First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Spot ETF Partially Priced in: Coinbase

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Bitcoin (BTC) has outperformed other cryptocurrencies amid macroeconomic uncertainty, partially due to traders pricing a potential approval of spot-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to Coinbase Institutional. "We think the divergence in the performance of bitcoin and other tokens shows that the potential approval of one or more spot bitcoin ETPs has already been partially priced in. That makes it less clear how much more bitcoin could outperform if a favorable U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision occurs," David Duong, head of institutional research at Coinbase Institutional, said in the latest monthly report sent to subscribers on Thursday.

U.S. regulators have targeted former Voyager Digital CEO Steve Ehrlich with lawsuits claiming he engaged in fraud and deliberately misrepresented his customers’ government protections. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced related actions against Ehrlich on Thursday, with the CFTC also including in its court filing that Circle's USDC stablecoin and bitcoin as commodities. The CFTC accused Ehrlich of defrauding customers by misleading them about the strength of the company and doing business without proper registrations. The FTC said he lied about customers’ funds being protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Caroline Ellison, 28, wrapped up her testimony on Thursday, her third day of questioning in the Sam Bankman-Fried trial. Sporting the same gray blazer as the last two days, Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend was asked about her company's accounting. Alameda engaged with a few accountants in 2021 to 2022, but after those firms reviewed Alameda's books, "they found they couldn't or wouldn't do it," Ellison said, as she faced questions from Attorney Mark Cohen. Former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame initially prepared Alameda's balance sheets, but at some point, Ellison took over this task, she testified. The company's financials are at the center of Bankman-Fried's demise. An award-winning CoinDesk story in November 2022 that cited Alameda's confidential balance sheet caused many to doubt the viability of Alameda and FTX.

- Omkar Godbole