Crypto Weekly 9/29/24
A weekly summary of the latest crypto news...
Crypto weekly is co-authored by @serdave
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.4T): +4% / +35%
- BTC ($65,215): +4% / +54%
- ETH ($2,634): +2% / +15%
- SOL ($158): +7% / +55%
- UNI ($7.39): +11% / +1%
- POL ($0.42): +3% / -57%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($119B): 0% / +30%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($36.2B): +1% / +48%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 54% / 14%
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The price of Bitcoin rallied this week, following positive US jobs data and economic stimulus promises from China. Link.
- FTX debtors agreed to set aside up to 18% of all proceeds, approximately $230 million, to repay preferred shareholders and investors of the defunct exchange. Link.
- BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF fund passed $1 billion in assets, two months after launch. Link.
- Presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she planned to ensure the US remained “dominant” in emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and quantum computing, though she did not offer specific policies. Link.
- Democratic House Representative Ritchie Torres questioned SEC Chairman Gary Gensler about the agency’s definition of a security by comparing buying an NFT to buying a Yankees ticket. All 5 SEC Commissioners, including Gensler and crypto advocate Hester Peirce testified before Congress about the agency’s approach to regulating digital assets. Link. Link. Link. Testimony.
- Increased pressure from regulators around Silvergate Bank’s digital asset focused business model was the primary driver for its closing in early 2023. Link.
- BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the US, is planning to offer custodial services to ETF clients. Link. Link.
- PayPal will allow US businesses and merchants to buy, sell, and accept cryptocurrencies. Link.
- Binance founder CZ was released from custody after serving a four-month sentence in the US after a federal investigation found the exchange had failed to stop criminal activity on its platform. Link. Link. Link.
- Fintech firms Robinhood and Revolut are considering launching their own stablecoins. Link.
- Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of FTX affiliate Alameda Research, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading to fraud charges related to the exchange’s collapse. Link.
- Ethereum gas prices rose 500% over the past month due to an increase of on-chain activity. The median transaction on Ethereum now costs $1.69 compared to $0.09 at the start of the month. Link.
- Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain, crossed $2 billion of total value locked for the first time, a 370% increase YTD. Link.
- Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF surged to $24 billion in AUM this week, or 1.7% of the total circulating supply of BTC. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF is the second largest at $16 billion. Link.
- Solana DeFi platform Mango Markets settled with the SEC over charges related to the unregistered offering and sale of the MNGO token. Mango Markets is most famous for its $110 million exploit by Aviram Eisenberg, who was convicted of fraud earlier this year. Link. Link.
- Crypto-based betting market Polymarket is reportedly raising $50 million in new funding, after seeing over $470 million of betting volume in August, mostly related to the US presidential election. Link. Link.
- A federal judge denied Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s motion to dismiss. The trial will begin December 2 and if convicted on all three counts, Storm faces up to 45 years in prison. Link.
- South Korea fined Worldcoin $829,000 for violating the country’s laws on personal information protection by not informing users their data would be transferred to foreign countries. Link.
- The SEC greenlit NASDAQ listing options for Blackrock’s iBIT Bitcoin ETF. Link.
- Crypto companies in Dubai will be required to add a disclaimer to promotional material related to digital assets that says, ““virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility”. Link.
- The US House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution urging Nigeria to release Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who was detained in February on charges of money laundering and currency manipulation related to Binance’s operations in the country. Link.