Daily Report | Franklin Templeton Launches Bitcoin and Ethereum Index ETFs; Binance Alpha Adds B3, FLUID, VVV, TOKEN, DRIFT, CPOOL
February 21 News OverviewOrganizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Grayscale's Spot XRP ETF has been officially submitted to the Federal Register, with a decision deadline of October 18
- Franklin Templeton launches Bitcoin and Ethereum Index ETF
- JPMorgan: The crypto market faces weak demand, and Trump's proactive measures may boost the market
- Zhao Changpeng: Binance has always restricted employees from trading to protect user interests and will personally experience on-chain products
- Bloomberg analyst: The probability of LTC ETF approval is 90%, as it is listed on DTCC indicating the issuer has begun preparations
- 151st Ethereum ACDC meeting: Developers agree to finalize EIP 7872 and EIP 7870
- Insiders: The Hong Kong SFC is "actively" negotiating to introduce crypto ETF staking under the new roadmap
- Binance adjusts leverage and margin tiers for FET, POL, BAN, and OM perpetual contracts
"What important events occurred in the past 24 hours"
Grayscale's Spot XRP ETF (19b-4 application) has been officially submitted to the Federal Register, which means that from now on, the SEC will begin its review and must decide whether to approve or reject the application by October 18.
The 19b-4 application is a formal document submitted by Grayscale to the SEC to apply for the launch of an XRP-based exchange-traded fund (ETF). This document has been officially published in the Federal Register, marking the formal start of the review process.
According to regulations, the SEC needs to make a decision by October 18. During this period, the SEC may communicate with Grayscale to request additional information or clarification on related issues.
Franklin Templeton launches Bitcoin and Ethereum Index ETF
Franklin Templeton has announced the launch of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds both spot Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Franklin Crypto Index ETF (EZPZ) is the second cryptocurrency index ETF to enter the U.S. market, following the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ) launched by asset management company Hashdex on February 14.
The EZPZ fund holds assets referenced by the U.S. CF institutional-grade digital asset index. As of February 20, this index only tracks Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to CF Benchmarks data, as of February 20, the market capitalization-weighted index consists of approximately 87% BTC and 13% ETH.
Franklin Templeton plans for EZPZ to hold more cryptocurrencies in the future, ultimately providing a one-stop crypto portfolio for U.S. investors as the index expands.
JPMorgan: The crypto market faces weak demand, and Trump's proactive measures may boost the market
JPMorgan stated in a report on Wednesday that the cryptocurrency market lacks positive catalysts in the short term.
The report noted that Bitcoin and Ethereum futures have recently approached spot premiums, indicating a decline in demand. The analyst team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou stated, "This is a negative development, indicating weak institutional investor demand for exposure to these two cryptocurrencies through regulated CME futures contracts."
The bank pointed out that weak demand may be due to the likelihood that proactive measures from the Trump administration regarding cryptocurrencies will begin to be implemented in the second half of the year, meaning institutional investors may take profits due to a lack of short-term catalysts. JPMorgan added that the decline in demand from systematic and momentum-driven funds like CTAs has also affected Bitcoin and Ethereum futures.
In response to discussions about the differences in product strategies between Binance and OKX, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng stated that Binance (CEX) has always restricted employees from trading to protect user interests, but this has also made it difficult for product managers to deeply understand user needs. Zhao stated that such decisions will be handled by management and expressed his intention to personally experience on-chain products, saying, "On-chain, it is indeed necessary to experience the products. Let's go try some dog coins later."
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, although the listing of the LTC ETF on DTCC does not mean that the product has been approved or will soon begin trading, it shows that the issuer is preparing for trading after future approval, and the current probability of approval remains at 90%.
Previous news indicated that Canary's LTC ETF has been listed on the DTCC website with the code LTCC.
151st Ethereum ACDC meeting: Developers agree to finalize EIP 7872 and EIP 7870
Christine Kim, Vice President of Research at Galaxy, summarized the 151st Ethereum Core Developer Consensus (ACDC) conference call. During the meeting, developers discussed the client team's readiness for the Pectra upgrade on the Holesky testnet and the follow-up work on PeerDAS Devnet 5. Developers also agreed to finalize EIP 7872, the maximum blob flag for local builders, and EIP 7870, hardware and bandwidth recommendations for validators and full nodes.
According to The Block, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) previously released a new roadmap, planning to launch 12 new initiatives, including crypto ETF staking. Ru Haiyang, Chief Risk Officer of licensed cryptocurrency exchange HashKey in Hong Kong, revealed that the company is actively negotiating with the Hong Kong SFC regarding ETF staking, tokenized money market funds, and "Earn" features.
According to Hex Trust CEO Alessio Quaglini, institutional staking will become a key focus area in 2025. Gary Tiu, Executive Director of another licensed exchange OSL, also stated that there is a growing demand from clients for yield products and derivatives.
Binance adjusts leverage and margin tiers for FET, POL, BAN, and OM perpetual contracts
According to Binance's announcement, on February 21, 2025, at 17:30 (Beijing time), adjustments will be made to the leverage and margin tiers for FETUSDT, POLUSDT, BANUSDT, and OMUSDT perpetual contracts.
