Bitcoin Pumps’n’Dumps After SEC Spot ETF Confirmation Denied; Ed Snowden Says ‘Focus On Crypto Fundamentals’

Update (0945ET): Just as we suspected, the CoinTelegraph tweet appears to be incorrect as Fox’s Eleanor Terrett confirms…

🚨BlackRock has just confirmed to me that this is false. Their application is still under review. https://t.co/XIfIWZ0Ule

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 16, 2023

Oops!

Cointelegraph edits tweet, adding ‘reportedly’ 💀 pic.twitter.com/NWAPT9aLqp

— db (@tier10k) October 16, 2023

Which has pushed Bitcoin back down to $28k…

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Following the surge in crude oil, gold, and bonds late last week as tension escalated in the Middle East, it appears Bitcoin is the latest to feel the squeezey alternate/safe-haven flows as the crypto currency has exploded higher this morning, topping $30,000 for the first time since August…

This moves comes after SEC’s decision not to appeal the court’s ruling against them over Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF application.

While we are yet to confirm, the move appears to have been driven by  a CoinTelegraph tweet that the SEC has approved a Spot Bitcoin ETF…

We would be highly surprised that the SEC would have folded so fast on this, so trade accordingly. Meanwhile the discount on GBTC has dropped to 2 year lows…

Additionally, as CoinTelegraph reports, prominent Bitcoiners and contemporary adopters highlighted the need to focus on the fundamental value proposition of Bitcoin to continue its push to mainstream acceptance in the packed Genesis Stage hall at Bitcoin Amsterdam.

“We’re contorting ourselves to pass through the keyhole of tyranny.”

Edward Snowden’s words ring out , stressing the preeminent cryptocurrency’s ever-increasing importance in a world beset by creeping government surveillance, devaluing fiat currencies and restrictive policies.

The renowned whistleblower’s address summed up a recurring theme during the conference hosted in Amsterdam, driving home the role of decentralized protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr in handing individuals some semblance of control over their wealth and privacy.

Cointelegraph spoke to prominent Bitcoin developers, investors, builders and supporters attending the two day conference at the picturesque Westerpark. In the midst of the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market that has tested the wider industry, the event managed to attract a couple of thousand event-goers looking for the latest news and insights from the BTC industry.

Edward Snowden delivers a live virtual address during the conference.

While these prominent figures highlighted the value proposition of Bitcoin as a store of value against diminishing purchasing power of fiat currencies, Snowden was critical of the continual focus on the value of BTC over its importance as decentralized tool:

“We are all part of a bigger game and Bitcoin is one of the strongest levers in that. The systems that we are influencing, that we are exerting leverage on – payments and finance – will shape what the world of tomorrow looks like.”

Snowden’s address attracted arguably the biggest gathering of visitors during the conference, as he revisited the role that Bitcoin played in his own journey rebelling against the hegemony of the U.S. government and its wanton surveillance of its citizens.

In 2013, Snowden used Bitcoin to pay for the servers that hosted classified information that was sent to journalists that would reveal the overreach of the National Security Agency. As Snowden elaborated, Bitcoin’s increasing prominence has led to increasing opposition from governments, lawmakers and legacy financial institutions.

“We don’t want to focus on things like ETFs (exchange-traded funds), we need to focus on the fundamentals.”

Snowden added that the potential influence of Bitcoin ETFs on the value of the cryptocurrency represents “subordination, a kind of subjugation, a process of taming” that is being played out by institutions that regulate traditional financial spheres.

Snowden also shared his belief that Bitcoin has ‘a privacy problem’, highlighting the emergence of obfuscation tools like coinjoin and mixers as important, but equally indicative of the pressure facing the decentralized protocol.

“Acting in secret is not freedom. The necessity of coinjoins and so on – that is because you are un-free. Proof of funds is proof of unfreedom.”

Snowden said that society needs to stop asking for permission by continuing to innovate with the creation of decentralized tools that do not heed to the powers that be, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s actions against the wider cryptocurrency space in 2023 as a prime example of the control that currently exists:

“All of the people tracking price and looking at headlines involving the SEC. Gary Gensler is not Daddy Bitcoin. I don’t really care what he thinks and I don’t think you should either.”

The whistleblower also tipped his hat to the creation of Nostr, which he described as powerful in conceptualizing the integration of free speech and free trade. The creators of Nostr would later unpack the genesis of the platform at the conference, which also drew a significant crowd.