Bitcoin ETFs, regulatory clarity, and a bunch of innovation ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ Three big things shaping crypto’s future Hi there, My name is Danish Ajmeri, and I’m the head of crypto at Wealthsimple. With the recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, crypto has gotten a lot of mainstream coverage lately — and for good reason. But it’s not the only development worth noting. Here’s our take on the new ETFs and two other factors that will strongly influence crypto’s next 12 months and beyond. 1. Bitcoin ETFs On January 10, the SEC greenlit the launch of 11 Bitcoin ETFs. This development is significant because it: widens crypto’s availability, offering highly regulated, established investment vehicles to traditional institutions, financial advisors, asset managers, and their clients allows American investors to include Bitcoin in their retirement accounts sets the stage for other crypto ETFs (an Ethereum equivalent could come as early as May) paves the way for additional crypto regulation and clarity in the United States 2. Global regulatory clarity (and the removal of some major bad actors) Last year saw several jurisdictions — including Canada, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE — offer crucial clarity for the crypto industry. At the same time, there was a substantial industry cleanup: along with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, ill-intentioned or negligent executives from FTX, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and Terra were prosecuted. Both developments should make crypto a safer place to invest. 3. Innovation In the relative calm of the recent bear market, developers focused on building projects that can move the industry forward. Here are some things we anticipate seeing over the next 12 months: NFTs becoming a new form of revenue on the Bitcoin network, and an improved Lightning network increasing transaction speed lower fees and increased throughput on Ethereum, thanks to layer 2 networks using restaking to leverage Ethereum’s economic security to other networks and drive new experimentation a revived Solana community supporting thousands of transactions per second new crypto-enabled games, real-world assets (e.g. U.S. treasury yields) on chain, and wide-scale adoption of stablecoins across Latin America, Asia, and Africa What’s next? With inflation more under control in the U.S. and Canada, interest rates are expected to begin to fall in 2024. This could drive more "risk-on" behaviour, ultimately leading to more capital flowing into the stock and crypto markets. Additionally, it’s worth pointing out that the next bitcoin halving (every four years the reward for mining crypto is cut in half to help control inflation and maintain scarcity) will occur this year. In the past that has kicked off bull markets, but of course there’s no guarantee that would happen again. Although the last 18 months have been among the toughest ever for crypto, it is still a young industry, and challenges can lead to growth. There is a lot of innovation to be excited about in crypto in 2024, we’re excited to bring it to you. Best regards, Danish Ajmeri Head of Crypto Cut your crypto trading fees in half When you become a Wealthsimple Premium client, we’ll drop your trading fees from 2% to 1%. For Generation clients, we’ll make it 0.5%. Learn more Wealthsimple, 80 Spadina Ave Suite 400 Toronto, ON, M5V 2J4 Refer a Friend Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Replies to this email address are not monitored. Have questions? Visit our Help Centre or submit a request to our Client Support team. Crypto is offered by Wealthsimple Investments Inc. (WSII), a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). Crypto assets purchased and held in an account with Wealthsimple Crypto are not protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other investor protection insurance scheme. You can learn more about the risks of crypto assets in our Crypto Product Risk Disclosure. You can find more information about WSII in our Relationship Disclosure. Any coins showcased are for illustration purposes only and are not recommendations or investment advice. © 2024 Wealthsimple Technologies Inc.