Stay in the loop with our weekly crypto digest as we get you up to speed on the hottest trends and events in the crypto space.
Here’s what happened in crypto this week:
President-Elect Donald Trump Is Considering Wall Street Lawyer Richard Farley To Replace SEC Chair Gensler
According to the New York Post, Richard Farley, a partner at New York’s prominent law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and head of its leveraged finance group, has reportedly been added to Donald Trump’s transition team’s list of potential candidates to replace current Securities and Exchange Commission SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Farley has established himself on Wall Street primarily through his skills and experience in financing-related activities. He has also represented the world’s biggest banks on major financing deals, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, UBS, and Cantor Fitzgerald.
Gary Gensler Asked To Immediately Resign As SEC Chair
The American Securities Association (ASA) has called for SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s immediate resignation following Trump’s election.
ASA President Chris Iacovella said Gensler should respect the “new direction” Americans voted for by stepping down, citing a need to restore trust in the SEC.
The statement comes as Trump has pledged to replace Gensler, a critic of the crypto industry, but lacks the direct authority to remove him without cause.
Charles Hoskinson Shares New Plans To Help Foster US Crypto Policies
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has revealed he is setting up a policy office within his company, Input Output, to support crypto policy development in the US. He believes this makes it “the best opportunity” for the industry to gain clarity.
Following the announcement, Cardano #ADA surged 33% in the past 24 hours, outperforming #Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies.
$725 Billion Asset Manager Bernstein Urges Investors To Add Exposure To Bitcoin And Crypto “As Soon As Possible”
Bernstein recently urged investors to get exposure to Bitcoin amid the ongoing crypto market bull run by Donald Trump’s 2024 election win. The $725 billion asset manager has called on those hesitant about the industry to “invert their mental models” for their own good.
“Don’t fight this,” Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani said. “Welcome to the crypto bull market—buy everything you can,” he added. Additionally, Chhugani called on those investors to add exposure to any crypto asset “as soon as possible” amid its recent performance.
FTX Sues Binance And Former CEO CZ, Seeking $1.8 Billion Clawback
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against Binance, its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and other executives to claw back nearly $1.8 billion in funds that FTX alleges were fraudulently transferred to Binance.
In July 2021, FTX’s co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) made a deal with Binance, including CZ and other Binance officials. The deal involved buying back shares of FTX. As part of the agreement, Binance owned about 20% of FTX’s international platform and 18.4% of its US business. The lawsuit claims that things went wrong after that, and now FTX is asking for $1.8 billion in damages.
Alameda Research Sues Waves Founder To Claw Back $90 Million
Alameda Research, a subsidiary of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, has sued Sasha Ivanov, the founder of the Waves blockchain, over $90 million tied to Vires.Finance.
According to the lawsuit, Alameda Research deposited around $80 million in Tether and USD Coin on Vires.Finance in March 2022 as part of its trading and investing activities. The platform converted the assets into around $90 million worth of USDN, an algorithmic stablecoin issued by the Neutrino Protocol. USDN lost its peg to the US dollar multiple times and was eventually rebranded as Neutrino USD (XTN), which has since lost 98% of its value.
The lawsuit notes that while Ivanov promoted Vires as an opportunity for lenders and other users to make “substantial profits,” in reality, he “secretly orchestrated a series of transactions that inflated artificially the value of WAVES, while at the same time siphoning funds from Vires.”
Another Day, Another Bitcoin Record
Bitcoin is rising so fast that we can hardly keep up with all its breaking records.
Less than a week after reaching $76,000 (and an all-time high), BTC has already broken the $89,000 mark as of November 11th.
This is part of a rally across cryptocurrencies and crypto-related investments since Trump won the US presidential election last week. Analysts credit much of the recent gains to the incoming administration’s anticipated “crypto-friendly” nature, which could translate into more regulatory clarity and leeway.
MicroStrategy Buys Another 27,200 BTC For $2 Billion
Business Intelligence firm MicroStrategy has announced its latest Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 27,200 BTC for roughly $2.03 billion in cash.
MicroStrategy purchased Bitcoin between October 31st and November 10th at an average price of $74,463 per BTC, including fees and expenses.
The company’s average purchase price now stands at $42,692 per coin, compared to Bitcoin’s current price of $87,000.
Donald Trump Announces Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
President-elect Donald Trump formally announced the creation of the Department Of Government Efficiency, which he called “DOGE” in his statement.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the department to “pave the way for the Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Italy To Limit Crypto Tax Raise To 28%, Not 42% As Previously Proposed
Italy’s government is considering lowering its proposed tax hike on crypto trades, reducing the planned rate increase from 42% to 28%.
According to Bloomberg, this shift comes as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition appears inclined to amend the tax proposal, which was initially part of October’s budget plan, to support the country’s growing digital asset sector.
Currently, crypto transactions in Italy are subject to a 26% tax, but officials have proposed raising this to 42% to boost public finances.
Canary Capital Files For HBAR ETF
Investment management firm Canary Capital has filed an application for an HBAR exchange-traded fund (ETF) to promote more crypto-based funds in the US. The filing marks the latest move by the firm, which is double-down on the hype surrounding the incoming Donald Trump administration.
The announcement spurred a sharp increase in the HBAR token, which surged over 30% in a day.
US CPI Inflation Rises 2.6% In October, Within Expectations
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest consumer price index reading on Wednesday:
YoY: Consumer prices increased by 2.6% vs. 2.4% in September
MoM: 0.2% increase, the same rate as the previous month
Core YoY: 3.3% increase, the same rate as the previous month
Core MoM: 0.3% increase, the same rate as the previous month
October inflation was in line with expectations, but it ended a streak of cooler readings that helped give Federal Reserve officials confidence to start lowering interest rates. This could also complicate the central bank’s monetary policy strategy, particularly with a new administration taking over the White House in January.
Final Thoughts
So that’s it for this week!
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Have a fantastic week ahead!
