The Friday Focus: Issue 18

Jan 28, 2022

Welcome to our Friday newsletter. Here you find the most exciting crypto content from the previous week - curated for you by us.

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Weekly happenings

Another week and another Bitcoin ETF rejection. With the SEC establishing precedence for rejecting spot-based Bitcoin ETFs, ETF providers seem to be moving their focus to other types of crypto ETFs with a higher chance for approval, with Valkyrie applying to list a bitcoin mining ETF, Fidelity seeking approval for a metaverse ETF, and BlackRock looking to file for a blockchain technology ETF. In addition, Subversive Capital launches metaverse ETF that is short the company Meta.

After some back and forth in the various government cabinets in Russia, Putin finally stated that he supports bitcoin mining in Russia. El Salvador never misses an opportunity to buy the dip, and the IMF is not happy about that. Texas intensifies its effort to become the Bitcoin hub of the US, as their governor invites bitcoin miners to help stabilize Texas’ electrical grid.

Although the financial markets are turning increasingly sour, capital continues to flow in the crypto industry. Crypto tech company Ripple announces a stock buyback, nabbing a $15B valuation. Crypto exchange FTX US raises $400M at $8B valuation, custody firm Fireblocks raises $550M at $8B valuation, crypto infrastructure firm Blockdaemon raises $207M at $3.25B valuation, and crypto tax calculator CoinTracker is valued at $1.3B following an $100M raise. Crypto VC firm Dragonfly is raising $500M for a new fund.

We will soon have two new crypto stocks as the cloud miner BitFuFu, and the crypto exchange Apifiny both look to go public in the US through SPAC mergers.