- Nov 1: U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI / Unemployment Rate
With less than 10 days left before the U.S. election, the upcoming week is sure to be eventful. The week ahead is packed with key economic indicators for the labor market and economic growth, which will likely factor into the upcoming FOMC decision next week, right after the U.S. election commences. Lastly, with the Israel Iran conflict heating up, we'll need to closely monitor a retaliatory response from Iran in the coming days. ?
The U.S. election countdown increasing market volatility:
As we approach the U.S. elections, crypto markets are showing mixed signals. Bitcoin remains in a consolidation phase, yet there is a notable increase in accumulation by whales. This trend suggests preparation for more pronounced market movements as the election results start coming in early next week. Be prepared for some potential swings in market prices in the coming days.?
Vitalik Buterin critiques Michael Saylor's crypto custody views:
This week, the crypto community buzzed with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's sharp critique of Michael Saylor's views on cryptocurrency custody. Buterin dismissed Saylor's endorsement of regulated financial entities like BlackRock and Fidelity managing crypto assets as safe custodians. He argued that this approach represents a regulatory capture strategy that contradicts the foundational principles of cryptocurrency regarding decentralization and user autonomy. Buterin's critique highlights a significant divide in the community regarding the balance between regulatory safety and the decentralized ethos of crypto. The debate around self-custody gained further attention following remarks by Casa’s security chief, Jameson Lopp. Lopp advocated for self-custody, stressing its importance for securing individual assets and preserving the decentralization of the entire Bitcoin network. ?
Saylor's course correction on Bitcoin custody:
Michael Saylor attempted to clarify his earlier comments by advocating for a balanced approach to Bitcoin custody. He expressed “support for self-custody for those who are willing and able and emphasized the right to choose the form of custody.” Despite this clarification, his initial remarks had already caused significant backlash within the crypto community, underscoring the sensitivity around centralized control over Bitcoin assets.
- Kraken?to launch Ink blockchain for DeFi in early 2025 Commentary: Kraken plans to launch its own blockchain dubbed “Ink” in early 2025, focusing on decentralized finance applications. Ink aims to enable users to trade, borrow and lend tokens without intermediaries. Although Kraken does not have plans to issue a native token for Ink, it does plan to integrate DeFi tools like decentralized exchanges and yield-generating platforms within the Kraken Wallet app. Ink is set to offer a developer testnet later in 2024 and allow developers to experiment with decentralized applications ahead of the blockchain’s full launch.
- Pennsylvania House of Representatives?passes pro-crypto bill Commentary: The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed HB-2481, establishing a regulatory framework protecting self-custody and crypto payments, exempting digital assets from additional taxation, and asserting the right to operate a node. The bill passed by a staggering 176 to 26 margin but must still be approved in the Pennsylvania Senate and signed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to become law. HB-2481 was written by the Bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund. ?
- Microsoft?shareholder proposes firm look into investing in Bitcoin Commentary: Microsoft shareholders are set to vote in December on whether the tech giant should publicly assess adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet. Microsoft disclosed that “Assessment of Investing in Bitcoin” is currently proposed to certain shareholders who will cast their vote in a Dec. 10 meeting. However, the Microsoft board is already recommending they vote against it because they already “evaluate a wide range of investable assets.”? The proposal was pushed by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which highlighted MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment strategy and that it has outperformed Microsoft by over 300% this year “despite doing a fraction of the business” of Microsoft.
- GnosisDAO?approves $40M venture fund for RWA, decentralized infrastructure Commentary: GnosisDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization behind the Gnosis Chain, has approved a proposal to launch a $40 million venture fund aimed at accelerating early-stage blockchain projects. GnosisDAO will contribute $20 million to the fund, while the remaining $20 million will come from external limited partners. The fund, dubbed GnosisVC Ecosystem, will prioritize investments in projects working on real-world assets tokenization, decentralized infrastructure, and financial payment rails. ?
- Nigeria?drops money laundering charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan Commentary: The Nigerian government has dropped money laundering charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who had been detained in the country since February. The decision to drop the charges on Gambaryan comes less than two weeks after a Nigerian court denied him bail on medical grounds.
- Ethereum’s Verge roadmap?could enable ‘stateless clients’ for block verification on everyday devices Commentary: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said verifying a blockchain should be computationally viable, even on a smartwatch. He said the main issue is that the network requires clients to store hundreds of gigabytes of data to verify blocks. Buterin’s goals for The Verge roadmap include stateless clients, where thoroughly verifying clients and staking nodes should not need more than a few gigabytes of storage. In the long term, verifying the chain should be as easy as downloading data and validating their SNARKs, Buterin added.
- Sky?mulls further changes to brand identity, return to MakerDAO on the table Commentary: Stablecoin-focused DeFi protocol Sky (formerly Maker) is considering further brand changes after assessing feedback from its community on the initial rebrand. Community members may contemplate reverting to its original brand identity following community feedback. The Sky founder set forth three options for the community: continue building with Sky as the core brand, reintroduce Maker as the central identity in its original form, or recenter Maker as the central brand but make small changes for better alignment with USDS and subDAOs known as Stars. Sky plans to hold a community call this Friday to discuss the options.
