🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (18/11/24)
1️⃣ Polymarket Bettors See Lutnick as Treasury Secretary Favourite After Musk Endorsement 📊
The odds of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick becoming Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary have reportedly increased on the predictions market platform Polymarket. This follows Elon Musk's recent endorsement of Lutnick on X. Notably, Lutnick is an outspoken Bitcoin advocate whose company serves as a custodian for billions of dollars worth of Tether's reserves.
The New York Times reported that several leading crypto executives have been in contact with Trump's transition team, likely lobbying for Lutnick's appointment. This includes the likes of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and executives at Circle. While Lutnick currently has the edge with 49% odds on Polymarket, American investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent trails close behind at 45%.
2️⃣ Senator Lummis Says Treasury Should Convert Gold For Bitcoin Reserve 🔍
According to a Bloomberg report, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is advocating for the United States Treasury Department to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve by converting a portion of its gold holdings into BTC. Lummis claimed that by converting gold certificates held by the US Treasury into BTC, the immediate effect on the US government's balance sheet would remain "neutral," as opposed to spending approximately $90 billion to purchase the Bitcoin at current market prices. This is part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill that Senator Lummis introduced to the Senate. However, the report notes that market watchers believe Lummis’ bill, which currently has no co-sponsors, faces an uphill battle. Predictions platform Polymarket currently shows a 31% probability that Trump will create a Bitcoin reserve.
Source
3️⃣ Starknet To 4X TPS Within 3 Months 🔼
At the DevCon 2024 conference held in Bangkok last week, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben Sasson told Cointelegraph that he expects transaction speed on the firm’s Ethereum layer 2 Starknet to increase four-fold while fees fall “5x” over the next three months. Specifically, he claimed the network improvements will mostly come from “better compilation and faster execution” on Starknet’s native smart contract language 'Cairo.' This could see it competing with the likes of Solana as it would see Starknet cross the 1000 transactions per second (TPS) milestone - Solana typically processes a non-vote TPS between 800 to 1050.
4️⃣ Solana-Based DApps Rake In Record Fees as Memecoin Frenzy Returns 💰
According to a recent X post from DeFi commentator Patrick Scott, who cited DefiLlama data, five out of the top 10 protocols by fees in the last 24 hours were on Solana. The data shows that on Nov 17th, Solana-based AMM Raydium notched a record $11.31 million in fees, the liquid staking protocol Jito saw its third-highest day of fees at $9.87 million and the memecoin launchpad pump.fun saw its seventh-highest day of earnings, netting $1.65 million in fees. The record fees for several Solana protocols come amid a frenzy of speculation on memecoins and a major price move for SOL itself, which pushed to its highest price of $242 since November 2021.
5️⃣ Polish Presidential Candidate Pledges Support For Strategic Bitcoin Reserve 💸
Polish Presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen has reportedly promised to create a Bitcoin reserve if he wins next year’s election. Mentzen also reiterated this promise in a post on X that claims Poland will become more crypto-friendly if he becomes president.
The X post reads,
If I become the President of Poland, our country will become a cryptocurrency haven, with very friendly regulations, low taxes, and a supportive approach from banks and regulators. #BTC☀ to the Moon.
