Today's News Highlights:
U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will officially step down on January 20, 2025
U.S. court ruling: SEC's "Broker-Dealer Rule" was revoked for exceeding statutory authority
Trump Media may plan to launch a cryptocurrency payment service called "TruthFi"
Regulatory News
U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will officially step down on January 20, 2025
According to an announcement on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official website, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will officially step down at noon on January 20, 2025. Since taking office on April 17, 2021, Gensler has advanced several important reforms, including capital market efficiency, resilience, and integrity. During his tenure, the SEC completed thousands of enforcement actions, recovering approximately $21 billion in fines and returning $2.7 billion to harmed investors.
Gensler has significantly increased enforcement in the cryptocurrency sector, taking action against fraudulent trading, registration violations, and other behaviors. According to SEC data, about 18% of reports in fiscal year 2024 were related to cryptocurrencies. Additionally, he has pushed for several rule reforms, including shortening the stock settlement cycle to one day, enhancing disclosures on network and climate risks, and strengthening oversight of investment advisors.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart reported that Cboe BZX Exchange documents show that the exchange has proposed to list and trade four Solana-related ETFs on its platform. These ETFs are initiated by Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Funds, classified as "commodity-based trust fund shares," submitted under rule 14.11(e)(4). If the SEC formally accepts them, the final approval deadline is expected to be in early August 2025.
U.S. court ruling: SEC's "Broker-Dealer Rule" was revoked for exceeding statutory authority
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the SEC's final rule on the "Dealer Rule" exceeded its statutory authority and declared the rule invalid. The court noted that the SEC's expanded definition of "broker" was inconsistent with the text, history, and structure of the Securities Exchange Act, and that the rule's scope was overly broad, potentially unreasonably encompassing trading activities within DeFi protocols.
The court found that the SEC's attempt to simply define trading activities as market liquidity provision and classify them as "brokers" failed to reflect the legal distinction between brokers and ordinary traders. Ultimately, the court ruled to revoke the rule, emphasizing that the SEC did not follow reasonable decision-making procedures in rulemaking, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.
According to Reuters, several cryptocurrency companies, including Ripple, Kraken, and Circle, are competing for seats on the cryptocurrency advisory committee promised by presidential candidate Donald Trump. Insiders say the advisory committee may be affiliated with the White House National Economic Council or an independent White House department, with primary responsibilities including coordinating digital asset policy, collaborating with Congress to develop cryptocurrency legislation, establishing a Bitcoin reserve, and working with agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, and the Treasury Department. Additionally, Trump's team is considering establishing a cryptocurrency "czar" role to lead the committee. During his campaign, Trump promised to create the image of a "crypto president," end the current president Biden's strict regulation of cryptocurrency companies, and ensure access to banking services for cryptocurrency companies through executive orders.
Insiders revealed that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently met with Trump, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has also publicly expressed a desire to join the committee. Meanwhile, Paradigm and Andreessen Horowitz's (a16z) cryptocurrency divisions are also expected to have a seat on the committee.
AI
OpenAI plans to launch a browser integrated with ChatGPT to compete with Google Chrome
According to The Information, OpenAI is considering developing its own web browser, planning to compete directly with Google Chrome. This browser will integrate its AI model, ChatGPT.
Project Updates
Trump Media may plan to launch a cryptocurrency payment service called "TruthFi"
According to The New York Times, Donald Trump's social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, recently submitted a trademark application to launch a cryptocurrency payment service called "TruthFi." The platform will focus on cryptocurrency payments, financial custody, and digital asset trading.
Charles Schwab plans to launch spot cryptocurrency trading after regulatory improvements
According to Bloomberg, Rick Wurster, the incoming CEO of Charles Schwab, stated that the company plans to launch spot cryptocurrency trading after improvements in U.S. cryptocurrency regulations. Wurster mentioned in an interview, "We expect the regulatory environment to change and are preparing for that possibility."
Currently, Charles Schwab offers cryptocurrency-related ETFs and cryptocurrency futures but has not yet directly entered the spot trading market. Wurster noted that cryptocurrencies have attracted significant attention, but he personally does not have immediate investment plans, although he supports clients investing in crypto assets. Wurster will take over as CEO in early 2025, with current CEO Walt Bettinger retiring.
Coinbase International will launch CoW Protocol perpetual futures contracts
Coinbase International announced on the X platform that Coinbase International and Coinbase Advanced will add support for CoW Protocol perpetual futures contracts, with the COW-PERP market expected to open at or after 5:30 PM Beijing time on November 26, 2024.
According to CNBC, Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz shared his views on Bitcoin. He stated that Bitcoin is expected to break through the highly anticipated $100,000 mark in a strong rebound after the U.S. elections, but this does not mean it will continue to rise. Novogratz pointed out in the "Financial Forum" program that while reaching six figures for Bitcoin is "inevitable" and may continue to rise, a pullback will ultimately occur. He emphasized that there is a lot of leverage in the current cryptocurrency market, and the crypto community is highly leveraged, so a market correction is imminent.
However, Novogratz predicts that Bitcoin will not fall below $80,000, which is the price before Trump's election. He also warned that stocks like MicroStrategy, which trade similarly to Bitcoin leveraged trading, may face greater adjustments. Additionally, Novogratz advised investors to buy Bitcoin directly rather than investing in companies like MicroStrategy.
Zircuit's ZRC token will have transfer restrictions lifted on November 25
Zircuit announced that its native token $ZRC will officially open for trading on November 25, 2024, and revealed that a significant product will be launched next week.
