Morning Minute | The British Are Coming...London Stock Exchange Adding Crypto ETN Market

🇬🇧 The British Are Coming

The world's most notable financial players continue to carve out space for the inclusion of cryptocurrencies, most notably Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Yesterday an exchange notice shared by the London Stock Exchange indicated that it aims to admit Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and provide access to the crypto ETN market on May 28. 

The news isn't completely unexpected, as the admission of crypto ETNs follows from a Mar. 11 notice which indicated the exchange would accept applications to provide such services. Nevertheless, it feels like a victory for crypto.

You don't just have to take my word for it. 

Oliver Linch, the Bittrex Global CEO, told Blockworks that this move signaled a "pretty big reversal" for UK regulators. He continued saying, "Crypto products such as [crypto] ETNs are now a vibrant asset class in portfolio management across the EU and US. The UK had to catch up and respond given the depth and breadth of the investment landscape here."

Everyone wants a slice of the crypto pie, and now more and more individuals and insitutions are gaining access to it. Interested applicants can begin submitting to the London Stock Exchange on Apr. 8, with a deadline of Apr. 15 if they wish to be included in the opening day of trading on May 28. 

Key Differences from Bitcoin ETFs

I should caution though, while this feels like a victory, it's one of much smaller magnitude than that of the SEC Bitcoin ETF approval, and there are some key differences to be aware of.

1. ETNs differ from ETFs

I'm not above going to Investopedia to help detail the differention here. 

While exchange-traded funds (ETFs) buy and hold the assets it tracks, an ETN is "an unsecured debt note issued by a bank. If the underwriter (usually a bank) were to go bankrupt, the investor risks losing the entire investment."

1. The ETN Market Is Only Open to Professional Traders

Secondly, the ETN market opening in May will still exclude retail traders and instead be open only to professional traders, like "investment firms and credit institutions."

But maybe retail exposure isn't that far away. Since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in the United States, some financial executives indicated there is pressure on the UK to offer something similar. 

Might this be step one?

🚚 What Else Is Happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

• Bitcoin led NFT trading volume with $16.18 million in volume on the day (+50%); ETH was next with $11.3 million (+33%) and then Solana with $6.7 million (+8.8%)
• ETH NFT leaders were largely green yesterday; Pudgy +8.73% to 13.45 ETH and BAYC flat, and Azuki +12.93% to 5.25 ETH. 
• Bitcoin Puppets  led trading of Bitcoin Ordinals, tallying 45.09 BTC. The floor bounced to 0.305 BTC, a new all-time high. 
• Froganas was once more the top mover on Solana, down another 2.5% to 2.59 SOL. 
• Darkfarms concluded his Ordinals inscription auction, with bids in $BOME being taken via X replies. The winning bid of 18,888,888 $BOME netted ~$270,000 at current prices. 
• Primitives, a new short-supply Base PFP collection, minted out for 0.003 ETH and 100x'd to 0.3 ETH at the time of writing.
• CyberKongz officially launched its Play & Kollect game on Ronin. 

💰 Token, Airdrop & Points Tracker

Highlighting the major token or airdrop news from the day.

• $HOWDY was airdropped to holders of Howdy Hats at yesterday's 7:00 a.m. snapshot. The token initially jumped to a near $20 million market cap, but since retraced heavily and sits at $4 million at the time of writing. At current prices each hat allocation is worth ~$500. 
• CryptoValleys, a popular new farming game on Blast, made notable changes to its $YIELD token unlock schedule to protect the health of the game. 
• Juice Finance will complete its token-generation event (TGE) today at 11:00 a.m. ET. A snapshot of points farmers from Feb. 29 to Mar. 26 was taken. 

🌎 Around Crypto and Web3

A few other Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

• Crypto majors are green again this morning; BTC +5.7% $71,033 ETH +5.5% at $3,656; SOL +2.2% at $195.35. 
• Binance Labs announced an investment in staking protocol, StakeStone. 
• The London Stock Exchange announced plans for its admission of Bitcoin, Ethereum ETNs. 
• Bitcoin ETFs experienced a positive inflow yesterday after five days of outflows. 

🗓 Upcoming NFT Mints and Reveals

Today is another slower day of drops without major highlights.

With memecoin energy slowing down, it could be a good weekend for any NFTs that catch momentum - so be on the lookout.

It's also a nice setup for a quality stealth drop.

See the full list and dive in for more details with Swizzy's daily mint monitor. 

• Pike Finance Community Presale (continuation)
• Juice Finance TGE (11:00 a.m. ET)
• THE FABRICANT X MAISON MARGIELA - METATABI (presale noon ET)
• Erdoğan Paksoy, Break the Chains - Nifty Gateway (2:52 p.m. ET) 

Enjoy this write-up and/or want to sponsor the Morning Minute? Follow along with me on Twitter @lhitch09 or reach out via email logan@luckytrader.com.