Starknet

Jack Kubinec

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Allmight founder Kevin Ricoy knew he wanted to create a media company after realizing that policy and social change are downstream from culture — and culture that is funny or entertaining is most effective of all.



“What affected culture more? Was it CNN or MTV News? It was MTV News,” Ricoy opined on a call this week.



Ricoy is the founder of Allmight, a new media startup focused on furthering the United States’ leadership in crypto. The initiative caught a nice boost from the recent US presidential election and a growing sense that a friendlier regulatory environment could drive crypto business back to the world’s biggest economy.



Allmight’s first product is “This Week in Crypto,” a late night talk-style show that summarizes crypto news with a punchy, irreverent bent. A couple of these videos have <a href="https://x.com/TheRealRicoy/status/1845141583106036032">garnered</a> hundreds of thousands of views on X. He plans to expand Allmight’s content offerings, creating what he calls next-gen Americana — “low noise, high signal, and actually entertaining.” When I asked if Ricoy wants to become a sort of crypto version of Jon Stewart, he responded: “I would love that.”



On top of monetizing content with ads and sponsorships, Allmight plans to host events and help in job placement for US-based candidates. It also hopes to boost awareness of policymakers&#8217; efforts to legislate on crypto. Further down the road, it might even explore something like crowdfunded investment, Ricoy said.



This was all in the works in the lead up to the US presidential election, but in the aftermath of a Trump win and presumably more crypto-friendly regulatory environment, Ricoy said he’s seen a “500% increase in interest and optimism” surrounding his project.



With crypto prices at record highs and crypto’s fear of US regulators seeming to abate, America’s crypto scene seems to be having a moment.



“I’m in the right place at the right time, and it’s pretty cool,” Ricoy said.



Years ago, Ricoy was running a construction labor company when he decided to found a crypto app. With the help of some developers, he launched an app to promote SoundCloud music with Kin, the cryptocurrency debuted by the messaging app Kik during crypto’s 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom. Kik liked the app and extended Ricoy an offer to become its head of communications.&nbsp;



Kin would spark a knock-down-drag-out fight with the SEC, and Kik messenger eventually shut down amid the legal battle. After some time working for Kin’s foundation, Ricoy joined the Solana Foundation as community relations manager, where he drove the launch of Solana’s community grants program. After a little over a year, Ricoy resigned to pursue Allmight.



Allmight received a grant from the Solana Foundation, but Ricoy said he was clear that his mandate is to grow crypto outside of just Solana, and the foundation was supportive. I asked later in a text how Ricoy plans to grow a blockchain-agnostic crypto community in the US given all the sectarian fighting that seems to happen constantly between crypto ecosystems.



Ricoy said a rising tide can lift all boats, and noted how the Solana Foundation and Polygon Labs have worked together on policy in Washington, DC.&nbsp;



“[W]ho knows, maybe efforts like these can even help bridge communities and put a dent in the tribalism overall,” Ricoy wrote.



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Former Solana Foundation employee starts US media company

Ben Strack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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The conditions Charles Schwab is waiting for before jumping headfirst into crypto could take shape soon, potentially bringing another big fish into the mix in a more substantial way.



The company currently allows investors to trade spot bitcoin and ether ETFs on its platform, as well as crypto futures contracts and options on certain BTC funds.&nbsp;



“We also would like to directly offer crypto and Schwabize the crypto market, which is to take a lot of the spread and the commissions out of the crypto area to create a better deal for clients,” incoming Schwab CEO Rick Wurster said in a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqObL1KgXfo">interview</a> with Yahoo Finance.



He added: “We’ve been waiting on a change in the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mike-novogratz-on-trump-presidency">regulatory environment</a> in order to do that and we’re confident…that will come in short order.”&nbsp;



A Schwab spokesperson essentially echoed his sentiment to me in a Tuesday email, noting Schwab “plans to offer spot crypto trading” once the expected regulatory shifts occur.



“We understand many of Schwab’s clients are interested and engaged in cryptocurrencies, particularly with certain segments of the market, and we are monitoring this space and the regulatory environment closely,” the rep explained.



Charles Schwab’s asset management division <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/first-charles-schwab-crypto-etf-set-to-launch-next-week">launched an ETF</a> that holds crypto-related stocks in 2022. But they were <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/etf-issuers-sidelines-bitcoin-product">notably absent</a> when a bevy of issuers (including mega competitors like BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton) brought to market US spot BTC funds in January.



A Schwab spokesperson <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/charles-schwab-bitcoin-etf-plans">told me that month</a> the firm “continues to learn and hear from investors as to their investment needs and considerations for investing in bitcoin ETFs.”



And it seems it has learned something. After all, the US BTC fund category’s net inflows <a href="https://farside.co.uk/bitcoin-etf-flow-all-data/">surpassed $30 billion</a> last week (in less than 11 months on the market).&nbsp;



Neena Mishra, director of ETF research for Zacks Investment Research, said she expects Schwab’s pending deeper dive into the crypto space to be in the form of spot bitcoin and ether ETFs.



“The space is already crowded, and the iShares product has surged ahead,” she told me. “It won’t be easy for a new product, even with a powerful brand name, to compete with the leading products in the market.”



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Are Charles Schwab spot crypto ETFs coming?

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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New research by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows 93% of UK adults have heard of crypto assets. About 12% of those surveyed own them — representing about 7 million people.



These findings point to “the need for clear regulation that supports a safe, competitive and sustainable crypto sector,” said Matthew Long, the FCA’s director of payments and digital assets.



Sounds like a good time for an update on the FCA’s approach.&nbsp;



We received just that on Tuesday, as Long <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/blogs/developing-our-approach-crypto-regulation">detailed</a> some of the takeaways from the UK regulator’s chats this year with crypto companies, law firms, government officials and other regulators in the country. Even the US SEC gave its two cents.



A few interesting bits from Long’s report:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Participants liked the idea of an industry-led disclosures regime proportionate and tailored to different business models (i.e. institutional and retail).</li>



<li>While some want disclosure rules similar to those in TradFi, others raised concerns about applying this approach to crypto.</li>



<li>There were discussions around “best execution” criteria for client orders (beyond price, important factors include custody arrangements and asset safety).</li>



<li>Participants believe exchanges issuing their own tokens or operating brokerage and market-making services pose conflict-of-interest risk.   </li>
</ul>



An FCA roadmap shows a go-live date for the regime sometime in 2026, with some other steps along the way.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdqSNrjUfCQwsgWTO0EAFCtG_vrxXcHf5GjcZ3V0WtQJFbLgznM8tGy-PHmy0opiEQX2NQI_-e6_VA7n7pmoa74dhEzxbaEmf1yeFHHQKCdZ40qabUKCIuWB5sImjiqyHyb4GiEuA?key=5O59Ku4rtJNaWX1i5qR91Bpb" alt=""/></figure>



In the meantime, the FCA said it’s working on a market-abuse information sharing platform (to address stated challenges posed by data privacy laws across jurisdictions, for example).



