The Daily: Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund discloses $437M BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buy, Trump memecoin surges 50% and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

It's Friday! No Valentine's Day plans? No worries, we've got a crypto update you'll absolutely love.

In today's newsletter, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund discloses $437 million in Bitcoin ETF holdings, President Trump's memecoin surges 50%, the SEC acknowledges proposals for Grayscale's XRP and Dogecoin ETFs and more.

Let's get started.

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund declares $437 million BlackRock Bitcoin ETF investment

Abu Dhabi bought $436.9 million worth of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT in Q4, according to a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

• One of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds, the Mubadala Investment Company, acquired the shares on behalf of the city's government, which serves as the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
• The purchase(s) came in the same quarter that BlackRock secured a commercial license to operate in Abu Dhabi.
• IBIT currently dominates the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market, attracting over $41 billion in net inflows since launching in January 2024, with $56 billion in assets under management, according to The Block's Bitcoin ETF Tracker Page .
• This marks one of the largest crypto-related investments ever made on behalf of Abu Dhabi.
• The Abu Dhabi government also invested in Bitcoin mining in 2023, including a partnership to develop a large infrastructure complex.

Official Trump memecoin surges 50%

President Trump's official memecoin surged nearly 50% over the last 24 hours to $23.93 — its highest level in two weeks — generating $3.4 billion in trading volume.

• The TRUMP token was listed for trading Thursday on South Korea's Upbit and also received bullish commentary from former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, trumpeting its potential.
• Only 20% of TRUMP (200 million tokens) are unlocked, while 80% are allocated to a company linked to President Trump and the project's team.
• Other Solana-based tokens, such as Jupiter (20%) and Jito (15%), also outperformed on Friday, with Solana itself up over 5%.

SEC weighs proposals for Grayscale's XRP and Dogecoin ETFs

The SEC acknowledged NYSE Arca's 19b-4 filings for Grayscale's proposed conversion of its XRP and Dogecoin Trusts into spot ETFs late Thursday.

• The agency asked for public comments on the ETFs to be filed 21 days after being published in the Federal Register, after which the SEC could decide to approve, disapprove or "institute proceedings."
• A 19b-4 filing is the second part of the two-step process for proposing a spot crypto ETF, and its acknowledgment triggers the SEC's approval process.
• Grayscale launched the Dogecoin Trust in January, promoting DOGE as a tool for "financial inclusion and activism." The crypto asset manager initially launched its XRP Trust in 2020.
• Multiple firms have proposed various crypto ETFs from Litecoin to Solana in recent weeks, following perceived regulatory shifts since former Chair Gary Gensler's departure last month.

Crypto Task Force meets with Jito and Multicoin to discuss ETF staking

The SEC's Crypto Task Force met with Solana infrastructure company Jito Labs and VC firm Multicoin Capital to discuss integrating staking into ETFs, according to meeting notes from the regulator published Friday.

• The task force explored models to allow staking features currently restricted in spot Ethereum ETFs, for example, aiming to enhance investor returns and boost blockchain network security.
• Staking in crypto ETFs is seen as beneficial but faces challenges like unbonding periods and tax complexities, which the SEC is reviewing.
• The agency is apparently considering two viable paths: staking a portion of assets via service providers or using liquid staking tokens to represent staked assets.

'Make Juventus Great Again'

The investment arm of USDT stablecoin issuer Tether has acquired a minority stake in Italian football (soccer) giant Juventus , aligning with its goal of bringing digital assets mainstream.

• "Tether is looking at its strategic investments in sports franchises worldwide and integrating its digital assets, payments and newly acquired AI and biotech expertise into the sports industry," the firm said in a statement.
• "Make Juventus Great Again," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who is also Italian, said on X in response to the announcement.

Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. markets are closed on Monday for Presidents' Day. UK CPI data and the latest U.S. FOMC meeting minutes are released on Wednesday. U.S. jobless claims figures are out on Thursday.
• Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak on Tuesday.
• Starknet, Sei, Avalanche and Arbitrum are all set for token unlocks over the next seven days.
• Consensus Hong Kong kicks off on Tuesday.

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