Cathie Wood Calls Bitcoin a "Financial Highway," Reiterates $1.5 Million Price Target;

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Cathie Wood calls Bitcoin a "financial highway" and reiterates her $1.5 million price target.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood called Bitcoin (BTC) a "financial highway" at Friday's Bitcoin Investor Day conference in New York, emphasizing the cryptocurrency's important use case in emerging markets and reiterating her previous $1.5 million price target.

Wood said the asset manager focuses on emerging markets and the global macro environment, and she said of countries like Nigeria, "There are signs that not everything in the world is 'good,' and Nigeria is one of the biggest adopters of Bitcoin due to the significant devaluation of the country's currency." wood thus views Bitcoin as a safe-haven and risk asset.

[Do Kwon to be released from Montenegrin prison with restrictions on leaving the country]

Terraform co-founder Do Kwon will be released from prison in Montenegro, but he will remain in the Balkans with restrictions on leaving the country as he faces criminal charges filed by authorities in several countries, the Montenegrin daily Vijesti reported.

The High Court of Montenegro reportedly ordered the confiscation of the South Korean cryptocurrency tycoon's passport on Friday to prevent him from leaving the country.According to the court's order, Kwon is set to leave Spuž Prison on Saturday.Prosecutors are opposed to Kwon's extradition to South Korea, preferring him to be sent to the U.S., where he could face a much longer prison sentence if he is convicted.

U.S. SEC Chairman: Crypto Market Needs "A Little Disinfectant"

Speaking at a Columbia Law School conference, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said, "Some participants in the cryptocurrency securities market have tried to avoid registration requirements, and no registration means no mandatory disclosure. many would agree that the cryptocurrency market could use a little disinfectant."

Gensler emphasized that cryptocurrency exchanges need to register with regulators and that crypto firms are subject to the same rules as traditional financial firms. he highlighted in his speech the need for disclosures in financial markets, such as information on climate and cyber risks, that can improve market efficiency and ultimately protect investors.

Galaxy's Head of Research: Spot Ether ETF Approval in May Seems "Highly Unlikely"

According to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, approval of a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May now looks "highly unlikely".
Thorn said the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued subpoenas to crypto companies with ties to the Ether Foundation, coupled with the SEC's lack of active engagement with ETF applicants two months before the first deadline, raises questions about the May approval.

Thorn believes that if the SEC takes action against ETH or the Ether Foundation's ICO, it will mean a significant escalation in enforcement by the commission, which currently faces challenges in the courts and on Capitol Hill.

[OKX CEO tweets to dispel rumors of "arrest in the U.S."]

OKX CEO Xu Xingxing (Star) posted an angry emoticon on the X platform in response to rumors that he had been "arrested in the United States," in an attempt to deny the rumors.

[The U.S. SEC is asking for millions of dollars in additional budgets and dozens of lawyers to strengthen crypto regulation]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), led by Gary Gensler, has asked for a multimillion-dollar budget and dozens of additional lawyers to strengthen crypto regulation, according to the U.S. regulator's annual budget.The SEC's enforcement division wants to add 33 attorneys to its staff to deal with "emerging issues," partly in order to address the "evolving risks" of cryptocurrency activity, among other things.

Much of the SEC's recently added workload is said to come from the agency's investigations into cryptocurrency businesses, such as Coinbase Inc, Kraken and Binance.

[BlackRock's Head of Digital Assets: Crypto Other Than Bitcoin and Ether Not a Firm Focus]

According to Fox's Eleanor Terrett, Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, spoke about the asset manager's views on other crypto products, "Bitcoin is definitely the No. 1 priority for our clients. and then part of that is ethereum, and pretty much nothing else."

Robert Mitchnick said the crypto community would like to see BlackRock launch more other crypto products, but "that's not our focus."