What happened?

President-elect Trump announced on November 19 that he has nominated Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, as Secretary of Commerce, which has attracted widespread attention.

Lutnick is known for his active role in the cryptocurrency field; his company has been responsible for managing the large-scale U.S. Treasury assets of the stablecoin Tether (USDT) since 2021 and expanded into bond portfolios in 2023.

Trump's new cabinet nomination: Howard Lutnick to take over as Secretary of Commerce

a16z 2024 Crypto Industry Report

Two years ago, when we released our first annual (State of Cryptocurrency Report), the world was a very different place than it is now.

At the time, cryptocurrencies were not a priority among policymakers. Bitcoin and Ethereum’s exchange-traded products (ETPs) have yet to receive SEC approval, and Ethereum has not moved to more energy-efficient proof-of-stake.

Layer 2 (L2) networks, designed to increase capacity and reduce transaction costs, are largely inactive, and transaction fees on them are much higher than they are today.

Today, things have changed, as our new 2024 (State of Cryptocurrency Report) shows.

Next year, OpenAI will enter the era of AI systems.

What big moves is OpenAI planning for the upcoming year after GPT-4? Where is OpenAI's moat? What is the value of AI Agents? With numerous longtime employees 'leaving', will OpenAI choose younger individuals who have more passion and energy?

On November 4, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (hereinafter referred to as 'Altman') answered these questions on 'The Twenty Minute VC' podcast, clearly stating that enhancing reasoning capabilities has always been OpenAI's core strategy.

When the podcast host, 21VC founder Harry Stebbings (hereinafter referred to as 'Stebbings') asked what opportunities OpenAI could leave for AI entrepreneurs, Altman believed that if AI entrepreneurship still focused on addressing model deficiencies, this business model would lose competitive edge as OpenAI models upgrade. Entrepreneurs should build businesses that benefit from increasingly powerful models, which will be a huge opportunity.

The 9th 'Blockchain Enthusiasts Annual Meeting' is here

The 9th 'Blockchain Enthusiasts Annual Meeting' hosted by the Taiwan Blockchain Enthusiasts Association is here. This year, it focuses on discussing the potential introduction of Web2 industries into the market and the innovative field of Web3, hoping the industry can layout in advance and jointly create a new economy.

One of the forums focused on the industry keyword 'PayFi (payment finance)' and invited Huang Chaoqiu, CEO of supply chain financial service provider BSOS, and Richard Liu, CEO of on-chain protocol Huma Finance, to participate in discussions on how tokenization and PayFi can act as catalysts for inclusive finance.

what happen?

MicroStrategy, the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, purchased 51,780 Bitcoins for US$4.6 billion on November 18. It was the company's largest single transaction since launching Bitcoin Strategy in 2020, accounting for 16% of the total holdings, triggering heated discussion in the market.

MicroStrategy recently announced that it plans to raise up to US$1.75 billion through the issuance of senior convertible bonds with a 0% interest rate to increase its holdings of Bitcoin and other general corporate purposes.

According to the Bitcoin Treasury website, MicroStrategy now holds 331,200 Bitcoins, worth more than $30.3 billion, firmly occupying the position of the world's largest institutional Bitcoin holder.

Is it legal to buy, sell and invest in cryptocurrency in Taiwan? What kind of property is it?

Cryptocurrency is an emerging financial asset. The overall investment environment is not as mature as stocks and foreign exchange. Fraud incidents are frequent, and some banks avoid undertaking cryptocurrency-related business.

If you want to start investing in cryptocurrencies, two common questions arise: Are cryptocurrencies legal? Do you have to pay tax?

Is it legal to buy, sell and invest in cryptocurrency in Taiwan? What kind of property is it?

When we determine whether property needs to be taxed, we must first determine what category the property belongs to and whether it is legal.

The new asset cycle of Bitcoin: The current situation and understanding after this new high

As Bitcoin hits new highs again, and the epic 6-month high consolidation is approaching its end this weekend, we believe it is necessary to share our views in this article.

As we mentioned previously in our monthly report, 6 months is sufficient to confirm the arrival of a trend measured in years. This article is based on the manager's observations in the primary and secondary markets over the past 6 months and contains strong subjective components, attempting to guide our future thoughts on crypto asset management.

