Happy Tuesday! In today's Daily, we look at the SEC rejecting 19b-4 filings for Solana ETFs, the Mango Markets DAO voting on a settlement proposal, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs seeing the lowest daily trading volume in months and more.
Let's get started.
SEC rejects filings for Solana ETFs
According to a well-placed source, the SEC rejected Cboe BZX’s 19b-4 filings for two prospective spot Solana ETFs, leading to their withdrawal from the Cboe website.
- The rejection followed concerns that Solana should be classified as a security, aligning with the SEC’s stance in various court cases.
- The 19b-4 filings, necessary for initiating the SEC’s approval process, were not placed in the Federal Register due to the SEC's rejection.
- The two issuers 21Shares and VanEck are still pursuing Solana ETFs, with their filings remaining active on the SEC's EDGAR system.
- The rejected 19b-4 filings could be refiled or amended to address the SEC's concerns regarding Solana’s classification.
Mango Markets DAO votes on SEC settlement proposal
Mango Markets is considering a proposed settlement with the SEC over allegations that the platform violated U.S. securities laws following a $110 million exploit in 2022.
- Mango DAO has proposed a settlement that includes paying $223,228 in fines, destroying MNGO tokens and seeking delisting from trading platforms to resolve the SEC's allegations.
- The proposal aims to avoid litigation without admitting or denying wrongdoing and has already reached a quorum with unanimous approval from voters.
- Despite the SEC settlement proposal, Mango Markets is also reportedly facing investigations from the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which are not covered by this settlement.
US spot bitcoin ETFs see lowest daily trading volume since early February
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $61.98 million in daily net inflows on Monday, with a total daily trade volume of $779.87 million, the lowest since Feb. 6.
- Monday's trade volume marked a significant drop from the $5.24 billion recorded on Aug. 6 to reflect ongoing low market sentiment and investor caution.
- BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC saw net inflows of $92.68 million and $3.87 million respectively, while Bitwise’s bitcoin fund and Invesco’s BTCO experienced net outflows.
- Spot ether ETFs reported their lowest daily trade volume since launch as concerns over staking legalities and recent Solana ETF issues continue to weigh on investor sentiment.
Institutional investors holding steady on bitcoin despite market volatility
Despite bitcoin's recent volatility, institutional investors have shown strong commitment to their spot bitcoin ETF holdings, with many maintaining or increasing their positions.
- Bitwise's André Dragosch highlighted that in the second quarter of 2024, 44% of institutional investors increased their bitcoin ETF holdings, demonstrating greater confidence compared to other asset-class ETFs like gold.
- Wintermute analysts noted that even with bitcoin's 20% price drop in the second quarter, institutional traders continued accumulating bitcoin to signal growing mainstream acceptance.
- Over 60% of top global hedge funds, including Millennium and Schonfeld, are now holding bitcoin via ETFs, with a broad range of investors engaging in spot bitcoin ETFs.
Paradigm leads $7.5 million raise for Sorella Labs
Sorella Labs has raised $7.5 million in a seed funding round led by Paradigm.
RELATED INDICES
- The startup focuses on addressing Ethereum's maximal extractable value (MEV) issue.
- Sorella Labs has launched Brontes, an open-source blockchain analytics tool, and plans to release Angstrom, a Uniswap V4 hook designed to prevent common forms of arbitrage in decentralized exchanges.
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