These details came after UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury Tulip Siddiq said last week to expect <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-21/uk-to-unveil-long-awaited-crypto-stablecoin-rules-early-in-2025">legislation</a> on stablecoins and staking services soon.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



So there will be plenty more to monitor in the UK as it seeks to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mica-compliance-eu-crypto-consolidation">catch up to the EU</a>. And the US too is expected to make regulatory moves next year under a more <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-impacts-since-election-outcome">crypto-friendly</a> president and Congress.



Stay tuned.



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What the UK’s FCA is focused on while drawing up its crypto regime   

Casey Wagner

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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It’s a short week for our US readers with markets closed on Thursday followed by a half day of trading on Friday. Crypto markets, of course, will trade through the holiday. But let’s take a look at how US equities typically perform this time of year and what we might see in the coming days.&nbsp;



Historically, stocks do pretty well during Thanksgiving week. Since 1928, the S&amp;P 500 has finished higher 60% of the time following the holiday. During presidential election years, returns are even more common; the index closes higher 75% of the time, with an average return of 0.88%, according to Bank of America Global Research.&nbsp;



The Nasdaq Composite, which debuted in 1971, has generally followed suit. Last year, the Nasdaq Composite ended Thanksgiving week 2.4% higher, building off of an already strong month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&amp;P 500 also closed the week ended Black Friday 2023 higher, posting gains of 1.9% and 2.2%, respectively.



Equities were trending higher Tuesday while President-elect Donald Trump’s latest comments on his <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/unpacking-trump-potential-tariff-policies">tariff plans</a> rocked global currency markets. Trump plans to implement 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada, plus an additional 10% fee on goods coming from China, he said in a Tuesday Truth Social post. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso both fell sharply against the dollar.&nbsp;



Midway through Tuesday’s session, the S&amp;P 500 was up 0.3% since the start of the week while the Nasdaq Composite was virtually flat.&nbsp;



Stocks were largely insulated from Trump’s comments — likely an indication that investors are going to hold off on making major trades until they have more information about what the Trump Administration might actually do after Inauguration Day. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were trending 0.4% and 0.5% higher, respectively, over the day at 2 pm ET.&nbsp;



If the upward trend continues, stocks should end November well into the green. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes are both up close to 5% since the first of the month.&nbsp;



Tomorrow’s economic reports should move markets, or at least expectations of an interest rate cut from the Fed come December. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 23 will drop at 8:30 am ET, followed by October’s PCE index at 10 am. Odds of a 25-basis point interest rate cut next month inched higher Tuesday, hitting 59% (compared with 52% a day ago), according to <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html?redirect=/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html">data</a> from CME Group.&nbsp;



There’s one and a half trading days (plus another hour in today’s session) left in the week. Here’s hoping the rally lasts.



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US stocks head into holiday week with history on their side 

Macauley Peterson

DIA has launched the testnet for Lumina, its new modular oracle infrastructure aimed at improving transparency, scalability and integration flexibility. Designed to address common issues with existing oracles, Lumina allows for data aggregation, verification and delivery across blockchains.



Its architecture is distinguished from other oracle solutions such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/chainlink">Chainlink</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/api3-oracle-data">API3</a>, given its support for multiple messaging protocols, compatibility with non-EVM chains and comprehensive data traceability.



Previously, access to oracle data’s origins and flow was often opaque, but Lumina offers full visibility into the entire process, according to Zygis Marazas, DIA’s head of product.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/chainlink-integration-bitcoin-l2-spiderchain">Chainlink brings data feeds to Bitcoin L2 Spiderchain</a>



“Users can clearly see the entire data journey, from the source to the final price calculation,” Marazas told Blockworks. This approach aims to build trust in data reliability and accuracy.



The <a href="https://testnet-explorer.diadata.org/">testnet</a>, which went live today, will limit participation. However, the mainnet is scheduled for release in Q1 2025 and will operate as a fully permissionless network. In addition to nodes, new chains and assets that need oracles services can plug in without direct involvement from DIA’s team. This eliminates the need for manual onboarding processes.



“You can set up your own <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/oracles">oracles</a> if you wish, completely permissionlessly,” Marazas explained. This functionality is expected to appeal to developers working on emerging <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/rollups">rollups</a> and specialized blockchain ecosystems, where speed and autonomy are critical.



This functionality should enable the long tail of assets to make their way into DeFi, Aiham Jaabari told Blockworks. Jaabari is the co-founder of Silo Finance, which uses DIA oracles.



“Very few oracle providers provide data feeds beyond the blue chips — so that’s why we’re kind of excited about Lumina,” Jaabari said. “Technically speaking, you can actually create an oracle permissionlessly on a [layer-2] for really any token asset.”



Lumina’s architecture is designed to integrate a wide variety of data sources. By aggregating data from multiple origins, including blockchain networks and external APIs, Lumina ensures broad coverage and accuracy.



&#8220;You can get data from any source — offchain or onchain — from the hundreds of feeds that exist right now in the market,&#8221; said Marazas.



To enhance scalability, Lumina employs an OP Stack-based rollup, called Lasernet. For data availability, Lumina uses Celestia, making its rollup an optimium — the optimistic rollup equivalent of a validium.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/layer-2-secured-by-ethereum">So your layer-2 is ‘secured by Ethereum’ — what does that mean?</a>



Marazas noted the team was impressed by Celestia’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/podcast/expansion/53c20360-7aed-11ef-863d-af4d23f15666">roadmap to one gigabyte blocks</a>, and considers the scaling benefits to outweigh the minor risk introduced by adding a dependence, a view in line with the broader modular trend.



While Lumina is optimized for Ethereum rollups, it is also designed to support non-EVM ecosystems such as Cosmos and Move-based chains. It uses <a href="https://blockworks.co/podcast/expansion/be971a88-7d4d-11ef-a6f6-07431ef3d44f">Hyperlane</a> as a cross-chain messaging protocol, but can work with other standards if needed.



Lumina’s flexibility extends further with support for both push and pull models of data delivery, allowing users to choose the approach that best suits their needs. “Some customers prefer [a] pull-based approach, where they can get prices on demand, but there are other cases where push-based [updates] can be more efficient,” he added.



Ultimately, it’s the flexibility that Silo’s Jaabari sees as a selling point. “Having control over the oracle is as important as the feed itself because there’s no one methodology that fits all assets,” he said.



Jaabari is also a fan of the layer-2 strategy, calling it “the cheapest way to process the data and make it available.”



