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

In this edition:

BTC Rally Provoked by US ETF Launch is ‘Nearly Out of Room to Run’
India’s Crypto Companies Are Moving to Dubai
SocialFi Debate-to-Earn Platform Reveals Its Pioneer Pen

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BTC Rally Provoked by US ETF Launch is ‘Nearly Out of Room to Run’

Even if the US approves spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), some strategists say they expect the much-anticipated green light to be a “sell” the crypto news event for BTC because “it has run up so far so fast,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Julio Moreno, head of research at the data provider CryptoQuant, commented that people who bought BTC at low prices are sitting on really high unrealized profits. “Historically, when that happens, the price tends to correct.”

Per Moreno, bitcoin could fall to $32,000 if traders decide to take some profits off the table following the ETF launch.

Many warn that approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not guaranteed. This is especially the case given its history with crypto-related matters. However, if it does say ‘yes’, the SEC will likely approve all similar applications at the same time. They may do this to avoid any perceived favoritism.

Nate Geraci, president of investment-advisory firm ETF Store, argued that this “is completely unprecedented because historically we have not seen a situation where multiple issuers are going to be lined up to launch a high-demand product on the same day.”

If they all get approved, a fee war is expected to break out in the crowded market. This “could turn the race into a money-losing effort for some of the asset managers, at least in the short term.” Per the report, some started a market push, and others decided to compete on cost.

Per James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence,

“It’s going to be brutal particularly for some of the smaller issuers to compete with the likes of BlackRock and Grayscale. But the end investor is going to win here because that’s going to drive fees down.”

It is also important to note that even if the SEC approves them all, not all funds are likely to launch immediately due to the operational work involved.

India Crypto News: Crypto Companies Are Moving to Dubai

India topped the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index in 2023, and it is the second-largest crypto market by transaction volume globally. But the local industry has been drying up because of the government’s strict tax rules. It is now moving into Dubai’s growing crypto ecosystem, the South China Morning Post reported.

Dubai saw over 90,000 Indian companies registered with the Dubai Chambers. The city’s largest tech event, GITEX, saw more than 300 Indian start-ups – three times more than the previous year, the report said.

Sumit Gupta, the chief executive of Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, commented that many Web3 founders prefer Dubai or Singapore as their hub. They offer clarity and certainty around regulations and greater community support.

He said that,

“When you’re setting up a business, investors are more comfortable in a jurisdiction where there are no last-minute surprises. I am starting to see this trend on the ground, and it must be reversed.”

“We have seen a [volume] decline of more than 90%,” which is a huge and steep drop, Gupta said. India continues to be number one when it comes to grassroots crypto adoption. But a lot of that activity is happening on alternative channels because of the high tax rates, he concluded.

SocialFi Debate-to-Earn Platform Reveals Its Pioneer Pen

SocialFi Debate-to-Earn platform Socrates announced an upgrade to its ecosystem with the launch of the Pioneer Pen. This marks “a new chapter in online intellectual engagement and blockchain integration,” the press release said.

Socrates has changed its community engagement model by upgrading all existing SBT Pens to the innovative Pioneer Pen, a non-fungible token (NFT) based on the ERC-721 standard, the team said.

This move signifies a shift from the current ERC-1155 standard, embracing the uniqueness and tradability that NFTs offer. Owners can now trade the Pens on the OpenSea marketplace.

“Each Pioneer Pen is designed to be as unique as its owner, encouraging users to forge new thoughts and express individual insights.”

The Pens will represent users’ identities within the platform and offer the possibility of upgrades.

Users can use SOC, Socrates’ governance token, to enhance their pens, increasing earning or voting coefficients, it added.

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