Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Sui, rising 44.04%.
- Bitcoin rose this week, the biggest move in over a month, as expectations increased that a reduction in borrowing rates by the Fed would boost demand for speculative assets. Bitcoin gained as much as 6.4% on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports, the biggest intraday increase since August 8.
- Hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci predicts record highs for Bitcoin, Bloomberg reports, fueled by a combination of interest-rate cuts and U.S. crypto regulatory clarity in the wake of November’s presidential election.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Helium, down 12.87%.
- The German Attorney General’s Office and the country’s Federal Criminal Police Office have shut down 47 crypto exchanges allegedly tied to criminal activities including money laundering. The exchanges purposefully failed to comply with KYC requirements, according to an article published by Bloomberg.
- DeFi platform Delta Prime has been hit with a $6 million exploit after an admin lost control of a private key. The hacker initially drained about $4.5 million, Bloomberg explains, but was able to continue attacking the protocol to steal funds.
Opportunities
- Crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital is seeking to raise $500 million for its fourth fund, which will invest in early-stage projects. The firm has raised $250 million so far and aims to close the fundraising in the first quarter of next year.
- SIX group is exploring the creation of a venue in Europe for trading cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reports. The venue would be available only for institutional investors and can help facilitate trading whether it’s spot crypto or it’s derivatives.
- Crypto exchange Bitget bought $30 million of Toncoin, the token linked to messaging app Telegram. The purchase came shortly before Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France setting off a tumble in Toncoin.
Threats
- The hackers behind a cyberattack against the drug distributor Cencora Inc. received a total of $75 million in the largest known cyber extortion payment ever made. The payment made for the Cencora hack occurred in three installments in Bitcoin, writes Bloomberg.
- The official YouTuber channel of the supreme court of India that was used for streaming proceedings was compromised by hackers. The channel hosted videos relating to a cryptocurrency product and the entire page was deleted, according to Bloomberg.
- Two California men were indicted with conspiracy to steal and launder over $230 million in cryptocurrency. According to the DOJ, the scammers gained access to victim cryptocurrency accounts and then transferred victim funds into their possession which they laundered through various mixers and exchanges.