This Week on Crypto Twitter: ETF Preppers and Whistleblowers

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt

Prices rallied for the second week in a row, driven by feverish speculation on whether or not asset management titan BlackRock will launch a Bitcoin spot ETF in the U.S. soon.

It’s looking increasingly likely that an ETF is coming. Several companies have filed recent applications with the SEC, and BlackRock is not necessarily winning the race. On Monday, The U.S. Court of Appeals issued its highly anticipated order for the SEC to review Grayscale’s application after it was previously determined that the SEC’s rejection of it was “arbitrary and capricious.”

In any case, cloud software company MicroStrategy was reaping the rewards of being crypto’s biggest institutional whale this week when its $5 billion Bitcoin war chest went back in the green.

After 3 years of buying Bitcoin and holding with diamond hands, @MicroStrategy is now up on their investment! pic.twitter.com/v1kht8MXMa

— rohmeo.eth 🦇🔊 ₿ (@rohmeo_de) October 23, 2023

Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas spotted something interesting on BlackRock’s recently amended prospectus for its ETF application. Changes of note include acknowledgment of competition in the race for ETF approval and detailed explanations of the product’s pricing and reporting mechanisms.

Background: Seeding an ETF is when initial funding is provided (typically) by a bank or broker dealer used to purchase a few creation units (in this case bitcoin) in exchange for ETF shares which can be traded in open market on Day One.

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 23, 2023

Public funds were also up on Monday, according to a screenshot tweeted by @PillageCapital.

Public funds saw a $43m inflow into bitcoin today, that’s 10% of the YTD total in one day! pic.twitter.com/TYEwG4utSW

— Pillage Capital (@PillageCapital) October 23, 2023

That day, blockchain sleuth @ZackXBT tracked some hefty darkweb money flows.

An entity moved ~4800 BTC ($144M) originating from Abraxas darknet market which exit scammed in Nov 2015 after previously sitting dormant.

They consolidated funds and also deposited to a bitcoin mixer.

This graph shows an example of the movements from one of the addresses. pic.twitter.com/zVBSs6mrc4

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 23, 2023

On Tuesday, crypto journalist Joe Light noticed that a ticker for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBTC, was listed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)—a huge clearing and settlement company that clears NASDAQ trades. But then it was removed. Then added back to the DTCC’s ETF list.

Wow, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBTC) appears to be back. What is happening @ericbalchunas @jseyff h/t @Saint_Pump https://t.co/r5vYkAXroW pic.twitter.com/kLM1NP1TnL

— Joe Light (@joelight) October 24, 2023

Fallen crypto lender BlockFi, which filed for bankruptcy soon after FTX, announced its emergence from bankruptcy.

BlockFi is pleased to announce that its bankruptcy plan (the “Plan”) is effective and the company has emerged from bankruptcy as of October 24, 2023 (the “Effective Date”).

— BlockFi (@BlockFi) October 24, 2023

Pro-crypto Republican and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer tweeted his unambiguous support for Trump in next year’s Presidential elections.

Thank you, Mr. President.

If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong working relationship.

pic.twitter.com/Pp9CcnvN43

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) October 23, 2023

An ominous video of a man explaining how a hybrid AI/crypto scam targeted him made the rounds on several social media platforms, including Twitter.

This is bananas 😳 pic.twitter.com/UON1W9xHOb

— Old Row (@OldRowViral) October 23, 2023

An account claiming to act as a whistleblower uncovering “the nefarious acts of [3AC co-founders] Su Zhu, Kyle Davies & [CoinFLEX founder] Mark Lamb” hit Twitter with a laundry list of allegations on Thursday.

We’ve uncovered evidence to show how @CoinFLEXdotcom founder @MarkDavidLamb, with @zhusu & @KyleLDavies of 3AC, used creditor assets as their personal piggy bank.

We owe it to the industry to take out the trash. Our fight starts today.

Here’s the full story 🧵

— CoinFLEXReal (@CoinFLEXreal) October 26, 2023

Finally, news broke that day that Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen had failed to convince a U.S. District Judge that they hadn’t illegally appropriated Yuga Labs’s trademarked BAYC franchise.

BREAKING: Ryder Ripps and Pauly ordered to pay Yuga Labs over 1.5 Million Dollars in damages. They also must transfer control of the RR/BAYC smart contract to Yuga. pic.twitter.com/oTuXXELZ6j

— Shwaz (@theycallmeshwaz) October 26, 2023

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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