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    ‘Retail Isn’t Key Driver Yet’: Raoul Pal Reacts to Controversial Bitcoin ETF Data

    Thus, it appears that hedge funds are engaging in market-neutral strategies, such as carry trades or basis trades, which involve holding long positions in spot Bitcoin ETF while shorting futures. This strategy benefits from the price convergence of the futures and spot markets at contract expiration.A recent review of the top 80 holdings in spot Bitcoin ETFs, which are predominantly controlled by hedge funds, supports this narrative. Commenting on the data, financial analyst Raoul Pal emphasized that the majority of ETF flows are driven by arbitrageurs rather than retail investors. Pal noted that the main activities of the listed hedge funds are predominantly market neutral, focusing on arbitrage opportunities rather than taking directional risks.This dynamic explains why significant inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have not triggered an explosive rise in the price of the coin. The market-neutral strategies employed by hedge funds offset potential price spikes by simultaneously shorting futures.As a result, retail investors, who typically drive more pronounced market movements, have not yet had a significant impact.While current ETF inflows have not dramatically increased Bitcoin’s price, the potential for future growth remains substantial. The lack of significant retail investment suggests that the market may experience a new wave of growth when retail investors eventually enter, providing additional stimulus for BTC’s value.This article was originally published on U.Today More

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    Topper Expands Into Brazil, Offering Seamless Crypto Transactions to Latin American Users

    Topper integrates Brazil’s Central Bank-Managed Pix for Instant Payments on 200+ digital assets.Today Topper, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp by the global web3 financial platform Uphold, announced their Latin American expansion plans to begin offering streamlined crypto payment solutions, beginning in Brazil. This milestone propels their mission forward: to foster the mass adoption of crypto and to create global seamless crypto transactions across Topper’s partners and their users.With a diverse range of over 200 digital assets and coverage in more than 150 countries, Topper has integrated Pix as a payment method, a quick payment service run by Brazil’s Central Bank. By offering Pix as a payment option when buying crypto through Topper, Topper’s partners have a more reliable and efficient means to serve their customers in Brazil.“Expanding into Latin America, beginning with Brazil and Pix, is a big leap towards our goal of fostering worldwide crypto adoption,” shared Robin O’Connell, CEO of Uphold Enterprise. “We’re thrilled to introduce Topper to the 26 million crypto-savvy users in Brazil, offering them an easier and more dependable way to step into the world of web3.”Expanded benefits for Topper’s partners and users in Brazil:Topper is planning to expand into more Latin American markets throughout the rest of 2024. To find out more, visit www.topperpay.com/.About TopperTopper, the easy fiat on-ramp with higher approval rates, is a quick-to-implement web3 payment tool that lets crypto projects process more of their customers’ payments – supporting twice as many digital assets than its competitors. The Topper payment widget is built to simplify the payment process, accept more currencies and deliver higher approval rates, resulting in fewer declines and more revenue. Developed by Uphold, the web3 financial platform, Topper is a reliable, regulated and trusted payment system.About Uphold Named the Best Crypto Exchange in the UK by Forbes Advisor, Uphold is committed to making web3 easy. As a web3 financial platform, Uphold serves over 10 million customers in more than 140 countries. It provides businesses and consumers with easy access to digital assets and services. Uphold’s unique “Anything to Anything” interface gives end users seamless access to and between digital assets and national currencies and precious metals. Uniquely, Uphold smart routes orders across 30 trading venues delivering optimal execution and superior liquidity to customers. Uphold never loans out customer assets and is always 100% reserved. The company has pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website (https://uphold.com/en-us/transparency).Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCen and State regulators. The company is registered in the UK and Canada with the FCA and FINTRAC respectively and in Europe with the Financial Crime Investigation Service under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania. To learn more about Uphold’s products and services, visit uphold.com.ContactPR ManagerLauren BukoskeySerotoninlauren@serotonin.coThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Asymmetry and Ampleforth Introduce afUSD: Taking Aim Against Centralization

