Today crypto platform Abra settles with The SEC over charges related to the Alleged unregistered offers and sales of Crypto asset Securities a report out Today shows that bitcoin's rally helped Create more than 84,000 new crypto Millionaires in a year and Juan Leon a Bitwise breaks down his new research Revealing that long-term investors may Be better off putting their money into Bitcoin instead of gold when stocks sell Off welcome to C BC's crypto world I'm Talia Kaplan digital currency sliding This morning as the pullback from last Weekend's highs continues by noon Eastern Bitcoin dropped nearly 3% Trading back down to the $61,000 level Ether fell more sharply down 5.3% and Trading at $2,578 while polygon's madic tokens SN Nearly 4% to 49 while spot Bitcoin ETFs Were a boon for crypto markets earlier This year leading to those all-time Highs we saw in March that doesn't seem To be the case thus far with the launch Of spat ether ETFs a report from JP Morgan out yesterday found that last Week's spot ether ETF volumes lagged the Group's running average since launch by About half about $216 million in volume Traded in spot ether ETFs on Friday the Best day of the week compared to a Running average of $434 million per day Since launch but big time exchanges are
Still looking to cash in on the growing Interest in crypto NASDAQ just announced This morning it was looking to launch Bitcoin index Options okay let's check out some more Crypto headlines crypto platform Abra Agreed to a settlement with the SEC for Allegedly failing to register the offers And sales of its retail crypto asset Lending product Abra n yesterday the SEC Also charged Abra with operating as an Unregistered Investment Company for at Least 2 years the associate director of The agency's division of enforcement Said quote as alleged Aubra sold nearly Half a billion dollars of Securities to Us investors without complying with Registration laws designed to ensure That investors have sufficient accurate Information to make informed decisions Before they invest she went on to say That to compound the potential harm to Investors Aubra allegedly sold its own Securities while skirting applicable Investment Company act Provisions that Provide a number of important Protections to investors including Minimizing conflicts of interest now an AUA spokesperson told us that without Admission of wrongdoing plutus lending a Subsidiary of Aubra agreed to settle and Continue to comply with Securities laws The spokesperson added that no consumers Were harmed At All by the settlement or
Wind down of Aubra n and that all assets For us earn customers including acrude Interest were transferred to their Aubra Trade accounts in 2023 according to the SEC to settle the charges Aubra Consented to an injunction prohibiting The Firm from violating the registration Provisions of the Securities Act and the Investment Company act and requiring it To pay civil penalties in amounts to be Determined by the court next a Nigerian Judge will hear the case against binance And its two detained Executives a month Ahead of schedule that's according to Reuters which reported that the next Hearing was scheduled for October 11th But was moved to next week September 2nd To be exact binance faces allegations in Nigeria of money laundering and tax Evasion the country detained two of the Company's Executives US citizen tigan Gambaran and British Kenyan Nadim Ander Back in February though Andre Walla Escaped Nigerian in custody back in March Finance CEO Richard Tang said in An update today that garan's Health has Deteriorated to the point where he can't Walk and called for the US government to Take action to bring him home Tang also Denied some of the claims Nigeria Brought against binance in his statement Including the company's alleged Responsibility for devaluing Nigeria's Local currency last the new report
Reveals that the population of crypto Millionaires in the world surged 95% % Over the past year as Bitcoin ETFs and Other crypto assets climbed according to This report from new world wealth and Henley and partners there are now 172,00 people around the globe holding More than $1 million in crypto assets That's up from 88,200 last year the report also reveals That the number of pure Bitcoin Millionaires more than doubled to 85,500 The Surge reflects the rapid growth of Bitcoin ETFs which now have more than $50 billion in assets since launching in January and I've touched off a wave of Institutional Participation all right for our main Story research out this month from Bitwise Asset Management suggests that Long-term investors might be better off Flocking to bitcoin rather than gold When stocks sell off I spoke with the Author Juan Leon about his research and The 12-month outlook for Bitcoin you put out a note a couple of Weeks ago arguing that history suggests To buy Bitcoin when there is blood on The streets of course we saw that crypto Sell off in early August you point to That in your research noting that Bitcoin nose dived more than 145% Between August 2nd and 5th you wrote That the sharp pullback sparked
Questions including whether Bitcoin is In fact a hedge asset and so you decided To dig into the historical data can you Take us through the data you analyzed How you went about it and what Conclusion you reached what was your key Takeaway absolutely from that uh histo From that volatile episode what I did Was I decided to look at every instance During the past 10 years when the S&P 500 dropped by 2% or more in a day and Then I compared it to the performance of Both Bitcoin and gold over the following Year and what I found was that on Average gold returned 8% over those next 12 months while Bitcoin returned 190% so my takeaway for investors is That history tells you that the next Time the stock market sells off you're Better off buying Bitcoin as a long-term Portfolio hedge instead of Gold interesting now your research Points to the quote bad news for Bitcoin Which is that the data shows that Bitcoin is an unreliable shortterm hedge You wrote that bitcoin's one day return Seems to have no relationship to what's Happening in the stock market at all Were you surprised by that and why do You think that Is yeah I wasn't too surprised um what I Found was that sometimes Bitcoin goes up When the stock Market goes down Sometimes it goes sideways sometimes it
