Wake up and smell the crypto, folks!

It’s the Hodl Report, bringing you the latest from the week in crypto, with all the thrills of finding a forgotten Bitcoin wallet! 💰

Here’s what we have for you this week:

• Macro market updates 📈

• Headline highlights from the week 📰

• Ethereum ETFs launched this week, how did it go? 🤔

Bitcoin’s been on a modest ride this week with one exception when bouncing back to $67k+ after dipping down to $63,600. If you scooped some up at the dip, you deserve a HODLer Hall of Fame spot!” 🏆

This week’s been eventful, packed with news that’ll make you stop and think about how it’s all impacting our lives and our crypto stashes. 💰

Biden steps down and gives the nod to Kamala Harris, the Ethereum ETF finally launches (more on this below), and a bunch of major companies faceplant due to a software update glitch.

Crowdstrike’s windows update blunder put the blue screen of death onto millions of clients’ computers, causing chaos for airlines, healthcare networks, and more. Businesses hit the pause button, leaving countless customers hanging. 💻🤬

Crowdstrike’s apology? A $10 gift card. Because nothing says "we're sorry" like a cheap lunch! 😂

The latest episode of the US politics reality TV show just dropped a bombshell! 📺 The current president announced he’s not running for re-election via a digitally signed letter on his X account.

Later in the week, Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office, giving his VP Kamala Harris the official nod to run for president next term. Talk about plot twists!” 

You might think this is turning into a political newsletter, but bear with us. US politics and crypto are tangled up like a cat in a yarn factory. 🐈🧶

Are you wondering why Trump and the Republicans keep popping up in crypto news? Well, according to the official GOP playbook, their stance on crypto is:

Amid all the political turbulence, Polymarket has emerged as a major winner. With $300 million in bets on the presidential election, and many other large bets surrounding US politics, it’s become the go-to prediction market in crypto. Bet on anything and everything, because who doesn’t love a little speculation? 🎰

To leave you on a high note, a lot of crypto folks are buzzing about an imminent bull market. One summary lists out all the juicy reasons why.

1. Mt. Gox repayments add sell pressure, but is 36% over now: Despite the sell pressure being added by the expected Mt. Gox repayments, whales keep accumulating, allowing prices to stay somewhat stable. There’s now $6 billion worth of Bitcoin left for Mt. Gox to distribute to creditors.

2. The FTX bankruptcy has turned into a goldmine for some: Diameter, a $17B hedge fund, snagged a $400M position in FTX assets at rock-bottom prices, and thanks to soaring crypto values and a stake in Anthropic, those claims could now be worth over 120 cents on the dollar.

3. Ferrari accepts crypto for their cars: Following the launch of crypto payments for their vehicles in the US last October using the BitPay payment gateway, Ferrari is rolling out crypto payments to their European market next, but it’s unclear which payment gateway they will choose for Europe.

4. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency to be showcased on Las Vegas Sphere: For a minute and a half, the sphere displayed a dynamic Bitcoin logo in 3D before breaking down into smaller coins. This treat was thanks to Crypto.com’s 8th anniversary celebration.

5. Franklin Templeton eyes Solana ETF next: Following the successful launch of first a Bitcoin ETF and now an Ethereum ETF, Templeton will continue exploring more assets to back new spot cryptocurrency ETFs, including Solana.

Ethereum ETFs Launched

This week, Ethereum ETFs made their debut, and the market showed a positive response!

Despite the large outflows from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust at $485 million, there were more inflows from the rest of the funds, with Blackrock & Bitwise both leading the way to a net positive inflow of $107 million. Not bad for a day 1 launch!

Spot ETH ETFs generated $1.08 billion in cumulative trading volume on their first day of trading.

As expected, these numbers were not as impressive as Bitcoin’s day 1 ETF launch.

ETH’s net inflows reached only 16% of Bitcoin’s, and its trading volume was 23% of Bitcoin’s on their respective first day launches, proving once again that BTC’s milkshake brings all the investors to the yard. 🥤😂

Leading up to the launch, ETH prices surged, only to drop sharply afterward. Why? Traders cashed in on the "buy the rumor, sell the news" strategy, while Grayscale’s fund conversion outflows added downward selling pressure.

Where do we go from here? Last week we explained why Ethereum ETFs could have a more impactful effect on prices due to ETH inflation rates, reduced sell pressure due to staking and staking locking up a large portion of the circulating coins.

As usual, everyone’s got predictions for where Ethereum’s price will go by the end of this year, the end of the current cycle, and even out to 2030. The guesses are all over the place, ranging from $5k to $20k. But hey, in the world of crypto, anything can happen!