The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, has seen its price surge faster than that of Bitcoin itself, fueled by investor anticipation that a potential exchange-traded fund (ETF) centered on the cryptocurrency could launch soon.

To comply with the U.K.'s rules on crypto advertising, Binance announced in a blog post that it will stop accepting new users from the country starting Monday.

The main entity behind the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap, Uniswap Labs, is introducing a 0.15% fee on trades involving tokens like ETH and USDC, which will only be applied to swaps executed via Uniswap Labs’ front end.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Outperforms Bitcoin as ETF Hopes Rise
• Binance Stops Accepting New U.K. Users
• Uniswap Labs Introduces 0.15% Fee on Some Token Swaps

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Outperforms Bitcoin as ETF Hopes Rise

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, has seen its price surge faster than that of Bitcoin itself, fueled by investor anticipation that a potential exchange-traded fund (ETF) centered on the cryptocurrency could launch soon.

With its trading value narrowing to about 14% below its underlying assets' value, this marks the smallest such gap since 2021 for Grayscale’s GBTC Trust. Earlier this year, the discount was nearly 50%.

Grayscale’s GBTC shares have rallied 164% so far this year, while the flagship cryptocurrency has increased 71% so far this year. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to refrain from challenging a previous court ruling in favor of Grayscale boosted the fund’s momentum.

The trust has been looking to transition into an ETF, and the discount has been narrowing significantly over the last few weeks as many anticipate the conversion could soon become a reality.

Grayscale’s chances of converting its Bitcoin trust into an ETF increased after it got a legal victory in a federal court in August. The court’s ruling, the numerous applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs, and the SEC’s engagement with them make the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF more probable, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Elliott Stein and James Seyffart, who added that this could unlock “billions“ in value.

Binance Stops Accepting New U.K. Users

To comply with the U.K.'s rules on crypto advertising, Binance announced in a blog post that it will stop accepting new users from the country starting Monday.

The company said that existing U.K. users who have completed the “Investor Declaration and Appropriateness Test” can still use its services, but they will not be able to access any new products and services during this time. The new rules, which came into effect on October 8, allow firms that are registered with the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to approve their own ads.

Alternatively, companies can seek approval from authorized entities for their ads, a path used by other cryptocurrency exchanges to remain compliant. While Binance partnered with a peer-to-peer platform called Rebuildingsociety.com ahead of the rules coming into effect, the FCA clarified the firm wasn’t authorized to approve crypto ads.

Uniswap Labs Introduces 0.15% Fee on Some Token Swaps

The main entity behind the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap, Uniswap Labs, is introducing a 0.15% fee on trades involving tokens like ETH and USDC, which will only be applied to swaps executed via Uniswap Labs’ front end.

This new fee is distinct from the existing "protocol fee" overseen by governance voters and is being instituted by Uniswap Labs to "sustainably fund” its operations.

Uniswap's creator, Hayden Adams, said on social media that this "interface fee" is among the industry's lowest, and is aimed at supporting ongoing research, development, and expansion in the crypto and decentralized finance spaces.

The fee will be applicable to trades where at least two of the specified tokens: ETH, USDC, WETH, USDT, DAI, WBTC, agEUR, GUSD, LUSD, EUROC, or XSGD are involved. Stablecoin swaps and trades between Ether and wrapped Ether will remain exempt from this fee.

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