    DeFi Protocol, Asymmetry Finance, Announces Partnership with Ampleforth and Unveils afUSD, Redefining the Stablecoin MarketAsymmetry Finance, a leading liquid staking tokens (LST) protocol, is set to launch its afUSD product in partnership with Ampleforth, marking a significant milestone in the DeFi landscape. Designed as a fully on-chain synthetic dollar, afUSD aims to offer competitive potential yields, scalability, and resilience to market fluctuations while remaining fully on-chain.afUSD, built on the innovative infrastructure pioneered by Ampleforth, distinguishes itself by its scalability, stability, and user-centric design. Unlike traditional stablecoins, afUSD utilizes Ampleforth’s AMPL with a unique supply-adjustment mechanism, eliminating the need for conventional collateral and associated risks. Its fully on-chain nature enhances decentralization and security, and by employing perpetually rotating AMPL tranches, afUSD aims to provide scalability and resistance to market volatility, with a design to be competitive with leading stablecoins.To date, Asymmetry has raised $4 million from notable investors like Founders of Convex, Founder of Frax, Avon Ventures (a venture fund affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments), Republic Crypto, Side Door Ventures, Comma3 Ventures, and more.With its products and commitment to sustainability and innovation, Asymmetry is aiming to redefine the evolution of the stablecoin market through its synthetic dollar product.Key HighlightInterested users can visit Asymmetry’s website to learn more about afUSD.About Asymmetry: Asymmetry is a pioneering force in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, committed to providing sustainable potential yield sources and investment opportunities. With a team of experts, Asymmetry creates permissionless strategies embedded in smart contracts, enabling users to automatically accrue potential yields. Asymmetry aims to become the go-to hub for synthetic dollar, LST, and LRT high-real-yield products.About Ampleforth: AMPL is a digital currency that adjusts its supply based on market conditions. It’s a decentralized protocol that will inflate or deflate the existing AMPL tokens in circulation based on the current market conditions. Ampleforth can be used for lending & borrowing, the creation of derivatives, and as collateral for a decentralized stablecoin.ContactAccount DirectorMike Evansmike@multipliedhq.comThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Azuro Steps Into AI Using Olas to Predict Sports Event Results

    Azuro, the leading liquidity layer for onchain predictions, is using Olas, the principal network for autonomous AI agents, to leverage their AI stack for the development of an autonomous agent capable of operating across the Azuro ecosystem.Azuro is the frontrunner infrastructure layer for sport and entertainment prediction markets within EVM chains. Over 25 apps are operational on the protocol, with many others already in the works. Its innovative liquidity pool design, sophisticated tooling and oracle solutions allow apps to deploy without upfront investment or running costs, saving them valuable development resources that can be directed to user acquisition, engagement and monetization instead.Transaction volumes on Azuro have been expanding consistently and rapidly over the past year, standing at $350+ million as of this writing, along with a protocol revenue in excess of $3M+, thus becoming the number 1 revenue-generating protocol on Polygon recently.Olas, known for its composable stack that supports the development of autonomous services, provides a framework for building advanced autonomous agent technology. These AI agents, while running off-chain, are represented on-chain by smart contracts.This union offers Olas AI technology the opportunity to access the fastest-growing prediction markets ecosystem. The Azuro AI agent will be capable of learning how to accurately predict outcomes of sports events. To maximize its learning, the agent will be retrofitted with data from Azuro markets. This AI agent, once operational, will be able to autonomously analyze, and operate in prediction markets on Azuro, enriching the ecosystem with data-driven insights and predictive capabilities for all participants.For more information or press inquiries:For more information or press inquiries, users can visit:This article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Doggy AI Presale Reaches Over $101,000 Shortly After Launch

