U.S. State Pension Buys Bitcoin & Solana vs Ethereum Debate Heats Up

Collective Shift

Join Matt and Nick as they break down the latest market uptick; the state of Wisconsin’s investing in Bitcoin ETFs; the U.S. Senate voting to override an anti-crypto rule; Solana vs Ethereum; altcoin updates; and more.

Key Takeaways

• Cryptocurrencies traded higher following the latest U.S. CPI data coming in line with expectations.
• The U.S. Senate approved a rule change that would make it easier for banks to offer crypto-custody services. However, President Joe Biden said he would not be signing off on this.
• Nearly 1,000 entities reported owning spot Bitcoin ETFs as of the end of March. Worth noting, however, the vast majority of these are likely not holding for investment purposes.
• The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) was one that reported owning roughly $160M worth of these ETFs for investment purposes. This is very bullish and may prompt other state pensions to follow Wisconsin’s lead.
• Solana overtook Ethereum mainnet in terms of daily economic value (i.e. transaction fees plus MEV) for the first time. Yet another sign that Solana should not be overlooked.
• The SEC must approve or deny two spot Ethereum applications by the end of this week. A denial is widely anticipated. If this happens, the SEC’s rationale will be a must-follow, as will any public statements from the relevant applicants (i.e. VanEck, Ark Invest and 21Shares).
• Among the altcoin updates covered: news regarding zkSync and Blast’s airdrops; and Syntetix’s sUSD losing its peg.