Token ETFs and summer volatility ☀️ | TokenNews

This week in tokens

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are down as tokens drag lower.

The market had another red week as BTC broke down to $54,000 on Friday. The latest drop comes as demand for the first spot BTC ETFs continues to climb. However, the German government has begun selling a staggering $900 million worth of BTC from its considerable token holdings. Repayments from Mt. Gox, a failed token exchange that famously collapsed in 2014, leaving users in limbo for the last decade, have also commenced—meaning the market has a new influx of potential sellers.

After VanEck’s SOL ETF filing last week, another token-friendly institution called 21Shares has followed suit with its own application. The approved spot ETH ETFs from BlackRock and others, meanwhile, are expected to go live as soon as next week. So it’s fair to say that the space is in an interesting spot; although prices are down, major financial institutions appear to have confidence in this technology’s future. What’s more, they are bringing tokens to a whole new audience.

Aside from the ETF effect, AI’s ongoing convergence with tokens has been one of the big themes in the ecosystem since 2023. The token AI space just saw another major update as three of its largest projects—SingularityNET, Fetch, and Ocean—unite as the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance. In doing so, the newly formed group hopes to take on AI behemoths like OpenAI in a decentralised manner with token technology. As part of the merger, the three projects will all now trade under the token ticker FET. You do not have to do anything if you were previously holding any of these tokens—they have automatically been converted to FET in your token.com account.

All round, while price charts suggest it’s a gloomy summer for tokens, we’d argue that the latest major events tell a different story. We look forward to seeing what happens next.

Tokens we’re watching

TIA has had a rough 2024 so far due to factors like heightened sell pressure from newly unlocked tokens hitting the market. However, the Celestia ecosystem keeps attracting passionate builders. As a long-term project, Celestia is still showing huge promise.

Ethereum has a big few weeks ahead as spot ETH ETFs from BlackRock and other giants are set to open for trading. This event is likely to impact Ethereum-adjacent projects such as the DeFi juggernaut Maker. MKR is one of many DeFi tokens that’s struggled to hold momentum this year as major tokens and memes draw interest but this niche could regain popularity if institutions turn their attention to the most used applications on Ethereum. Learn more about Maker via the DeFi Blue Chips Collection.

NFT art we love

Botto is the world’s first “decentralised autonomous artist.” What does that mean? Botto is an AI robot that produces images and its biggest fans steer its career by voting on their favourites to release as NFTs. So while Botto is autonomous, it’s governed by a decentralised community that assigns meaning to its work. Steel System of Visibility is Botto’s latest piece, released as part of its new Morphogenesis series.