    Doggy AI (DOGYAI)has swiftly accumulated over $101,000 in its presale shortly after launch, and the DOGYAI team sees this as an encouraging start in the meme coin market.Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Doggy AI combines meme culture with advanced AI technology. It aims to attract a broad community by offering daily staking rewards, with the potential for participants to enhance their holdings efficiently.Presale Achievements and AllocationThe presale of Doggy AI has already surpassed $101,000, with no hard cap specified in the whitepaper. Thirty percent of the token’s 69 billion total supply is allocated for the presale. The allocation plan also designates 20% for staking rewards, 10% for community incentives, 10% for exchange liquidity, 20% for marketing efforts, and the remaining 10% for project support and expansion.Users can purchase DoggyAI $DOGYAI here. Innovative Technology Meets Meme Culture: The New Era of Crypto MarketingDoggy AI is rallying its vibrant community with the goal of ascending to the pinnacle of the meme coin market, showcasing a progressive model of modern community engagement.This project caters to a wide range of investor profiles by integrating advanced AI technology within a meme coin format. It appeals to both traders interested in high-risk ventures and those focused on long-term value.Doggy AI aims to emulate the success of similar ventures like Corgi AI and Turbo, which have effectively merged advanced technology with meme culture.However, Doggy AI stands out from its predecessors in several ways. First, its playful name and branding capture the contrarian essence of memetic culture. Additionally, its staking rewards are designed to mitigate the volatility typical of meme coins.Staking Rewards and Market StrategyThe staking supply will be gradually released over two years, initially targeting early participants for rewards. The team hopes these rewards will decrease as more users join the staking pool.However, these significant rewards are reserved for early participants, as the staking benefits will diminish as more users join the staking pool. The team plans for the prices to rise progressively throughout the presale, rewarding early investors with greater value for their investment.$DOGYAI is currently trading at $0.000289, but the next uptick will occur in one day or when the total raise hits $714,285.71.Users can follow Doggy AI on X or join its Telegram to stay updated.DoggyAI ($DOGYAI) introduces a unique fusion of meme. culture and artificial intelligence to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. By leveraging AI technology and the viral nature of memes, DoggyAI aims to create a fun, engaging, and rewarding experience for its community.ContactMarketing ManagerThomas BellinghamDoggy AIMarketing@web-3-media.comThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Bitcoin price today: recovers to $69k ahead of Fed rate decision, CPI print

    The world’s biggest cryptocurrency jumped 3.5% in the past 24 hours to $69,367.6 by 08:40 ET (12:40 GMT). It had fallen as low as $66,000 on Tuesday.Bitcoin clocked wild swings in recent sessions, having also risen as far as $72,000 as sentiment towards cryptocurrencies remained on edge before more definite cues on U.S. interest rates. High rates diminish the appeal of risk-driven assets like crypto. They also present a tougher outlook for the sector by keeping liquidity levels low. This saw traders pivot out of Bitcoin and other cryptos earlier this week, and into assets more insulated against rate jitters, such as the dollar. While data showed Bitcoin and other crypto investment products saw $2 billion worth of inflows in the first week of June, this was not reflected in the price. The Fed is widely expected to keep rates unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day meeting later on Wednesday. But the central bank could potentially present a more hawkish outlook, especially in the face of sticky inflation and a resilient labor market.Before the Fed decision, key consumer price index data is due on Wednesday and is also expected to show inflation remained sticky in May. Recent jitters over the labor market and inflation saw traders scale back bets on a rate cut in September, which boosted the dollar and weighed on crypto prices.Beyond Bitcoin, major altcoins also rose higher later on Wednesday, recovering from the declines they saw earlier in the day.World no.2 token Ether advanced over 2% to $3,609.66, while ADA, XRP, and SOL rose between 1.3% and 3.5%. Among meme tokens, DOGE and SHIB rose 2.1% each.Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows for the second consecutive day as traders likely reduced risk ahead of key macroeconomic reports scheduled for later Wednesday.According to crypto research firm SoSoValue, the eleven ETFs saw a combined net outflow of $200 million on Tuesday, the highest since May 1, when outflows reached $580 million. These redemptions occurred during a Bitcoin sell-off, where the asset briefly dropped to $66,200 before recovering.Grayscale’s GBTC led the outflows, accounting for $120 million and continuing its trend as the worst-performing ETF by outflows since its launch in January, accumulating a total of $18 billion in outflows.Other ETFs, including Ark Invest’s ARKB, Bitwise’s BITB, Fidelity’s FBTC, and VanEck’s HODL, recorded outflows ranging from $56 million to $7 million. None of the ETFs reported any inflows.Traders attributed these outflows to precautionary moves ahead of the CPI reading, and the conclusion of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, during which the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions will be announced.“Markets are [in] risk-off mode ahead of CPI and FOMC tomorrow. This month’s FOMC will also release the Dot Plot, which informs the market how many cuts the Fed anticipates for the rest of 2024,” QCP Capital said in a broadcast message on Tuesday.However, the long-term bullish outlook remains unchanged, QCP added. More

