Less than a month after the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) started trading in the U.S. investment firm VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) started trading at Cboe Global Markets. The fund tracks prices for bitcoin futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The Indian government will reportedly ban the use of cryptocurrencies for payments, but will allow and regulate cryptoasset trading. The government plans to present a crypto regulation bill in the parliament’s winter season.

Twitter CFO Ned Segal has said that investing in cryptocurrencies “doesn’t make sense right now,” as the microblogging platform would have to change its investment policy to hold more volatile assets on its balance sheet and instead prefers to hold assets with less volatility such as securities.

This week we are diving into Yuga Labs Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, brought to you in partnership with NFT data and discovery platform Masterpiece.

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF Starts Trading on Cboe
• India to Ban Crypto Payments, Regulate Trading as Assets
• Twitter CFO Dismisses Investing in Crypto
• NFT Spotlight: Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Rise
• Sponsored: Crypto.com - The World’s Fastest Growing Crypto App

VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF Starts Trading on Cboe

Less than a month after the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) started trading in the U.S. investment firm VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) started trading at Cboe Global Markets. The fund tracks prices for bitcoin futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF is a cash-settled fund, meaning settlement is in cash instead of actual bitcoin. Kyle DaCruz, VanEck's director of digital assets, was quoted saying:

"While a 'physically backed' bitcoin ETF remains a key goal, we are very pleased to be providing investors with this important tool as they build their digital asset portfolios.”

The ETF is the third to trade in U.S. markets less than a month after the first one was approved. VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF differs from its predecessors for having a lower expense ratio at 0.65% and an effective tax rate of 22.15%.

India to Ban Crypto Payments, Regulate Trading as Assets

The Indian government will reportedly ban the use of cryptocurrencies for payments, but will allow and regulate cryptoasset trading. The government plans to present a crypto regulation bill in the parliament’s winter season.

Details of the bill are still being finalized but it’s set to see authorities ban “active solicitation” from cryptocurrency firms, including exchanges and platforms. Crypto advertising had triggered a significant debate with some believing they misled youth.

Tanvi Ratna, founder and CEO of think tank Policy 4.0, was quoted saying:

“Regulating crypto as an asset doesn’t solve all the issues that authorities are concerned about, but it does take it out of the currency arena, which is one of RBI’s worries.”

Ratna added that the “trickiest part is defining the asset class.”

Twitter CFO Dismisses Investing in Crypto

Twitter CFO Ned Segal has said that investing in cryptocurrencies “doesn’t make sense right now,” as the microblogging platform would have to change its investment policy to hold more volatile assets on its balance sheet and instead prefers to hold assets with less volatility such as securities.

Square, a fintech firm headed and co-founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, electric carmaker Tesla and business intelligence firm MicroStrategy all hold cryptoassets on their balance sheets.

Twitter is reportedly letting users connect their accounts to third-party services that allow them to send tips in bitcoin and bring in the authentication of non-fungible tokens to its platform.

NFT Spotlight: Bored Ape Yacht Club’s Rise

Since launching back in April, Yuga Labs Bored Ape Yacht Club collection has experienced huge growth - being donned as profile pictures (PFPs) by various mainstream celebrities including Jimmy Fallon, Post Malone, Steph Curry and Mark Cuban.

Back in May, the floor price of a Bored Ape was roughly $400. Since then, it has risen in excess of $200,000 and in the past week alone, the floor has nearly doubled from $130,000 to a staggering $206,000!

One of the most popular metrics for measuring NFT collections is unique holders. For example, on the 2nd of May, just 1,800 people held all 10,000 Bored Apes. Fast forward six months and the collection now has nearly 6,000 unique holders. Over this period of time, the total value of the collection has risen from $3,000,000 to $466,000,000!

Like other PFP NFT collections, Bored Ape Yacht Club consists of apes made up of varying traits and attributes - some of which are more valuable or rare than others. The most sought- after traits include the ‘Solid Gold’ and ‘Trippy’ fur, as well as the ‘Blue Beams’ eye trait.

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