April Recap – The fourth Bitcoin Halving is complete, VERIFIED Podcast episode #2, indexing the blockchain and more

Bitcoin Suisse

April Recap – The fourth Bitcoin Halving is complete, VERIFIED Podcast episode #2, indexing the blockchain and more

May 1, 2024 - 5 min read

We were delighted to host some of our valued clients at our Halving BBQ event held at our partner venue CV Labs in Zug. On April 20, 2024, at block 840’000, Bitcoin’s mining rewards underwent a significant reduction, halving to 3.125 Bitcoin per block. The Bitcoin halving has a significant impact on the supply rate of BTC and ensures its disinflationary monetary properties. We thank everyone for joining us in celebrating this momentous event and we are eagerly awaiting the next halving in 2028!

Lothar Cerjak, Chief Clients Officer

Products & Services

STOXX Digital Asset Blue Chip Index

What makes a blue chip in the digital assets space?

STOXX recently published a blogpost about blue chip status in the digital assets space. The article examines blue-chip digital assets, focusing on their key traits like market capitalization, liquidity, and regulatory compliance, but emphasizes the importance of other factors, such as investor trust, brand recognition and strong community networks.

The STOXX Digital Asset Blue Chip Index was developed in cooperation with Bitcoin Suisse, using the Bitcoin Suisse Global Crypto Taxonomy as systematic underlying. The official bell ringing ceremony for the 1Valour STOXX Bitcoin Suisse Digital Asset Blue Chip ETP recently took place at Deutsche Börse in Frankfurt.

Bitcoin Halving

The Bitcoin halving 2024 is a done deal

The fourth Bitcoin halving took place on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at block 840’000, reducing block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125. The halving was carried out without any disruption, with Bitcoin prices being rather subdued afterwards in contrast to previous halvings. You can read the last article from the Bitcoin Suisse Halving Hub here, covering the Bitcoin market cycles after the first three halvings.

Bitcoin Suisse, together with CV Labs, hosted a Bitcoin Halving BBQ for clients the following week. The BBQ featured an expert panel with speakers from Insight DeFi, 21Shares, and 21Analytics. As the Bitcoin halving 2024 drew to a close, Investment Analyst and Crypto Researcher Denis Oevermann interviewed our Co-Founder Fabian Hediger.

Circle x Bitcoin Suisse

New Fundamental: What is USDC?

Bitcoin Suisse and Circle entered a partnership at the beginning of the year to expand USDC liquidity in Europe. Circle is the issuer of the leading USD-based stablecoin, USDC. In the newest article of our Fundamentals series, we focus on USDC, explaining what it is, elaborating further on stablecoins and why we need them. Read the new Fundamentals piece here.

Company & Industry Highlights

VERIFIED Podcast

Second episode: “Everything season?" with Matt Hougan

Welcome to the second episode of the VERFIED Podcast! This time, we are joined by Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, the largest crypto index fund manager in America.

In their discussion with Matt, hosts Dominic Weibel and Laurent Irgolic delve into the rapid growth of Bitcoin ETFs and the bright prospects for digital assets in the institutional arena. They explore the growing interest in Ethereum ETFs, and the implications of institutional investments in the crypto market. Matt predicts ‘The Everything Season’, driven by new investments from institutional players and the existing wealth within the crypto community. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or watch on YouTube, and on all other major podcast platforms

CfC St. Moritz Industry Insights

Indexing the blockchain

Laurent Irgolic, Senior Business Analyst at Bitcoin Suisse, wrote an article for CfC St. Moritz regarding the indexing of the blockchain. The introduction of the Bitcoin spot ETFs has sparked a shift in investor sentiment, with some reallocating funds from gold ETFs to Bitcoin. The performance of those spot ETFs signals growing confidence in digital assets, potentially paving the way for Ethereum to follow suit. European exchanges have already introduced a variety of crypto investment products, with index providers like STOXX and MSCI offering contrasting approaches to indexing digital assets, indicating a maturing market. As institutional adoption and ETF products continue to emerge, the investment landscape for crypto assets is evolving, suggesting a future where crypto assets become a staple in retirement portfolios.

Institutional Staking

Yves Holenstein in Random Walk Network podcast

Yves Holenstein, Head Custody and Staking at Bitcoin Suisse, joined the Random Walk Network podcast for an episode to explore the complex world of institutional staking. Covering many topics, Yves discusses what operational and regulatory challenges are being faced in staking, and what industry developments Bitcoin Suisse expects to come. Check out the podcast on Spotify.

L’Agefi article on staking in Switzerland

Luzius Meisser and Roman Vollenweider with insights on staking at Bitcoin Suisse

The Swiss newspaper L’Agefi has published an article on staking in Switzerland. The article introduces staking in general and highlights Switzerland’s pioneering role. Bitcoin Suisse Chairman Luzius Meisser and Roman Vollenweider, Product Owner Staking, shared insights on Bitcoin Suisse’s staking services as one of the world’s largest custodial-staking providers, explained how the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism works and elaborated on FINMA’s guidance on staking in Switzerland. Read the article here (available in French).

Bitcoin Suisse at Finanzmesse 2024

Lothar Cerjak participating in Open Forum panel at Finanz ‘24

Chief Clients Officer Lothar Cerjak was part of an Open Forum panel discussion at Finanzmesse 2024, Switzerland’s largest financial fair. Among the key take-aways of the panel are the significance of innovations such as the STOXX Digital Asset Blue Chip Index considering the new developments with Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S., the importance of new thought-provoking impulses such as the Bitcoin initiative for adding Bitcoin as National Bank's reserves, and how Switzerland has to adapt to changing crypto regulations in Europe to maintain its crypto-friendly stance.

Research

Uncut Gems: Layer N

Hyper performant and hyper composable execution with David Cao

In the latest episode of Uncut Gems, Head of Research Dominic Weibel sits down with David Cao, Co-founder of Layer N. David sheds light on Layer N's core pillars, including the Statenet - a shared state machine powered by custom rollups, XVMs - Layer N's custom VMs for unparalleled performance, and the inter-VM communication protocol enabling a vibrant multi-VM ecosystem. We'll also discuss how Layer N is redefining scalability while preserving the power of network effects – the cornerstone of dApps, developer adoption, and a thriving user base. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch it on YouTube.

The Weekly Wrap

The latest news at a glance

Stay informed about the latest news in the world of crypto with the Weekly Wrap from Bitcoin Suisse every Friday. You can sign up for the Weekly Wrap here.

Last month’s editions at a glance:

Bitcoin Suisse