Grayscale awaits approval to convert its Bitcoin fund into an ETF. Some reports say the SEC could give it the go-ahead around December.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country’s top financial regulator, has notified the application for Grayscale’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This application represents the beginning of a countdown to a verdict on the ETF. There is some anticipation about an upcoming approval by the end of the year.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fund manager had requested to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust fund into an ETF that tracks the cryptocurrency prices.

The company had announced the plans early this year but finally chose to introduce the application in October, right after the approval of the first Bitcoin ETFs in the country. The ProShares Bitcoin Futures ETF began trading on the NYSE on October 18. A few days after a similar fund managed by Valkyrie got also launched on the Nasdaq market.

Grayscale Eagerly Awaits to Launch its Bitcoin ETF

The US regulatory body had notified receipt of Form 19b-4 from Grayscale, according to the information posted on November 2. This notification means that the Commission must decide to approve or raise disapproval on the application within 45 active days after the form meets its consent, although the regulator can also postpone the verdict date for up to three more periods, as required.

As such, the NYSE Arca Stock Exchange filed Form 19b-4 to list Grayscale’s GBTC converted to an ETF on October 19, beginning the time for the SEC to decide on the product. If the verdict takes effect within the indicated times, the estimated date should be between the first weeks of December.

Some considerations highlight that the SEC also requested comments from those interested in the document published this week. The agency has already taken this approach in the past with some previous requests.

As an example, more recently, with an ETF application from VanEck, the Commission also requested comments from stakeholders. The SEC aimed the decision at four applications to the end of 2021. For applicants, it was not the first request they had received. VanEck is one of them and it could expect a response by November 14.

The news about the SEC notification has raised many expectations among members of the community. Some reports, including a publication by The Block, anticipate that the regulatory entity could decide as soon as December 24. Users on Twitter have also marked the holiday as a date for a possible verdict.

However, the Commission has a history of extensions on applications for Bitcoin spot investment products. While the agency approved the first crypto ETFs this year, they get based on bitcoin futures, and there has yet to be an approval of a fund supported by the physical asset.

Currently, more than 40 cryptocurrency ETFs awaits SEC approval, according to information recently shared by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The study found that American workers with the lowest salaries are the ones who tend to quit their formal jobs to explore how to acquire cryptocurrency earnings. They argue that crypto gave them financial freedom.

One of the possible elements behind the current complex job crisis in the United States could be cryptocurrencies.

According to a recent study by Civic Science, some members of the North American workforce are choosing to leave their jobs after making a profit from investing in digital currencies.

The research, which applied surveys to at least 6,741 people over the age of 18, found that 4% of workers quit their job for having found “financial freedom” with crypto. The survey got conducted in mid-October.

This figure is even higher if you count those citizens who claimed to know someone who has left their formal job due to investment in digital assets.

Eleven percent of the general population reported personally quitting their jobs to place their investments in cryptocurrency.

They quit their formal job for Bitcoin

Civic did not provide additional data or information on the level of cryptocurrency earnings of the respondents or what is meant by financial freedom. However, other findings from the firm bring further clarity about the group that has chosen to leave their jobs due to cryptocurrencies.

Crossing data from the October survey with a previous one of 1,201 people, the researchers reported that many of those who quit their jobs due to their investments in digital assets are workers in the income bracket. Lower.

As such, 64% of study participants who claimed to have quit their jobs for crypto earnings earn less than $ 50,000 a year. Of this percentage, 27% said they earned less than $ 25,000, while 37% had a total annual income of between $ 25,000 and $ 50,000. Those percentages are gradually decaying among the population with higher incomes.

Likewise, the responses from the group that said they knew someone who had quit their job due to investing in digital currencies also coincided with this proportion. Of those, 55% indicated that their acquaintance earns less than USD 50,000 annually.

In this regard, Civic notes that the data could highlight that cryptocurrency investments may have provided life-changing incomes for some workers. Meanwhile, for the wealthiest workforce, cryptocurrencies could represent more of an asset diversification alternative than a source of income.

Mass Unemployment in the US

This study is the result of the disruption that the economy experienced during the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite health recovery and reintegration to face-to-face working conditions, there is still a severe labor shortage in the United States of America.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, an unprecedented 2.9% of the entire workforce has quit their jobs in recent months.

A Bloomberg report that interviewed ten unemployed citizens found that the majority refuse to return to their formal job mainly due to low wages, which they allege are lower than they received before the pandemic and unfavorable working conditions, such as the lack of sanitary measures and protections. However, that report also matches the Civic study.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Olmos stated that companies should take into account the recommendations of the FATF. He believes that regulations could reach out to exchanges and other decentralized operators.

