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OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

ChatGPT developer OpenAI removed founder Sam Altman from his CEO position on Nov. 17. Chief technology officer Mira Murati is now serving as interim CEO. According to a blog post, the board of directors engaged in a “deliberative review process,” which resulted in the conclusion that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” Shortly after, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman revealed his exit from the organization.

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, officially filed for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 15. The ETF, dubbed the iShares Ethereum Trust, aims to “reflect generally the performance of the price of Ether,” according to the S-1 filed with the SEC. The iShares brand is associated with BlackRock’s ETF products. The move by BlackRock comes nearly a week after it registered the iShares Ethereum Trust with Delaware’s Division of Corporations and almost six months after it filed its spot Bitcoin ETF application. Following BlackRock’s filing, asset manager Fidelity also sought a green light for its own Ether ETF.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidance on capital gains tax (CGT) treatment with regard to decentralized finance and wrapping crypto tokens for individuals, confirming that Australians are liable for capital gains taxes when wrapping and unwrapping tokens. The transfer of crypto assets to an address that the sender does not control or that already holds a balance will be regarded as a taxable CGT event, the ATO said in its statement. The CGT event will trigger depending on whether the individual recorded a capital gain or loss. A similar approach has been considered for taxing liquidity pool users, providers and DeFi interest and rewards. In addition, wrapping and unwrapping tokens will also be subject to triggering a CGT event.

An employee of FTX’s charity wing recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to get paid $275,000, the remainder of his claimed 2022 salary bonus. Ross Rheingans-Yoo’s lawyers argued in a court filing that only $375,000 of his $650,000 bonus was paid by FTX. They claim the remaining funds were owed when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The fate of Rheingans-Yoo’s bonus will be determined by a Delaware bankruptcy judge who is overseeing FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

WisdomTree filed an amended Form S-1 spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus with the U.S. SEC on Nov. 16. The update comes a few months after WisdomTree refiled its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023, proposing a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust. The amended prospectus mentions that the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF will trade under ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian holding all of the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.


OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

Sam Altman is ousted from OpenAI, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF approval and Australia to tax gains from wrapped tokens.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

Sam Altman is ousted from OpenAI, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF approval and Australia to tax gains from wrapped tokens.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

ChatGPT developer OpenAI removed founder Sam Altman from his CEO position on Nov. 17. Chief technology officer Mira Murati is now serving as interim CEO. According to a blog post, the board of directors engaged in a “deliberative review process,” which resulted in the conclusion that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” Shortly after, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman revealed his exit from the organization.

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, officially filed for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 15. The ETF, dubbed the iShares Ethereum Trust, aims to “reflect generally the performance of the price of Ether,” according to the S-1 filed with the SEC. The iShares brand is associated with BlackRock’s ETF products. The move by BlackRock comes nearly a week after it registered the iShares Ethereum Trust with Delaware’s Division of Corporations and almost six months after it filed its spot Bitcoin ETF application. Following BlackRock’s filing, asset manager Fidelity also sought a green light for its own Ether ETF.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidance on capital gains tax (CGT) treatment with regard to decentralized finance and wrapping crypto tokens for individuals, confirming that Australians are liable for capital gains taxes when wrapping and unwrapping tokens. The transfer of crypto assets to an address that the sender does not control or that already holds a balance will be regarded as a taxable CGT event, the ATO said in its statement. The CGT event will trigger depending on whether the individual recorded a capital gain or loss. A similar approach has been considered for taxing liquidity pool users, providers and DeFi interest and rewards. In addition, wrapping and unwrapping tokens will also be subject to triggering a CGT event.

An employee of FTX’s charity wing recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to get paid $275,000, the remainder of his claimed 2022 salary bonus. Ross Rheingans-Yoo’s lawyers argued in a court filing that only $375,000 of his $650,000 bonus was paid by FTX. They claim the remaining funds were owed when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The fate of Rheingans-Yoo’s bonus will be determined by a Delaware bankruptcy judge who is overseeing FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

WisdomTree filed an amended Form S-1 spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus with the U.S. SEC on Nov. 16. The update comes a few months after WisdomTree refiled its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023, proposing a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust. The amended prospectus mentions that the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF will trade under ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian holding all of the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.


OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

ChatGPT developer OpenAI removed founder Sam Altman from his CEO position on Nov. 17. Chief technology officer Mira Murati is now serving as interim CEO. According to a blog post, the board of directors engaged in a “deliberative review process,” which resulted in the conclusion that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” Shortly after, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman revealed his exit from the organization.

The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, officially filed for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 15. The ETF, dubbed the iShares Ethereum Trust, aims to “reflect generally the performance of the price of Ether,” according to the S-1 filed with the SEC. The iShares brand is associated with BlackRock’s ETF products. The move by BlackRock comes nearly a week after it registered the iShares Ethereum Trust with Delaware’s Division of Corporations and almost six months after it filed its spot Bitcoin ETF application. Following BlackRock’s filing, asset manager Fidelity also sought a green light for its own Ether ETF.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued guidance on capital gains tax (CGT) treatment with regard to decentralized finance and wrapping crypto tokens for individuals, confirming that Australians are liable for capital gains taxes when wrapping and unwrapping tokens. The transfer of crypto assets to an address that the sender does not control or that already holds a balance will be regarded as a taxable CGT event, the ATO said in its statement. The CGT event will trigger depending on whether the individual recorded a capital gain or loss. A similar approach has been considered for taxing liquidity pool users, providers and DeFi interest and rewards. In addition, wrapping and unwrapping tokens will also be subject to triggering a CGT event.

