First Mover Americas: Spot Bitcoin ETFs in Brazil Find Hefty Demand

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As investors await approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., a check in Brazil finds hefty demand for such vehicles, which have been trading there for more than two years. Together, those ETFs have $96.8 million of assets under management (AUM) as of Nov. 21, led by Hashdex's Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price FDI (BITH11) with $57.8 million in AUM, or a market share of about 60%. For comparison, the largest ETF in the nation, iShares Ibovespa Index (BOVA11), has $2.41 billion in AUM and the second largest, the iShares BM&FBOVESPA Small Cap (SMAL11), has $1.19 billion. The largest U.S. ETF, the SPDR S&P 500, has roughly $430 billion in AUM. According to Marcelo Sampaio, CEO and founder of Hashdex, the success of bitcoin ETFs in Brazil is the result of pro-market digital assets regulation and growing interest from large institutions.

Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao must remain in the U.S., at least for the moment, as a federal judge considers a U.S. Department of Justice motion that would require him to remain in the country until he is sentenced early next year. Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act last week and resigned as CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange by volume. The exchange itself pleaded guilty to charges of violating sanctions and money-transmission laws, agreeing to pay $4.3 billion in fines and embed compliance monitors who can report back to the U.S. government. After Zhao pleaded guilty, a magistrate judge granted his release on a $175 million personal recognizance bond. Zhao put $15 million in a trust account and had three guarantors put up over $5 million in collateral to secure the bond. Under the terms of the bond release, he was free to return to the UAE, where his wife and children also reside. District Judge Richard Jones stayed this part of the ruling on Monday.

Crypto investment funds last week attracted their largest net inflows this year, extending their strongest run since the 2021 bull market as anticipation for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) continued to entice investors, digital asset fund management firm CoinShares reported Monday. Digital asset-focused investment vehicles saw net inflows of $346 million in the week ended Nov. 24, the largest amount in what's now been nine consecutive weeks of inflows, according to the report. "This run, spurred by anticipation of a spot-based ETF launch in the US, is the largest since the bull market in late-2021," CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said.

- Omkar Godbole