Aurelia Butler

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency moved little in the past 24 hours and steadied at $67,085.1 by 09:13 ET (13:13 GMT). It still remained well within a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range established since mid-March, with few catalysts on tap for an immediate breakout.Appetite for Bitcoin was also overshadowed by a stellar rally in metal markets. A mix of safe haven demand and long positioning saw gold hit a record high on Monday. Focus this week was squarely on more cues from the Federal Reserve, which are likely to factor into the outlook for interest rates.The minutes of the Fed’s late-April meeting are due this Wednesday, while a string of Fed officials- chiefly the members of the rate-setting committee- are set to speak this week. Any more cues on interest rates will be largely in focus, after some soft inflation readings for April put market focus squarely on a September rate cut. But Fed officials warned that the bank needed more convincing that inflation was easing.The dollar also steadied from last week’s losses, limiting any major upside in Bitcoin. Fears of potential geopolitical instability in the Middle East, after Iran’s President and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash, also kept risk appetite subdued and traders biased towards safe havens such as gold and the dollar. This came amid dwindling capital inflows into crypto investment vehicles, as hype over spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched earlier this year ran dry.Most major altcoins also moved in a flat-to-low range on Monday, tracking muted moves in Bitcoin as sentiment remained subdued.World no.2 token Ethereum rose 0.4% to $3,090.91, while XRP fell 0.3%. Solana rose 5.1%.Memecoins saw mixed performance, with DOGE and SHIB up 1.2%, while SHIB remained flat.Altcoins have struggled for traction in recent months as a bulk of crypto capital flows remained biased largely towards Bitcoin. Potential regulatory moves against Ethereum, by the Securities and Exchange Commission, have also dampened appetite for altcoins.The number of new Bitcoin wallets has plummeted to the lowest level since 2018, pointing to waning interest and reduced activity within the Bitcoin ecosystem.According to The Block’s data, only an average of 275,000 addresses were added to the Bitcoin network each day in the past week, compared to 625,000 six months ago.Other closely watched metrics have also declined, including miner revenue measured by hash rate, which has hit record lows. Transaction fees and on-chain volume metrics are in the red as well.Meanwhile, despite the current downturn in on-chain metrics, novel protocols on the Bitcoin network are drawing record levels of interest from venture capital firms, potentially setting the stage for a future resurgence. More

Mintzberg has over 20 years of experience across the world’s leading asset managers, with a proven track record as a c-suite executive for developing and leading growth strategies.“Peter is an exceptional strategic leader with global expertise across the most prominent asset managers, which are critical ingredients as we position Grayscale for its next phase of growth,” said Barry Silbert, Founder & CEO, DCG. “I’m excited to see what he accomplishes at Grayscale in its next chapter as the firm continues to expand its future-forward investment product suite.”“I’ve long admired Grayscale’s position as the leading crypto asset management firm, and I am honored to join the most talented and pioneering team in the business. This is an exciting time in Grayscale’s history as it continues to capitalize on the unprecedented momentum in the asset class,” said Mintzberg.“I want to thank Michael for his stewardship of Grayscale, having joined the team in 2014 and serving as CEO since 2021. Michael guided Grayscale from $60 million to ~$30 billion of assets under management and through its historic court victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission, which enabled Grayscale to uplist the first spot Bitcoin ETF to NYSE Arca alongside the largest players in traditional finance,” said Silbert. “We wish him the best.”“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside such smart, passionate people to grow Grayscale into an industry titan over the last decade,” said Sonnenshein. “In particular, I would like to thank Barry Silbert for his vision and partnership, and for entrusting me to lead Grayscale’s business. The crypto asset class is at an important inflection point and this is the right moment for a smooth transition. I wish the Grayscale team every success in its next chapter.”Mintzberg joins Grayscale from Goldman Sachs where he currently holds the position of Global Head of Strategy for Asset and Wealth Management. Prior to that, he held a number of global leadership roles in Strategy, M&A and Investor Relations at BlackRock, OppenheimerFunds, and Invesco. Mintzberg has over two decades of experience and has deep knowledge across a broad-base of client types and asset classes, developing and executing strategy and innovating to drive growth. Mintzberg started his career working at McKinsey & Co. in New York, San Francisco and São Paulo, focused on the financial services and technology sectors.In 2018, Mintzberg was recognized as a Latino leader in Finance by The Alumni Society. Mintzberg was also selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow in the 2016-2017 Class by the Partnership for New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Universidade Federal Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Harvard University.Over the last decade, Grayscale has launched a suite of nineteen crypto investment products enabling access to the crypto asset class in a familiar, transparent wrapper, while serving as an educational resource to the investing public, working with policymakers and regulators to bring crypto assets further into the regulatory perimeter, and growing the firm’s business capabilities and best-in-class team. More

