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The price of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) fluctuated around $34,000 at Wall Street’s open on October 27th, while investors watched BTC’s performance in relation to macroeconomic assets. The market remained relatively stable, with analysts suggesting a price range between $33,000 and $35,000, as commented by Fernando Pereira, an analyst at Bitget: “As buying pressure is still high, I believe it will still be possible to trade in this region over the weekend, and next week we may see a retreat towards around $32,000“, said Pereira. However, the proximity of weekly and monthly closures is seen as a critical factor in assessing future trends. Analysts also remain cautious due to the upcoming FOMC meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Additionally, some have noted that Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 since September, which could drive the price above $40,000. Bitcoin, historically correlated with U.S. stock markets, now appears to be dissociating, recording an annual gain of over 100%. Elsewhere, Bitcoin reached historic prices in Turkey and Nigeria, driven by the depreciation of their local currencies and economic uncertainty. Demand has grown with local exchanges moving $40 million in Bitcoin in 24 hours.
The upcoming Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) update, known as Dencon, with a scheduled launch in the first quarter of 2024, will play a key role in the blockchain’s journey towards scalability, acting as a settlement layer. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) recently highlighted that this update “will increase data availability for layer 2 rollups through proto-danksharding, resulting in reduced transaction costs for rollups and ultimately benefiting end users.” Additionally, Dencon will establish important foundations for future scalability improvements, including danksharding. Danksharding is an approach that seeks to enhance Ethereum’s scalability by sharding the network, increasing data storage capacity, rather than just increasing transaction speed.
On October 26th, the staking protocol Lido DAO (COIN:LDOUSD) announced that it did not endorse the wstETH bridge launched by LayerZero on Avalanche (COIN:AVAXUSD), BNB (COIN:BNBUSD), and Scroll (COIN:SCRLUSD). Lido expressed concerns about the lack of audit and canonicity of the bridge. The action generated apprehension in the Lido community, with some seeing it as an attempt to pressure the protocol and others as aggressive marketing strategy. LayerZero removed Scroll from the networks supporting wstETH (COIN:WSTETHUSD) in response to community concerns.
The price of FLOKI (COIN:FLOKIUSD) has risen nearly 140% in October, trading at $0.0001848 at the time of writing. The meme coin, famous for its controversial marketing strategies, saw a boost after New York-based Grayscale Investments submitted an application for a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the NYSE Arca. Additionally, the launch of the TokenFi tokenization platform was announced today, featuring its native token, TOKEN. The TokenFi platform by Floki was launched on various DeFi networks, allowing users to create cryptocurrencies without technical knowledge. The team also announced the distribution of 10% of the initial TOKEN supply to liquidity pools on Uniswap and Pancakeswap, along with rewards for long-term Floki stakers.
The dYdX Foundation (COIN:DYDXUSD) has launched dYdX Chain, promoting DYDX as the primary currency and distributing fees in USDC (COIN:USDCUSD). DYDX holders can be validators or delegate to secure the network and receive rewards. Governance will be accessible, allowing staked DYDX tokens to participate in decisions. This strengthens the dYdX ecosystem and hints at future expansion plans.
Gala Games (COIN:GALAUSD) saw its price rise nearly 40% in the week despite facing legal obstacles involving CEO Eric Schiermeyer and co-founder Wright Thurston. After a 31% drop in September, the alternative coin market has recovered, with GALA now trading at $0.018. However, legal developments could affect the future of Gala Games, with an optimistic price target of $0.02 and a downside risk to $0.015, resulting in a risk-reward ratio of 0.69.
The Sensei Inu (SINU) pre-sale raised over $300,000, indicating a successful launch. Differentiating itself from other meme coins, Sensei Inu rewards users based on their cryptocurrency knowledge through question and answer games. Its innovative tokenomics model includes burning, DAO, referrals, and community to balance token supply. The five-phase roadmap promises long-term growth. With 50% of tokens available in the pre-sale, Sensei Inu is gaining momentum rapidly.
Cryptocurrency infrastructure company Fireblocks identified and fixed an Ethereum account abstraction vulnerability. The ERC-4337 vulnerability was found in the UniPass smart contract wallet and could have allowed an attacker to take control of the UniPass wallet account. Fireblocks worked with UniPass to address the vulnerability, which affected hundreds of wallets. Account abstraction is a technology that introduces more generalized and flexible accounts on Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD). The vulnerability was successfully mitigated through a white-hat operation.