Decentralization is a key part of Lumina’s roadmap. Although the testnet will initially rely on whitelisted data feeders, DIA plans to gradually open participation to anyone in 2025, introducing staking and slashing mechanisms to ensure data accuracy.



“The vision of our protocol is that eventually it is going to run without the core team being involved,” said Marazas.



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DIA launches testnet for Lumina, a new modular oracle

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



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Modern cars are advanced computers on wheels, equipped with cameras that capture a 360° view of their surroundings. These systems play a vital role in navigation, safety and autonomous driving. Yet, their full potential is often untapped.



NATIX Network, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) for collecting real-time geospatial data, is out with a new gadget that transforms a Tesla&#8217;s existing camera system into a 360° dashcam that pays you for collected data.



The device, called VX360, aims to improve autonomous vehicles’ safety and introduce a variety of potential applications such as real-time mapping, property appraisal, insurance assessments and whatever else the market dreams up.



Unlike synthetic simulation data, VX360 captures unpredictable real-world driving scenarios, often referred to as &#8220;edge cases,&#8221; such as sudden weather changes or unusual traffic patterns. Such data will help train autonomous vehicle AI.



By leveraging the DePIN model, NATIX hopes to incentivize Tesla drivers to share real-world footage while ensuring robust privacy and data control measures.



VX360 taps into each Tesla&#8217;s built-in cameras, using edge computing to process and anonymize footage at the source, according to CEO Alireza Ghods.



&#8220;The anonymization AI blurs personally identifiable information like faces and license plates but doesn’t alter the footage, so it retains its integrity,” Ghods told Blockworks. This ensures compliance with stringent privacy regulations. The footage is then uploaded directly to the cloud via Tesla&#8217;s built-in connectivity or a paired mobile device.



“We’ve been refining anonymization AI since 2020, well before our pivot to NATIX Network, and open-source AI advancements have helped us build a high-performance stack for this,” Ghods said.



NATIX rewards Tesla drivers for sharing footage through <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/natix">NATIX</a> tokens, or for the non-Web3 crowd, incentives like gift cards and electronics discounts.



The trip recordings remain available for the car&#8217;s owner to serve as a navigational reference or to aid insurance claims.



Ghods emphasizes the device&#8217;s passive nature, predicting the hardware should pay for itself within about nine months. So, the switch from a strictly smartphone <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/drive-to-earn-app-dynamic-maps-crypto-rewards">app-based model</a> makes sense. For owners, “even if the rewards fluctuate,” he said, “they still get the utility of accessing and managing their footage from anywhere and anytime.”&nbsp;



The network has a token buyback-and-burn system that uses 40% of revenue from data monetization. Since the token&#8217;s July 2024 launch, over 41.6 million tokens — from the 1 billion total — have been burned, Ghods said.



The network has been targeting select cities initially, and NATIX plans to expand coverage as well as car compatibility in the future. So far, the VX360 has been tested with two additional car brands, Ghods said.



“Our view on this is that car manufacturers are going away from building cars that are siloed, toward cars that can serve as platforms for others to build on,” he said. “The ‘iPhone moment’ of cars is happening now with Tesla and Google at the forefront of it.”



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Turning Tesla cameras into data engines

Steve Gerbino

Fees are killing Web3 — not because they’re expensive (many blockchains and layer-2s boast fees as low as fractions of a cent), but because their very existence creates friction for users.



Fees don’t just cost money — they cost usability. Users are blocked from interacting onchain unless they hold a given blockchain’s native token. Want to use Ethereum? You’ll need ETH. On Solana? You’ll need SOL. Every network has its own currency.



Before new adopters can engage with anything — be it a token transaction, an NFT mint or a decentralized app — they must navigate the process of obtaining and securely storing the proper native gas asset.



For seasoned crypto enthusiasts, this might feel like second nature. You, of course, are a tech savant. You’re reading a crypto publication and you probably learned how to go to an exchange, share your bank details, obtain a token, store it on a hardware wallet, connect to MetaMask, exchange it for another token that you’ll use to power your transaction…and so on ad nauseam.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-mass-adoption-as-priority">Is mass adoption still crypto’s most important goal?</a>



And this is all fine if you’re using a blockchain for DeFi (for example). You don’t mind the learning curve if there’s a clear financial incentive.



But…for the next billion users? Do we really expect a billion Facebook users to jump into this tangle of counterintuitive technobabble and make it work? No. It’s not going to happen. The only way for our industry to move beyond the “early adopters” phase and start onboarding the “early majority” is to eliminate these barriers. We need to make this process as intuitive and simple as using the internet we’re looking to replace.



And that means no more fees. Ever. Period.



Looking back, fees served several critical functions in blockchain&#8217;s early days. They acted as a deterrent to spam by requiring a small cost for each transaction, effectively discouraging malicious actors from overloading their respective networks with meaningless activity.



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/slow-defi-infrastructure-curbs-mass-adoption">DeFi’s slow infrastructure is holding back mass adoption</a>



At the same time, fees provided miners with financial incentives to validate and secure transactions, ensuring the network’s integrity and sustainability, especially as block rewards decreased over time. Fees also allowed users to prioritize transactions during periods of high demand.



This framework was groundbreaking in its time, but that was nearly 16 years ago. With advances in blockchain technology and shifting user expectations, isn’t it time to rethink this outdated approach and explore what’s next?



To start with, we need to shift focus onto building apps that feel seamless and intuitive for users. Imagine a platform where users can engage freely — minting NFTs, sharing content or transacting — without ever needing to think about gas fees.



What if apps operated on an entirely different financial model — one where developers could delegate the ability to transact to users, entirely eliminating fees and the need for tokens?



We’ve seen attempts to address this before; for instance, protocols that claim to be “feeless” by covering fees on behalf of users in a bid to win their loyalty. But such models are unsustainable. They depend on temporary funding or token incentives that distort the market, create reliance on artificial subsidies and inevitably deplete with time.



Rather, I&#8217;m talking about a completely free-to-use model that doesn’t <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/the-future-of-web3-needs-zero-gas-fees">cost anything at all</a>.



There are a variety of ways a truly feeless blockchain network could be accomplished. One approach involves allocating network resources to users, which are consumed during transactions and automatically regenerate over time. Hardcoding this directly into the network would eliminate the need for users to pay fees directly while ensuring the network remains secure and efficient.



Or perhaps more developers could focus on alternative consensus mechanisms, such as directed acyclic graph (DAG) structures, where users validate each other’s transactions without relying on miners or traditional fees.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-consensus-beam-chain">Rethinking Ethereum consensus with Beam Chain</a>



Regardless of the path taken to get there, our end goal should be an ecosystem where developers can build apps that look and feel just like the ones the uninitiated use every day — intuitive, seamless and free of unnecessary friction.



