News Roundup — Spot Ether ETFs Receive Official Approval from the SEC

Major news stories this week;

1. Spot Ether ETFs Receive Official Approval from the SEC
2. Bitcoin Set for a New Peak? U.S. Trading Volumes hit 2-year High
3. Crypto Industry Scores Major Win as U.S. House Passes FIT21 Bill
4. 18M Americans used or owned crypto in 2023 — Fed survey
5. MetaMask intends to add Bitcoin support: report

Story Summaries;

1. In a May 23 filing, the SEC approved the 19b-4 filings from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise — approving the rule changes allowing spot Ether ETFs to be listed and traded on their respective exchanges. The landmark decision came despite speculation that the securities regulator has been investigating whether to label Ethereum as a security.
2. According to new data, BTC trade volume during US hours had returned to 2022 levels. The high volume of BTC transactions in America indicated that the U.S market was showing massive interest in BTC and may have even reached saturation. However, on APAC (Asia Pacific) front, it wasn’t the case. The volume during APAC trading hours were significantly lower. This meant that there was a large cohort of people that had still not interacted with BTC.
3. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, also known as FIT21, marking a significant victory for the crypto industry in the United States. The Republican-led bill was approved by a vote of 279-136, with notable support from Democrats. Fred Ehrsam, the co-founder of Coinbase, reacted to the historic development in the US crypto market on X, highlighting the potential of the crypto industry and the influence of its young supporters.
4. The number of United States adults reporting crypto ownership or usage dropped to around 18 million in 2023, according to the latest annual household survey from the Federal Reserve. In the 12 months to October 2023, 7% of surveyed U.S. adults reported using crypto — down from 10% in 2022 and 12% in 2021, according to the Fed’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) published on May 21.
5. The wallet provider hopes to roll out Bitcoin support within the next month, but those plans are subject to change. Bitcoin features could start small and grow over time, CoinDesk adds. Though MetaMask already expanded beyond the Ethereum ecosystem with the inclusion of Snaps, the move would add one of the most popular blockchains onto the most popular digital wallet platforms.

‍

‍

And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

‍