Bitcoin ETFs getting the green light? Australia's first bitcoin ETF to go live next week

Bitcoin has become extremely popular in recent years. People are becoming more aware of it, studying more about it, and keeping track of the market and current trends. However, just a small percentage of the vast popularity has invested in bitcoin.

One factor that may have deterred most people from buying and selling Bitcoin is the small number of brokers doing it, and dealing directly through a crypto exchange can be confusing due to a range of fees and new trading platforms. However, with the advent of Bitcoin-linked ETFs, the process of investing could become a lot easier.

Investing in a Bitcoin ETF could be a great alternative for people looking for a more traditional way of investing in digital currency. They are often less expensive than single stocks, are simple to incorporate into retirement plans, provide investor security in the case of theft, and Investors can take part in indirectly investing in Bitcoin without actually holding the digital asset itself, which can help alleviate the fears that many newcomers have. Furthermore, users do not need to create an account with a cryptocurrency exchange or devise a crypto custody strategy.

As the cryptocurrency space grows in popularity, Bitcoin ETFs are becoming more common, for example,  ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which is traded on the NYSEArca. While the number of crypto ETFs available in the United States remains limited for the time being, other jurisdictions, such as Canada and Europe, have approved more investments.

Canada's first Bitcoin ETF was launched, with two more (the Evolve Bitcoin ETF and the CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF ) expected to be approved in the same month. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected many proposals for Bitcoin ETFs, citing the market is unregulated.

While U.S. fund issuers continue to negotiate with regulators to secure a listing, ETF breaks new ground for Australia, whose regulators have previously seen the digital assets as volatile and unsuitable for the country's financial markets. The first Australian ETFs that invest directly in bitcoin and ether are slated to launch next week.

ETF Securities, an Australian asset management firm, and 21Shares, a Swiss ETF issuer, announced the launch of two ETFs on April 27. The ETFS 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and ETFS 21Shares Ethereum ETF will trade on the Chicago-based CBOE Exchange and will monitor the price of BTC and ETH in Australian dollars. Australian Financial Review reports it could attract up to $1 billion in inflows.

Cosmos Asset Management defeated  VanEck, BetaShares, Monochrome Asset Management, and EFT Securities to become Australia's first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Rather than direct spot exposure, The Cosmos Bitcoin ETF offers indirect exposure to spot Bitcoin investing through the Canadian Purpose Bitcoin ETF.

This year, 21Shares has initiated a set of ETPs, including those with the underlying assets Aave (AAVE), Chainlink (LINK), and Uniswap (UNI). Its products are traded on ten European exchanges.

Deadfellaz Ethereum NFT Collection Lands Exclusive Deal with UTA

The NFT collection Deadfellaz has secured an exclusive representation arrangement with United Talent Agency that covers commercial partnerships, merchandise, gaming, and live events as Web3 products become more widespread.

"Very bullish on the future," tweeted Deadfellaz co-founder "Betty," sharing news of signing with UTA, which recently has inked deals with CryptoPunks, Meebits, and Autoglyphs.

The news is out! We are thrilled to be working with the team at @unitedtalent who deeply understand our vision for the future of Deadfellaz. 🧟‍♀️💥 https://t.co/dU44OM5QNZ

— Deadfellaz (@Deadfellaz) April 19, 2022

Deadfellaz is a collection of 10,000 zombie-themed NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain launched last August by the pseudonymous developers "Betty" and "Psych." Calling themselves "the horde," Deadfellaz holders include Reese Witherspoon, Lionel Richie, Steve Aoki, Dillon Francis, and Alexis Ohanian.

While other NFT collections have sparked debate about race or gender, Deadfellaz innovation lead "Mec" isn't anticipating the same reaction with genderless green zombies. The Deadfellaz collection has sold more than $82 million since its debut. On OpenSea, the biggest NFT trading platform, the floor price was 2.46 ETH (about $7,600 apiece).

"We're really excited to support not only a female-led project," Silverman added, "but one that has continually vouched for authentic inclusivity and diversity in Web3 since its inception."

Ethereum DeFi Staple MakerDAO Adds StarkNet Bridge in First Step Toward Multi-Chain

MakerDAO, a pioneering cryptocurrency lending and stablecoin platform, is bridging to a cheaper, quicker overlay network in the form of StarkNet, a zero-knowledge (ZK) side chain designed by StarkWare, to address the cost and congestion of its native Ethereum ecosystem.

The high gas fees on Ethereum have prompted increased activity and users to migrate to other blockchains. MakerDAO intends to expand its product offerings and progressively transition to a multi-chain future by bridging to other platforms and its growth on Ethereum.

Rebuilding Maker on StarkNet's ZK-rollups system (a way of removing expensive transaction settlement procedures from the main Ethereum chain using cryptographic proofs) will be done in four stages, starting with a simple bridge between the main blockchain and StarkNet's layer 2 (L2), which will go live on April 28.

The second step is a fast withdrawal, which uses Maker's "Wormhole" concept to allow players to quickly go from L2 to level 1. Such transactions will take "a couple of minutes, and even less in the future," according to Louis Baudoin, a MakerDAO/StarkNet engineer. In the fast-paced world of decentralised finance, blockchain bridging protocols have had their fair share of security issues (DeFi).

"We have learned from the mistakes of the Solana Wormhole, and we learned from the hack of Poly," Baudoin said. "Obviously, there's been a lot of testing done. It's sensible to increase the bridge limit slowly so that the amount of money at risk is manageable, and also to have some emergency mechanisms in place internally to mitigate if there was a hack."