The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved several spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are likely to start trading later today, July 23.

Bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin has dropped its plan to go public and shuttered its managed mining operation, in a decision that comes along with staff cuts across several units.

Hong Kong is set to launch Asia's first inverse bitcoin exchange-traded fund, allowing investors to bet on a decline in the cryptocurrency’s price.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• SEC Greenlights Spot Ether ETFs
• Swan Bitcoin Halts IPO Plans, Shuts Down Mining Operations Amid Staff Cuts
• Hong Kong to Debut Asia's First Inverse Bitcoin ETF

SEC Greenlights Spot Ether ETFs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved several spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are likely to start trading later today, July 23.

Seven issuers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck, have received the green light from the SEC to launch their spot Ether ETFs. While Grayscale Investments’ effective prospectuses had not yet been released.

The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year ignited a surge in demand for BTC that helped its price reach a record high in March above the $73,000 mark. Experts expect spot Ether ETFs to attract between 20% of the flows spot Bitcoin ETFs saw in their first few months.

The SEC has raised questions about whether ETH itself should be classified as a security under its purview, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) classifies both BTC and ETH as commodities.

Ether relies on a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm that allows holders to stake their funds to help secure the network, and earn yield on their holdings as a result. The SEC has sued blockchain technology firm Consensys over its offering of access to staked Ether on MetaMask.

For now, none of the approved spot Ether ETFs will be able to stake the Ether they hold.

Swan Bitcoin Halts IPO Plans, Shuts Down Mining Operations Amid Staff Cuts

Bitcoin financial services firm Swan Bitcoin has dropped its plan to go public and shuttered its managed mining operation, in a decision that comes along with staff cuts across several units.

Cory Klippsten, Swan’s Chief Executive Officer, said in a social media post that the company would focus on its core business of providing bitcoin financial services and education, adding it was pulling its plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future.

The company also announced layoffs “across many functions” as it scales back its spending. Earlier this year Swan announced plans to go public within a year and had invested heavily in its mining operation, which boasted 4.5 EH/s of computing power.

The company had secured over $100 million in funding from institutional investors, including Tether, to expand its mining business.

Hong Kong to Debut Asia's First Inverse Bitcoin ETF

Hong Kong is set to launch Asia's first inverse bitcoin exchange-traded fund, allowing investors to bet on a decline in the cryptocurrency’s price.

Hong Kong’s CSOP Asset Management is set to launch the CSOP Bitcoin Futures Daily (-1x) inverse product on the city’s stock exchange later today which comes after several spot crypto ETFs went public in Hong Kong back in April.

The fund aims to offer investors a return matching the one-time inverse daily performance of the S&P Bitcoin Futures Index, and comes from the same firm that launched Asia's first Bitcoin futures ETF in Hong Kong.

The high volatility of Bitcoin, surpassing even that of oil and the Nasdaq 100 in recent years, makes it an attractive target for such an inverse product allowing traders to gain from Bitcoin’s downside movements.

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