The once-heralded “dial tone of the internet” surprised users with a busy signal this morning, as Twitter restricted non-paying users to being able to read only 600 tweets daily. Coupled with hiding even “public” tweets behind a login, Elon Musk continues to wage war on multiple fronts, and users are feeling caught in the crossfire.
Outside the chaotic echo chambers of social media, the biggest buzz remains focused on the potential for a spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) being approved by the SEC.
The BlackRock application seemed a safe bet a week ago, a move that sparked green arrows across the crypto sector. With subsequently updated bids from ARK Invest and Valkyrie in the last week, however, it again seems like it could be anyone’s game.
But the frenzy over the race to a revolutionary financial product was tamped down somewhat by a Wall Street Journal report yesterday that the SEC has judged at least two spot Bitcoin ETF applications to be lacking.
If a spot Bitcoin ETF is ultimately approved, it would be the first since the SEC received the first application in 2017. Until then, investors can explore the first leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF, approved last week.
🪙 Coin of the moment
A perennial underdog in the crypto market had an incredibly strong week. Litecoin, a Bitcoin fork once described as the digital silver to BTC digital gold, vaulted into the top 10 by market cap on Thursday.
While Litecoin is based on the Bitcoin protocol, it uses a more accessible proof-of-work mining algorithm and a total cap of 84 million coins—four times that of Bitcoin.
LTC is up more than 19% for the week, and up nearly 37% since two weeks ago, when both it and fellow Bitcoin fork Bitcoin Cash got the thumbs up from Citadel-backed EDX.
Decrypt’s Kate Irwin chats with Laguna Games about why the team chose to move away from an offer with WB Games to develop a Game of Thrones licensed title—and made Crypto Unicorns instead.