Web3 was never supposed to change the world for a few million crypto enthusiasts. It was supposed to make digital life better for everyone. But instead of tackling the root of Web3’s dysfunction, successive protocols have doubled down on the fallacious assumption that fees are an unavoidable necessity.



While these challenges continue to hinder mainstream adoption for now, the tides appear to be changing. And I&#8217;m pretty sure that in a few years, the idea of paying to use a blockchain will seem as antiquated as the landline.



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Unless Web3 changes, the ‘next billion users’ are never coming

David Canellis

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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Bitcoin’s wild price swings have beaten us all into submission.



We naturally expect enormous corrections to crush hopes, dreams and wallet balances, even in the midst of monster bull runs.&nbsp;



So, you’d be forgiven for expecting a sudden 50% collapse in the price of bitcoin on its way to six figures and beyond.



Is it warranted?



First, to be clear: bitcoin does have a habit of tanking by about 80% from bull run peak to bear market trough. It has happened every cycle going right back to its first major rally in 2011.



But this column isn’t about bear market drawdowns (here’s our <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-crypto-trends">previous analysis</a> on the topic). Instead, it’s about the corrections that happen specifically during bull markets, like the one we’re in right now.



The charts below plot bitcoin’s price performance across six different timeframes, ranging from three days to three months, on a rolling basis, starting when the cycle starts (the trough) to an all-time high (the peak).



Each line shows a different timeframe — the dark purple line shows the percentage difference between each daily low and the open three days earlier, for instance. Green does the same but over three months at a time.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXflSIhbGfp-Xi2UF8R7_IkfzZhNSMw8kIpumr9NAP6ZnCKKul1XMZc6HTs9iwXpy6PfPs9GqRiJKUvQsRyvfz8ctB1H34a6LdL8-I9fx41w29DMnHVoztnh6NLDSnqlzdNCcdhACg?key=mL_swfKxc9sjgerkFC8PqAMQ" alt=""/></figure>



The dotted line at the bottom otherwise shows what a 50% drawdown would look like. As you can see, the bull run between August 2015 and December 2017 involved no drawdowns of that size.



During that market cycle, the largest was a 40% retracement over two weeks toward the end back in September 2017.



There were, however, three corrections of more than half during the following bull market between 2018 and 2021.



One of those was the epic covid market crash in March 2020 — which roughly coincided with a series of “Black Mondays” for the stock market.&nbsp;



BTC dove by half or more across every timeframe except three months, which only hit about 47%.&nbsp;



The other big drawdowns occurred in May and July 2021, when bitcoin dove from a then-all-time-high of over $60,000 to $30,000. It would then climb back to almost $69,000 over the next four months.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd-E5GJ_DNadr824uQsmBUeGyaPj-Ldb0b4OGQDgh1uh8f0BLWd6buNK4xWSni_j-_qXicfRBJA4LevmmlAtzSB7z73mW3rtphIvPZxLpjYTCRD1Gvp_WmpGmGrakbRjNKf6UoPEQ?key=mL_swfKxc9sjgerkFC8PqAMQ" alt=""/></figure>



This time around has been much tamer, with the worst mid-bull correction coming in the first week of August.&nbsp;



Bitcoin had fallen 30% across multiple timeframes, reaching a low of $49,200 from over $70,000 in June.



All this isn’t to say that bitcoin has lost its volatility. I would still expect a rocky ride.



What’s good to know, though, is that most brutal drawdowns have historically happened at the tail end of bull runs.&nbsp;



So, the longer we go without one, the spookier it gets. All part of the fun.



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Bitcoin’s history of bull market drawdowns

Cross-chain interoperability has always been the weak link for the DeFi ecosystem due to the cumbersome and risky nature of such transactions. Since blockchains do not directly interact with each other, moving assets from one network to another traditionally involves cross-chain bridges, which expose users to heightened security risks. Decentralized options, while more secure, often lack user-friendliness, discouraging broader adoption.



DeFi protocol 1inch brings an innovative approach with the full release of Fusion+ to eliminate the cross-chain bridges altogether, bringing simplicity and security to cross-chain swaps. Fusion+, now available in the 1inch decentralized application (dApp) and 1inch Wallet, integrates liquidity from across the Web3 ecosystem.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A new chapter in blockchain interoperability</h2>



The solution ensures secure, operator-free swaps between multiple blockchains using atomic swap technology, cryptographic protections, and a novel Dutch auction mechanism for optimal rates.&nbsp;



Integrating liquidity from across the Web3 ecosystem, Fusion+ has the potential to establish a new standard for blockchain interoperability. Since its <a href="https://blog.1inch.io/1inch-releases-a-white-paper-for-cross-chain-innovation/">beta launch in September</a>, Fusion+ has already processed millions of dollars in trading volume, demonstrating its efficiency and transformative potential.



<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zscGnN0WHsk?si=nmonEX4f1HbpaCu_" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>



This system, designed by 1inch, offers a number of standout features:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Security by design: Fusion+ employs atomic swaps and integrates Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) protection, ensuring trades are fully completed or safely reverted. This eliminates common issues like partial fills or failed trades.</li>



<li>Seamless user experience: Users simply select the tokens and chains they wish to swap, confirm the transaction, and keep the swap tab open until completion—no complex configurations are required.</li>



<li>Optimal rates: By leveraging Dutch auctions and competitive 1inch resolvers, Fusion+ secures the best rates for users.</li>



<li>Trustless transactions: Utilizing cryptographic hashlocks and timelocks, the system ensures trustless, decentralized swaps without reliance on third parties.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Fusion+ works</h2>



Fusion+ builds on 1inch’s intent-based framework and atomic swap technology introduced in late 2022. The process involves three steps:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Initiating the swap: Users set their desired minimum return, initiating a Dutch auction. Resolvers bid by lowering their fees until the order is accepted.</li>



<li>Escrow and locking: Funds are deposited into escrow contracts on both the source and destination blockchains. Cryptographic secrets and timelocks secure the process.</li>



<li>Completing the swap: Once conditions are met, cryptographic secrets unlock the user’s tokens on the destination chain, finalizing the transaction. If the swap isn’t completed within the designated time, funds are returned to their original owners.</li>
</ol>



Fusion+ arrives at a critical juncture for DeFi, where growth has been virtually halted by inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities. By eliminating reliance on bridges, the technology reduces risks associated with hacks and exploits, which have plagued the sector in recent years. Additionally, the streamlined user experience promises to attract a broader audience to DeFi, from retail investors to institutional participants.



Users can immediately access Fusion+ through the <a href="https://app.1inch.io/">1inch dApp</a> and <a href="https://1inch.io/wallet/">Wallet</a> without any additional setup. You only need to select the tokens and networks you wish to swap, confirm the transaction, and keep the swap tab open until it’s completed.



