Gensler's Stance on Bitcoin Challenged on CNBC

Plus Treasury Admits Low Crypto Use in Terrorism Finance

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
February 15, 2024

The Breakdown First Five - Thursday, February 15, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

Gensler's Stance on Bitcoin Challenged on CNBC

5. Bitwise Hits One Billion

Bitwise have hit $1B in assets for their Bitcoin ETF, becoming the fourth fund to reach that milestone. This week has seen incredibly large inflows, with the past four days seeing bigger flows than the first four weeks combined. Bitwise have also updated their wallet to take advantage of the Segwit upgrade after an outcry from Bitcoin Twitter. 

4. Permission to Dump

Genesis has been granted court approval to unload over $1.3B in GBTC shares onto the market as their bankruptcy reaches a critical juncture. The liquidation will be larger than the rumored FTX selling which occurred in the first week of ETF trading. Currently it looks like the market can absorb this much supply easily, but buyers could slow down until the selldown is over. No news on when the dumping will begin. Contested bankruptcy plan hearing later this month. 

3. Bitcoin Drains Gold

Gold is having a rough start to the year. The yellow metal is down by more than 3% and Gold-related ETFs have lost $2.4B in assets. Stan Druckenmiller is still a believer though, dropping Alphabet and Amazon stock last quarter to pick up a sizable position in major gold miners. His position in Barrick Gold and Newmont is now underwater by at least 20%.

2. Treasury: Terrorists Don’t Use Crypto

GOP Lawmaker Tom Emmer destroyed the narrative that crypto is used for illicit finance during a Congressional hearing, getting a senior Treasury official to admit the “number isn’t very high.” This number is the disputed figure of Hamas funding that flowed through crypto networks. The Wall Street Journal said it was around $120M. The Treasury's figure is much lower, admitting that terrorists “prefer to use traditional products and services.”

1. Gensler’s Narrative Collapse

During an interview with CNBC, Gary Gensler was caught off guard by pushback from Joe Kernan. While Gensler was walking through his usual dismissal of Bitcoin, Joe wasn’t having it, pointing out that millions of people trust Bitcoin more than profligate governments. We’re now at the point in the cycle where the SEC Chair is getting shown up on national television for dismissing Bitcoin as a genuine innovation. 

Thanks for reading -NLW