Today's news highlights:
South Korea's top regulatory agency rejects discussions on establishing a national Bitcoin reserve.
Lutnick's company is in talks with Tether to launch a $2 billion Bitcoin loan project.
Hong Kong ZA Bank launched cryptocurrency trading services today on its App
Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis announced a 21% layoff, affecting about 50 employees.
Binance will launch 1000WHY and 1000CHEEMS USDT perpetual contracts.
US Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $3.38 billion last week, reaching a new historical weekly net inflow high.
Solana network's monthly DEX trading volume has surpassed $100 billion for the first time.
Data: As of November, Tether has minted over 15 billion USDT.
Regulatory news
South Korea's top regulatory agency rejects discussions on establishing a national Bitcoin reserve.
According to Cryptonews, the head of South Korea's top financial regulatory agency has "temporarily" rejected the idea of establishing a national Bitcoin reserve. Kim Byung-hwan, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remarks during a television interview on November 24. Kim stated that Seoul sees "no need" to "stockpile cryptocurrencies" as promised by US President-elect Donald Trump. South Korea will wait for other countries to respond to Trump's cryptocurrency adoption plan before taking action; our top priority is to study how to better protect (domestic cryptocurrency) investors; the FSC does not believe BTC and other currencies can benefit the national economy; regulators will "investigate" this wave of "cryptocurrency fever," focusing on and "closely monitoring" any suspected "unfair trading" practices.
Project dynamics
Trump's nominated Secretary of Commerce Lutnick's company is in talks with Tether to launch a $2 billion Bitcoin loan project.
According to Bloomberg, US presidential candidate Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, is exploring ways to strengthen financial ties with Tether, the world's largest stablecoin operator. He plans to launch a $2 billion project that will provide dollar loans to customers collateralized by Bitcoin. Reports cite insiders saying Lutnick's financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald is discussing obtaining Tether's support to help fund the project, which could amount to several billion dollars. It is reported that Tether uses Cantor's holdings of US Treasury bonds worth tens of billions of dollars to back the value of its stablecoin, a relationship that helps Lutnick's company earn tens of millions of dollars annually.
Later news indicated that the US Commerce Secretary nominee Lutnick plans to transfer Cantor's Tether business relationship to his colleagues.
Hong Kong ZA Bank launched cryptocurrency trading services today on its App.
According to Ming Pao, digital bank ZA Bank announced that it has become the first bank in Asia to provide cryptocurrency trading services for retail customers, starting today it offers the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum in Hong Kong dollars and US dollars through its App. After Hong Kong residents open an investment account with ZA Bank, they need to complete risk assessment processes before they can trade the two cryptocurrencies in the application, with entry fees set at $70 or HKD 600, and a commission of $1.99 or HKD 15 per transaction, the platform fee is 1.5% of the transaction amount (with a minimum transaction fee of $1.99 or HKD 15). The bank will waive commissions until June next year and will lower the platform fee to 0.8% of the transaction amount.
Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis announced a 21% layoff, affecting about 50 employees.
According to Techinasia, Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis announced a 21% layoff. With a global team of about 250 people, this decision will affect about 50 employees. The company's co-founder Nguyen Thanh Trung stated that financial constraints were not the reason for this decision, as this move is part of a re-focus on core products and long-term strategy. Affected employees will receive severance pay and employment placement support.
Starknet: The integration phase of STRK staking Phase 1 has now begun.
According to Starknet's post on platform X, the integration phase of STRK staking Phase 1 has now begun, and Starknet is deploying the system on the Starknet mainnet, which is expected to be completed in a few hours. Starting tomorrow, validators can begin integrating with the staking contract. For users (delegators), a little more patience is needed; the delegator's UI and dApp will be ready by Tuesday, November 26.
Michael Saylor: Over the past two weeks, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin profits reached $5.4 billion.
According to Cointelegraph, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor stated in an interview that over the past two weeks, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin profits reached $5.4 billion, with daily earnings of about $500 million.
Later news indicated that Michael Saylor hinted he may continue to increase his BTC holdings.
Andrew Kang: The DeSci field currently resembles the DeFi era of early 2019, and has participated in BIO Protocol.