High-level Mastercard (NYSE:MA) debit card users can now spend the SAND token from the Metaverse Sandbox platform (COIN:SANDUSD) in appropriate markets in the European Economic Area. Additionally, the card already allows spending with Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD), Ether (COIN:ETHUSD), and USDT (COIN:USDTUSD). The card, which also offers customization with NFTs, was announced in 2022 and recently began shipping personalized NFT cards.
Global cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced Bivu Das as the new managing director in the UK, succeeding Blair Halliday. Das, a former Starling Bank executive and fintech entrepreneur, will lead Kraken’s efforts to expand its business in the UK. Despite new regulatory restrictions in the UK cryptocurrency market, Das expressed confidence that Kraken is well-positioned to navigate the changes. Additionally, Kraken is preparing to share selected user information with the IRS in the United States following a court order received in June. The exchange expects to share this information in November 2023.
Cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi Global, announced a profit of $98 million in the third quarter of 2023, with revenues of $202 million and expenses of $104 million. Despite challenging market conditions, HTX maintained its revenue growth. CEO Justin Sun expressed optimism for the fourth quarter, anticipating revenues of $190 million and an estimated profit of $104 million. He believes the cryptocurrency bear market is coming to an end and expects a recovery. However, HTX has faced recent operational challenges, including staff reductions and a security breach.
The fortune of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao likely decreased by $11.9 billion due to a 38% drop in revenue from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, as calculated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This would reduce his wealth to around $17.2 billion, compared to the peak of $96 billion reached in January 2022. The decline in Binance’s revenue came after a zero-fee promotion in the first quarter that boosted market share to 62%, but fell to 51% by the end of the third quarter.
During the closing arguments of the case, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, faced questions from his defense lawyers in New York. He denied allegations of fraud and misappropriation of funds from FTX customers during his leadership at the cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried also highlighted FTX’s bankruptcy filing and its relationship with Alameda Research. The allegations center on the use of FTX customer funds by Alameda without their knowledge. The trial is expected to conclude soon, with prosecutors and defense attorneys presenting final arguments to the jury.
Zodia Markets, backed by Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN), has obtained registration as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the Republic of Ireland by the local central bank. This registration will allow Zodia Markets to offer trading and over-the-counter (OTC) exchange services to institutional clients. With similar permissions obtained in the UK and Abu Dhabi, the company now has a licensed entity in the European Union (EU), facilitating its expansion within the bloc. Ireland has become a popular destination for cryptocurrency companies, possibly due to its favorable tax regime.
On October 25th, lawmakers in Taiwan introduced a Virtual Asset Management Bill to the unicameral parliament. The bill aims to protect consumers and properly oversee the virtual asset sector. It establishes sensible requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), such as separating customer funds from company funds, internal controls, audits, and adherence to local trade associations. The bill also provides for fines for VASPs operating without a license. Guidelines were issued by Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in September 2023, prohibiting foreign VASPs from operating without regulatory approval.
Executives from over 40 cryptocurrency mining operations and lobbyists sought support in the U.S. Congress, highlighting how mining can stabilize the power grid, embrace renewable energies, and boost national technology. They emphasized their contribution to energy and national security, countering environmental criticisms and addressing China-related issues. They also expressed support for a pro-mining bill.
The Bank of England (BOE) received over 50,000 responses in its consultation on the digital pound. Most responses expressed concerns about privacy, programmability, and the decline of physical cash. Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe clarified that users of the digital pound would have the same level of privacy as when making electronic payments using traditional currency. He also emphasized that the BOE would not see people’s data. Cunliffe promised a discussion paper on stablecoin regulations soon.
Web3 investment company Animoca Brands has expanded its efforts to offer in-house marketplace creation services for the over 400 startups in its portfolio. The Hong Kong-based company recently made these capabilities available, aiming to attract more projects. This puts it in competition with specialized market makers like GSR, Wintermute, and Keyrock. Animoca employs an in-house Digital Assets team to optimize the use of its balance sheet, provide liquidity, and support startups, ensuring efficiency and scalability. The company emphasizes that these services are not for profit and follow strict selection criteria.
On October 26th, a federal judge in California ruled that Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has the right to receive over $1.5 million in damages from Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen, who copied Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT art. The judge rejected the defense that the copies were satirical and concluded that Ripps and Cahen used them to profit from Yuga’s success. The decision also included attorney’s fees and the transfer of digital assets and related social media accounts to Yuga Labs.
Web3 game studio Moonveil Entertainment, based in the Cayman Islands, raised $5.4 million in a funding round led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Arcane Group, with participation from investors like Longhash, IOSG, and Infinity Ventures Crypto. The company is developing games such as Astrark and Project B, focusing on player freedom and rewarding contributions using tokenomics and NFTs.
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