VanEck seeks approval for Solana ETF, Ether supply grows, and other top crypto news: Hodler’s Digest, June 23-29

Top Stories This Week

• Bitcoin ETF issuer VanEck files for Solana ETF in the US

  VanEck has filed for a Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, marking the first such filing on Wall Street. The VanEck Solana Trust aims to reflect the performance of the SOL token, excluding operational expenses. If approved, the ETF will be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange. VanEck’s head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, cited Solana’s decentralized nature in a social media post, comparing SOL to other digital commodities like Bitcoin and Ether.

• Ethereum’s supply has been inflating for 73 days straight

  Ether’s supply has been increasing for 73 days in a row, with over 112,000 ETH added since mid-April. This is the longest inflationary streak since the Merge in 2022. The recent Dencun upgrade, which aimed to reduce transaction costs on Ethereum’s layer-2 networks, also significantly reduced the amount of ETH burned on the mainnet. Despite this inflationary period, Ether’s overall supply has decreased by 345,000 ETH since the Merge.

• Satoshi era Bitcoin wallet wakes up after 14 years, sends 50 BTC to Binance

  A Bitcoin wallet from the Satoshi era, dormant since 2010, has transferred 50 BTC to Binance. The wallet, linked to a miner who earned the Bitcoin as a reward when BTC was worth $0.05, has now seen its value rise to millions. The movement of crypto to centralized exchanges is often seen as a bearish sign, as most of the time, the use of centralized exchanges is linked with selling assets.

The United Arab Emirates central bank is considering new regulations that would require payment tokens to be backed by UAE dirhams and prohibit using cryptocurrencies for goods and services payments. These rules could effectively ban crypto payments within the country, blockchain lawyer Irina Heaver warned, adding that such regulations may signal a shift toward a less favorable stance on crypto.

The recent bearish market turmoil has dampened the previously high levels of bullish remarks and euphoria surrounding Bitcoin’s price, which could indicate a potential market bottom. Data from crypto analytics firm Santiment shows that bullish Bitcoin remarks across social media platforms such as X, Reddit, Telegram, 4chan and BitcoinTalk have dropped significantly over the past few weeks.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $60,994, Ether (ETH) at $3,419 and XRP at $0.47. The total market cap is at $2.27 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Akash Network (AKT) at 23.04%, Kaspa (KAS) at 22.14% and Brett (Based) (BRETT) at 14.60%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Ethena (ENA) at -13.03%, Gnosis (GNO) at -11.65% and Pendle (PENDLE) at -11.45%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“What we’re seeing right now is, potentially, the first presidential debate where crypto comes up as a question.”

Diogo Mónica, co-founder and president of Anchorage Digital

“Our great concern right now when talking about the open web is that if we don’t have a credible, irrevocably open environment for AI development, then the open web may never come to fruition.”

Chris Donovan, chief operating officer of Near Foundation

“Financial regulators have used multiple tools at their disposal to try to cripple the digital-asset industry. […] This is no way to regulate.”

Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase

“I think ETH ETPs are going to be a big success. At least, that’s what the data tells me.”

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise

“We have a set of rules that are pretty clear. There’s nothing inconsistent about crypto securities and the securities laws.”

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

“We are going into this automated world where AI is going to create enormous amounts of wealth, and Bitcoin is going to protect that wealth.”

Anthony Pompliano, founder of Pomp Investments

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin prepping breakout with ‘$90K+’ BTC price target — New analysis

Bitcoin is preparing perfect conditions for a fresh BTC price breakout, two classic indicators suggest. In a recent analysis on X, popular pseudonymous trader Roman revealed a bullish continuation case in the making for BTC/USD.

Flagging the relative strength index (RSI) and Bollinger Bands on the weekly chart, he foresaw a squeeze higher as the next logical step for BTC price action.

“We are now forming a 3rd bullish divergence between Price and RSI while many are capitulating & calling for lower,” he wrote on June 21. “Bollinger Bands are also squeezing tighter – creating that volatility to send without returning.”

In a subsequent post, Roman suggested that the target of such an upside move could be well into new all-time high territory. “You all should be paying attention to this 1W close,” he told X subscribers. “We are forming more bullish continuation indications on HTF. Once volatility is built we can finally full send to 90k+.”

FUD of the Week

• US State Dept offers $5M reward for OneCoin ’Cryptoqueen’

  The U.S. Department of State has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova to $5 million. Ignatova, known as the “Cryptoqueen,” was last seen in Athens in 2017 and is wanted for fraud and money laundering. Despite being added to the FBI’s most-wanted list and previous smaller rewards being offered for information pertaining to her whereabouts, she remains at large.

• Mark Cuban claims his Gmail was hacked after receiving hoax call

  Billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s Gmail was hacked after he received a hoax call from someone claiming to be from Google. The caller tricked Cuban into revealing personal information, leading to the compromise of his email. Cuban warned his followers on social media about the hack. The billionaire lost $870,000 from his crypto wallet in a previous hack.

The official X account for heavy metal band Metallica was hacked, with the exploiters using the breach to promote a Solana token with the ticker METAL. The scam, promising free crypto tokens, targeted Metallica fans by sharing malicious links. The hack happened while the band is currently out on a world tour promoting their 2023 album, 72 Seasons.