More information can be found on <a href="http://1inch.io/">1inch.io</a>.



This content is sponsored and does not serve as an endorsement by Blockworks. The veracity of this content has not been verified and should not serve as financial advice. We encourage readers to conduct their own research before making financial decisions. 



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1inch to fix cross-chain swaps with the full release of Fusion+

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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As the so-called lame duck session of Congress (the period between Election Day and the end of the Congressional term) rages on, here’s a look at what lawmakers are most focused on in these final weeks of the 118th Congress:&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Judicial nominations</h2>



A top priority for Senate Democrats has been getting as many of President Biden’s judicial nominations approved before the party loses its majority. Democrats and Republicans have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-judges-confirmation-battle-schumer-senate-ecef59aed90804a53d436dc154a2ee14">reportedly</a> come to an agreement to consider seven district court judges after the Thanksgiving recess, with an additional six being placed on the calendar in December. Donald Trump cleared 234 total judges during his first term, while Biden so far has had 221 of his picks confirmed.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The budget</h2>



Lawmakers in September passed a short-term extension that will fund the government through Dec. 20. They now must either extend again or pass a full fiscal year spending bill. Given the Republican’s newfound <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-declared-president-2024-election">power</a>, they are likely not motivated to negotiate a full bill in the next three weeks, so another extension seems most plausible.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">A recess appointment scheme? </h2>



Rumors are circulating that Trump is considering <a href="https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2024/11/what-are-recess-appointments-and-will-president-elect-trump-bring-them-back">recess appointments</a> — which involve trying to forcibly adjourn Congress — to get some of his cabinet picks through. The practice — used by former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — has been made more difficult by recent Supreme Court interpretation, which allows Congress to block recess appointments.&nbsp;



There is speculation that the House could agree to recess while Trump uses Constitutional powers to force the Senate to adjourn. It sounds a bit far fetched, but we will be monitoring the situation.



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Congress’s top priorities this lame duck session

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">subscribe</a>.



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The Solana memecoin launchpad pump.fun faced backlash over the weekend after a number of violent and unsavory livestreams on the platform started making the rounds on social media. By Monday afternoon, its livestream feature had been temporarily deactivated.&nbsp;



The offending streams ranged from token launchers threatening to commit violent acts unless a coin’s price goes up to racist or disgusting content meant to create viral shock value and juice the token’s price. This all happened as pump.fun booked staggering $14.3 million in revenue on Saturday, according to a pump.fun dashboard, nearly tripling its previous high.&nbsp;



Pump.fun is no stranger to edgy content. The site has drawn comparisons to the anonymous forum site 4chan for its often-unhinged content and lax approach to moderation. Before this current wave of disturbing livestreams, pump.fun had a large number of racially insensitive or pornographic tokens, none of which are subject to content moderation.



But as disturbing livestreams went viral on X, pump.fun’s anonymous founder alon wrote that the platform would work to protect users from seeing “repulsive/dangerous content.” In a separate thread, alon <a href="https://x.com/a1lon9/status/1860036153249787911">said</a> pump had taken down a stream of a user threatening to shoot their dog unless a token’s market capitalization increased, noting that the platform has now <a href="https://x.com/a1lon9/status/1860653405837963528">taken</a> down “hundreds of streams.”



A little after 2:00 p.m., pump.fun disabled livestreams on the platform&nbsp;altogether. In a blog post shortly after, pump.fun cited “unprecedented growth” as the key challenge to content moderation before adding that livestreams would be paused “for an indefinite time period.”



This feels like an inflection point for a platform that has separated itself as the most viral application on Solana, booking nearly $250 million in revenue since launching. Largely on the back of memecoin activity emanating from pump.fun, Solana has seen <a href="https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1861038014253666417">record</a> demand for its blockspace, which in turn has lined the pockets of the validators who run the blockchain’s software.



Leaders in the Solana world largely cast memecoins either as a stress test for the network or as an emerging, if currently unserious, financial use case for memes. Even among those who oppose crypto being used for what is essentially gambling, it’s frowned upon to tell users or developers what they should or shouldn’t do with blockchain technology.&nbsp;



Multiple crypto posters shrugged off the pump.fun criticism, pointing out that every large social tech platform has had its warts with content moderation.&nbsp;



But as Solana and crypto hopes for a shift to the mainstream, some are calling for a reckoning with memecoins’ downsides.



“Pump Fun is going to become a massive reputational stain on the crypto industry, on par with FTX,” Chainlink community liaison Zach Rynes wrote on X. Tech lawyer Preston Byrne also pointed out that the platform “does a lot very incorrectly from a social media law” perspective.



Up until now, pump.fun’s playbook has largely been to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-pump-dot-fun-memecoin">make light of criticism</a> through trolling. With livestreams disabled, it appears this particular round of backlash hit home. It remains to be seen whether this will make any difference for traders in the so-called memecoin trenches.



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Pump.fun suspends livestream feature amid backlash

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As more investors seem to be seeking exposure to the crypto asset class (particularly after <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-impacts-since-election-outcome">Trump’s election win</a>), stocks are one way to get involved.&nbsp;



Let’s check in on that ecosystem.&nbsp;



Starting with MicroStrategy, Benchmark’s Mark Palmer on Nov. 18 raised his price target for MSTR shares from $300 to $450. He’s revising that again, according to a Monday note — this time to $650.



This comes after MicroStrategy last week completed a $3 billion offering of convertible senior notes. It then revealed in a Monday filing that it bought <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/btc-100k-microstrategy-buy">55,500 BTC</a> from Nov. 18 to Nov. 24 for $5.4 billion in cash (averaging $97,862 each).&nbsp;



MSTR shares hovered around $402 at 2 pm ET Monday — down 4.7% on the day but up 70% from a month ago.



The strength of the MSTR rally has some <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4739669-microstrategy-paying-245000-per-bitcoin-makes-no-sense-mstr-stock">questioning</a> the idea that these shares should trade at a nearly 3x premium to the market value of the company’s BTC pile.&nbsp;



But MicroStrategy, via treasury operations, has generated ~79,130 bitcoins YTD, translating into a 41.8% BTC yield (the % change of the ratio between MSTR’s bitcoin holdings and its fully diluted share count), Palmer explained. That BTC is currently worth roughly $7.5 billion.



“We regard the dollar values of the bitcoins that MSTR creates, calculated by using its BTC yield, as analogous to earnings, and we believe they can be projected and contextualized through the attachment of a valuation multiple,” he said.



On to Coinbase, Oppenheimer analysts on Monday raised their COIN price target from $265 to $358. The stock was trading around $311 at 2 pm ET Monday.&nbsp;



They mention that the “chilling effect” created by SEC lawsuits against “widely perceived good actors” in the segment, like Coinbase, “can’t be understated.”



