Financial regulators have greenlit Australia’s first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) to begin trading on April 27, and the Australian Financial Review reports it could see up to $1 billion in inflows. An ETF is a regulated exchange-traded fund that allows investors to benefit from the price of Bitcoin without needing to own any coins themselves directly. Cosmos Asset Management beat out local contenders VanEck, BetaShares and EFT Securities to issue Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF. Each firm has been in the running to close out regulatory approvals since at least March, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Cosmos Asset …

STEPN (GMT), a so-called "move-to-earn" token using the Solana (SOL) blockchain, has soared incredibly since its market debut in March. GMT's price jumped from $0.01 on March 9 to a record high of $3.45 on April 19 — a 34,000% upside move in just 41 days (data from Binance). Its massive uptrend appeared primarily due to the hype surrounding decentralized finance (DeFi) projects that reward users in tokens for staying active. For instance, the prices of GMT and its top rivals, including Genopets (GENE) and dotmoovs (MOOV), exploded massively on a 24-hour adjusted timeframe, data on CoinGecko shows. Nonetheless, STEPN …

On this week’s show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts reveal exactly what percentages of their portfolios are allocated to what coins and why. But first, market expert Marcel Pechman carefully examines the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. Next up: the main event. Join Cointelegraph analysts Benton Yaun, Jordan Finneseth and Sam Bourgi as they reveal their crypto portfolios. We kick things off with Bourgi, whose top holdings are BTC with 67%, ETH with 20%. No surprise there …

In an interview with Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall last Tuesday, David Olsson, global head of institutional distribution at BlockFi, shared his insight on the state of institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. BlockFi is a financial services company that offers retail wealth management products, such as crypto-backed loans, interest accounts, Bitcoin (BTC) rewards credit cards, etc. Meanwhile, for institutional investors, BlockFi's proprietary platform provides financing for capital efficiency, the ability to borrow coins for hedging and shorting, and institutional-grade trading infrastructure. When asked about any exciting trends among institutional clients adopting crypto, Olsson told Cointelegraph, "Out of the 80% of Top 50 …

There’s no denying the current narrative about Web3: it’s a boys club. And, if we keep affirming this narrative, it’s bound to come true. The truth of crypto as a boys club won’t just be detrimental to women — it’ll be detrimental to the entire promise and growth of Web3. Web3 is not an exclusive club designed to keep people out. It's a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats party that gets better every time someone new joins. The more people involved, the better the outcomes for everyone. My introduction to crypto came early: It was 2013, and I’d been invited to a small get-together …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a concept that has received a lot of attention since the so-called DeFi Summer of 2020 because its usage, often measured in total value locked (TVL), has risen dramatically since that time. In the last year alone, TVL rose by over 240% to a current $209 billion in “value locked” within DeFi projects, according to DefiLlama. Not only has it become interesting for investors to get into promising DeFi projects through their tokens (hoping for capital gains), but also to use these platforms to generate a regular and steady income through various activities. And, it’s been …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have diversified investment opportunities in the crypto industry by facilitating novel and innovative passive income generation schemes. Delving a bit into how they work, DeFi systems are based on blockchain technology and run on programmable chains such as the BNB Chain and the Ethereum Network. The chains use decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) finance architectures to cut out the middleman and enable lending, borrowing and liquidity provision. This leads to higher interest rates compared to those provided by regulated financial institutions such as banks. For perspective, many regulated banks provide interest rates of less than one percent per …

ApeCoin's (APE) market valuation could grow by nearly 250% in the second quarter of 2022 as it breaks out of a widely-tracked, classic technical pattern. APE price "bull pennant" breakout underway On April 13, APE's price broke above the upper trendline of what appears to be a "bull pennant" chart pattern. Bull pennants appear when the price consolidates inside a triangle-like structure following a strong uptrend. Many traditional analysts consider them as continuation patterns, for they typically result in the price breaking out in the direction of its previous trend. As a rule, traders estimate a bull pennant's upside target …

Cryptocurrencies are well-known for being volatile assets, which means that experienced traders have plenty of opportunities in the space. Investors can expect to be taken on a wild ride if they plan on holding for a long time. Stablecoins, a class of cryptocurrencies that offers investors price stability pegged to the value of fiat currencies, offer investors a safe haven when market turbulence hits but may represent missed opportunities over time. Speaking to Cointelegraph, several experts have stated that retail investors should approach cryptocurrencies with a “pay yourself first” attitude and that an allocation of up to 5% in crypto …

The town of Serodino in Argentina’s Santa Fe Province could begin to mine crypto in a bid to raise the money needed for its rail infrastructure upgrade. Its mayor doesn’t see any risk in mining the digital currencies that can be sold immediately. As the local media reported on April 10, the town of 6000 people has already purchased six graphics cards and will be buying a mining rig in the nearest future. According to Sorradino’s mayor Juan Pio Drovetta, the initiative to mine cryptocurrencies was supported by the local community. Like many other rural towns in Argentina, Sorradino was …

Circle, a major peer-to-peer payments firm and the principal operator of the UDC Coin (USDC), has announced a $400 million funding round and a new partnership with the American investment firm BlackRock. The USDC issuer has entered into an agreement for a funding round featuring investors like BlackRock, the investment advisory firm Fidelity Management and Research, the London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace and Fin Capital, as Circle officially announced Tuesday. The investment round is expected to close in the second quarter 2022. Apart from providing strategic investment and being primary asset manager of USDC cash reserves, BlackRock has inked a …

The rich get richer. According to the Wealth-X consulting company, in 2020, the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals worth $5 million–$30 million in the world increased by 1.7% to 295,450 people; the combined net worth of this group increased by 2% to $35.5 trillion. Observing the investment preferences of rich individuals and institutional investors is instructive. They have access to exclusive information and analytics to inform their investment decisions, and their investments are often supported by an army of advisers, employees of family offices and wealth managers. Due to the instability in world politics and high inflation in many parts of …