Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Cronos, rising 53.51%.
- Bitcoin jumped to a record high as global markets responded to Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election. Bitcoin jumped 9% as early results showed Trump barreling toward a win.
- Blackrock’s spot Bitcoin ETF has surpassed the size of its gold fund amid record demand for ETFs that invest in the original cryptocurrency. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF surpassed the $33 billion iShares Gold Trust in total assets, reaching $34.3 billion after a record inflow of $1.1 billion on Thursday, writes Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performing for the week was Kaia, down 11.25%.
- U.S. exchange-traded funds investing in Bitcoin recorded their highest daily net outflow to date as markets braced for Election Day. The group of 12 funds managed by the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity shed $579.5 million on Monday, November 4, according to Bloomberg.
- QNB, one of Turkey’s largest banks, abruptly ended its crypto asset service operations as of November 7, reports Bloomberg. According to a post on its website, the firm will no longer be accepting any new customers.
Opportunities
- The government of Indonesia is allowing businesses to invest in crypto in a new Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency. Under previous rules, only individuals are allowed to invest in digital currencies and the regulation reiterates that crypto is only allowed as an investment asset and cannot be used as payment in transactions, writes Bloomberg.
- They crypto industry poured millions of dollars into the presidential and congressional races, but its most salient election victory is likely to be the departure of U.S. SEC chair Gary Gensler, explains Bloomberg. President Donald Trump’s decisive victory all but ensures a pullback on crypto-related enforcement once he take office.
- UBS developed a piloted blockchain-based, multi-currency payment solution with UBS Digital Cash. The solution aims to increase efficiency, transparency, and to enable programmability, writes Bloomberg.
Threats
- An exploiter managed to steal a significant number of tokens from crypto casino Metawin’s Ethereum and Solana hot wallets by exploiting the protocol’s frictionless withdrawal system, Bloomberg reports. Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT pegged the amount stolen to over $4 million with 115 theft addresses tied to the exploit.
- The CEO of WondeFi, a publicly listed crypto holding company that owns one of Canada’s largest crypto exchanges, has been safely released after he was kidnapped, according to Bloomberg.
- Coinbase Global executives and directors recently adopted trading plans to sell more than $900 million of shares of the crypto-trading platform, writes Bloomberg. Three Coinbase executives and two directors will sell as many as five million shares.