“It had deterred new capital going into this space, and many developers had pivoted to other industries,” they added. “But the industry has a chance to rebuild the reputation, and Coinbase is leading this new chapter.”



In addition to the expectation of a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gary-gensler-resigning">yet-to-be-named</a> new SEC chair embracing crypto as a catalyst, Coinbase’s trading volumes have increased substantially since the US election.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Average daily volumes have risen to $6.5 billion since Election Day — higher than the $2.4 billion YTD average prior to Nov. 5. Oppenheimer is projecting Q4 spot trading volume to be $350 billion (would be up 89% quarter over quarter and 127% year over year) and for “high trading volume to sustain under <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">Trump&#8217;s crypto policy</a>.”



As for other crypto stocks, Compass Point analyst Joe Flynn increased Galaxy’s price target from $22 (CAD) to $33 (~$24 CAD on Monday afternoon).&nbsp;



Beyond higher crypto prices and trading volumes momentum, GLXY is set to benefit from its expected uplisting to the Nasdaq and its term sheet with a hyperscaler to host high-performance computing (HPC) at its Helios campus — a datacenter Flynn called an “underappreciated asset.”



Flynn, also last week, lowered its rating of bitcoin miner Marathon Digital’s stock to neutral. He noted that “while MARA is an outsized beneficiary of higher BTC prices due to its HODL strategy, we don&#8217;t see much additional upside from the base business itself.”



Then there’s competing miner Core Scientific (CORZ), which notably <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/core-scientific-rejects-coreweave-buyout-bid-after-big-hpc-deal">offers HPC hosting</a> to cloud provider CoreWeave. Flynn wrote earlier this month that CORZ is “well positioned to continue expanding their existing lead in delivering application specific HPC/GPU datacenters with a single tenant focus.”&nbsp;



CORZ is the top holding in the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK) — the largest blockchain-focused equity ETF. Other stocks in the top five are COIN, MSTR, Hut 8 Mining and GLXY.



Dan Weiskopf, who co-manages BLOK’s portfolio, said it’s hard to value blockchain-fueled disruption over the next decade as regulations become more crypto-friendly.



He told me: “The real excitement should be around the adoption of tokenization as the application and how blockchain as the technology will <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/investor-appetite-for-tokenized-funds">soon transform</a> industries across the board.”



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Why analysts are upping price targets for MSTR and COIN 

Donovan Choy

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Charlie Munger once said: “Show me the incentives and I&#8217;ll show you the outcome.”



So if you’re launching a memecoin on pump.fun, your incentives are: reach a token market cap of $100k, upon which $17k of liquidity is deposited into the Raydium DEX to kickstart a trading pair.&nbsp;



Then, here are the outcomes: nudity, <a href="https://x.com/AltcoinGordon/status/1860627600097366129">stray gun shootings</a>, threats of <a href="https://x.com/beausecurity/status/1860859118124138610">suicide</a>, threats to harm <a href="https://x.com/maver_y/status/1860927674408943717">pets</a>, <a href="https://x.com/JoeyMooose/status/1860891432560545913">school</a> children, <a href="https://x.com/danielgothits/status/1860879008000295267">family</a> members and alleged stunts involving the <a href="https://x.com/crypto_bitlord7/status/1860611480871481766">consumption</a> of faeces in a dog cage.



This list just about sums up the banal grasps for attention in the world of memecoins. Thanks to pump.fun’s in-built <a href="https://x.com/pumpdotfun/status/1826754623354650939">livestream feature</a>, that race for attention to the bottom is being laid bare on full display.



Attention is the currency of memecoins, so it’s a somewhat unsurprising outcome.&nbsp;



This state of affairs has sent a call for regulation or a ban on the memecoin launcher trending across Twitter. Already, there are fake images of a <a href="https://x.com/arbitrumalex/status/1860895686239105288">Polymarket</a> predicting the odds of a pump.fun ban, and the <a href="https://x.com/Sartoshi0x/status/1860878433112207755">SEC</a> seizing the pump.fun website.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe84IwqlZeT_-S2fnB-lVkBMMVacXlaSsD9RGUB4riKqhXpvZHtegdv8Zqqw4eZ6ryfy7sqWRDaNWQvebMbB2ISSBj5IY3Y0MrCCNzQHKoyatxmnkXIYY_0dR6qDrzIaiGy8wqKLw?key=Qn2QTSsT43W7zLeZrpL_r554" alt=""/></figure>



Over the weekend, pump.fun founder Alon <a href="https://x.com/a1lon9/status/1860036153249787911">acknowledged</a> the problem and claimed that the platform’s team of moderators are “working around the clock” to quash the “illicit content.” But given the rate of <a href="https://dune.com/jhackworth/pumpfun">thousands</a> of memecoins being deployed daily, that’s going to be easier said than done.



Realistically speaking though, what could a regulator do?



US regulators, for example, could pressure internet service providers to block the pump.fun DNS domain, but a VPN could easily skirt the ban.&nbsp;



As for the tokens themselves, they live on the Solana blockchain. Regulators could technically pressure validators to block the transactions the same way the US Treasury applied <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916">sanctions</a> on <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ny-fed-tornado-cash-report">Tornado Cash</a> in 2022, which takes us down the MEV supply chain rabbit hole once again.



There’s an ironic parallel here to the longstanding problem facing Big Tech’s social media platforms. If illegal content is posted on Facebook, who should be held legally liable — the user or Facebook?



Within the US, free speech proponents have argued that <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230">Section 230</a> of the 1934 Communications Act legally protects platforms’ illicit user-generated content.



That logic, consistently applied, may shield pump.fun from regulatory pressure, though it will certainly not shield it from the forces of market competition.



Pump.fun’s success has already been mimicked dozens of times. There is makenow.meme on Solana, sun.pump on Tron, and “<a href="https://warpcast.com/proxystudio.eth/0xa01e9beb">Clanker</a>,” a kind of AI-powered equivalent of pump.fun on Base, through which memecoins can be deployed into a Uniswap v3 pool for free with a Farcaster tweet.



Clanker was launched slightly more than two weeks ago, and already has collected about <a href="https://x.com/dwr/status/1860499493239586828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860499493239586828%7Ctwgr%5E7ad59c570ca653d32722d42e71d64f8a42c8918b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmembers.delphidigital.io%2Ffeed%2Fclanker-bases-pump-fun">$4 million</a> in fee revenues, according to Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero.