According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange Binance stated that with the rapid development of its compliance department, it expects to have 645 full-time compliance employees by the end of this year, a 34% increase from November last year. According to a press release from Binance on Friday, the cryptocurrency exchange has over 1,000 employees focused on compliance work, including contractors. Binance's Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman stated, "Our industry has entered a new stage of paradigm shift and maturity, where regulatory compliance has become an important standard for user experience and protection, business success, and sustainable growth. Binance has grown alongside regulators and other participants over the years, and the continuous growth of our compliance team and projects is a testament to this and to the strong sustainable growth phase our industry is destined for." Among the recently hired compliance personnel at Binance are individuals with long-term experience in traditional finance and government sectors. Binance's new Director of Corporate Compliance, Todd McElduff, will be responsible for the exchange's relationships with global law enforcement agencies; he previously led PayPal's global financial crime oversight department. Before that, he was the head of Morgan Stanley's financial crime department. Binance has also hired two special investigation experts, Céline Inial from France and Caner Akyürek from Turkey, both of whom have worked in their respective countries' law enforcement agencies for nearly 20 years.
Financing News
Bitcoin mining company MARA completes $1 billion convertible senior notes issuance
According to official news, Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings, Inc. has completed the issuance of $1 billion in convertible senior notes, which includes $150 million in notes issued under a purchase option granted to initial purchasers, with a purchase option period of 13 days from the initial issuance date. The initial purchasers fully exercised their options on November 19, 2024, and the additional purchases were completed on November 20, 2024.
According to a MicroStrategy announcement, the company has completed the issuance of $3 billion in zero-coupon convertible senior bonds, which will mature in 2029, with a conversion price at a 55% premium to the market price, approximately $672 per share. The net proceeds from this issuance are about $2.97 billion, and MicroStrategy plans to use most of the funds to purchase more Bitcoin and for other corporate operational purposes.
This bond issuance is only available to qualified institutional investors and is not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Upon conversion, it can be converted into cash, stock, or a combination of both. MicroStrategy continues to solidify its position as the "largest Bitcoin treasury company in the world."
Canaan Technology raises $30 million through preferred stock issuance
According to Finance Magnates, Bitcoin mining machine manufacturer Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) recently signed a securities purchase agreement to sell up to 30,000 shares of Series A-1 preferred stock to an institutional investor at a price of $1,000 per share. This agreement will raise $30 million to support the development of digital mining and equipment in North America. Previously, Canaan had completed Series A financing in September 2024, selling up to 125,000 shares of Series A convertible preferred stock.
Decentralized gaming player network KGeN completes $10 million financing, led by Aptos Labs
According to official news, decentralized gaming player network KGeN announced the completion of $10 million in financing, led by Aptos Labs, with participation from Game7 DAO and Polygon.
KGeN aims to provide more accurate user profiles for gaming projects based on its data collection on gamers, reducing customer acquisition costs. So far, KGeN has mapped over 197 million gaming player attributes based on 10.8 million players, providing insights into gaming behavior.
Galaxy Research: Total financing for Bitcoin L2 projects reaches $447 million
According to data from Galaxy Research, since 2018, Bitcoin Layer 2 (L2) projects have cumulatively raised $447 million, with over 36% of that amount raised in 2024 alone. The report noted that approximately 0.8% of BTC circulation is locked in L2, wrapped assets, and staking protocols, and this proportion is expected to increase to 2.3% by 2030, corresponding to about $47 billion in BTC liquidity.
The number of Bitcoin L2 projects has increased from 10 in 2021 to 75. Existing L2 solutions mainly include sidechains and Rollups technology, with Rollups significantly improving transaction speed and reducing costs through data compression and batch processing. The report emphasizes that Bitcoin L2 provides more efficient trading and yield applications for BTC, but the current bridging mechanisms and trust issues regarding asset exits still need optimization.
Important Data
Data: Hong Kong virtual asset ETF's trading volume today is approximately HKD 167 million
Bitcoin-related assets' daily trading volume exceeds $70 billion
According to data shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the trading volume of the Bitcoin-related asset ecosystem reached a new high today, expected to hit $70 billion, with $50 billion contributed by MicroStrategy ($MSTR) and its related 2x leveraged products, which have all set new trading records. Meanwhile, the daily trading volume of $IBIT reached $5 billion, marking the second-highest record in history, and $MSTZ (the inverse 2x leveraged MSTR product) also broke the $1 billion mark for the first time.
According to Greeks.live, 29,000 BTC options will expire this week, with a Put Call Ratio of 1.1 and a maximum pain point (Maxpain) of $86,000, with a total nominal value of $2.84 billion. At the same time, 164,000 ETH options will expire, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.65, a maximum pain point of $3,050, and a total nominal value of $550 million.
CoinShares Research Director James Butterfill posted on the X platform that the total assets under management for digital asset ETPs have reached $150 billion for the first time, mainly due to the rise in Bitcoin prices.
According to monitoring by SolanaFloor, the monthly trading volume of Solana ecosystem DEX has approached $100 billion so far this month, setting a new historical high.
A newly created wallet withdrew 30.96 billion PEPE from KuCoin, worth approximately $6.45 million
Spot On Chain monitoring shows that a new wallet user created an account 13 hours ago and withdrew 30.96 billion $PEPE from KuCoin, worth approximately $6.45 million, with an average purchase price of $0.00002082.
A whale holding nearly 400,000 ETH has cashed out approximately $224 million
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a whale account has recently become active again and started selling its held ETH. This account purchased 398,900 ETH at an average price of about $6 from January 18 to March 10, 2016 (then worth $2.4 million).
After being inactive for 8 years, the account became active again on November 7 this year and has since sold 73,356 ETH, cashing out approximately $224 million, with 325,500 ETH remaining (currently worth about $1.1 billion).
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