-
Rumors
concerning
Coinbase
and
BlackRock
were
scuttled
by
industry
experts
this
week. -
Crypto
analyst
Tyler
Durden
had
accused
the
exchange
of
allowing
BlackRock
to
borrow
bitcoin
without
providing
collateral,
which
would
allow
for
market
manipulation.
-
00:50
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on
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to
Dogecoin,
Skyrockets
on
Binance
Spot
Listing -
02:01
Trump-Endorsed
Crypto
Project
Confirms
Plan
for
a
Token;
Bhutan
Holds
Over
$780M
in
Bitcoin -
09:22
Macro
Impact
on
Crypto:
Fed,
China
and
Global
Liquidity -
01:28
Binance
Facing
Heavier
Scrutiny
From
the
SEC;
FTX
Founder
Sam
Bankman-Fried
Appeals
Conviction
Rumors
alleging
Coinbase
(COIN)
was
issuing
bitcoin
IOUs
to
BlackRock
were
quickly
shut
down
by
industry
experts
as
well
as
Coinbase
CEO
Brian
Armstrong
on
Monday.
Over
the
weekend,
well-followed
X
crypto
analyst
Tyler
Durden
accused
Coinbase
of
allowing
BlackRock
–
the
issuer
behind
the
largest
spot
bitcoin
exchange-traded
fund
–
to
borrow
bitcoin
without
providing
collateral,
which
would
allow
manipulation
of
the
market
and
profit
from
the
resulting
price
swings.
Durden’s
allegations
came
following
a
post
from
Tron
founder
Justin
Sun
on
X,
who
described
Coinbase’s
new
wrapped
bitcoin
product
(cbBTC)
as
“trust
me”
given
it
lacked
Proof
of
Reserves
or
audits
and
could
freeze
balances
at
any
time.
“Any
U.S.
government
subpoena
could
seize
all
your
BTC,”
Sun
wrote.
“There’s
no
better
representation
of
central
bank
Bitcoin
than
this.
It’s
a
dark
day
for
BTC.”
In
response
to
both
allegations,
Coinbase’s
Armstrong
explained
that
the
ETFs
are
minted
and
burned
and
settled
on
chain
within
one
business
day
and
that
institutional
clients
have
the
option
to
use
trade
financing
and
over-the-counter
options
before
the
trades
are
fully
settled.
Durden
later
deleted
his
tweet.
“I
don’t
believe
these
rumors
and
conspiracy
theories
for
one
second,”
James
Seyffart,
ETF
analyst
at
Bloomberg,
told
CoinDesk.
“It’s
another
in
the
long
line
of
bad
takes
on
ETFs.”
Seyffart
reiterated
the
need
for
more
issuers,
including
BlackRock,
to
share
digital
wallet
addresses
with
the
public
to
increase
transparency.
Crypto-native
spot
bitcoin
ETF
issuer
Bitwise
has
done
so
for
both
its
bitcoin
and
spot
ethereum
funds
and
was
applauded
for
it
by
industry
experts.
Bloomberg
senior
ETF
analyst
Eric
Balchunas
criticized
the
bitcoin
community
for
blaming
the
ETFs
for
the
recent
selling
pressure
in
the
market,
“instead
of
looking
in
the
mirror.”
“[People]
who
invest
in
BTC
are
generally
skeptical
of
[the
government]
and
institutions
(which
I
get),”
he
wrote
in
a
post
on
X.
However,
he
said
that
BlackRock
“isn’t
playing
around”
and
that
the
asset
manager
would
“flip
out”
if
Coinbase
was
“screwing
around
with
their
bitcoin.”