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    LIF3.com and DeFi.Gold Forge Groundbreaking Partnership to Integrate Native Bitcoin Assets into LIF3 Blockchain Ecosystem

    https://lif3.com/news

    LIF3.com, the pioneering team behind the LIF3 omni-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) and blockchain, in conjunction with DG Labs Inc., creators of the innovative DeFi.Gold protocol, are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership. This collaboration marks a significant milestone as it aims to integrate Bitcoin digital assets including Runes, RGB, Taproot Assets, and Bitcoin itself into the LIF3 blockchain ecosystem as fully supported, native entities.This unique approach goes beyond the conventional asset-wrapping methods seen in current blockchain solutions. Instead, the LIF3 blockchain will inherently recognize and support these Bitcoin assets as native elements, allowing them to be held and transacted within the LIF3 ecosystem with the same ease and security as its original assets.Significance of the PartnershipThis partnership is set to redefine the landscape of digital assets by ensuring that Bitcoin’s various asset forms are seamlessly integrated into the LIF3 blockchain. This integration will allow multi-chain decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to incorporate $LIF3 into their order routing systems. By doing so, LIF3 will complement existing multi-chain solutions like Chainflip and Thorchain, facilitating effortless and decentralized swaps between meta assets across virtually any blockchain network. For example, this would enable the transfer of ERC-20 tokens with Runes in a fully decentralized manner, highlighting the versatility and broad applicability of the LIF3.com ecosystem.The Future of Cryptocurrency: A Decentralized Multi-chain VisionThe future of cryptocurrencies is undeniably leaning towards a decentralized, multi-chain environment. LIF3.com has an innovative Curated Layer-1 blockchain technology that is set to become a major enabler in this evolution, paving the way for more inclusive, efficient, and flexible digital asset transactions across diverse blockchain networks.Executive InsightsAbout DeFi.GoldDeFi.Gold is revolutionizing the Bitcoin blockchain with its non-custodial decentralized exchange (DEX) and NFT marketplace. Built on Bitcoin’s L1 and Lightning Network, it offers enhanced scalability, efficiency, and advanced features. Supporting Taproot, RGB, and Rune-based tokens for its swap exchange, it enables trading of various assets, including memecoins, utility tokens, DAO tokens, and stablecoins. Its NFT marketplace enhances liquidity for creators and collectors.The platform integrates with major Bitcoin web wallets and supports Lightning Network transactions for fast, low-cost operations. DGOLD, the governance token, empowers community-led decisions, driving innovation in decentralized finance on the Bitcoin blockchain.About the Lif3 EcosystemLif3.com is a complete, omni-chain DeFi ecosystem, Curated Layer-1 blockchain, and a self-custody wallet available on the App Store and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Play – unlocking the potential of Web3 through consumer DeFi, iGaming, Music & Entertainment and beyond.Contact Information:For more information on DeFi.Gold, users can contact:Mona CoyleEmail: info@defi.goldTwitter: https://twitter.com/TeamDefiGoldFor more information on LIF3, please contact:Email: media@lif3.comTwitter: x.com/official_lif3Lif3 News and Updates:For official LIF3 Logos and branding, users can visit:https://docs.lif3.com/brand-assetsContactMona CoyleDG Labs Ltd.info@defi.goldThis article was originally published on Chainwire More

