First Mover Americas: VanEck’s ETF Volume Surges, Fairshake Raises Another $5M

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

Trading volumes of VanEck’s HODL, one of the 10 spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., surged over 2,200% on Tuesday in a move driven by individual traders. More than $400 million of HODL changed hands on Tuesday, compared with its daily average of $17 million. The figures came a day ahead of VanEck’s planned fee cut to 0.20% from 0.25%. HODL’s volumes were the third-largest after Grayscale’s GBTC and BlockRock’s IBIT, the usual leaders. The ETF held nearly $200 million worth of bitcoin as of Feb. 20, data shows.

Billionaire Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (GLXY) has new coverage at Canaccord Genuity, which initiated the stock with a buy rating and a C$17 ($12.6) price target. Galaxy “represents one of the most diversified ways to play digital assets,” wrote analyst Joseph Vafi, whose price target suggests 30% upside from the current C$13. Galaxy’s institutional trading business is a “share gainer,” said Vafi, citing the upcoming launch of its crypto prime brokerage platform, Galaxy One. Combine that with the price gains surrounding the spot ETFs and the upcoming halving and trading should do well, according to Vafi.

Fairshake, a super political action committee (PAC) backing crypto-friendly candidates, has now received funding of a total of $4.9 million from billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Bloomberg reported, citing the latest federal filings. The twins, who are co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini and heavyweight bitcoin (BTC) investors, were initial investors in Fairshake, revealed in the first announcement on Dec. 18, 2023. They join a list of high-profile crypto investors backing the super PAC, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and ARK Invest as well as crypto companies such as Circle, Ripple, Coinbase (COIN) and others.

– Omkar Godbole