An employee of FTX’s charity wing recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to get paid $275,000, the remainder of his claimed 2022 salary bonus. Ross Rheingans-Yoo’s lawyers argued in a court filing that only $375,000 of his $650,000 bonus was paid by FTX. They claim the remaining funds were owed when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The fate of Rheingans-Yoo’s bonus will be determined by a Delaware bankruptcy judge who is overseeing FTX’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

WisdomTree filed an amended Form S-1 spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus with the U.S. SEC on Nov. 16. The update comes a few months after WisdomTree refiled its spot Bitcoin ETF application in June 2023, proposing a rule change to list and trade shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust. The amended prospectus mentions that the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust ETF will trade under ticker symbol BTCW, with Coinbase Custody Trust serving as the custodian holding all of the trust’s Bitcoin on its behalf.


OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

Sam Altman is ousted from OpenAI, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF approval and Australia to tax gains from wrapped tokens.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18

Sam Altman is ousted from OpenAI, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF approval and Australia to tax gains from wrapped tokens.

Yearn.finance token tumbles 43%, community speculates on exit scam

Yearn.finance’s (YFI) governance token plummeted over 43% in just five hours on Nov. 18 after rallying almost 170% early in the month, stirring fears about a possible exit scam. 

During the dramatic drop in value, over $300 million was wiped out in market capitalization from November’s gains, according to data from CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, the YFI token is trading at $9,069 from $14,185 a day before. However, the token is still up 83% over the past 30 days.

The sell-off has triggered another weekend of fear, uncertainty and doubt, or FUD, within the crypto community. On X (formerly Twitter), some users claim that 50% of the token supply was held in 10 wallets controlled by developers. However, Etherscan data suggests that some holders may be crypto exchange wallets.

YFI token holders on Nov. 18, 2023. Source: Etherscan 

In addition, some X users pointed out that opening short positions may have triggered the move. Data from Coinglass shows a jump in YFI open interest, indicating that traders are shorting the coin after November’s gains.

“I bought the dip… someone sold 1000 coins perhaps that’s why it dropped massively. Will see,” commented a trader on X. According to another user, YFI’s price movement after the decline is unusual for exit scams:

Former Bithumb chair faces 8-year imprisonment

According to prosecutors, Lee Jeong-hoon intended to revamp Bithumb’s governance to gain from exchange coins, circumventing financial regulations.

Cybersecurity expert backs Sen. Warren’s crypto bill in Senate hearing

In a recent U.S. Senate hearing, a cybersecurity professional openly endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Fidelity seeks green light for Ethereum ETF, following BlackRock's filing

Just days after BlackRock filed for the iShares Ethereum Trust, asset management firm Fidelity has submitted an application for its own Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).

‘Primitive’ stablecoin lacks mechanisms that maintain fiat stability: BIS

The answer again is regulation, although this time the suggested regulation looks a lot like central bank co-option.

3 metrics DeFi traders can watch in order to spot the next crypto bull market

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market has been one of the most exciting and volatile sectors in the crypto outside of Bitcoin (BTC). In 2020, the DeFi sector experienced a bull market that saw the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance protocols surge from $1 billion to over $100 billion. However, the DeFi market has also been prone to significant corrections. In 2021, the DeFi market experienced a correction that saw the TVL fall from $100 billion to $40 billion.

Despite the volatility of the DeFi market, there are ways for traders to catch onto when the niche crypto sector begins to show sustained bullish momentum. Three of the most important metrics to watch are TVL, a platform’s fee revenue and the number of non-zero wallets holding tokens.

Let’s dig in a bit deeper to explore how these metrics can be used to guage the health of the DeFi sector.

Increases in the total value locked

TVL is one of the most widely used metrics to measure the overall health of the DeFi ecosystem. TVL represents the total amount of cryptocurrency assets locked in DeFi protocols. When TVL rises, it suggests increasing demand and use of DeFi services, which can signify a bull market.

While current TVL is slightly below the 2023 peak set on April 15 of $52.9 billion, it has risen since the start of the year. Since Jan. 1, TVL across the crypto market is up $7 billion, eclipsing $45 billion.

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Bitcoin fees skyrocket on ETF hype

The Bitcoin blockchain reached $11.6 million in fees paid on Nov. 16. The average transaction fee is up 746% from a year ago.

Sushi to test Bitcoin swaps and Opyn DeFi protocol founders cave to CFTC pressure: Finance Redefined

Sushi is set to test Bitcoin swaps on 30 different blockchains using the interpretability protocol ZetaChain.

Bitcoin traders' BTC price dip targets now include $30.9K bottom

Bitcoin (BTC) circled $36,000 after the Nov. 16 Wall Street open as analysis hoped for a deeper BTC price comedown.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin traders map out likely bottoms

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed a retracement from intraday highs of $36,600.

Having failed to establish a breakout beyond 18-month highs during the week, Bitcoin was uninspiring for market participants, some of whom hoped to see a fresh correction to retest lower levels.

“Would be happy to see this latest rally complete the round trip back to $35k. Would be even happier to see a retest of $33k,” monitoring resource Material Indicators wrote in part of the day’s X commentary.

A snapshot of BTC/USDT order book liquidity showed support building at $35,000.

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Bitcoin traders' BTC price dip targets now include $30.9K bottom

Bitcoin is giving many traders a feeling that a support retest could be next, but BTC price strength is winning out over altcoins.

ENS developers urge Unstoppable Domains to drop patents or face lawsuit

ENS developer Nick Johnson claims a patent granted to Unstoppable Domains in January is entirely based on ENS Labs innovations.

ENS developers urge Unstoppable Domains to drop patents or face lawsuit

ENS developer Nick Johnson claims a patent granted to Unstoppable Domains in January is entirely based on ENS Labs innovations.

Tech firm Republic taps Avalanche for profit-sharing investment note

The blockchain-based investment note is issued on Avalanche and will automatically distribute profits to holders’ wallets.

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