The announcement stated that this adjustment will affect existing positions, and due to the update of leverage and margin tiers, grid trading strategies may expire. Binance recommends that users make timely adjustments before the changes take effect.
Utah's Bitcoin Reserve Bill passes Senate Tax Committee review
According to Cointelegraph, Utah's HB230 "Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendment" passed the state's Senate Tax Committee review on February 20 with a vote of 4-2-1, and the bill will enter the second and third reading procedures in the Senate.
According to the bill, to become a reserve asset, the average market value of digital assets must reach $50 billion or more in the previous calendar year. Currently, only Bitcoin meets this requirement.
The bill also authorizes the state treasurer to participate in cryptocurrency staking activities, allowing the state treasury to invest no more than 5% of digital assets in five state-level accounts, including the general budget fund, income tax fund budget, and state disaster recovery accounts.
Binance Alpha adds B3, FLUID, VVV, TOKEN, DRIFT, CPOOL
According to official news, Binance Alpha has added B3, FLUID, VVV, TOKEN, DRIFT, CPOOL.
Former FTX CEO and co-founder SBF stated in an interview with the New York Sun while in Brooklyn prison that he believes he was wrongfully convicted.
SBF said his biggest mistake was allowing Sullivan & Cromwell law firm to take over FTX in November 2022. He stated that he should have continued to handle liquidity issues instead of letting the firm take over and mislead clients.
Due to this decision, millions of clients were told that their funds were depleted and had to wait two years before they began receiving payments, while SBF believes those funds should have been safe from the start.
SafeMoon CTO admits involvement in $200 million cryptocurrency fraud case
SafeMoon Chief Technology Officer Thomas Smith pleaded guilty to charges of his involvement in a $200 million cryptocurrency fraud case.
Documents submitted to the Brooklyn federal court on February 20 show that SafeMoon CEO Thomas Smith withdrew his previous not guilty plea before District Judge Cheryl Pollak and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud.
Judge Pollak suggested that U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee, who is responsible for handling Smith's case, accept the new plea.
The maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud is 20 years, while conspiracy to commit securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
"What are the interesting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours"
Sam Bankman-Fried elaborated on his views regarding FTX's bankruptcy, legal battles, the U.S. political landscape, and the future of the cryptocurrency industry in an interview.
Xiao Feng's full speech: The Fourth Financial Revolution, on-chain enters an explosive period
On February 20, Dr. Xiao Feng, Chairman and CEO of HashKey Group, delivered a keynote speech titled "Block Chain: Starting from the Origin" at the Web3 Voyage event hosted by HashKey Chain. Below is the full text of the speech, organized from live notes with some non-essential edits.
Hello everyone, first of all, welcome to our live meeting today.
On August 28, 2023, we held a launch ceremony for our Hong Kong exchange HashKey Exchange at the same location—the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Hong Kong is a harbor city, so we deliberately chose this symbolic place for the opening ceremony. Today marks the second time the group has held an event here.
HashKey Exchange is one wing of HashKey, while HashKey Chain is another wing of HashKey Group.
In today's speech, I will elaborate on why HashKey Chain is so important to us.
Aptos accuses Monad of plagiarism, is it stealing technology or riding the wave?
Perhaps influenced by the announcement of HyperEVM's launch, its competitor Monad finally couldn't sit still. Just one day after HyperEVM went live, this project, which raised $225 million led by Paradigm last April, finally launched its testnet.
However, amidst the community's cheers and various airdrop tutorials, another L1 competitor, Aptos, directly accused Monad of plagiarizing Aptos technology on social media platform X. Thus, a war of words ensued.
$2 billion worth of SOL tokens are about to unlock, can the current market bear it?
On March 1, 11.2 million SOL from the FTX bankruptcy auction will unlock, worth $2.06 billion, with the number of unlocked tokens accounting for about 2.29% of the current SOL circulating supply.
Such a massive selling pressure combined with a sluggish market has led to a poor performance of SOL's price. Since January this year, after the Trump TRUMP concept coin triggered a market frenzy, SOL once reached its historical high of $295, but then it fell sharply, currently experiencing a four-year weekly decline, with a low of around $160. Is it Solana's turn to face FUD?
This article will explore the impact of this event from multiple perspectives, including the background of the unlocking and potential market effects.
FTX's first round of payments: 11.2 million SOL about to unlock raises market selling anxiety
On February 18, 2025, the first round of creditor payments for FTX officially commenced, marking a critical stage in the two-year bankruptcy liquidation. However, the market's attention has shifted to another potential risk: on March 1, 11.2 million SOL tokens from the FTX bankruptcy auction are about to unlock, worth up to $1.9 billion. Although the payments seem "gentle" as they are settled in fiat currency, the massive circulation expectations for SOL have raised market concerns, and the aftershocks of FTX's asset sell-off will once again impact the crypto ecosystem. Is the panic spreading excessively, or has the risk not been fully priced in?
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of February 21, 19:50:
The top five popular Ethereum tokens in the past 24 hours are: LINK, SHIB, ONDO, UNI, USDe
The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: TRUMP, WPEPE, WNEIRO, RAY, PENGU
The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: AI, GPS, AERO, VIRTUAL, BRETT