But whether it’s the regulatory hammer or market competition, pump.fun has plenty of incentives to quickly nip such a problem in the bud.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



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Pump.fun looks to self-regulate gory content

Katherine Ross

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



$100,000 is just out of reach right now.&nbsp;



We saw some resistance on Friday as bitcoin touched $99.8k before backing down, which isn’t really a surprise when you look at how much bitcoin could be sold just on Coinbase once we hit the elusive record.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">1,000 BTC for Sale on Coinbase at $100k <a href="https://t.co/RevXCanfia">pic.twitter.com/RevXCanfia</a>&mdash; matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) <a href="https://twitter.com/matthew_sigel/status/1860045279753568485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



In an X post, Galaxy’s Michael Novogratz said this amounts to “normal profit taking” as Alex Thorn’s data shows that a lot of the sellers came in this year above $56,000, and are looking to offload.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Galaxy Research <a href="https://twitter.com/intangiblecoins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@intangiblecoins</a> telling me that most of the selling is coming from 2024 buyers who bought above 56k.. normal profit taking&#8230; I still think new buyers are gonna HODL and eating through supply is long term healthy.&mdash; Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) <a href="https://twitter.com/novogratz/status/1860824141152067656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Despite this being a holiday week for folks in the US (which, on the Wall Street side of things, generally means that volumes are slightly lower), there may be a reason to be bullish on hitting $100k.&nbsp;



And, to no one’s surprise, all roads lead back to MicroStrategy. The firm, in an SEC filing this morning, announced that it purchased 55,500 bitcoin — worth $5.4 billion — at the end of last week into the weekend at an average price of nearly $98,000 per bitcoin.



The <a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001050446/000119312524264733/d844494d8k.htm">filing</a> was actually kind of expected, given that we knew a big purchase was on the horizon after it announced at the end of last week that it closed its bond offering. And that came after it was upsized to nearly $3 billion from an initial $1.75 billion.



The most recent purchase comes on the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/microstrategy-bitcoin-bet">heels of a $4.6 billion buy</a> earlier this month. That means — if you’re looking at the math — we’ve seen Saylor’s company buy up $10 billion worth of bitcoin this month alone. Wild, right?&nbsp;



While Saylor’s purchases are catalysts for price action, it’s not looking like it’s enough to send us over $100k just yet, but perhaps it’ll help folks breach the wall that’s currently in place.&nbsp;



After all, there’s one other trend that shows we could break $100,000 sooner rather than later. According to FalconX’s David Lawant, there have been a few notable liquidity shifts in the market.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXefQ5LQb1rkl1iS4cinm-1Wa3e9fRJyTQC4kO28Uj5pGou9dX-nNFih0b1wZ1nCxdVfzTZF_pNyUWlM-IBzf2g6cQBz-sOAkxUSLE_s9OUNAclcGnv4CMRHq-BVXEYrx0udOjGv?key=4qLVmzzirA4cqaFtgObkCM2R" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: FalconX</figcaption></figure>



“BTC reached its highest spot volume print ever on a seven-day moving average basis and for the first time since 2021 is in shooting range of doing the same on the futures side. While spot volumes on the week after the election brought the daily traded value to above $40 billion, over the past week it was slightly lower at $25-35 billion but still two to three times the levels we have been seeing between March 2024 and the election,” Lawant wrote.&nbsp;



However, the volume jump hasn’t led to an increase in book order depth, which would together lead to a “stronger” impact on price action.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf4ZfvWhOgZLR_iWgghofp8SmDlqkUVzRTjkmVkiKNEXTrdleP3R35JPUjVB5vOp0cwEKH5jfva1JvIJU3d_rYevDrZLnoiZvrm7p84k_PIwmwLbthuQmvF6ILKTpK_u37hILiK5Q?key=4qLVmzzirA4cqaFtgObkCM2R" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: FalconX</figcaption></figure>



Essentially, this data shows that $100,000 remains a tough level to break through, but “the overall picture remains encouraging,” according to Lawant. 



If MicroStrategy’s buy isn’t enough to send us over the wall, perhaps we’re just a <a href="https://x.com/byKatherineRoss/status/1860008379063894318">CZ post away.</a>



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What it’s going to take to hit $100K

Tether made moves this week, investing in Quantoz alongside Kraken and Fabric Ventures. The team did not disclose the amount invested.



Alongside the announcement, the Dutch-based stablecoin company also announced it was launching euro and US dollar stablecoins.&nbsp;



“EURQ and USDQ are respectively euro and US dollar-referenced E-Money Tokens (EMTs), issued on the Ethereum blockchain by Quantoz, an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) authorised and supervised by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch Central Bank,” a press release said.



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecoin-regulation-necessary-now-us">The time for US stablecoin regulation is now&nbsp;</a>



Both EURQ and USDQ were listed by Bitfinex and Kraken earlier this week, making both available to “eligible clients.”



“Europeans speak loudly about MICAR making stablecoin issuance seamless in Europe and whilst there are clearer rules, there are very few players that can pull it off at scale,” Fabric ventures general partner Anil Hansjee said in a <a href="https://quantozpay.com/quantoz-payments-issues-euro-and-us-dollar-stablecoins/">press release</a>.



Read more from our opinion section:<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mica-compliance-eu-crypto-consolidation"> MiCA compliance will drive Europe into a crypto consolidation frenzy</a>



“Think regulatory licenses, tier 1 banking partners with adequate liquidity ratios and balance sheets, blockchain expertise, state of the art and scalable compliance onboarding, onchain transaction monitoring, treasury and risk management, security DNA, let alone an ability to convince major European exchanges to list you and market makers to provide liquidity, as well as dapps to build use cases around you,” Hansjee continued.



Not to be outdone, another <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/stablecoins">stablecoin</a> company, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/paxos">Paxos</a>, had its own news to share earlier this week.



Paxos <a href="https://paxos.com/blog/paxos-to-acquire-finnish-e-money-institution-membrane-finance/">announced</a> that it acquired Membrane Finance, also for an undisclosed amount. The purchase sets Paxos up to be a regulated entity in the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/eu">EU</a>, where it plans to issue <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/mica">MiCA</a>-compliant stablecoins.&nbsp;



Membrane is a Finnish company with an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other notable funding rounds:</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Monkey Tilt <a href="https://x.com/MonkeyTiltPlay/status/1859327528739201374">announced</a> a $30 million Series A led by Pantera Capital. Hack VC and Polychain also participated. </li>



<li>Valantis Labs <a href="https://x.com/ValantisLabs/status/1859285814821388325">raised</a> $7.5 million across pre-seed and seed rounds led by Cyber Fund, Kraken Ventures and Seven X Ventures.</li>



<li>OpenLayer <a href="https://x.com/OpenLayerHQ/status/1858938617819000885">said</a> it raised $5 million, with a16z’s CSX, Geometry and Spartan all contributing.</li>



<li>Barter DeFi <a href="https://x.com/BarterDeFi/status/1858893556447891968">announced</a> a $3 million seed round led by Maven 11 Capital.</li>
</ul>



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Funding Roundup: Stablecoin fundraising and M&A activity heats up

Though not the type of crypto hire we typically cover in these roundups, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce this week.



