The recently concluded elections showed the crypto industry’s new outlook as the sector took center stage in ongoing conversations and choices voters made. Implementing pro-crypto policies could take time, depending on several factors. We will have to wait and see how things turn.
The headlines:
- Pro-Crypto PACs had a strong showing at the elections;
- Tether’s first foray into big oil was a massive success;
- CZ may sell his Binance stake;
- The Ethereum Foundation is getting a gigantic policy boost;
- Plus, there’s a new taking project that has support from Coinbase;
- And much more!
As always, these are your decentralized diaries!
Bitcoin is at $82k
The crypto space erupted into a boom period, with Bitcoin hitting $82,204.60 from a $66,803.65 low (as of 11/24).
The altcoins are also in the green. Ethereum (ETH) is at $3,198.02, Solana (SOL) at $215.64, Cardano (ADA) at $0.5915, Avalanche (AVAX) at $31.91, Chainlink (LINK) at $14.13, Polkadot (DOT) at $5.16, and Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) at $9.13.
Pro-Crypto PAC Candidates Dominated the Elections
In a plot twist, pro-crypto political action committees (PACs) had a strong showing at the November 5 elections. PACs raised $135 million and supported 50 candidates.
Forty-eight of those candidates won.
Industry PAC favorite Fairshake received support from sector leaders, including Ripple Labs, Coinbase, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Tether Funded its First Oil Deal
In a November 8 announcement, stablecoin issuer Tether revealed its first oil transaction. The $45 million crude oil deal involved loading and transporting 670,000 barrels of the product.
Tether Trade Finance, a Tether Investments unit, financed the purchase.
CZ Confirmed His Binance Stake Sale Rumors
Former Binance chief Changpeng CZ Zhao verified claims of his interest in selling his stake in the cryptocurrency exchange. In a November 7 Bloomberg interview, Zhao revealed he had received offers to sell his 90% stake in Binance.
Additionally, as part of a deal with prosecutors, he remains barred from taking the reins ever again at Binance.
FTX’s Gary Wang Wants Zero Jail Time
Former FTX co-founder Gary Wang took extraordinary steps to stay out of prison. According to a November 6 court filing, Wang’s lawyers revealed extensive cooperation with the authorities and more.
Consequently, Wang asked the court to take his efforts as time served. His lawyers also pointed to his development of crypto-focused fraud detection and tracking tools.
Sentencing will occur on November 20.
Similarly, on November 7, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison reported to a Connecticut low-security federal prison. She will (expectedly) serve a two-year sentence there.
Arkham Intelligence Revealed Crypto Exchange Launch Plans
Crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence continued expanding. In a recent X/Twitter post, Arkham introduced the Arkham Perpetuals Exchange, which will trade perpetual and spot trading pairs.
Furthermore, the new platform has (reportedly) received about $12 million in funding from several heavyweights, including OpenAI founder Sam Altman.
Ethereum Foundation’s 2024 Report Revealed its Treasury Holdings
Surprisingly, the Ethereum Foundation’s November 8, 2024, report showed that the entity had $970.2 million in treasury reserves. $788.7 million are in crypto tokens, while $181.5 million are in non-cryptocurrency investments.
Additionally, 99% of the foundation’s crypto reserves are in Ether, representing 0.26% of the ecosystem’s total supply.
The document also revealed the foundation’s much-anticipated conflict of interest policy.
According to the emerging framework, employees and contractors have to report co-founded projects, employment activities, and investments worth over $25,000 (annually), angel investments worth over $400,000, and investments outside the foundation worth over $500,000.
ICP and Chainlink Ruled the Crypto Development 30-Day Cycle-Santiment
According to crypto analytics company Santiment, Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) and Chainlink (LINK) have been busy. In a recent X/Twitter post, ICP posted 829 GitHub events, while Chainlink was in second place with 789.87 milestones.
In addition, Hedera (HBAR) came in third with 537.8 postings.
Coinbase Unveiled Trading Support for a New Staking Protocol
Crypto exchange Coinbase continued to promote its involvement in the ETH ecosystem by launching trading for a new Ethereum staking Layer-2 protocol. Customers can now trade the SWELL token on the exchange.
SWELL is the native governance token of the Swell Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), which launched on November 7.
Several Major Token Liquidity Events Are Coming
Following the election boost, the crypto industry will have token unlock occurrences in November. On November 18, Avalanche (AVAX) will unlock 16.7 million tokens worth (approximately) $52.93 million and representing 0.41% of its market cap.
The Arbitrum blockchain will be unlocked on November 16, with 56.12 million ARB tokens and a vesting period from November 16, 2024, to November 16, 2027.
Finally, on November 30, the Optimism network will unlock 32.21 million OP tokens, representing 0.75% of the total supply.
A Bitcoin-Layer 2 Organization Debuted
Things continued to improve within the Bitcoin core ecosystem with the launch of Bitcoin L2 Labs, a new entrant to the decentralized sector. The new firm will focus on developing Stacks, a Bitcoin smart contract-enabled Layer-2 network.
Consequently, the firm engaged five developers with Rust programming language experience to boost adoption.
Ripple’s CEO Lost His 25-Year-Old Bank Account
The banks may still have a love-hate relationship with the industry. In a recent interview, Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that a “major” bank closed his account because of his status as a crypto leader.
Moreover, the bank gave him five days to find another home for his funds.