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    Epic Cash’s Fifth Year: A Testament to Secure and Decentralized Cryptocurrency and a small welcome gift

    Epic Cash is celebrating its 5th anniversary with many improved features and is giving away 1 EPIC to the first 1000 participants. Information about the airdrop event can be found below.Epic Cash, is not just another cryptocurrency with a nice logo on the crypto market. Epic Cash is a standalone layer 1 blockchain with decentralized nodes and multiple wallet variants for mobile, desktops and servers. Epic Cash, in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, is proud to celebrate its fifth anniversary since the launch of its mainnet on September 3, 2019. This milestone marks five years of continuous innovation and commitment to providing secure, decentralized and private financial solutions.Innovative Features of Epic CashPrivacy Protection – Epic Cash utilizes the MW protocol, ensuring that no transaction information, such as wallet addresses or transaction amounts, is stored on the blockchain. This makes Epic Cash highly resistant to decryption by quantum computing.Decentralization and Trust-Free Transactions – Operating on a distributed network of nodes, Epic Cash ensures that no central authority controls the system. Transactions are peer-to-peer, requiring no trust between parties​.Eco-Friendly Mining – With a polyphasic proof-of-work algorithm, Epic Cash allows mining using CPUs, GPUs, and ASICs, making it accessible to individuals using general-purpose computers. This algorithm promotes fair distribution and energy efficiency​.Why Epic Cash Stands OutEpic Cash is a champion of financial autonomy and privacy. In an era where surveillance and data breaches are rampant, Epic Cash offers a sanctuary of financial freedom and privacy. Transactions are swift, costing less than a penny, and can be executed in under a minute from any device​.Security and TrustEpic Cash’s commitment to security is unwavering. By leveraging advanced encryption and a decentralized network, Epic Cash ensures that user transactions remain confidential and secure. Its open-source nature allows for continuous scrutiny and improvement by the community, bolstering trust and transparency​.Community and EcosystemEpic Cash fosters a robust community and ecosystem. From user-friendly mobile and desktop wallets to comprehensive guides and support, Epic Cash is dedicated to providing resources that empower users and developers. The community is encouraged to participate, innovate, and grow within the Epic Cash ecosystem​.Launch DetailsEpic Cash fair launched in September 2019 with no premine. EPIC is acquired firstly by mining or alternatively by p-2-p transactions and online exchanges or swap service like ViteX and ChangeNOW. These exchanges facilitate seamless, non-KYC transactions, ensuring privacy and ease of use. Detailed guides and tutorials are available on the Epic Cash website to help users get started​.About Epic CashEpic Cash is an open-source, privacy-focused cryptocurrency designed to provide secure, private, and untraceable transactions. Launched without an ICO or venture capital, Epic Cash is committed to fair distribution and decentralization. Its maximum supply is capped at 21 million coins, mirroring the disinflationary model of Bitcoin.About Epic Cash’s AirDropEpic Cash is celebrating its fifth anniversary with an exciting airdrop event! As a gesture of gratitude to its growing community, Epic Cash is giving away 1000 EPIC coins. Every new member who joins the community can claim 1 EPIC for free. To participate, simply download the mobile wallet from https://epiccash.com/crypto-wallet-downloads/ and visit https://airdrop.51pool.online and follow the instructions to get your free EPIC. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a secure, decentralized, and private cryptocurrency movement!This article was originally published on Chainwire More