Pizza Day
On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the first known purchase of goods using bitcoins. For 10,000 BTC, which at that time were worth approximately $41, he bought two pizzas from a local pizzeria in Florida. This transaction became a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency world and is commemorated annually as Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrating how far the industry has come since that first transaction.
American presidential campaign to accept cryptocurrency donations
In a press release published on his official website, Donald Trump announced that his reelection campaign will now accept contributions in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Financial institutions continue to buy Bitcoin ETFs
Last week, over 600 companies disclosed significant investments in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in "13F" documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The data showed that investment firms hold bitcoin ETFs worth $3.5 billion. Millennium Management emerged as the largest investor with a $1.9 billion investment, primarily in ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity. Other significant amounts were invested by Schonfeld Strategic Advisors and Morgan Stanley, with Morgan Stanley becoming one of the largest holders of Grayscale's GBTC shares. The list of major investors also includes names like JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, UBS, BNP Paribas, and Royal Bank of Canada. This significant investment activity confirms the growing interest in bitcoin ETFs among major financial institutions.
Spot Ether ETFs gain approval from the SEC
On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved critical regulatory forms 19b-4 from issuers planning to offer spot ether ETFs. This move allows companies with experience in bitcoin ETFs, such as VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise, to expand their portfolios to include ether funds.
Although the approval of form 19b-4 represents an important step forward, the ETFs themselves have not yet been approved for trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must still approve the registration forms S-1, which could take days, weeks, or even months.