,988 traders were liquidated. The largest single liquidation occurred on OKX on a BTC-USDT trade for $9.45 million.
The price of BTC is $61,400 at writing

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BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Smashes Daily Inflow Record, Ranks 2nd In United States

29 days ago

BlackRock’s Bitcoin (BTC) ETF has cracked a new daily inflow record, helping push Bitcoin’s above $60,000 for the first time since November 2021.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) absorbed another $520 million on Tuesday, bringing the fund’s total flows since launch above $6.5 billion. Furthermore, thanks to Bitcoin’s rising price during that period, the value of the firm’s Bitcoin stash has appreciated to over $8 billion.
BlackRock Breaking Record
By comparison, Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF now holds $5.6 billion in BTC, but absorbed a much smaller $126 million flow on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Grayscale – IBIT’s largest competitor – suffered another $125 million of outflows. Though Grayscale still bears a significant lead in total assets at $25 billion, BlackRock’s ETF is slowly

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Speculators And Traders Are Rushing Back Into Bitcoin, On-Chain Data Shows

February 27, 2024

Bitcoin’s fast-rising price is attracting traders and speculators back into the market, on-chain data suggests.
In a Tuesday newsletter, blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode highlighted how risk appetite is increasing across various cohorts of the Bitcoin market, including institutional buyers and short-term holders alike.
Bitcoin Holders Back In Profit
Since the start of the year, Bitcoin has enjoyed massive capital flows, with the asset’s realized cap rising by $30 billion to $460 billion – just 3% away from its all-time high. The asset’s market price has risen 29% to $57,000 within the same period.
“Realized cap” is a measure of the value of all Bitcoin put together, priced based on the time that those coins were last sold.
When measured against Bitcoin’s market cap

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Bitcoin ETFs Could Grow Larger Than Gold ETFs Within Two Years: Bloomberg

February 26, 2024

Could Bitcoin ETFs become larger investment vehicles than gold ETFs? Bloomberg analysts say it might happen in as quickly as under 24 months.
Will Bitcoin Pass Gold?
In a post to X on Monday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas outlined how Gold ETFs have been gutted in recent weeks precisely as Bitcoin ETFs have absorbed over $5 billion of inflows following their launch last month.
In a note co-authored with Andre Yapp of Bloomberg Intelligence, the analysts wrote:
“The Bitcoin ETFs, though barely six weeks old, have taken in over $8 billion more than gold peers, already have 40% as much in assets and could pass them in size in less than two years.”
According to BitMEX Research, Bitcoin ETFs held over $37.3 billion in assets as of Friday. By comparison, data from VettaFi

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Reddit Is Invested In Bitcoin and Ethereum, SEC Filing Shows

February 22, 2024

Social media platform Reddit filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, in a bid to go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The filing revealed that the company has invested some of its “excess cash reserves” into multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
According to the filing, the company also acquired both ETH and one of the network;s layer 2 tokens, Polygon (MATIC) “as a form of payment for sales of certain virtual goods.”
“We also acquired and hold digital assets that are cryptocurrencies for use by our product and engineering teams, which is limited to specific uses,” the company stated.
As of December 31, the firm clarified that it only held BTC and ETH as crypto assets

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Andreessen Horowitz Invests $100 Million In ETH Restaking Platform EigenLayer

February 22, 2024

Tech-focused venture giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has invested $100 million in the Ethereum-based EigenLayer, suggesting that VC funding in crypto may be on course for a revival.
As reported by Bloomberg on Thursday, a16z was the sole backer of the funding round, which marks the largest investment ever received in EigenLayer by a wide margin.
Restaking With EigenLayer, Explained
The next largest investment in the platform was a $50 million raise in March during a funding round led by Blockchain Capital, a firm that has also supported platforms like Coinbase, Kraken, Aave, and OpenSea.
EigenLayer is a decentralized Ethereum “restaking” protocol, allowing users to repurpose their already staked ETH to also secure Ethereum sidechains. These sidechains may have different

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