On June 15, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, submitted a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a bitcoin ETF. This move aims to provide investors with exposure to bitcoin while the cryptocurrency faces increased regulatory scrutiny.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust plans to utilise Coinbase Custody as its custodian. I actually think they're probably end up teaming up with Ripple once the lawsuit gets out of the way. Even though Coinbase is a large centralised exchange with a lot of experience, they are not as fine-tuned for this as Metaco, the company that Ripple acquired a while ago, that specialises in digital asset custody.

It's worth noting that the SEC has not yet approved any applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. The filing comes in the wake of the SEC's lawsuits against major exchanges Coinbase and Binance, which have impacted the cryptocurrency industry. The submission by BlackRock, a respected asset management company, is seen by some as a positive step towards regulatory approval and demonstrates continued public interest in crypto.

A spot bitcoin ETF would track the underlying market price of bitcoin, offering investors indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency. The SEC rejected Grayscale Investment's application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF last year. Grayscale subsequently sued the SEC, claiming arbitrary rejection of spot bitcoin ETF applications after approving bitcoin futures ETFs. The SEC has also rejected spot bitcoin ETF proposals from Fidelity, Cboe Global Markets, and NYDIG. Following the announcement of BlackRock's ETF filing, bitcoin prices increased by 2% and closed at $25,506 on Friday

I know there was a small XRP sell off today, but it has recovered somewhat.

Peace & Love,

Adé