Falls much more than the market um and It doesn't surprise me because the Drivers of Bitcoin are different than The drivers of uh the stock market which Is uh why Bitcoin tends to have a low Correlation to the stock market and is a Great asset as a portfolio diversifier Now if you're looking for your perfect Hedge on a short-term one day basis then Bitcoin is not uh not great in that Sense because sometimes it helps but Sometimes it doesn't uh but what I did Find is that and the and the reality is That most investors care about long-term Performance and uh and invest for the Longterm and on a longer term basis it Does turn out that Bitcoin has Historically been a much better Performer than gold for your portfolio Over the longterm afterm Market shocks Yeah and expanding on that you wrote That in the year after our 2% our Greater pullback in stocks gold Substantially underperforms the bounce In stocks averaging a nearly 8% return But Bitcoin quote more more than makes Up for its volatility with a whopping Average return of nearly 190% were you surprised by that Discovery what does that signal to you Well that shows me that uh gold is a Mature asset uh and doesn't that what That as a result of that doesn't have That much long-term appreciation whereas
Bitcoin is still a nent a asset uh in Its early adoption phase of Institutional and Global wider uh Consumer adoption and so uh it has uh Strong store value properties limited Supply uh and decreasing new issuance of Bitcoin and so over the long term it Should perform as a as a as a great Store of value uh and I think that Coupled with its Growth Properties Because it's a it's it's uh it's an Early adopted asset that is growing in Acceptance around the world I think Those two characteristics are really Powerful uh and make it a great long Long-term store of value uh to to for Your wealth Now in your research you also write that The 12-month outlook for Bitcoin is one Of the most bullish you've seen Considering several catalysts including Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and the Expectation of Fed rate Cuts can you Take us through those catalysts and Others that could potentially Propel Bitcoin's Price yes well the the launch of the Bitcoin ETFs this year has been uh what We call the IPO moment for Bitcoin uh And it's ushering in uh institutional uh Investors into to bitcoin uh and what We've seen is great adoption thus thus Far we've seen since launch almost 18 Billion in net inflows which has been a
Record uh in the best performing Category of ETFs uh ETF launches in History um and we've seen now uh two two Uh sets of 13f filing seasons of Institutional managers their Holdings And what we saw in this second filing Compared to the first one is that the Total number of institutional investors Holding Bitcoin ETFs Rose 14% quarter Over quarter from 9965 firms to 1100 uh And their share of total AUM of Bitcoin ETFs Rose as well from 18% to 21% so Altogether institutional investors uh Closed the quarter holding more than 11 Billion in Bitcoin ETFs so we see Institutional adoption Rising U more More assets flowing into the ETFs and That is great uh for the asset class It's uh it shows uh more adoption by Institutions uh and I think it will Continue to drive the price uh higher um And then uh we're also seeing uh now uh We saw this past weekend uh Fed chair uh Jerome Powell in his statement he uh Said that uh the time has come for Policy to adjust and I think that was a Pivotal statement uh and I think that Marks the end of the rates being higher For longer era and has kick started uh The rate cutting cycle of 2024 and 2025 Uh you now see future futes CME Futures Pricing in a 100% chance of a rate cut In September uh and 200 basis points uh Of cuts over the next year and as we've
Seen rate Cuts have are historically Good for risky assets uh like Bitcoin Because they lower the discount rate uh That is used to calculate the long-term Value of assets and that gives prices a Boost uh but more than that they also Inject Animal Spirits into the markets So my sense is that pow statement fired The starting gun for a newable market in Crypto um and I think that will be very Positive and it certainly will be very Interesting to see if your forecast Comes to fruition your note does however Warn that we are likely not out of the Woods quite yet as investors are still On edge from Market swings and the Uncertainty of the US presidential Election on top of that there are signs Of a slowing global economy and Escalating tensions in the Middle East So with all those factors in the mix do You think Bitcoin can surpass that All-time high above 7 $3,000 reached Back in March in the coming months What's your timeline I do think so I Think we have very positive Catalyst Over the medium uh and long term uh However as you mentioned I think we do Have to clear a few things in the short Term before prices move meaningfully Higher I think the market needs to Finish clearing the sales of Bitcoin From Mount gaau and the US government we Need to see what enforcement actions may
Come as we approach the end of the sec's Fiscal year in September um and uh as You men men politics has been a big Topic and we need to have better Clarity On what the Harris campaign will take Toward crypto and then what the outcome Of the US election will be at this point Uh Trump winning is clearly more Favorable for the industry and so all Things equal higher odds of him winning Uh up or moving up in the polls will be Supportive of crypto prices as we get Closer to the election um and then Lastly we need to see those Fed rate Cuts take effect uh but I do think a new Era has begun and it will gain momentum As we push through the election and Those other clouds of uncertainty Hanging over the market but I think once We're on the other side I think we'll See Bitcoin at new all-time highs of 100,000 or higher and that could happen As soon as the end of this year uh or Later into or into 2025 depending on how These different catalysts uh play out And how we move how quickly we move Through them now Leon also elaborated on Crypto's role in the upcoming Presidential election and weighs in on How spot Bitcoin and ether ETFs have Been per forming you'll be able to check Out his full interview over at cnbc.com Cryptoworld okay that's all for today But we'll be back again tomorrow and
We'll see you then [Music]
