Bitcoin ETF Options Trading Will Start Tuesday
Options trading will begin on Tuesday on the $42 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust, the largest of the Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, a Nasdaq spokesperson confirmed to Barron’s late Monday. The move offers a new way to trade, hedge, and speculate on the cryptocurrency.
In an earlier interview on Bloomberg television, Alison Hennessy, the director of exchange-traded products listings at Nasdaq, the primary exchange for the ETF, said “our intent is to list and trade these options as early as tomorrow.”
Bitcoin's Correlation with U.S. Equities and Ether Hits Multi-Year Lows
In 2024, Bitcoin and the Nasdaq Composite moved in tandem on only 52% of trading days, according to Investing.com. This marks a sharp departure from previous years when the two assets frequently exhibited a near-perfect correlation, particularly in 2021 and 2022.
Since March 2024, the correlation between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq on a 30-day rolling basis dropped to 0.46, one of the lowest levels in five years. By September, it briefly turned negative at -0.50. While the Nasdaq has fallen 4% below its recent all-time high, Bitcoin continues its upward trajectory, now trading just 1.5% shy of its peak.
DJT, Bakkt Stocks Pop on Report Trump Media in Talks to Acquire Crypto Trading Platform
Trump Media & Technology stock closed over 16% higher on Monday following a report from the Financial Times that said the company, which operates the social network Truth Social, is in advanced talks to acquire crypto exchange Bakkt Holdings, Inc..
Bakkt stock gained over 162% on Monday following the report. The company is majority-owned by NYSE parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
MicroStrategy Taps Stock Market to Fund Record Bitcoin Buy
MicroStrategy bought a record $4.6 billion in Bitcoin, making good on plans announced last month to tap capital markets to accelerate purchases of the cryptocurrency.
The enterprise software maker, whose corporate strategy includes buying the digital asset, acquired about 51,780 Bitcoin between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, according to an US Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday. That follows purchases of over 27,000 Bitcoin between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10, and two large acquisitions in September. The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm now owns around $30 billion in Bitcoin.
BIT Mining Pays SEC $4 Million Over Japanese Bribe Allegations
A crypto miner agreed to pay a $4 million penalty to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it engaged in a scheme to bribe Japanese officials, the agency said Monday.
BIT Mining, formerly known as 500.com Limited, between 2017 and 2019 paid $2.5 million in cash bribes and gifts, including to members of the Japanese parliament, to try to win a bid to open a casino resort in Japan, the SEC said.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to Meet Privately with Donald Trump - Report
Coinbase Global, Inc. stock jumped 6.8% after a media report that President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on Monday.
They're expected to discuss personnel appointments for his administration, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
During his presidential campaign, Trump said he would appoint a council to formulate transparent regulatory guidance on bitcoin (BTC-USD) and cryptocurrencies.
Goldman Readies Plans to Spin-Out Its Digital Assets Platform
Goldman Sachs is speaking with potential partners as it plans to spin out its digital-assets platform into a new company for large financial firms to create, trade and settle financial instruments via blockchain technology.
The bank is in talks with a number of market participants on the plans as it continues to build out the platform’s capabilities and develop new commercial use cases, Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s global head of Digital Assets, said in an interview. Plans for the new company are in the early stages, but the long term goal is to execute the spin-out within the next 12 to 18 months, subject to regulatory approvals, McDermott said.
Daily Total Net Inflow of Bitcoin Spot ETFs Was $165.5 Million. Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund Topped the List of Daily Net Inflows
On November 18 (Eastern Time), the total net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs was $165.5 million, according to SoSoValue data.
The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net inflow on November 18 was Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, with a net inflow of $59.95 million. Following that was Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, with a net inflow of $54.39 million.
As of now, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $95.70 billion, and the ETF net asset ratio (market value compared to total Bitcoin market value) is 5.29%.
