Bitcoin ETFs may be sitting on their “biggest losses” since launching in January 2024, but there is a silver lining, according to an ETF analyst. US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders are showing relatively firm conviction despite a four-month Bitcoin downtrend, according to ETF analyst James Seyffart. “The ETFs are still hanging in there pretty good,” Seyffart said in an X post on Wednesday. While Seyffart said that Bitcoin (BTC) ETF holders are facing their “biggest losses” since the US products launched in January 2024 — at a paper loss of around 42% with Bitcoin below $73,000 — he argues the recent outflows pale in comparison to the inflows during the market’s peak. Read more
Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Gap has fallen to a yearly low, a move analysts say may reflect weaker relative demand on Coinbase-linked venues tied to institutional trading. The Coinbase Premium Gap, which tracks the price difference between Bitcoin on Coinbase and Binance, has fallen to its lowest level in over a year. An analyst said the move may point to weaker relative demand on Coinbase-linked venues, which are commonly associated with institutional trading. The Coinbase Premium is the price difference between Coinbase’s BTC/USD pair and Binance’s BTC/USDT pair. Read more
The dark web drug market used crypto for payments, but blockchain transaction tracing helped the FBI identify its creator, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The creator of Incognito Market, the online black market that used cryptocurrency as its primary payment rail, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after blockchain transaction analysis cited by US authorities linked him to the platform. The Justice Department said on Wednesday that a Manhattan court gave Rui-Siang Lin three decades behind bars for owning and operating Incognito, which sold $105 million worth of illicit narcotics between its launch in October 2020 and its closure in March 2024. Lin, who pleaded guilty to his role in December 2024, was sentenced for conspiring to distribute narcotics, money laundering, and conspiring to sell misbranded medication. Read more