Today in Crypto: ETFs ‘May Account for 10%’ of BTC Market Value in 3 Years, Jacobi Lists Europe’s 1st Spot Bitcoin ETF, Binance Asks for Protective Order Against the US SEC, Dasset Exchange Begins Liquidation

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
__________

ETF news

• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may account for 10% of the market value of bitcoin (BTC) within three years if the US approves a fund that invests directly in the cryptocurrency, Bloomberg reported, citing a Sanford C. Bernstein research report. Analyst Gautam Chhugani wrote in the report on Monday that the probability of a spot Bitcoin ETF has risen. Bernstein expects regulatory approval to create its own “growth flywheel” for retail and other institutional flows.
• London-based Jacobi Asset Management listed Europe’s first spot bitcoin ETF, the Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF, on Euronext Amsterdam. Per the press release, Jacobi has implemented a verifiable built-in Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) solution, which allows institutional investors to access the benefits of bitcoin and also meet their ESG goals. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission regulates the ETF, Fidelity Digital AssetsSM provides custodial services, Flow Traders are operating as market makers, and Jane Street and DRW as Authorised Participants. The fund benchmark, the FT Wilshire Bitcoin Blended Price Index, is provided by Wilshire Indexes with the REC solution created in collaboration with the digital asset platform Zumo. CEO of Jacobi Asset Management, Martin Bednall, said that “it is exciting to see Europe moving ahead of the US in opening up Bitcoin investing for institutional investors.”

Exchange news

• Binance asked a court for a protective order against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging that the regulator “is conducting a fishing expedition instead of seeking the narrow and “limited” discovery authorized by the Consent Order to ensure customer assets are presently secure and available.” In an August 14 court filing, Binance argued that the SEC has used the June court order to serve broad and unreasonable discovery requests, stating that defendants BAM Trading Services Inc. and BAM Management US Holdings Inc. (together, “BAM”) have “worked in good faith, but the SEC has been steadfast in its belief that the Consent Order gives it carte blanche to investigate every aspect of BAM’s asset custody practices without any discernible limitation whatsoever.”
• Customers of New Zealand-based crypto exchange Dasset said that they cannot access their funds, while the firm – which has begun liquidation – is not responding to complaints, according to The Herald. Some customers have unsuccessfully tried to withdraw their funds for months, it claimed. CEO Stephen Macaskill said that Dasset did not find a banking provider after its previous provider had stopped working with the company in January 2023, adding that the exchange had launched voluntary liquidation. 

Legal news

• A Chinese local court recently started the trial in the case of Shenzhen Shikongyun Technology, one of Chinese largest Filecoin mining firms, and its four executives, including the founder, for their alleged involvement in an $83.3 million pyramid scheme. The defendants allegedly lured customers under the pretense of mining FIL coins on the company’s platform and demanded that they pay fees for purchasing mining equipment or leasing mining machines. “With the lure of substantial returns, they enticed further participation and deceived individuals to gain assets, disturbing the economic and social order,” prosecutors said in a post. 

Gaming news

• Web3 gaming platform Immutable began the public testing of Immutable zkEVM, “a solution purpose-built for game development that offers low cost, massive scale, enterprise-grade security, and Ethereum smart contract compatibility, developed in collaboration with Polygon Labs,” the press release said. It added that dozens of prominent studios will start trialing the solution for their upcoming AAA blockchain games. Immutable zkEVM is a ZK-based scaling rollup that is compatible with and equivalent to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Web3 game developers can now migrate their existing smart contracts and Solidity code directly onto Immutable zkEVM Testnet.

Security news

• Decentralized exchange (DEX) RocketSwap confirmed that it was hacked, saying early on August 15 (UTC) that “the team has detected an anomaly on the farm and we are investigating the problem.” Hours later, it announced that “any existing high risks and vulnerabilities have been eliminated.” The team said that there was a “brute force hack of the server” where they stored the private keys. Blockchain security firm PeckShield found that the exploiter bridged some ETH 471 ($866,600) from Base to Ethereum.

DeFi news

• Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Compound is the latest protocol to launch on Coinbase‘s Ethereum Layer 2 network Base. “ETH and cbETH can be used as collateral to borrow bridged USDC (USDbC on Base),” Comound Labs said.