Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Approved in Hong Kong, Germany’s Major Federal Bank Embraces

U.Today – U.Today presents the top three crypto news stories over the past day.

and ETFs officially approved in Hong Kong

As reported by @WuBlockchain X handle, yesterday, April 15, several spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications received official approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Among the issuers greenlit by the regulator were HashKey, Bosera Capital and China Asset Management. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the products may get approval in Hong Kong as soon as Monday, April 15, citing people familiar with the matter. As a reminder, in the U.S, spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved in January this year, with BlackRock (NYSE:)’s product turning out record-breaking success that attracted $10 billion worth of assets in less than two months. However, when it comes to Ethereum ETFs, the U.S. SEC is still hesitating to approve such products, despite BlackRock and other major names filing to launch spot Ethereum ETFs last year.

Germany’s major federal bank embraces crypto for institutional players

Germany’s largest federal bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), has recently unveiled its plans to start offering cryptocurrency custody services to institutional and corporate clients, Bloomberg reports. This will be done in partnership with the Bitpanda exchange. As announced by the two companies on Monday, April 15, they will begin turning their plans into reality in the second half of 2024. Germany’s largest federal bank’s entry into the cryptocurrency space is anticipated to provide institutional investors with more access to digital assets. LBBW is not the only German bank that is actively delving into crypto assets; Deutsche Bank is building its digital asset custody service, and its DWS unit is part of a consortium that is developing a euro-denominated stablecoin.

(SHIB) skyrockets in multi-million whale activity, but there’s a twist

Per data provided by IntoTheBlock, yesterday, Shiba Inu whales managed to accumulate 2.85 trillion tokens in just 24 hours. The jump is particularly noteworthy given the Large Holders Inflow metric, which shows a 208% increase from the previous day’s holdings, hitting 1.37 trillion tokens. The estimated value of the influx into these crypto whales’ wallets is $66.98 million. However, the plot took a twist once it became clear that this spike in accumulation was accompanied by a significant outflow. During the same period, these SHIB whales offloaded over three trillion tokens, with the disposal exceeding accumulation and a net decrease comprising 150 billion Shiba Inu tokens over the past 24 hours. The Large Holders Outflow metric increased by more than 300% throughout this time, while the Large Holders Netflow indicator dipped into negative territory. Yet, even with this setback, on-chain data indicates that Shiba Inu usually does not stay in the negative zone for long.

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