Bitcoin ETF Analyst Pins Down Key Approval Window

This week: An ETF analyst from Bloomberg highlighted a potentially lucrative window, institutions bolstered their crypto bets for a tenth week in a row, Michael Saylor bought more Bitcoin, and Franklin Templeton’s chief executive shed a spotlight on Uniswap and Sushi.

‘Mark Your Calendars’ — But Not For Christmas

Bitcoin’s recent bounce above $40,000 has been bolstered by the anticipation for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. Firms have sought to establish one since 2013 to allow investors to gain exposure to crypto’s largest coin more easily. While the Securities and Exchange Commission has historically dragged its feet, analysts predict the product could soon finally win approval.

Chances are that if a spot Bitcoin ETF is approved next month, the green light will come between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, Bloomberg Analyst James Seyffart said Friday. Last month, he penciled in a 90% chance that the products would be approved before that window closes.

“Any potential approval orders are going to come on either Monday, Jan. 8, Tuesday, Jan. 9, or Wednesday, Jan. 10,” he wrote. “Mark your calendars, people.”

As January approaches, investors have piled into digital asset investment products, according to data from CoinShares. Allocating $1.7 billion in 10 weeks, inflows during that span were especially notable in size, CoinShares’ Head of Research James Butterfill reported Monday.

“This run of inflows is now the largest since October 2021, which saw the launch of the futures-based ETF in the U.S.,” he wrote.

Saylor To The Moon?

Michael Saylor’s insatiable desire for Bitcoin shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone at this point. Serving as MicroStrategy’s co-founder and chairman, the software firm has amassed a multi-billion bag of Bitcoin since it began stacking sats under his leadership in 2020.

Honoring each buy with a tweet, the firm has said it bought Bitcoin publicly over 30 times on X, according to saylortracker.com. But by adding 16,000 Bitcoin into its corporate coffers, this latest addition represented MicroStrategy’s largest purchase of Bitcoin since February 2021.

It spent $593 million to acquire Bitcoin this time around, growing its holding by around 10% to 174,530 Bitcoin. Meanwhile, the company’s Bitcoin holdings are up nearly 37%, netting MicroStrategy a profit of nearly $2 billion on paper.

Your Standard Sushi

When it comes to digital assets, Uniswap (UNI) and Sushi (SUSHI) may not be monikers that most mainstream investors are familiar with. However, as the native tokens of two popular, decentralized exchanges, Franklin Templeton President and CEO Jenny Johnson described Uniswap and Sushi as ‘standard’ investments she has made in the crypto space.

With over $1.3 trillion in assets under management, Franklin Templeton is one of several large firms angling for a spot Bitcoin ETF. The financial giant submitted its application for one in September, and Johnson said she believes regulatory approval for the products will come in “due time.”

Boasting a market capitalization of $4.3 billion, Uniswap is down 2% over the past week to $6.06, according to CoinGecko. During that same span, Sushi has surged to $1.37, rising 15.6% over the past week. Johnson’s comments suggest the CEO of Franklin Templeton has some degree of faith in decentralized finance. However, she was less resolute when it came to the prospect of NFTs.

“Look, I think as in anything, there’s mature investments that make a lot of sense. And then there’s a lot that don’t make any sense,” she said. “Not all will be successful, not all will be good, but there will be some that are successful.”

Ire The Tiger

Investment firm Tiger Global reassessed its stakes in the Bored Ape Yacht Club and OpenSea. It marked its investments down in the “blue-chip” NFT collection and popular marketplace by 69% and 94% respectively, according to Bloomberg News.

As the NFT market continues to lag behind coins like Bitcoin, BAYC maker Yuga Labs and OpenSea have been forced to make adjustments. Yuga Labs, previously valued at $4 billion, let go of employees in October, while OpenSea reduced its headcount by 50% last month after pink-slipping 20% of its employees in July.

When it was valued at $13.3 billion in January 2022, OpenSea was the leading NFT marketplace by trading volume. At the time, it accounted for 94% of weekly NFT trading volume, as $1.1 billion worth of JPEGs traded hands on the platform, according to a Dune dashboard.

However, OpenSea was overtaken by Blur this June, as the upstart competitor enticed users with gamified trading incentives. As of this writing, Blur accounts for nearly 77% of weekly NFT trading volume, which comprised $133 million in trades last week, according to the aforementioned dashboard.

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