Polimec’s debut features the first Evaluation Round with the project Apillon. Community members will then assess projects to determine which will proceed to the funding round.To participate in Polimec, users need to visit app.polimec.org and obtain a Deloitte KYC Credential using the code “FundingSeason”. After accessing the Data Room to review funding information, they can evaluate projects by bonding their transferable PLMC tokens.”The launch of Polimec represents a new era of decentralized fundraising, emphasizing access, community involvement, and regulatory compliance,” a spokesperson for Polkadot said. “We are excited to see innovative projects emerging from our community and look forward to widespread participation.”In late 2020, the creators of the KILT Protocol came up with a token issuance mechanism to improve liquidity in the Polkadot ecosystem, leading to the creation of Polimec. Incorporated in 2022, the Polimec Foundation brought this independent venture to life to tackle the challenges of traditional fundraising.Polimec creates a trustless framework for projects, enabling them to raise funds within a diverse community while managing the issuance, distribution, and conversion of tokens to the mainnet.The decentralized KYC mechanism, developed in collaboration with KILT and Deloitte, ensures pseudonymous participation while adding security and regulatory compliance.Polimec breaks down barriers to entry, allowing individuals from various backgrounds to participate in funding rounds with equal opportunities for retail, professional, and institutional participants. Its cost model operates with no upfront fees or fiat charges, with fees only applied upon successful fundraising. It also provides support beyond fundraising, including vesting schedules, community feedback, and in building ambassador programs. More

(Reuters) – Crypto startup funding rose for a second straight quarter to hit $2.4 billion in the first three months of 2024, PitchBook data showed, as expectations of lower interest rates and the debut of the first U.S. bitcoin spot ETF whetted investor appetite.Funding was spread across 518 deals and rose by 40.3% from the previous quarter, according to data firm PitchBook. Global venture capital investments dropped to a near five-year low in the same period.Investor bets on digital asset startups too have been on a slide since the peak of over $10 billion in the first quarter of 2022, hurt by a economic worries and the shutdown of key market players. However, the landmark U.S. regulatory approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, which are offered by heavyweights BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and Fidelity, boosted the legitimacy of the asset class and helped send bitcoin to a record high of $73,803 in March.”The recovery in publicly traded tokens and continued rise in institutional adoption will drive increased VC funding,” PitchBook analyst Robert Le said.Startups focused on building infrastructure for crypto and blockchain technology led the way in funding during the quarter, according to PitchBook.The largest deal was made by decentralized cloud platform Together AI, which raised $106 million in an early stage round led by Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Ventures that valued the company at $1.1 billion.”The investment rounds have become highly competitive, especially at the early stages,” PitchBook’s Le said.”This is compounded by the fact that early-stage deals are earning higher valuations than late-stage deals but.. we will see if this trend holds in the coming quarters.”Exits were still low, though. Le expects mergers to pick up later this year, particularly among crypto exchanges, custodians and infrastructure providers as the market matures. (This story has been refiled to capitalize ‘B’ in PitchBook in headline and text) More