Mechanism Capital partner Andrew Kang posted on platform X, saying: "The current decentralized science (DeSci) field feels like the DeFi era in early 2019. Although everything is still in its early stages and highly experimental, those involved can feel its vast potential. Current projects may not follow the same model or products in the future, as they are developing through iterations. Back then, Maker, Synthetix, and Aave were also some clunky small-cap projects, and now they have evolved into large protocols. Here are some of the projects I find most interesting: BIO Protocol, Pump Science, GLP1." Additionally, Andrew Kang mentioned that he has participated in the latest round of investment in BIO Protocol.
Murad: Meme projects worth investing in should exhibit six characteristics, including resilience to downturns and diamond hands.
Meme ecosystem KOL Murad posted on platform X stating that investing in memes is essentially investing in 'people,' and the key is to find meme communities with the following characteristics: - People who work hard every day - Over 6 months - Have weathered multiple downturns - Increasing number of holders each month - Target amount exceeding $20 billion - Large distribution + diamond hands.
ai16z: DAO partners have decided that ai16z and AI Combinator will be completely separated.
ai16z posted on platform X announcing that DAO partners have decided to pause all distracting AI trader shipping matters to focus 100% of their energy on $ai16z and $degenai. ai16z and AI Combinator will be completely separated, wishing Ryze Labs the best in accelerating progress in the AI agent field. ai16z also stated that its technology is open source, and anyone can use it for free and will always be so.
Fundstrat digital asset strategy head: The current kimchi premium in South Korea is about 0%, which may indicate that BTC still has room for growth.
According to Yahoo Finance, Fundstrat's digital asset strategy head Sean Farrell stated in a recent client report that "friends and family" have started asking about cryptocurrencies again. Looking at quantifiable market indicators, the current situation does not show signs of a rebound in March or the cyclical peak bubble at the end of 2021. For instance, the current kimchi premium indicator data in the South Korean market is about 0%, indicating a lack of excessive excitement among South Korean traders. Typically, if the market peaks, the kimchi premium would soar above 10%. The recent rise over the past week should not be seen as purely speculative fervor; Bitcoin may still have room for growth.
CryptoQuant CEO: MSTR Bitcoin holding premium has returned to the level seen during the 2021 bull market.
CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju stated on platform X: "The US stock MicroStrategy's (MSTR) Bitcoin holding premium has returned to the level of the 2021 bull market. Data shows that the MSTR premium peaked in mid-2021 but never fell below zero during the last bear market. In contrast, GBTC fell to a discount of -48% during the bear market, ultimately triggering a crisis as leverage unwound. Michael Saylor knows how to handle leverage; during the 2022 bear market, he stabilized MicroStrategy and effectively managed the market risk of BTC." Additionally, Ki Young Ju remarked, "The 2021 bull market was a realm for crypto newcomers, while 2024 will be a realm for traditional finance and crypto veterans. This is a different game, and the likelihood of absurd events occurring is much lower."
Vitalik: The crypto industry needs to create meaningful applications with many users involved, rather than just issuing tokens and creating exchanges.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated in an interview with Tencent News (Qianwen) that OpenAI has now become CloseAI. Today, another issue arises: First, they sacrificed their open-source for safety; then this year, they sacrificed their safety for profit. After conflicts between the company and the board last year, it seems that Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) won. Recently, they announced they will transition from a non-profit to a profit-making company, reducing the power of the board to the level of advisors. This worries me. It reminds me of a quote from one of America's founding fathers: 'You can't sacrifice freedom for safety; if you do, you will find that you have neither safety nor freedom.' Observing OpenAI's actions, it seems this has happened. Furthermore, regarding the crypto field, Vitalik noted a problem in the crypto space over the last five years: everyone’s dreams and hopes are high, but the technology cannot fulfill most of those dreams. As for how crypto can save the world, the first possibility is Crypto + Decentralized AI; the second may be Crypto + a technology that can replace AI. To some extent, the prosperity of artificial intelligence in the past two years may cool down crypto. I have a concern: if particularly wise people do not engage in crypto, those remaining in the crypto space may not have interesting thoughts, and the only applications will be the financial applications we have been doing for many years. This would lead to a situation where we just issue a token, create an exchange; then issue another token, create another exchange; then issue another token with a cute dog on it – these things are fun, but if those are the only things our industry does, then this industry is a failure. The challenge we face is to create applications that are both meaningful and have many people wanting to participate. However, this year, the power of crypto has significantly increased, and many developers are starting to want to create applications that are both meaningful and have many users wanting to participate. If the crypto field continues to succeed, many people will still choose to participate in crypto.
