🌳 Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race; Cboe Confirmed Trading of 5 Spot ETH ETFs on July 23

Macro & TradFi

In a piece of breaking news over the weekend, President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 presidential race (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-21/biden-says-he-will-not-seek-reelection-aims-to-finish-term), citing the public’s concerns over his ability to defeat Donald Trump and to serve effectively. In a surprising move, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, urging Democrats to unite behind her. Harris has accepted the endorsement and aims to secure the nomination. Biden's exit, driven by increasing doubts about his fitness and approval ratings, sets the stage for a crucial three-month sprint to the November election. The shift has prompted both Democratic support for Harris and Republican calls for Biden's resignation, with legal challenges anticipated over the nomination change. Biden subsequently endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris to succeed him, saying it was “in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down”.

In other news, President Xi Jinping has outlined a sweeping plan (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-21/xi-vows-more-local-government-support-in-new-economic-blueprint) to reform China’s finances, focusing on alleviating the debt burden of local governments. The proposed reforms include shifting a larger share of consumption tax revenue to regional authorities and improving the balance between central and local government finances. This marks the third major overhaul in China’s fiscal history. Despite these significant changes, the plan maintains Xi’s overarching vision of advancing China’s economy through high-quality development and technological innovation. The resolution from the recent Third Plenary Session also emphasized national security and proposed new measures for managing population data, signaling an ongoing focus on integrating economic and security priorities.

On Friday, July 19, 2024, major U.S. stock indexes ended sharply lower, driven by a selloff in technology stocks and a major disruption in cloud services caused by CrowdStrike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, marking weekly losses. CrowdStrike saw its shares plummet 11% due to a software update that caused widespread outages affecting major businesses. In contrast, Intuitive Surgical and Starbucks posted notable gains, with shares rising 9.3% and 6.9% respectively. Investors are now focusing on next week’s corporate earnings and economic indicators.

DeFi & CeFi

   •   Cboe provides official launch date for 5 spot ETH ETF

   •   South Korean regulators enforce new virtual asset regulations

   •   Arkham transfers $487M ARKMs to Coinbase Prime for tax compliance

   •   WazirX halts trading, launches bounty program to recover stolen assets

   •   Gemini reaches settlement with IRA Financial Trust over $36M exploit

The Chicago Boards Options Exchange (Cboe) (https://cointelegraph.com/news/cboe-official-launch-date-spot-ethereum-etf) has confirmed that five spot Ethereum ETFs will begin trading on July 23, subject to final regulatory approval. This announcement came after the SEC approved rule changes on May 23 that allow the listing of these ETFs, though each issuer's S-1 registration still requires the SEC's sign-off. The ETFs set to launch are from institutions like 21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, and Franklin. To gain an early advantage, the ETH ETF issuers implemented plans to temporarily waive or discount fees to compete for market share once the products start trading. Following the launch of the ETH ETF, the market could see increased demand and price volatility for Ethereum as institutions look to fill their ETFs with Ethereum.

🌳 Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race; Cboe Confirmed Trading of 5 Spot ETH ETFs on July 23

Macro & TradFi

In a piece of breaking news over the weekend, President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 presidential race (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-21/biden-says-he-will-not-seek-reelection-aims-to-finish-term), citing the public’s concerns over his ability to defeat Donald Trump and to serve effectively. In a surprising move, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor, urging Democrats to unite behind her. Harris has accepted the endorsement and aims to secure the nomination. Biden's exit, driven by increasing doubts about his fitness and approval ratings, sets the stage for a crucial three-month sprint to the November election. The shift has prompted both Democratic support for Harris and Republican calls for Biden's resignation, with legal challenges anticipated over the nomination change. Biden subsequently endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris to succeed him, saying it was “in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down”.

In other news, President Xi Jinping has outlined a sweeping plan (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-21/xi-vows-more-local-government-support-in-new-economic-blueprint) to reform China’s finances, focusing on alleviating the debt burden of local governments. The proposed reforms include shifting a larger share of consumption tax revenue to regional authorities and improving the balance between central and local government finances. This marks the third major overhaul in China’s fiscal history. Despite these significant changes, the plan maintains Xi’s overarching vision of advancing China’s economy through high-quality development and technological innovation. The resolution from the recent Third Plenary Session also emphasized national security and proposed new measures for managing population data, signaling an ongoing focus on integrating economic and security priorities.

On Friday, July 19, 2024, major U.S. stock indexes ended sharply lower, driven by a selloff in technology stocks and a major disruption in cloud services caused by CrowdStrike. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, marking weekly losses. CrowdStrike saw its shares plummet 11% due to a software update that caused widespread outages affecting major businesses. In contrast, Intuitive Surgical and Starbucks posted notable gains, with shares rising 9.3% and 6.9% respectively. Investors are now focusing on next week’s corporate earnings and economic indicators.

DeFi & CeFi

   •   Cboe provides official launch date for 5 spot ETH ETF

   •   South Korean regulators enforce new virtual asset regulations

   •   Arkham transfers $487M ARKMs to Coinbase Prime for tax compliance

   •   WazirX halts trading, launches bounty program to recover stolen assets

   •   Gemini reaches settlement with IRA Financial Trust over $36M exploit

The Chicago Boards Options Exchange (Cboe) (https://cointelegraph.com/news/cboe-official-launch-date-spot-ethereum-etf) has confirmed that five spot Ethereum ETFs will begin trading on July 23, subject to final regulatory approval. This announcement came after the SEC approved rule changes on May 23 that allow the listing of these ETFs, though each issuer's S-1 registration still requires the SEC's sign-off. The ETFs set to launch are from institutions like 21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, and Franklin. To gain an early advantage, the ETH ETF issuers implemented plans to temporarily waive or discount fees to compete for market share once the products start trading. Following the launch of the ETH ETF, the market could see increased demand and price volatility for Ethereum as institutions look to fill their ETFs with Ethereum.