Sup, nerds!

Here’s what you’re getting in today’s edition:

• 💅 This is cool: “Sign up with email” is coming to Solana

• 🔎 This seems important: ETH ETFs have a 75% chance of approval!

• 🤝 Partner: 2478 everyday investors shared $1,123,615 net profit on a Monet​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: One of the most important bills for crypto (ever) is about to be voted on

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ask Web(GPT)3!):
Crypto wallet, hot wallet.

💅 This is cool:

“Sign up with email” is Coming to a Solana Wallet Near You!

In one sentence: The Phantom wallet is planning to bring a “sign up w email” experience to the Solana ecosystem, with its acquisition of the Bitski embed wallet.

Are you afraid to help your dad set up a crypto wallet, in fears the needless complexity will have him stomp his phone and write you out of the will?

(Same!)

Well, we have good news!

Phantom, the Solana-based/Ethereum friendly hot wallet just bought Bitski.

(Ok, that didn’t really get the point across).

Bitski is an ‘embed’ wallet — which means the wallet set up process looks like this:

1. Enter your email.

2. Choose a password.

3. That’s it, there’re only two steps.

And with this Bitski acquisition, Phantom plans to bring that experience to the Solana ecosystem.

Which is a breath of fresh mountain air — and a clear solution to the common “this is too hard, I can’t be bothered” argument made (rightly so) by our friends and family.

But beyond that — vaulting this user experience hurdle sets a standard for others to adopt, which in turn: sets the stage for mass adoption.

We love to see it!

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

Ethereum ETFs Just Got Upgraded to a 75% Likelihood of Launch This Thursday

In one sentence: The SEC just requested ETH ETF applicants to submit last minute 19b-4 filings, which is the same thing that happened before the BTC ETFs were approved.

What. Just. Happened.

In case you missed the madness this week:

Late Monday afternoon, Bloomberg updated their projected likelihood of an Ethereum ETF getting approved, from 25% to 75%.

(For those of you playing at home, an ETH ETF = a way to buy ETH via the US stock market, which would likely attract a ton of investment).

Which is how we got this triumphant m’fer:

This marked a ~30% jump in price on the week, and a 219% surge in 24hr trading volume.

So how did it happen?

Well, the SEC just requested a bunch of spot ETF applicants to submit revised 19b-4 filings, which are what firms use to propose rule changes to the SEC, ahead of Thursday’s decision.

And when last minute 19b-4 filings were requested for firms looking to launch the first ever Bitcoin ETFs, it was done just days before approvals were made.

Ok, but why? All signs pointed to denial up until Monday…

The assumption is: politics.

Trump has been publicly endorsing crypto of late, while Biden has been doing the polar opposite — even going as far as to say he’d veto the SAB-121 bill (which would allow banks to hold crypto) if congress passed it.

Well. They passed it.

And a bunch of democrats dissented by voting in favor of the bill, which likely sent a message to the White House that crypto might be a vote-swinging topic this election.

So then (again, this is an assumption) Biden called Gary (Gensler, the SEC chair) and told him to approve the ETF.

All that said: we won’t know for sure until Thursday.

…but if it does get approved — we will likely enter a Raoul Pal-patented ‘banana zone’ of price appreciation.

🤝 Partner:

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Every single one of Masterworks’ 16 sales has returned a profit to investors, for a 100% positive net return track record. With 3 recent sales, Masterworks investors realized net annualized returns of 17.6%, 21.5% and 35%. 

How does it work? Simple, Masterworks does all of the heavy lifting like finding the painting, buying it, storing it, and eventually selling it. It files each offering with the SEC so that nearly anyone can invest in highly coveted artworks for just a fraction of the price of the entire piece. 

Shares of every offering are limited, but Web3 Daily readers can skip the waitlist to join with this exclusive link.

🔪 Let's dissect this:

One of the Most Important Bills for Crypto (ever) is About to be Voted On

In one sentence: Today the House is voting on the ‘Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act,’ which, if passed, will provide a huge step forwards towards regulatory clarity in the US.

We know the bottom half of this edition is pretty heavy on the ‘Government bills leading to big impacts on crypto’ side of things.

But those things are dang important!

You’d be preaching to the choir if you told us that crypto was one of the most important innovations in the past 15 years.

It’s huge! It impacts the financial system. But there’s always been one thing missing…

Regulations to follow.

Today - Wednesday 22nd May - the House is voting on a little thing called the ‘Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act’ (FIT21 for short).

The three BIG things it aims to do are:

1. Clarify questions around which agencies have the responsibility to regulate various aspects of the crypto industry

2. Create consumer protections for the 52 million Americans who own crypto

3. Give web3 developers looking to launch projects in the U.S. clear rules to play by.

Here’s what’s exciting about this:

Previous versions of this bill have had bipartisan support, with both Democrats and Republicans stating that the bill would “promote a secure, innovative, and inclusive financial future.”

And in order to get a bill through the House right now you pretty much need support from both sides.

What could happen next?

Before we get too excited, there’s still quite a long way to go.

If FIT21 passes in the House, the bill’s next stop would be the Senate.

Aside from a straightforward vote, one possible approach that has been suggested is tying FIT21 to one of Congress’s larger spending bills before the end of the year.

Whatever happens, this is going to be a huge week for crypto in the US.

Here’s hoping for a positive result 🙏

Ethereum, Explained