A Mixed ETF Launch

1️⃣ ETH ETFs Launch with Mixed Reactions

On Tuesday, the historic launch of the spot Ethereum ETFs blew standard ETF launches out of the water but ongoing performance underwhelmed at times. While the first day saw $123M in net inflows, generated by over $1B in trading volume, the progress was wiped away over the next two days, which saw $133M and $152M in net outflows, respectively. While many are berating ETH for its poor performance, it is good to remember that the same thing happened with Bitcoin in the weeks immediately after its launch. Further, given summer may be a slow time for inflows, patience with the world computer will likely pay off handsomely throughout the rest of the cycle.

2️⃣ Bitcoin Stays Strong Amid Mt. Gox Redistributions

Bitcoin experienced a 4% increase on Friday despite a challenging week marked by Mt. Gox creditors receiving their payouts and turmoil in the Japanese yen. As of midday Friday, Bitcoin was valued at $67.5K as the Bitcoin Nashville conference raged with speakers like Donald Trump (speaking later today), RFK Jr., and Cathie Wood. Further, we saw two new pension funds add Bitcoin to their ranks — New Jersey and Michigan. Overall, despite substantial selling pressure coming online with Kraken and Bitstamp redistributing Bitcoin from Mt. Gox to creditors, decentralized gold held up quite well.

3️⃣ Solana Celeb Memecoin Crash

The Celebrity meme coin saga looks to have reached its end (hopefully), with a recent report showing that celebcoins are down 94% on average since their initial launches, with many down over 99.86%. MOTHER and TATE stand out, only down 70-75% since their highs. But at the same time, memes like WIF and PEPE are up in crypto, signaling the celeb meta may have (surprise, surprise) been a flash in the pan.

4️⃣ Takeaways from BTC Nashville

BTC Nashville kicked off this week, running from Thursday through Saturday. Here are some of the takeaways thus far:

• BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Michael Mitchnick, reiterated their clients are mainly interested in BTC and ETH, with the former holding the overwhelming majority of interest. "There’s definitely interest in Ethereum, too, but there’s very little interest today beyond those two.”
• During an interview, long-shot presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that if elected, he would push the federal government to accumulate Bitcoin to match its $615B holdings of gold. He also advocated for no capital gains tax on crypto.
• On Friday, former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci shared his belief for Bitcoin to overtake gold’s market cap, currently estimated to be $15-$16T, within a decade. He emphasized Bitcoin’s growing adoption in state and municipal pension funds like Wisconsin's, Jersey City's, and Michigan’s pension funds. Additionally, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the largest in the world, is exploring adding Bitcoin to its portfolio.

5️⃣ Kamala's Crypto Stance in Question

With Biden out of the race, many are hoping for Kamala Harris to turn around the Democratic Party's stance on crypto. There are early signs, with Mark Cuban sharing that the Harris campaign reached out to him with multiple questions, which he took as a good sign. Further, the Block reported that a source who spoke with Kamala’s campaign shared that Harris’s team wants to take a stance on crypto, which, at the very least, means more direct communication between the industry and her campaign. Some say its already way too late, while others looking towards her connections to Silicon Valley and her moderate approach to technology regulation suggest she may adopt a more open and innovative position.