China's state-run newspaper, Legal Daily, has labelled cryptocurrency as a hidden tool for bribery, suggesting a need for crackdown. The article, quoting legal scholars, highlighted concerns about virtual currencies being used for corrupt activities due to their anonymity and difficulty in tracing transactions. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has emphasized on intensifying its efforts against corruption, with a focus on combating new forms involving digital currencies and electronic gift cards.
The article emphasized on the necessity of enhancing the legal and regulatory framework to address evolving corruption methods, expanding the definition of bribery crimes, and improving supervision in areas prone to such activities. This call for action came shortly after warnings from state agencies against officials using the stablecoin Tether for illegal foreign exchange transactions. Despite the ban on cryptocurrencies, China continues to explore blockchain technology and is actively developing its central bank digital currency, known as e-CNY, which has seen substantial use in domestic and international transactions.
Gold enthusiast Peter Schiff has raised concerns about the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., suggesting it could lead to a significant drop in Bitcoin's price. Schiff, a long-time Bitcoin sceptic, believes that the anticipation of a U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETF has been a driving force behind the cryptocurrency's price and speculative demand. He warns that if the expected institutional demand doesn't materialize after the ETF approval, it could result in a crash in Bitcoin's value.
Despite optimism surrounding the approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF, consultancy firm Matrixport predicts that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is likely to reject all applications before the January 10 deadline. Matrixport attributes this to applications falling short of a crucial requirement for SEC approval. The firm suggests that Democrats holding key positions in the SEC make it less likely for a spot Bitcoin ETF to be approved before the second quarter of 2024. As the SEC's decision deadline approaches, market sentiment has shifted from optimism to scepticism, impacting crypto-related stocks and causing uncertainty about the approval outcome.
Tuttle Capital Management has recently taken steps to introduce six new Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) centred on Bitcoin. The goal is to create ETFs that would "magnify" the performance of a potential spot Bitcoin ETF, which is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In their filing submitted on January 3, Tuttle presented three leveraged ETFs, designed to amplify returns, and three inverse ETFs, offering the potential to bet against the performance of Bitcoin.
These proposed funds, such as T-REX 1.5X and T-REX 2X, are structured to enhance daily gains or losses by 150% or 200%, depending on the specific ETF. Tuttle plans to initially use BlackRock’s iShares spot Bitcoin ETF as a reference for these funds, although they acknowledge the possibility of changing the reference asset in the future. It's important to note that these new ETFs come with an inherent risk, as their use of leverage amplifies both the positive and negative movements of the underlying asset, which, in this case, is Bitcoin. Tuttle, at present, manages seven existing ETFs with a combined total asset value of $96 million, including products like T-REX 2X Long Tesla Daily Target ETF (TSLT) and T-REX 2X Long NVIDIA Daily Target ETF (NVDX).