Olmos Group CEO, Aarón Olmos, said that the FATF guidelines would allow cryptocurrency companies to endure in the ecosystem. The Venezuelan economist pointed out that this international organization seeks to regulate the use and trade of Bitcoin and other crypto assets.

The university management professor commented on the recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force on the cryptocurrency market. He believes that they respond to the entrance of crypto assets into the business and government environment, which deserves regulation.

The executive said that virtual asset service providers (PSAVs) serve as intermediaries for digital data representing high volumes of money. In addition, he explained that they are leaving the traditional peer-to-peer (P2P) market to enter a space where there is more money. Therefore, he believes that regulatory agencies should apply rules to control and regulate their activities.

The expert stated that national control agencies aware of the trading volumes handled in those platforms must issue those regulations. The FATF, which advises governments on financial matters, recently updated its cryptocurrency regulation guidelines.

Cryptocurrency Companies Should Collaborate to Develop the Rules, According to Olmos

Olmos warned that the authorities of each country should not advance in the regulation of the ecosystem without prior knowledge. He thinks that the cryptocurrency market could disappear with the application of inappropriate measures.

Argentine deputy of the Frente de Todos Liliana Schwindt introduced a bill to regulate Bitcoin before Congress. The CEO of the Signatura firm said that that law did not make any sense at all.

For that reason, Olmos invited the members of the ecosystem to consider the recommendations of the FATF. He argued that there is now a transition between the P2P world and that of businesses and governments.

He stressed that the only danger would be that governments did not know the activity they intended to rule or regulate. Besides, he reiterated that this had led many technology companies to play the same bureaucratic game to stay.

The FATF Desires to Centralize the Freedom of Bitcoin Users

The FATF is an international agency that has been fighting to control the pioneering cryptocurrency. They have recently returned to make recommendations that put in evidence their desire to centralize an asset that was born free.

However, Olmos suggested that governments and representatives of the cryptocurrency industry work alongside the FATF to reach a consensus. He warned that considering their measures would allow them to avoid international isolation.

According to the Venezuelan economist, predicting a massive adoption at the institutional level in the future would be difficult. However, he believes that experiences suggest there will be interconnection between companies and those assets, as well as intrapersonal trade.

Of course, the regulation of the use and trade of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should not be invasive or intrusive. In other words, those rules must allow the market to develop and expand freely.

By Alexander Salazar

Fraudulent campaigns had worked through Google to rank fake websites and stole at least half a million dollars from cryptocurrency users.

Users of the Metamask and Phantom digital wallets were the target of a massive new wave of attacks that stole at least $ 500,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.

A recent investigation registered by Check Point Research (CPR) warned about a massive search engine phishing campaign that generated losses of almost half a million dollars to cryptocurrency users.

According to CPR, in recent days, there have been some events in which hundreds of cryptocurrency users have their funds stolen while trying to download and install popular wallets, such as Metamask or Phantom. Users of popular decentralized exchange (DEX) platforms such as PancakeSwap or Uniswap have also been the victims of attacks.

Fraudulent Website Ads on Google

According to the investigation, the fraudulent campaigns applied ads from search engines to find digital wallet users. These campaigns then used fake URLs and websites as a tool for scammers to extract wallet passwords to access cryptocurrency funds stored in those wallets, CPR said.

To accomplish Phishing attacks, cyber attackers pose as a trusted person, company, website, or application to steal funds.

Regarding the CPR alerting campaign, hackers emulated the Metamask and Phantom wallet platforms, as well as the PancakeSwap and Uniswap websites. For example, for Phantom, the attackers used phishing domains such as Phantom. app or phantom. app in clear contrast to the legitimate domain phantom. app.

According to a series of reports, the imitations were very similar; the attack was unnoticeable for many users, especially for the less experienced users. Many users reported through Reddit that they just installed the phantom wallet and somehow downloaded the scam.

Users Should be Afraid of Weird URLs

The report also explained how cyber scammers used a Google ad campaign to steal users’ private keys and access their MetaMask wallets. The private key, which acts as a master key to access funds from an address, allowed attackers to steal the funds.

To carry out these phishing attacks, malicious users applied the same strategy with MetaMask. They applied domains with names very similar to the legitimate ones, such as “MètaMask” or “metamas. top”, and they advertised the fraudulent websites on popular search engines like Google. That way, when users searched for keywords on the browser, the first link that came up was ads from fraudulent websites.

The Check Point Research team highlighted that this type of phishing attack was more elaborate than usual, precisely because of the tactics used by hackers who took advantage of search engines like Google to position their scams.

As an alternative to protect themselves from potential phishing attacks like this one, CPR suggested cryptocurrency users refrain from clicking on ads and only use direct and well-known URLs.

By: Jenson Nuñez