What’s Going down In Crypto These days? Day-to-day Crypto Information Digest

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of blockchain and crypto news today – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s news.

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Why is crypto down today?

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is down nearly 1% today. It currently stands at $2.69 trillion.

Quite a few coins among the top 100 are in the red today.

Lido DAO (LDO) fell the most in this category. It’s down 6.6% in 24 hours to $2.45.

JasmyCoin (JASMY) is nearby, with a 6% drop to $0.02625.

When it comes to the green coins, the best performer is Celestia (TIA). It appreciated just below 10%, trading at $10.05.

Right behind it is Bitget Token (BGB), with a rise of 9.8% to $1.23.

On the other hand, just one coin is up among the top 10 by market cap in the same period.

Solana (SOL) is up 1% to $167.

At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) and Lido Staked Ether (STETH) are down the most: 1.3% to $3,863.

All other coins are down less than 1%.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell 0.9%, changing hands at $67,991.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy head Michael Saylor recently highlighted a major Bitcoin ETF milestone: more than 1 million (or 1 Nakamoto) BTC are held in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Speaking of ETFs, analysis firm Kaiko found that Grayscale’s forthcoming spot Ethereum ETF may see significant outflows, potentially averaging around $110 million per day.

The projection is based on the pattern observed with Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) when it converted from a closed-end fund to an ETF on January 11, it said.

Bitwise’s First Spot Ethereum ETF Receives SEC Approval

Crypto index fund manager Bitwise Asset Management recently announced the approval of the New York Stock Exchange’s filing for Bitwise’s first spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).

According to the press release, Bitwise intends for the fund to begin trading once the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declares its S-1 Registration Statement effective.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan commented that Ethereum is “the most exciting programmable blockchain and targets a completely different use case than Bitcoin.”

Ethereum is the global supercomputer and home to many of crypto’s biggest real-world use cases, he added.

It’s official: Investors are one step closer to a spot Ethereum ETF.

Today, the SEC approved the NYSE’s 19b-4 filing for Bitwise’s first-ever spot Ethereum ETF. It’s a historic move that puts the spotlight on the second-largest crypto asset. At Bitwise, our mission is to help… pic.twitter.com/hjgsrdgQtd

— Bitwise (@BitwiseInvest) May 23, 2024

Thanks to the ETF news, “we’re much closer to offering investors professionally managed exposure to ETH, the asset that fuels the Ethereum blockchain, in a format that’s as familiar and easy to trade as a stock. That’s exciting progress indeed.”

Founded in 2017, Bitwise partners with more than 4,000 advisor teams, RIAs, family offices, and institutions. It serves tens of thousands of investors, it said.

It also offers 13 crypto investment products in addition to a suite of six crypto-linked ETFs. It will be seven with addition of the spot Ethereum ETF.

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley added that the announcement “gives us great hope as we witness crypto’s unflagging march to the mainstream. We look forward to a day soon when investors can readily access one of the most dynamic assets in crypto.”

China Is a Key East Asian Crypto Market Despite the Ban

Despite a crypto ban in China, the demand in this market still plays a major role in the digital asset sphere.

Chinese citizens are buying and trading crypto, regardless of the two-year-old ban. They see it as alternative investments amid falling property prices or as a way of avoiding overseas transfer limits, Bloomberg reported.

Chengyi Ong, APAC policy head at blockchain data firm Chainalysis, commented that “a significant amount of crypto activity remains in China. This may be in part because the ban is porous or loosely enforced, but is also attributable to the decentralized and often peer-to-peer nature of crypto activity.”

Chainalysis found that some $86 billion of crypto moved into China in the 12 months through June 2023. This is much lower than the levels seen before the ban, but it’s nonetheless a significant number globally.

“What we’ve seen over the years is that bans are generally not effective in stamping out crypto activity, but may conversely create informal gray markets that are harder to track and ring fence against illicit activity,” Ong said.

The billions of dollars in illicit foreign exchange transactions that the police work to stop highlight Ong’s arguments, as well as the ongoing demand for crypto in the country.

In May alone, the report noted, one of the cases involved an underground bank tied to 13.8 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) of illegal transfers.

XRP Healthcare Stops XRP to XRPH Swap Facility

In other crypto news today, XRP Healthcare announced a strategic move to halt its XRP to XRPH token swap facility.

Per the press release, this will occur on June 7 or as soon as its allocated XRPH Swap facility tokens have been depleted.

The decision comes in response to “the unprecedented demand for its XRPH tokens, underscoring the importance of preserving the finite supply for its existing exchange platforms.”

There is a fixed total supply of 100 million XRPH tokens. Also, the issuing account is blackholed to prevent any future issuance.

“Halting the swap facility is a crucial step in ensuring the long-term integrity and scarcity of XRPH tokens,” said Kain Roomes, CEO and Founder of XRP Healthcare.

“By Blackholing the issuing account, we are aligning with the best practices in the cryptocurrency space to maintain the value of our tokens for our consumers.”

📢 XRP Healthcare will stop XRP to XRPH Swap Facility, Ensuring Token Scarcity on June 7th. This decision comes in response to the unprecedented demand for XRPH tokens, underscoring the importance of preserving the finite supply📢

Discover why this news is so exciting:… pic.twitter.com/jIDCgNyOQd

— XRP Healthcare (@XRPHealthcare) May 27, 2024

Laban Roomes, Business Development Officer at XRP Healthcare, added that the move “ensures our consumers benefit from a finite supply of XRPH tokens which day by day are becoming increasingly scarce.”

Meanwhile, the company’s XRP Healthcare Prescription Savings Card App is available on Google Play and Apple Store.

It can be used in up to 68,000 pharmacies such as Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens for up to 80% savings off prescriptions and medications in return for $1.00 of XRPH tokens each time the card is used.

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