GM, Ambirers! We’re glad we can steal your attention for a bit 😁 

Crypto keeps delivering! And it wasn’t even close to getting boring this week🔥 

In today’s newsletter, we’ll mention:

• 🪙 “Practicing safe SEC” and ETF approvals

• 💵 Circle (USDC) files for IPO

• 🥚 Logan Paul offers to buy back his scam NFTs

• 🖼️ Twitter ditches support for NFT PFPs

LFG!

Do you prefer an audio summary of this week’s news? Listen below:

“Practicing safe SEC” and ETF approvals

At 9:11 p.m. UTC on Jan. 9, the official X (Twitter) account of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tweeted that regulators had decided to approve the first-ever spot Bitcoin ETFs.

However…

Just 15 minutes later, SEC chair Gary Gensler posted on his personal X account that the agency's official account had been hacked and that its ETF tweet was unauthorized. 

This quickly spread across social media and within the community, further adding to the confusion surrounding the highly anticipated BTC ETF decision.

BTC briefly pumped by 2.5%, only to drop sharply by more than 4% 💣️ just minutes later.

The incident quickly prompted concerns. Law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are now actively working to investigate the security breach.

👇️ The hack is a major embarrassment for SEC, especially for Gensler, given the agency's recent rants about cybersecurity and stricter rules for disclosing cyber incidents.

Yet, a real BTC ETF was still officially approved just a day later.

Eleven ETFs have been cleared for listing, with sponsors ranging from established players like Fidelity and Invesco to newer ones like Grayscale and Ark Invest.

Nine new ETFs and two conversions from other products started trading on Thursday morning across the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Cboe exchanges, a day after receiving approvals from the SEC ✉️ 

While futures Bitcoin ETFs have been available for some time, the U.S. approvals for spot ETFs are expected to bring a new era for the most popular and liquid crypto token.

The approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC has undeniably opened up a new chapter for the crypto industry by

• 💣️ Providing a secure and regulated avenue for institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to BTC

• 🔥 Setting a precedent for the potential approval of other crypto-asset ETFs in the future

Let's hope that this overall trend continues, and we see more exciting times going forward.

Circle (USDC) files for IPO

Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the second-largest stablecoin USDC, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S 📰 

The IPO is expected to take place after the SEC (again) completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.

• Founded in 2013, Circle is best known for controlling and governing USDC, a crypto token pegged to the U.S. dollar. With a total value of more than $94.6 billion, it is currently the second-biggest stable in the world, behind Tether.

• USDC is also the seventh-largest crypto overall (according to CG), with around $25 billion worth of tokens in circulation.

• Their previous plan to go public through a SPAC with Concord Acquisition Corp. was abandoned after the deal expired.

With this IPO, Circle joins the ranks of other successful crypto companies such as Coinbase, which saw a 400% 🧨 pump in 2023.

Overall, Circle seems to be back on track to solidify its position as a major player in the market.

Logan Paul offers to buy back his scam NFTs

In August 2021, popular YouTuber and social media influencer Logan Paul announced his ambitious NFT game, CryptoZoo 👇️ 

• The game was set to be a P2E on-chain game where players would buy, sell, breed, and trade exotic animals as NFTs using crypto. The game was never released.

• After much backlash, Logan promised he would refund everyone out of his own pocket and open a lawsuit against the game devs.

• Each NFT investor would get a 0.1 ETH refund (around $260)

It seems that Logan Paul is determined to try and clean his reputation after all.

He shifted the blame to project team members Ibanez and Greenbaum, stating that they derailed the project and were ultimately responsible for the scam itself.

He also keeps reiterating that he never made any profit from the project.

While the buy-back program may not fully cover the stress and financial losses, it could still be viewed as a step toward redemption 😔 

There are still many unanswered questions surrounding CryptoZoo and its development team, as well as other weird crypto-related projects Logan Paul has been a part of. It remains to be seen what other actions he will take to address those issues.

X (Twitter) ditches support for NFT PFPs as Musk muses about using Bitcoin on Mars

Did you know that X (Twitter) had a feature that allowed users to change their profile picture's shape to a hexagon by linking it to an NFT they owned?

This service was available for almost two years. But not anymore, it seems 🙄 

• The platform has now reportedly removed all mentions of NFT profile pictures from its X Premium support page, leading to speculations that the feature has now been retired.

• While some users still have their NFTs as profile pictures, the shape of the display has reverted to a standard circle.

If the service has indeed been removed, some wonder what impact it may have for the platform.

Who needs reasoning?

Some of the most prominent crypto and NFT advocates are active on Twitter, and this integration was seen as a way to showcase the utility of digital ownership and promote the concept.

This is emblematic of Elon Musk's erratic style of decision-making 🫥 

The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder has been known for his constant flip-flopping on various issues.

Like for example, his stance on crypto and its potential feasibility as a currency on Mars 🤪 

• In early 2021, Musk was quite bullish on it. In January 2021, he even changed his Twitter bio to "#Bitcoin," and in March 2021, Tesla started accepting BTC as a payment option.

• Just two months later, in May 2021, Musk made a rapid U-turn and withdrew the payment option from Tesla due to "environmental concerns".

Musk also initially dismissed using Bitcoin as Mars while talking on a podcast with Kathie Woods. However, he later changed his mind while brainstorming.

Musk later agreed with BTC core developer Matt Corallo that addressing BTC transaction speed could be achieved through a localized L2.

Still, on Aug. 5, 2023, Musk replied to a user on X, stating that he "never will" launch a crypto token on the platform.

It’s still not clear what his true stance on crypto is, even after all this time, and his erratic behavior continues to keep the community guessing 🤔 

Other worthy reads:

Vitalik getting involved with ETH gas issues:

The flippening is on the horizon??

January meta list by Prithvir:

MEMES

That's all for now, frens.

We'll meet in a week! And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

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