MicroStrategy Buys More BTC but Bitcoin Wobbles Around $30K Amid SEC-ETF Rejection Rumors: This Week’s Crypto Recap

A lot can change in the cryptocurrency industry within a week, and the waves indeed fluctuated in the past seven days. The market rejoiced recently as several multinational financial giants filed for a Bitcoin Spot ETF, but the tides could be turning now, according to a WSJ report from Friday.

Let’s unpack.

BlackRock shook the crypto market two weeks ago when it filed an application to release a BTC Spot ETF in the States, which would make it the first such product greenlighted by the SEC.

Being the world’s largest asset manager, its actions had immediate consequences as ARK Invest changed its own application to copy that of BlackRock, while Fidelity reapplied less than a week later.

That also impacted the cryptocurrency’s price trajectory as BTC skyrocketed from $26,500 last week to roughly $31,000 earlier today. However, a Wall Street Journal report emerged on Friday claiming that the SEC found the recent filings “inadequate,” which prompted speculation that they could be rejected, similar to all previous ones.

BTC reacted immediately with a sharp price dump that drove it south by $1,500. As a result, the asset charted a 10-day low of $29,500 (on Bitstamp). It managed to bounce off rather quickly and reclaimed some ground. Nevertheless, it’s still uncertain at around $30,000.

This price decline erased all of BTC’s weekly gains. In comparison, numerous altcoins have charted notable 7-day price increases, such as ETC (15%), SOL (15%), Aave (18%), XLM (24%), and Bitcoin SV (36%).

The one that stands out the most, though, is Bitcoin Cash. The BTC hard fork has soared by over 110% on a weekly scale and earlier today charted a 14-month high above $320 amid massive trading volumes on smaller markets, such as the South Korean one.

Market Data

Market Cap: $1,214B | 24H Vol: $67B | BTC Dominance: 48.3%

BTC: $30,082 (+0.3%) | ETH: $1,848 (-1.0%) | BNB: $234 (-2.7%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Bitcoin Dumps Below $30K as SEC Warns That Recent BTC Spot ETF Filings Are ‘Inadequate’ (WSJ). As mentioned above, the WSJ cited people familiar with the matter who claimed that the SEC believes the most recent BTC Spot ETF filings could have been “inadequate.”

Fidelity Refiles Bitcoin Spot ETF Application After BlackRock. But before that, Fidelity Digital Assets followed BlackRock’s example and reapplied for a Bitcoin Spot ETF less than a week after the world’s largest asset manager.

FTT Explodes 35% on FTX Revival Idea. Just several months after the once-prominent crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy, the new CEO hinted that FTX could be revived at some point. As a result, the native token jumped to a 2-month high.

MicroStrategy Buys 12,333 BTC for $350 Million at $28K Per Bitcoin. Perhaps fueled by BlackRock’s filing, the largest corporate holder of BTC decided to double down by allocating another $350 million and accumulating 12,333 BTC.

Robinhood Cuts Staff Again as Trading Volume and Engagement Dwindle. The Vlad Tenev-spearheaded trading company continues to struggle as it announced the lay-off of another 150 employees (7%). This is the second round of cut-offs for the Wall Street-traded firm in less than a year.

Swiss Prosecutors Freeze $26M Worth of Do Kwon Assets Following his Prison Sentence (Report). After being sentenced to four months in prison in Montenegro, Kwon’s situation has reportedly worsened as $26 million worth of his assets were frozen