Grayscale expresses optimism about the valuation prospects of cryptocurrencies for the remainder of the year, despite recent selling pressures in June from various sources including the Mt Gox bankruptcy legacy and government sell-offs. They anticipate the launch of Ethereum spot exchange-traded products (ETPs) by Q3 2024. Meanwhile, Circle has obtained an EMI license and will issue USDC and EURC stablecoins in the EU under the new MiCA regulations starting July 1. The U.S. Marshals Service has selected Coinbase Prime as its partner for custody and advanced trading services for its significant digital asset portfolio. Additionally, a co-founder of a leading project in the Polkadot ecosystem criticizes the ecosystem for discrimination against Asian founders and lack of support, announcing a shift to the Manta Pacific project.

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1. Grayscale: Optimistic about the cryptocurrency valuation outlook for the remainder of the year. In June, Bitcoin and the crypto market were under pressure due to selling from multiple sources, but the fundamentals of the assets have not changed significantly. Grayscale expects the spot Ethereum Exchange Traded Product (ETP) to begin trading in the third quarter of 2024 and believes that the valuation of the crypto market is expected to recover in the coming months. In June, the selling pressure on Bitcoin came from multiple sources including the Mt Gox bankruptcy legacy, German government liquidation, US government sales, and Bitcoin miner reductions. Meanwhile, Microstrategy purchased nearly 12,000 Bitcoins in mid-June, which may have supported the price. Although short-term liquidity affected Bitcoin prices, Grayscale believes that the fundamentals of the assets have not undergone significant changes. Grayscale Research is optimistic about the cryptocurrency valuation outlook for the remainder of the year, believing that the macro background still supports the crypto asset category.

2. Circle to issue USDC and Euro stablecoin EURC in the EU according to MiCA. Circle announced that it has obtained an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, and its US dollar stablecoin USDC and Euro stablecoin EURC have complied with the newly introduced stablecoin regulations MiCA in the EU, and officially started issuing to European customers from July 1. Circle claims to be the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with MiCA. Previously, some exchanges had delisted the Euro stablecoin EURT, etc. Binance stated that USDC is now compliant with MiCA standards, making USDC the first regulated major stablecoin in the EEA (European Economic Area), meaning that USDC will continue to be offered in most of Binance's products.

3. US Marshals Service selects Coinbase Prime as its partner. The US Marshals Service (USMS) has chosen Coinbase Prime as its partner to provide custody and advanced trading services for its "Class 1" digital assets, to protect and trade its large digital asset portfolio. The USMS is an agency under the US Department of Justice responsible for asset forfeiture. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) paid Coinbase $32.50 million to use its custody and trading services to dispose of confiscated cryptocurrencies.

4. Manta co-founder harshly criticizes the Polkadot ecosystem as toxic: Discriminates against Asian founders, lacks value, and lacks support. He stated that as the founder of the largest project in the previous Polkadot ecosystem in terms of TVL and market value, he no longer wants any contact with the Polkadot ecosystem and team. The Polkadot ecosystem is highly toxic, has no real value to Web3, and does not focus on users or adoption. The Polkadot team provides much more funding to European/American projects than to Asian projects, and as an Asian founder, he faces discrimination in the ecosystem. Additionally, the Polkadot team lacks capability and has not truly achieved decentralization, failing to effectively support developers, and the entire ecosystem is essentially stagnant. They have now shifted their focus to the Manta Pacific project and hope more developers choose more active ecosystems. Previously, the Polkadot treasury allocated $87 million in the first half of the year, with remaining funds expected to last about 2 years.

Grayscale Optimistic on Crypto Valuations; Circle Complies with EU MiCA Regulations