Trump's victory triggered a surge in Bitcoin, making investment profits a focal point for taxation.

After Donald Trump, the elected president of the United States, won the election, global financial markets experienced severe fluctuations, during which the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed, breaking through the $90,000 mark. This surge ignited the enthusiasm of retail investors, many of whom made considerable profits. However, this also raised concerns in the Legislative Yuan regarding the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions.

The Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan held a meeting on November 18, where Kuomintang legislator Lai Shiba questioned the Ministry of Finance's taxation measures on personal income from cryptocurrency transactions. He stated that currently, only business tax and profit-seeking enterprise income tax are levied on cryptocurrency exchanges, but there are no clear taxation regulations for individuals or corporations profiting from transactions. He further pointed out: 'Who would be so foolish as to voluntarily pay taxes?' emphasizing that the Ministry of Finance should take proactive measures to improve the cryptocurrency taxation mechanism.

what happen?

NFT (non-fungible token) sales grew 94% in the past week, reaching $181 million.

Among them, Ethereum NFT achieved a sales volume of US$67 million, an increase of 111% from the previous week, firmly occupying the leading position.

Driven by the bull market in the cryptocurrency market, NFT sales have rebounded and the average price of a single transaction has also increased, making it a virtual asset that investors are paying attention to again.

NFT sales grew 94% in the past week

According to CryptoSlam, the NFT (non-fungible token) market generated $181 million in sales in the past week, a 94% increase from $93 million in the previous week.

what happen?

The Solana ecosystem has recently shown amazing growth momentum. According to the Defi data platform DefiLlama, in the past 24 hours, 5 of the top 10 applications came from the Solana protocol.

Among them, Raydium set a daily transaction fee record of US$11.31 million on November 17. In addition, the Jito protocol also received US$9.87 million in fee income that day, which was the third highest figure in its history.

Solana’s strong growth represents an increase in on-chain activities and the ecosystem is gradually returning to the mainstream of the market.

Solana decentralized application fees hit record high, Raydium leads the charging list

Defi data platform DefiLlama shows that Solana accounts for the largest proportion of decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume, accounting for 33.59% of market activity as of November, far exceeding Ethereum’s 17.54%, showing that more and more users are starting to Turn to the Solana ecosystem.

a16z investors analyze the evolution history of stablecoins

Millions of people have traded trillions of dollars in stablecoins, but the category is still vaguely defined and understood.

Stablecoins are stores of value and media of exchange, often but not necessarily pegged to the U.S. dollar. People divide it into two dimensions: from under-collateralization to over-collateralization, and from centralization to decentralization.

This classification helps understand the relationship between technical structure and risk and eliminates misunderstandings about stablecoins. I will propose another helpful way of thinking based on this framework.

To understand the richness and limitations of stablecoin design, look to the history of banking: what works, what doesn’t, and why.

what happen?

When Donald Trump is re-elected as U.S. president, he is expected to aggressively appoint cryptocurrency-friendly officials to his cabinet and federal regulatory agencies, especially key financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). mechanism.

As the SEC has adopted a strict enforcement attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry in the past few years, the new leadership is expected to adjust regulatory policies and bring new vitality to the cryptocurrency industry.

After Trump was elected, the cryptocurrency market rose rapidly, especially Coinbase's stock price soared 20%, exceeding the $300 mark. Market analysts pointed out that this is a direct response to expectations of crypto industry-friendly policies.

Franklin launches FOBXX fund on Ethereum

Franklin Templeton recently announced the expansion of its Nasdaq-listed OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) to Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency network by market capitalization. The fund has previously operated on multiple blockchains, including Avalanche, Stellar, Aptos, and Ethereum’s scaling networks Arbitrum, Polygon, and Base, but this is the first time it has been deployed on the Ethereum mainnet.

FOBXX is a fund that lets clients invest in U.S. government securities, cash and repurchase agreements, with investors buying and holding shares in a digital wallet through Franklin Templeton’s Benji Investments mobile app.

