Brazil's largest bank Itaú Unibanco has announced expanding its Bitcoin and Ether trading services to all customers. Itaú Unibanco is one of the largest private banks in Latin America. It has more than 60 million customers. And only a small portion of that number were given opportunity to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with the bank back in December 2023, when the crypto experiment was first announced. The bank launched its investment platform – ‘Ion’ – and initially, the bank offered the services to selected clients. The bank said it would slowly open the new opportunities to wider customer base who download the platform’s app. Obviously, the experiment proved to be successful. Guto Antunes, head of Itaú Digital Assets, explained that the bank has been carrying out weekly surveys with customers for whom cryptocurrency operations were permitted. The survey found high degree of acceptance among the clients. The bank currently supports Bitcoin and Ether trading. But other tokens will be added as customer demand rises. Itaú Unibanco created all the tools internally. That includes crypto wallets for each client. The app has already been downloaded over 3.5 million time both in iOS and Android.

Solana might beat Ethereum and become the new altcoin leader. It might happen quite soon, in the next crypto cycle, some analysts claim. According to a recent post from Gumshoe, all the charts show that if the current bull market continue, Solana will continue to float higher than other altcoins. Analyst notes that this will continue the trend seen from the better part of 2023. Solana kept rising from obscurity to become one of the top performers. It was even outdoing Bitcoin at times. As of now, Solana is up 100% from January 2023 lows and roughly 8X from the pits of September 2023. Sceptics might say that Solana is experiencing a kind of cool-off after the recent rally. But it is hard to deny the uptrend. And there are some more factors that influence the whole picture. Solana is quickly becoming a default choice for all kinds of mem coin deployers. Miscellaneous institutions tend to massively adopt Solana as their primary blockchain. Cheap and fast transactions are key features that drive the proccess. Solana boasts a theoretical throughput of up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS). Meanwhile, though Ethereum has the largest network, it can only process 15 transactions every second. That leads to higher transaction fees. Awaiting times for transaction on Ethereum can be pretty annoying. PayPal, Visa and Stripe are in the list of Solana adopters already. All that is happening even despite the ongoing challenges and legal hurdles. United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently filed a number of lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. SEC states that Solana is an unregistered security. That, by the way, might be a serious obstacle if Solana ever tries to get its own ETFs (exchange-traded funds). The other problem here is the significantly under developed futures market. Its absence might be a problem for Solana ETFs either.

VanEck, a leading investment firm, has made a bold prediction for Ethereum (ETH). According to their latest report, Ether's price could surge to $22,000 by 2030. This forecast comes as part of a broader bullish outlook on the cryptocurrency market. The firm attributes this potential rise to several key factors. One major factor is the increasing adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi applications, built on Ethereum, are revolutionizing the financial industry. This growing ecosystem is expected to drive significant demand for ETH. Additionally, VanEck highlights the ongoing upgrades to the Ethereum network. The transition to Ethereum 2.0 promises enhanced scalability and security. These improvements are likely to attract more users and developers, further boosting ETH’s value. Another critical factor is institutional interest. VanEck points out that more institutions are investing in Ethereum. This influx of institutional capital is expected to play a substantial role in driving up the price of ETH. However, the report also notes potential risks. Regulatory challenges and market volatility could impact Ethereum’s growth. Despite these risks, VanEck remains optimistic about ETH’s long-term prospects.

The recent approval of Ethereum ETFs by the SEC is a clear signal that more altcoin ETFs will follow, according to Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov. The approval of multiple form 19b-4 filings from major financial players like BlackRock and Fidelity paves the way for Ethereum ETFs in the US market. Nazarov asserts that this regulatory green light is not limited to Ethereum. He believes other crypto assets will soon receive similar approvals, expanding access for institutional investors. "The launch of the ETH ETF shows that the Bitcoin ETF is just the beginning," Nazarov stated. He predicts a future where various tokens, beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, will be accessible through traditional financial market vehicles. This sentiment echoes Nazarov’s earlier comments on the significance of the spot Bitcoin ETF. He called it a "watershed moment" for the industry, suggesting it would draw substantial capital from global finance into the crypto market. The idea is that the entry of net new buyers from the global financial system could drive significant market adoption. "The Bitcoin ETF is an initial offering that integrates cryptocurrency into the existing financial framework," he explained. This integration is crucial for mainstream adoption and risk management for institutional investors. The approval of the Ethereum ETF marks a critical step in this evolution. It indicates a broader acceptance and a growing willingness among regulators to embrace crypto assets. This move is expected to set a precedent for future altcoin ETFs, potentially leading to a diversified and robust crypto investment landscape. As the crypto market evolves, the introduction of more ETFs could catalyze further growth and mainstream acceptance. Investors and market participants will be watching closely to see which altcoins are next in line for ETF approval.

The race between Bitcoin and Ethereum has always been a hot topic. Some say that Ethereum surpassing Bitcoin, often termed "The Flippening," is only a matter of time. The analyst JC highlighted several factors favoring Ethereum's rise, including its larger user base and the multifaceted utility of its smart contracts. Bitcoin, with a market cap of over $1.3 trillion, currently trades above $68,000 per coin. In contrast, Ethereum, trading around $3,800, holds a market cap of approximately $465 billion. Despite Bitcoin's significant market cap advantage, JC believes Ethereum's superior utility positions it for future dominance. The analyst emphasized Ethereum's extensive developer ecosystem, noting that platforms like Uniswap and Aave generate more daily fees than Bitcoin. Additionally, Ethereum's dual role as a store of value and medium of exchange gives it an edge over Bitcoin, which primarily serves as a value transfer layer. From an infrastructure standpoint, the ease of becoming an Ethereum validator, requiring only a stake of 32 ETH, contrasts sharply with the specialized hardware needed for Bitcoin mining. This accessibility has led to over 1.9 million Ethereum validators, further strengthening its network. The upcoming approval of spot Ethereum ETFs by the SEC is seen as a bullish signal. However, regulatory clarity on whether Ethereum is a security or commodity remains an uncertain issue. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission views it as a commodity, while the SEC's stance is less clear. As the debate continues, the potential for Ethereum to outpace Bitcoin grows stronger. With its robust infrastructure and broader applications, Ethereum seems poised to lead the next phase of the cryptocurrency market. Of course, Bitcoin maximalists will strongly disagree. As usually, their point is quite simple. Bitcoin is the only ‘true’ cryptocurrency, with its scarcity being a warrant that no manipulations are possible to take advantage of the market. Well, we’ll have to wait and see whose point makes more sense.