- Chainlink?launches private blockchain transactions for institutions Commentary: Chainlink, an Ethereum-based decentralized blockchain oracle network, has launched new technology to help financial institutions maintain data privacy while transacting across blockchain networks. Chainlink introduced two new privacy-preserving capabilities targeting financial institutions that want to use blockchain applications while ensuring complete end-to-end privacy. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ Bank) will be one of the first institutions to pilot Chainlink’s privacy-preserving capabilities. ANZ Bank will integrate the tech for cross-chain settlement of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s tokenization initiative, Project Guardian.
- SEC?lists crypto as an examination priority in 2025 Commentary: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again included cryptocurrencies in its examination priorities for the next year, even as its leadership and government control could change hands. The SEC’s Division of Examinations released its priorities for 2025, including crypto assets and their “associated products and services.” According to the regulator, it planned to focus on the “offer, sale, recommendation, advice, trading, and other activities involving crypto assets,” explicitly naming spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded products.
- Ripple?co-founder pledges $10M in XRP to Kamala Harris campaign PAC Commentary: Chris Larsen, the co-founder and executive chair of payments firm Ripple, has donated $10 million to a political action committee (PAC) supporting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election. Larsen confirmed that he contributed $10 million in XRP to Future Forward USA, a super PAC supporting the Democratic presidential candidate. The announced contribution followed the Ripple co-founder donating $1 million to Future Forward in August — one of the first significant crypto contributions supporting Vice President Harris’ candidacy.
- CFTC Chair Behnam?presses Congress to act on crypto and election betting legislation Commentary: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam has a legislative wish list for Congress, urging action on crypto regulation and election betting. Behnam, who has previously pushed for crypto legislation, said he doesn't expect Congress to do anything this year, given the holidays and the need to pass a federal budget. The CFTC has consistently held that event contracts on elections are unlawful, and that betting puts the agency in a tough spot as an "election cop," Behnam said on Monday. "This is a classic area where I think Congress should weigh in," Behnam said.
- US election optimism?fuels $2.2B inflows in crypto products Commentary: Cryptocurrency investment products recorded their biggest inflows since July, hitting the $2.2 billion weekly mark, according to crypto investment firm CoinShares. Digital investment products continue on a positive trend amid optimism over a potential Republican election win in the United States election. Among various crypto investment products, Bitcoin was again the biggest winner last week, with $2.13 billion in inflows. The largest investment activity came from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US, which saw $1.19 billion inflows in one week.
- Stripe?acquires stablecoin platform bridge in record $1.1 billion crypto deal Commentary: Payments company Stripe has acquired stablecoin platform Bridge in a $1.1 billion transaction, marking the largest acquisition in the crypto industry to date. Bridge offers software that enables businesses to accept payments in stablecoins, positioning Stripe to expand its presence in the digital asset space. As the biggest acquisition in crypto history, this deal highlights the increasing intersection of traditional finance and digital currencies. It could signal broader adoption of stablecoin-based solutions within mainstream financial services.
- DBS?introduces 'Token Services' to enable blockchain-based banking Commentary: DBS Bank, the largest bank in Singapore by assets, has rolled out a suite of new services dubbed “DBS Token Services” as the bank continues to develop blockchain-based options for institutional clients. In a statement shared with The Block, DBS said that the new banking products integrated tokenization and smart contract-enabled capabilities with its existing banking services. According to the statement, the DBS Token Services integrated the bank’s Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible permissioned blockchain, its core payment engine, and multiple industry payment infrastructures. The new services include Treasury Tokens, Conditional Payments, and Programmable Rewards.
- Vitalik Buterin?calls staking centralization 'one of the biggest risks' to Ethereum in 'Scourge' outline Commentary: In a recent blog post, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin outlined possible approaches the Ethereum community might take to minimize proof-of-stake centralization as part of the blockchain’s planned ‘Scourge’ upgrade. Buterin called the issue “one of the biggest risks” to Ethereum’s network and outlined several possible approaches to block construction and staking capital provision to minimize dangers.
- BlackRock?eyes BUIDL for derivatives collateral in crypto exchanges Commentary: Asset manager BlackRock is reportedly pushing its money-market digital token to be used as collateral in cryptocurrency derivatives trading. The company is in talks to integrate its BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) token with the trading systems of major crypto exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Debirit. Brokerage firm Securitize is reportedly a partner in the initiative. BUIDL is already accepted as collateral by FalconX and Hidden Road, two of the largest crypto brokers. The token has a minimum investment of $5 million and is available only for qualified institutional investors.
- NYSE, Cboe?win SEC approval for Bitcoin ETF options Commentary: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved stock exchange rule changes that permit the listing of options tied to spot bitcoin ETFs, broadening the investment ecosystem around products that received billions of dollars of inflows this year. The approval comes several weeks after the SEC approved Nasdaq's rule proposal to allow the listing and trading of options on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). In its NYSE approval, the SEC wrote that it believes options on the bitcoin ETFs "would permit hedging, and allow for more liquidity, better price efficiency, and less volatility with respect to the underlying Funds."
- November?1?- U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI
- November 5?- U.S. Presidential Election
- November 7?- U.S. FOMC Interest Rate Decision
- November 13?- U.S. Consumer Price Index for October
- November 15?- U.S. Retail Sales
- November 29?- BTC CME November (BTCX24) Options Expiry
- December 17-18?- U.S. FOMC Interest Rate Decision
- December 27?- BTC CME December (BTCZ24) Options Expiry
