Proshares files for exemption; Shiba Inu hits all-time high

Transcript

Bitcoin ETFs continue to dominate the conversation in our newsroom this week.

Welcome to The Daily Forkast October 25, 2021. I’m Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief of Forkast.News covering all things blockchain.

Well, less than a week after its launch, the first Bitcoin futures ETF to trade in the U.S. is already looking to make some adjustments. Proshares has filed for an exemption from trading limits at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. We’re going to take a look at what that exemption would mean for investors and a whole lot more coming up.

Let’s get you up to speed from Asia to the world.

First up, while ProShares ETF launch was seen as a landmark in Bitcoin history, it was not without its critics.

And now it’s looking to secure an exemption from trading limits at the CME, where it purchases futures contracts. That exemption would allow the firm to maintain exposure to Bitcoin if the fund continues to grow.

In other words, they just want to be able to buy more just to keep up with the demand for their Bitcoin Futures ETF.

But could this filing ruffle even more feathers? Forkast.News Lachlan Keller reports.

According to an article in Barron’s, ProShares CEO Michael Sapir said the firm filed for an exemption from its CME positions limits and to be able to use swaps if need be.

Proshares is already at 75% of its limit, holding 2133 contracts for November and 1679 for October. Sapir also told Barron’s the firm will request permission to invest in other kinds of derivatives contracts.

Launched last Tuesday, Proshares’ ETF reached almost US$1 billion in trading volume in its first day, with more than 20 million shares traded. It became only the second fund to have reached such a massive first day of trading after BlackRock’s Carbon Transition Readiness Sustainable ETF.

Valkyrie, whose Bitcoin Strategy ETF also launched last week, told Forkast.News the Bitcoin ETFs offer a great opportunity for more people to get involved in the ecosystem.

“There’s definitely, as we all know, extreme pools of wealth and pockets of wealth that have been waiting for this traditional market vehicle in order to enter. It just will provide that vehicle that makes these institutions comfortable.”

However, one expert told Forkast.News that while the protection offered by futures being regulated may have proved attractive initially, the additional expense of rolling monthly futures contracts fees, in addition to fund and management fees, may eventually work against ProShares’ ETF.

“Six months down the line, you may see the performance has been so atrocious relative to all the other asset classes that people go, why on earth am I bothering to do this? And they’re only bothering to do it because they’re not being allowed to invest directly or to run an ETF directly investing in the underlying asset.”

Sullivan says that means it will be difficult for the fund to outperform and it will lag behind Bitcoin’s performance by at least a percentage of those fees.

For Forkast.News I’m Lachlan Keller.

Meanwhile, Chinese mining rig maker Bitmain is seeing the benefit of the United States emerging as a cryptocurrency mining hotspot.

Nasdaq listed Greenidge says it plans to ramp up its operations across the U.S. by more than doubling its previous order with Bitmain.

Forkast.News Timmy Shen has mined all the details.

Greenidge has upsized its order of Bitmain as S19J Pro miners from 10,000 to 22,500, with the company saying it expects delivery in the second and third quarters of next year.

To feel its growth, Greenidge has signed agreements for at least six potential data centers in Texas, a popular destination for crypto miners. It’s also agreed to purchase a facility in South Carolina to mine crypto. Between them, the potential sites offer over 3000 megawatts of electrical capacity. 500 megawatts of which it anticipates having by 2023.

Greenidge currently has 45 megawatts of mining capacity at its existing site in Dresden, New York and says it expects to continue to operate that facility.

The expansion comes as the U.S. has emerged as a new hub for mining activities. In the wake of the stepped-up ban in China, many players are looking to more regulation friendly shores, with the U.S. benefiting from the exodus.

That exodus has seen the U.S. overtake China’s leading position in crypto mining. With the latest data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance showing the U.S. accounted for 35.4% of the global hashrate share at the end of August.

For Forkast.News, I’m Timmy Shen, Taipei, Taiwan.

And finally, today, anything you can do, I can do better – sorry about singing there, but it’s pretty much what Dogecoin copycat token Shiba Inu was saying over the weekend.

Shiba Inu jumped almost 60% in less than 24 hours on Sunday to reach an all time high, as DOGE also surged over the weekend.

Now, according to data from CoinMarketCap, it’s now the 13th largest token by market cap. Can you believe it?

Just before the surge, the stock and crypto trading platform Robinhood, which, by the way, was at the center of the GameStop saga that led to the rise of meme coins, added Shibu Inu as an option to a client survey, kind of signaling maybe they could be listing it soon.

Well, it wasn’t the only dog based token to be thrown a bone over the weekend, either.

Dogecoin jumped 8% after a tweet from Tesla CEO and long time DOGE fan referenced the token. While DOGE’s price retraced to almost the same position it was before the jump early Monday Asia time. It was then let off the leash and gained 12% before receding again, signaling a possible price action correlation with Shiba Inu.

We’re going to be keeping an eye on whether these two dogs keep up the pace or curl up on the rug for a nap.

And that’s The Daily Forkast from our vantage point right here in Asia. Hit like, hit subscribe. You know, we truly appreciate adding each one of you as subscribers, and we hope to keep doing it.

It helps us serve you better for more. Also visit Forkast.News. I’m Editor-in-Chief Angie Lau. Until the next time.