Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao expects Bitcoin to reach between $500,000 and $1 million this market cycle, driven by institutional adoption, growing government accumulation, and a pro-crypto US policy, Florida has withdrawn its two Bitcoin reserve bills from consideration in a blow to Bitcoin hopefuls, and asset manager VanEck has filed for the first US BNB exchange-traded fund.
Binance founder CZ says Bitcoin could hit $500,000–$1 million this cycle
CZ expects Bitcoin’s price to top at $500,000 to $1 million during this market cycle.
During an interview with Rug Radio published on May 5, Zhao said that he expects Bitcoin to reach up to one million dollars during this market cycle. He also highlighted the role of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in this rise, saying that the increasing institutionalization of Bitcoin is a good thing for the market:
“There’s the ETFs. There’s this institutionalization of Bitcoin [ … ] it’s a positive in terms of price action, obviously. Our bags are up — not the alt‑coins as much, but at least Bitcoin is.”
Zhao explained that the ETFs are “bringing the traditional institution money into crypto” and “most of the money in the US is institutional money.” He said that “Bitcoin is going up because most of the ETFs are Bitcoin-based.”
Zhao also highlighted that governments are increasingly buying Bitcoin as well, which “is really good for the price action.” He also said:
“It’s also very good validation.“
The remarks follow multiple countries accumulating Bitcoin. In late April, El Salvador, the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, continued acquiring Bitcoin despite the International Monetary Fund’s comments claiming the opposite. In the seven days leading to April 27, the country acquired 7 BTC worth over $650,000 at the time.
The country’s Bitcoin Office data shows that El Salvador currently holds nearly 6,170 BTC worth almost $580 million. The Kingdom of Bhutan is also accumulating Bitcoin. January reports suggested that a new economic hub in the country plans to set up a strategic cryptocurrency reserve comprising major crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ether (ETH).
Florida takes strategic Bitcoin reserve bills off the table
Two Florida crypto bills have been removed from the legislative process in the latest blow to American state-level strategic Bitcoin reserve ambitions.
Florida’s House Bill 487 and Senate Bill 550 have been “indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration” on May 3, according to the Florida Senate.
Florida’s legislative session adjourned on May 2 without the passage of these two bills, which would have advanced legislation to establish a crypto reserve for the state. The Senate and House agreed to extend the session until June 6 to address budget plans.
Lawmakers passed about 230 bills during the session, dealing with things like prohibiting putting fluoride in the water, protecting state parks, and a school smartphone ban, but diversifying state treasury portfolios was not among them.
HB 487, which was introduced in February, would have allowed Florida’s chief financial officer and the State Board of Administration to invest up to 10% of certain state funds into Bitcoin (BTC).
SB 550 was also filed in February to enable investments of public funds in Bitcoin.
VanEck files for BNB ETF, first in US
Asset manager VanEck has asked US regulators for permission to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding BNB, the native token of Binance’s BNB Chain, regulatory filings show.
The ETF is designed to accumulate spot BNB (BNB) tokens and “may, from time to time, stake a portion of the [fund’s] assets through one or more trusted staking providers,” according to the ETF’s S-1 prospectus. The filing marks the first time an asset manager has filed for a BNB ETF in the United States.
The BNB token has a market capitalization of roughly $84 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap. As of May 5, BNB stakers earn a yield of approximately 2.5%, according to data from Stakingrewards.com.
Binance’s BNB Chain is among the most popular smart contract networks, with a total value locked (TVL) of nearly $6 billion, according to data from DefiLlama.
