Kalam Crypto #111: Hong Kong Approves BTC & ETH ETFs

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” John Maynard Keynes

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 110th edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, Hong Kong approves BTC and ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs), all you need to know about the upcoming bitcoin halving, PayPal and Ripple dive deeper into the stablecoin business, and who is Mr. 100? The Mysterious bitcoin buyer stacking 100 BTC a day! All that and more on this week’s Kalam Crypto.

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Global News 🌍

Hong Kong Approves Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs: Following the successful launch of bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., Hong Kong FOMO’d and joined the bitcoin ETF train. China Asset Management, Bosera Capital, and HashKey Capital Limited have announced that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has approved applications for both spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The approval of these ETF products in Hong Kong is expected to significantly impact the cryptocurrency market, solidifying the city's position as a key digital asset hub in Asia.

PayPal and Ripple look to cash in on Stablecoins: PayPal recently introduced a new feature enabling U.S. customers to utilize its PYUSD stablecoin for cross-border money transfers through its Xoom service. Users can convert PYUSD to USD and send funds to recipients in approximately 160 countries without transaction fees. Notably, PYUSD was recently added and is now available on CoinMENA as well. Meanwhile, Ripple has disclosed its intentions to unveil a USD-pegged stablecoin later this year, targeting enterprise clients and payment firms. This stablecoin will be backed by USD deposits, short-term U.S. government treasuries, and other cash equivalents, with audits conducted by a third-party accounting firm. Initially, the stablecoin will be accessible on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains.

Blog of The Week ✍️

The Bitcoin Halving is Almost Here: The quadrennial event when the bitcoin issuance per block is halved (cut in half) is approaching. The bitcoin halving will occur on block 840,000, which is expected to fall in a few days on 20 April 2024. To learn more about the halving, check out this article on CoinMENA University. 

Keep an eye on 👀

Who is Mr. 100? A mysterious Bitcoin wallet address has been accumulating Bitcoin at a rate of at least 100 Bitcoin per day, and when the market dips, they buy more! Yesterday after the BTC price dropped 5%, Mr. 100 acquired 610 BTC. Speculation is rampant regarding the owner of the wallet address, and many think it could be a sovereign wealth fund in Qatar or the UAE. Only time will tell, but we will be keeping an eye on it. So far the address has accumulated 60,000 BTC in just under 2 months.

Tweet Of The Week 🐥

CoinMENA News 🗞️

✂️Halved Trading Fees Until the Bitcoin Halving: The bitcoin halving is just a few days away! To celebrate this milestone, we’re offering a 50% discount on trading fees until the bitcoin halving, estimated to fall on 20 April 2024.

Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s question: True or False, The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holds more Bitcoin than BlackRock’s ETF. The Correct answer is True!

This week’s question: How many Bitcoin halvings have occurred so far?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4