With retail access restored, crypto exchange-traded notes issuers slash fees to historic lows, signaling an intensifying battle for UK market dominance. The United Kingdom has opened the floodgates for crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to retail investors — a market that was previously limited to professional traders — sparking a price war among issuers vying for market share, according to the Financial Times. In a report published on Thursday, the FT said several Bitcoin ETN issuers have slashed their fees to as low as 0.05%, describing the resulting competition as a “cut-throat battle” for investors. Meanwhile, other crypto-linked ETNs continue to charge annual fees of up to 2.5%. The fee war follows the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to lift its 2021 ban on retail access to crypto-linked funds, a change that took effect on Oct. 8. Read more
Bitcoin MACD’s bearish crossover and the duration after BTC’s last halving could be signs that the 2025 bull run is over, or is this time different? Key takeaways: Bitcoin’s bearish MACD cross and engulfing candle on the three-week chart signal a cycle top. Market analysts suggest that 558 days post-2024 halving indicate the Bitcoin bull cycle’s top is imminent. Read more
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, dressed in black, rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest against military conscription, an issue that has caused major strain in Israel’s right-wing ruling coalition. The vast crowd were protesting against the absence of a law guaranteeing their right to avoid Israel’s mandatory military service — a pledge long promised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Crowds of men, many wearing black hats, set fire to pieces of tarpaulin as hundreds of police officers cordoned off several roads across the city, AFP correspondents reported. Carrying placards denouncing conscription, demonstrators marched along main roads leading into Jerusalem. The mass demonstration follows a recent crackdown on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, with thousands of call-up notices sent in recent months and several deserters imprisoned. Under a ruling established at the time of Israel’s creation in 1948, when the ultra-Orthodox were a very small community, men who devote themselves full-tim...