What happened in crypto this weekend?

Analysts ‘increasingly confident’ of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval

Financial analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald are “increasingly confident” that the United States regulator will grant approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, based on recent amendments to pending ETF applications.

VanEck was the most recent firm to amend its spot Bitcoin ETF application on Oct. 27 and financial firms such as BlackRock have followed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request in adding surveillance-sharing agreements over the last few months.

Andddddd @vaneck_us joins the amendment filings for spot #bitcoin ETF issuers. h/t @NateGeraci pic.twitter.com/zdYuUTAaE6

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) October 29, 2023

Cantor Fitzgerald research analysts Josh Siegler and Will Carlson told Bloomberg in an Oct. 29 report that an approved spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States will be “a bedrock moment for Bitcoin’s long-term adoption and legitimization.”

Siegler and Carlson said an approved spot Bitcoin ETF product would also streamline many services for prospective Bitcoin investors, such as finding a custodian and self-storage services.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has pumped 16.5% over the last week to a high of $34,715 amid speculation that BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application is inching closer towards approval.

The Cantor Fitzgerald analysts noted that such approval will remain the main force behind Bitcoin’s price movement over the short-term.

“A Bitcoin Spot ETF approval is the most-important short-term catalyst for Bitcoin’s price.”

Two-thirds of all bitcoin has not moved in over a year, an all-time high.

These people owned bitcoin when FTX blew up, and did not sell. They saw bitcoin rise more than 100% this year, and did not sell.

Do you expect them to sell now, before a bitcoin ETF is approved? pic.twitter.com/SgLey8NG0R

— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) October 26, 2023

Siegler and Carlson added that Grayscale’s recent court victory over the SEC is another sign that spot Bitcoin ETFs could eventually be approved.

Astrid Finance exploiter returns $182K after negotiation

The team behind Astrid Finance have managed to convince an exploiter to return 80% of the $227,000 in crypto they stole in an Oct. 28 attack.

Astrid, an Ethereum-based liquid staking protocol was exploited on Oct. 28. However, Astrid said it managed to convince the hacker using an on-chain message on Oct. 29 to keep 20% of the funds as a bounty and return the rest.

At the time, the Astrid team threatened to pursue legal action against the hacker if the funds weren’t returned by Oct. 31 at 8:00 am UTC time, however he decided to comply with more than a full day to spare.

“As such we consider this as settled amicably,” Astrid said in an Oct. 29 statement.

Hacker has decided to return our funds (minus 20% as per the bounty), as such we consider this as settled amicably.https://t.co/5hLsQ7NDrr

We want to specially thank @HypernativeLabs for alerting us the soonest and guiding us through the entire process

Next steps:

— Astrid | Restaking Pool (@AstridFinance) October 29, 2023

The hacker sent back 102 Ether (ETH), worth about $182,000 from the approximated 127 Ether stolen.

Astrid said all refunds have now been processed and that left over funds will now be transferred into a multisignature wallet.

Those funds will be used to further audit and develop Astrid’s smart contracts, which the firm says will be its next focus.

“Our next steps are to focus on redeveloping our smart contracts and have our new smart contracts audited by multiple top audit firms before any future Mainnet launch,” the firm said.

Astrid added that its current contract will remain paused for the time being.

As all refunds have been processed, remaining funds will be moved to our governance multisig to be used for development and auditing of our new smart contracts.https://t.co/L561etjzZE

— Astrid | Restaking Pool (@AstridFinance) October 29, 2023

Astrid initially said the exploit came from a fix recommended by one of its auditors. However the firm backtracked on that statement about an hour later, explaining that the exploit was “missed” by Astrid and its auditing team.

Correction: https://t.co/NL6jgviRFE

— Astrid | Restaking Pool (@AstridFinance) October 28, 2023

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele to run again in next election

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has filed paperwork to be re-elected in the country’s upcoming 2024 presidential election in February.

Bukele, a Bitcoin advocate, received strong support from the public on Oct. 26 after he registered to run as president again.

| ÚLTIMA HORA: Al grito de “cinco más, cinco más y ni un paso atrás” Nayib Bukele da su discurso delante de miles de Salvadoreños luego de inscribir su candidatura presidencial para la reelección. “Necesitamos 5 años para seguir mejorando nuestro país.” pic.twitter.com/ApaP8yyQBm

— Eduardo Menoni (@eduardomenoni)