Later news indicated that Vitalik stated the crypto industry needs applications focused on specific functions like anoncast.
Binance will launch BNBUSDT, SOLUSDT monthly options.
According to the official announcement, Binance options will launch monthly options for BNBUSDT and SOLUSDT at 16:00 (UTC+8) on November 26, 2024.
Zircuit's ZRC token has now lifted trading restrictions.
Layer2 project Zircuit announced that its token ZRC will go live for trading today at 18:00 (UTC+8). According to the tokenomics, the total supply of ZRC is 10 billion, with 21% allocated to community rewards, including 7% for the first quarter airdrop, 3% for the second quarter airdrop, and 2.45% for other activities. The token distribution for the team and investors has a 12-month lock-up period, followed by a 24-month linear release. The first unlock ratio is 21.95%, which includes 10% for the first and second quarter airdrops, while the remaining portion covers community, ecosystem development, and foundation uses.
Binance will launch 1000WHY and 1000CHEEMS USDT perpetual contracts.
Binance's contract platform will launch perpetual contracts at the following times, with a maximum leverage of up to 75 times. November 25, 2024, 19:30 (UTC+8): 1000WHYUSDT perpetual contract; November 25, 2024, 19:45 (UTC+8): 1000CHEEMSUSDT perpetual contract.
After Binance announced the launch of 1000WHY and 1000CHEEMS USDT perpetual contracts, both WHY and Cheems plummeted over 30%.
Financing news
Singapore's Gulf Bank is seeking to raise at least $50 million in funding and acquire a stablecoin payment company.
According to Bloomberg, insiders revealed that the Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB), supported by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore's Huangpu Group, is seeking to raise at least $50 million in a round of financing and plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company next year; the bank obtained a license in Bahrain in February and is currently negotiating with a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund and other investors, planning to sell less than 10% of its shares before early 2025; the funds raised will mainly be used to accelerate product development, enhance the bank's payment network, and hire more employees; the bank plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company in the Middle East or Europe in the first quarter.
Important data
Data: As of November, Tether has minted over 15 billion USDT.
According to Cointelegraph's disclosure on platform X, data shows that as of November 2024, stablecoin issuer Tether has minted over 15 billion USDT.
ETH whale donates 70 ETH to the Ethereum Meme issuance platform jump.fun.
On-chain data shows that a whale holding over 2500 ETH has donated 70 ETH to the Ethereum Meme issuance platform jump.fun; to date, the total donation amount for jump.fun has exceeded 738 ETH. jump.fun is an Ethereum-based Meme issuance platform aiming to inject new solutions into the ETH Meme ecosystem through one-click token issuance and initial 6 ETH liquidity loans.
Spot Bitcoin ETF is expected to surpass Satoshi Nakamoto's BTC holdings by the end of the year.
According to Beincrypto, crypto analyst HODL15Capital indicated that Bitcoin ETFs currently hold about 1.081 million Bitcoins, slightly below the estimated 1.1 million Bitcoins held by Satoshi Nakamoto. Additionally, Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas stated that spot Bitcoin ETFs have completed 98% of the catch-up pace to Satoshi Nakamoto. He predicts that if the current inflow rate continues, this goal may be achieved by Thanksgiving. Furthermore, Bitcoin ETFs are also narrowing the gap with gold ETFs, which currently manage assets worth $120 billion. Balchunas stated that the Bitcoin ETF manages assets worth $107 billion, and may exceed gold ETFs by Christmas.
10x Research: Last weekend, Upbit's single-day trading volume reached $14 billion, comparable to the South Korean stock market.
