Bitcoin Tops $70,000 As Crypto Racks Up Political War Chest
All the big headlines, plus why Coinbase threw another $25 million into the Fairshake super PAC
By: Zack Guzman
June 3, 2024
Bitcoin is flirting with $70,000 as we’re back from the Consensus conference in Texas to roundup the biggest news and headlines in crypto. This week: Wall Street prepares for ETH ETFs to begin trading, President Biden vetoes a key crypto bill despite the industry mounting the sixth-largest super PAC, and GameStop comes roaring back with Roaring Kitty.
Watch Coinage host Zack Guzman discuss all the top headlines in our weekly recap video above.
President Biden’s Crypto Veto
Crypto optimists had hoped the overwhelming show of Democratic support for a bill rebuking the SEC might be enough to get President Biden to back down from his threat to veto a pro-crypto bill. Those hopes were dashed Friday afternoon, as President Biden vetoed the bipartisan push to scrap SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.
In a statement to the House, President Biden backed Gensler’s SEC, saying, “Appropriate guardrails that protect consumers and investors are necessary to harness the potential benefits and opportunities of crypto-asset innovation.” The bill would need supermajorities in both chambers of Congress to override the veto, which seems like a lofty outcome to expect. All eyes are now squarely focused on whether or not Biden softens his anti-crypto stance post-veto as his administration reportedly courts crypto donors.
Ethereum ETFs On Deck
With only one more hurdle remaining for ETH ETFs, attention is shifting to their debuts and exactly how much analysts expect to see in inflows.
Coming off the overhang of Bitcoin ETFs, Fireblocks’ managing director echoed calls from Bloomberg’s ETF analysts to expect 10-20% of what the Bitcoin ETFs attracted. That number might seem low, but inflows exceeding it could once again catch investors flat-footed. Options activity seems quite muted, if not slightly bearish:
"Implied volatility rank is 40 and implied volatility percentile is 52, both mid-level indicators which show the market is not expecting a lot of activity," Derebit CEO Luuk Strijers told The Block.
The SEC only needs to approve S-1 filings for the ETFs before they begin trading. That could happen as soon as this week.
GameStop Rides ‘Roaring Kitty’s’ $116M Position
GameStop stock popped another 30% in Monday trading after the person controlling the “Roaring Kitty” persona posted a screenshot to Reddit revealing a new GameStop position worth $116 million.
The screenshot showed holdings of 5 million GameStop shares purchased at an average price of $21.274, and 120,000 options contracts that expire on June 21. These contracts confer the right to buy GameStop shares at $20 each, a position worth $65.7 million as of Friday's close.
Solana memetoken “GME” also popped another 130% after the Reddit account tied to the famed GameStop trader posted his first update in years. However, it’s still unclear if the man himself (Keith Gill) is actually behind the account’s revival.
Crypto Amasses 6th Largest Super PAC
Coinbase on Monday added $25 million to the coffers of Fairshake — the pro-crypto Super PAC that has said it will target key races this election cycle. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong went even further, saying the donation was meant to “vote anti-crypto candidates out of office.”
In total, Fairshake has now amassed more than $160 million, good enough to place in the top five largest super PACs this election cycle.
As we’ve covered, the lobbying efforts have less to do with Presidential politics, and more to do with local races that could very well swing key committees in Congress.
Other Headlines in Web3:
MicroStrategy Founder Michael Saylor Agrees to $40M Settlement in D.C. Income Tax Case
Bitfarms Mining Revenue Drops 45% to $7 million in First Full Month After Bitcoin Halving
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