We highlighted Lutnick’s <a href="https://link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/u001.VIz4fB9RgLaqgT0Ji6lSIMhLGx1BG6y6FX8v5LSXYwgUk16fXNbzd9DTUZWINQEf822GPTmvyxixSLBlUzCfKEiY7xc0k6NQw_Om4FA0ED4DeLOcBwhii-0F9NXtu_zQSpEgbeAkqPWj8FN7nb3EkSxZPYvduKlbYQ1oEIxnJPWkCNRQwlBaHZdQG-r-825rKPPIeL_nMIm7e9pJJmQgtBrC08tfpE_1H778ia1rOCUuFQdINNfOeOsD4UvOjPUS9HtR9c01KKfn9luJAfBVu213XdyebUOsBSN3pAUqVP4/4bl/IH224rKYS1q1ONJ1-gW0DA/h20/h001.77vd-pY95ElrlwXXb3i5dZ-R-fIDLipP7mXZqCpSjJA">remarks on bitcoin</a> in a September edition of the Forward Guidance newsletter. At the time, the CEO noted that traditional finance players — including banks and brokerages — would “go headfirst into bitcoin” when the regulatory environment improved.&nbsp;



Trump’s election win has seemed to set the stage for that, given the <a href="https://link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/u001.VIz4fB9RgLaqgT0Ji6lSIMhLGx1BG6y6FX8v5LSXYwigNEM9nXQOp7Y6rYnk4N-VViTtVUBtTUFuOw3Y0SGzqJaLC5YCGtHdUh7zP8F08Vctj5GIA_3ToEZLQ-kWSVRg5HyB_Zgs4WgDo4Bo71rdFSv0iWIROf_jyIKSs-zr1Igy57Aam05L-wIEFb5cRS_FsOx11mCqK8KyzrB3tagk7o7SJX8ylRAcFhLMnRsD5vIPwoT9jSF6Pxpggmn7j6fl_PYeWPZdAy6v7tsa_mD5mNTZoydJIuZ9GyoXQhFPprZFrQA6HgXfnAG1PprcQdez/4bl/IH224rKYS1q1ONJ1-gW0DA/h21/h001.FBU8i7legpmz1J4JxNUxzwposhly6rBZfSbAy03MBcc">crypto promises</a> he has made (namely, “firing” Securities and Exchange Chair Gary Gensler).



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-nominates-commerce-dept-leader">Trump nominates pro-crypto CEO to lead commerce department</a>



Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/howardlutnick/status/1831080474124681316?s=46&amp;utm_source=forward-guidance.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=options-open&amp;_bhlid=e85ffb801808c011874423cc190af9f43a1861ef">said</a> in a September X video that bitcoin adoption will proliferate once banks can more freely clear, custody and transact in bitcoin — a reality hindered by the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin <a href="https://link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/u001.VIz4fB9RgLaqgT0Ji6lSIMhLGx1BG6y6FX8v5LSXYwjkzkkNq3FGLJqh4wkyHMJY_s1SVlapX0RF6tXS-mB7PtUyAgVzHOHJvr74YCtLOTNQFQf_Vz_SJQU8j1vQZY-hyHjncXDc8a_L-KY5zLWmRtgHN4pnFtIDa8YK-pnPFIRPHyxSE_prxEa_TeMBs_2l_nz7-le2zouwKD4qmeg2h2LSkXt01JZKHJffWqdmSeJ5dQ7gZH2BOo8C8-zjEycOtfCdA4c-5Jj7yPg1lG_OUQ/4bl/IH224rKYS1q1ONJ1-gW0DA/h23/h001.0fIErinHJecrQsGq3Imi39lmmH8ZZwAKRakgiayAoPg">(SAB) 121</a>.



Lutnick’s firm has stablecoin issuer Tether as a client — a company that has denied being <a href="https://link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/u001.VIz4fB9RgLaqgT0Ji6lSIMhLGx1BG6y6FX8v5LSXYwgZQzTpD9i20l7fRn4fMOxRNJ-OYOLpnRBKvC5u7r-5IMmkjkDsEmfGeWHM3_abYXfZAVDyVXFX_04IvI1yUKgRLHoNAFPYoiA67it2Gv6DnH81LyqIpwcyyoHyffm1gcXB3TVkSQnDaLXw785tbjBkIwbAgwkk89IKeJZzUfPMdMz_HpQZ-QW3WsRT_GOUi-QvPGwdOYOg4IBOlN5usMcFIGy6iWiEuXMcvAhe_gPazUF-80jrqhnP7WFJQGb200Y/4bl/IH224rKYS1q1ONJ1-gW0DA/h24/h001.EbF974gF-xuBcsYq229KAI_PCDC4k3YiQc37tFu5ArU">under federal investigation</a>.



Speaking of Trump appointments, reports surfaced this week of him potentially <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/11/21/leak-reveals-trump-crypto-bombshell-as-bitcoin-suddenly-surges-toward-100000-price/">selecting</a> a crypto czar and forming a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-industry-jockeys-seats-trumps-promised-council-2024-11-21/">crypto council</a> that could be housed under the White House&#8217;s National Economic Council.



Still, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said she is watching out for who could fill two other roles.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">We’ll have lots of time to debate who would be best for positions like a “crypto czar.” It’s a great idea, but the ones before us are Treasury Secretary and SEC Chair–a crypto czar won’t be able to get much done unless the people in those posts are strong. Let’s stay focused.&mdash; Kristin Smith (@KMSmithDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC/status/1859339558342607023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 20, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/gary-gensler">Gensler</a> said this week he would <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gary-gensler-resigning">step down from his SEC chair post</a> on Jan. 20.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-departures-regulation-changes">Changes at the SEC start well ahead of Inauguration Day</a>



As for a crypto firm adding an executive, bitcoin infrastructure technology Blockstream appointed hedge fund veteran Sean Bill as its chief investment officer.&nbsp;



Bill, who was most recently CIO of Prime Meridian Capital Management, is set to lead Blockstream’s newly created asset management division.



The firm’s bitcoin financial products in development include a bitcoin yield fund (aiming to function like a money market fund for BTC holders) and a USD yield fund (providing lending opportunities that generate income through bitcoin-backed loans).&nbsp;&nbsp;



In other soon-to-be hiring news, Wintermute Asia is set to double its headcount in the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/apac">Asia Pacific</a> region upon establishing a new headquarters in Singapore, the company said earlier this week.&nbsp;



The digital asset derivatives trading arm of Wintermute Group said Monday it is “actively hiring for top-of-the-funnel roles that are critical to scaling its operations.”



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