10x Research noted in its market analysis that the South Korean exchange Upbit occupies 80% of the local market share, with trading volumes of $14 billion on both Saturday and Sunday, growing 48% compared to its 7-day moving average, which usually includes higher trading volumes on working days. In contrast, the trading volume of all South Korean stocks was $14 billion. This contrasts with the speculative frenzy observed in March when individual retail trading volume in South Korea reached $16.2 billion, while the current market is experiencing several days of abnormally high trading volumes.
Musk's net worth reaches a historic high of $348 billion.
According to Financial界, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's net worth reached a record $347.8 billion on Friday, partly due to the continuous rise in Tesla's stock price and partly because his artificial intelligence startup xAI's valuation soared to $50 billion in a new round of financing. Since Trump was re-elected as President of the United States, Musk has squeezed into the core political circle under the halo of his so-called 'best buddy,' and the valuations of many of his companies have skyrocketed. Tesla's stock rose 3.8% on Friday, reflecting the market's continued optimism that the Trump team's plans for autonomous driving and electric vehicle subsidies will give the company an advantage over its peers. Tesla has risen 45% since November 4, the day before the election, expanding the company's market cap by about $350 billion. Meanwhile, xAI's valuation has more than doubled since the financing in May, with Trump's win spurring more investor interest. On Wednesday, Trump also watched the SpaceX launch with Musk. Insiders revealed that the company is in preliminary discussions about a targeted issuance of shares, with valuations expected to rise to about $255 billion. As the world's richest person, Musk's wealth has surged by 35% since the day before the election.
US Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $3.38 billion last week, reaching a new historical weekly net inflow high.
According to SoSoValue data, last week (November 18 to November 2, Eastern Time) saw a net inflow of $3.38 billion into Bitcoin spot ETFs. Among them, Grayscale ETF GBTC saw a net outflow of $52.85 million, with historical net outflows at $20.33 billion. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net inflow last week was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a weekly net inflow of $2.05 billion, bringing IBIT's historical total net inflow to $31.33 billion. Next was Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a weekly net inflow of $773 million, bringing FBTC's historical total net inflow to $11.54 billion. As of the time of writing, the total asset net value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $107.488 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market value relative to Bitcoin's total market value) of 5.48%, and historical cumulative net inflow has reached $30.843 billion.
CoinShares: Last week, digital asset investment products saw a net inflow of $3.13 billion.
According to CoinShares' latest weekly report, last week digital asset investment products recorded the largest weekly inflow, reaching $3.13 billion, bringing the total inflow for the year to date to a new high of $37 billion. Among them, Bitcoin-related products saw an inflow of $3 billion, while investment products that short Bitcoin attracted $10 million in funds. Since the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in September, the total inflow has reached $15.2 billion.
Solana outperformed Ethereum, with an inflow of $16 million last week, while Ethereum only recorded $2.8 million. However, from the year-to-date data, Solana still significantly lags behind Ethereum. Among other altcoins, XRP, Litecoin, and Chainlink recorded inflows of $15 million, $4.1 million, and $1.3 million respectively.
The US market dominates the capital inflow, totaling $3.2 billion, while Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland saw outflows of $40 million, $84 million, and $17 million respectively due to profit-taking at peaks. Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong markets saw inflows of $9 million, $31 million, and $30 million respectively. Multi-asset investment products saw capital outflows for the second consecutive week, totaling $10.5 million.
Data: Tokens such as IMX, ADA, and APEX will see significant unlocks next week, with IMX unlock valued at approximately $40.5 million.
Solana network's monthly DEX trading volume has surpassed $100 billion for the first time.
According to The Block, the Solana network's decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume in November has surpassed $100 billion, reaching $109.8 billion. This figure is nearly twice the monthly DEX trading volume of the Ethereum mainnet ($55 billion), exceeding the $52.5 billion recorded in October by more than 100%. Currently, Solana's monthly active address count has reached 107.5 million, expected to break the record of 123 million set in October by the end of the month. Additionally, major platforms on Solana, Pump.fun and Raydium, achieved record high fee revenues this month, reaching $71.5 million and $182 million respectively.