Odinding Group joins hands with Visa to simplify cross-border payment process

OwlTing Group, a blockchain technology financial technology company, announced that it has reached a global agreement with Visa, the world's leading digital payment company, and will introduce the Visa Direct solution to provide instant cross-border payment services to corporate and individual customers. Through this agreement, Odinding Group will have the opportunity to access more than 8.5 billion payment endpoints in Visa's global payment network.

Through Visa Direct, OwlPay's U.S. users will be able to make seamless cross-border transfers through its Web2 and Web3 hybrid payment solution, OwlPay®. Odingding Group plans to integrate with the Visa Direct solution in two phases. First, it is expected to complete the integration of Visa Direct Account before the end of this year, and to complete the integration of Visa Direct Card before the first quarter of next year.

How is Bitcoin laid out?

The wait is finally over.

Your efforts are about to be richly rewarded.

In this newsletter, everything you've learned will come together as a complete cycle over the coming months.

This period is critical to your present and future success. This is a crucial time for you to show off your talents and apply what you have learned. Congratulations on making it this far.

Now, let's get down to business. There is a brief summary at the end.

We have just entered the final phase of a four-year cycle. This is the most exciting and challenging time. The market is highly volatile, with prices potentially experiencing double-digit swings overnight and setting new records.

what happen?

After the election of the new US President Trump, Trump's "America First" policy will lead to a gradual change in the global economic situation.

Trump strongly supported cryptocurrency during the campaign and even mentioned making the United States a global center for Bitcoin, promising to include Bitcoin in a strategic reserve if elected.

However, Taiwan’s attitude toward cryptocurrencies is relatively conservative. How the central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission should respond to Bitcoin and the future development of the crypto market has become the focus of attention.

Central Bank’s View on Bitcoin

The Financial Supervisory Commission today (14th) reported to the Legislative Yuan Finance Committee on the possible future impact of new U.S. President Trump’s return to the New Deal on Taiwan’s economic and financial stability and response measures.

what happen?

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the encrypted prediction market platform Polymarket became a popular platform for many bettors, with more than $3.7 billion in funds betting on the "2024 presidential election results" market.

On November 13, the FBI raided Polymarket founder and CEO Shane. Shayne Coplan's New York residence and his cell phone and electronic devices were seized.

A Polymarket spokesperson responded to the raid saying that the action was "obvious political revenge" by the current U.S. government against Polymarket because Polymarket accurately predicted the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

what happen?

Asset management company BlackRock launched the first tokenized fund product BUIDL on Ethereum in March, which uses blockchain technology to "tokenize" traditional fund products so that these tokens can be freely traded on the blockchain. Transaction, transfer. Now BlackRock has announced that in addition to Ethereum, the product will also be launched on the Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism and Polygon blockchains.

As the largest tokenized fund on the chain, BUIDL focuses on investing in U.S. short-term Treasury bonds and other similar low-risk assets, with assets under management reaching US$520 million.

First of all, I have to apologize to fellow Taoist friends. Last week, in the article "I invested in He Jinli Shengxuan Coin and lost two dollars in Polymarket", regarding how Polymarket determines the outcome of the issue, I relied too much on my memory, did not read the book well, and the information contained bugs. Details will be explained in this article.

This Friday (11.15) from 17:30 to 19:00, I will drift to the Prince’s Bookstore to play. Welcome to come and chat and buy books.

[Thanksgiving Offer] Anyone who becomes a "Daoyou Pro" with an annual fee will receive a signed version (Wealth Liberalism: The Multiverse of Money) worth 20 mg in addition to DHK airdrops, exclusive chat groups and many other benefits. (Blockchain Sociology: Reimagining Money, Media and Democracy) e-book + paper book set, while supplies last.

what happen?

Stablecoin issuers Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC supplies have grown by a combined $5.4 billion over the past week as demand for crypto liquidity surges following the U.S. election.

The growth of stablecoins represents a large inflow of capital into the crypto-economy and investor demand for digital assets.

Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, launched the open source "Wallet Development Kit (WDK)" on November 11 to help enterprises and developers more easily integrate non-custodial digital wallets into websites or applications, further promoting the popularity of cryptocurrency. Adoption at scale.