CoinDesk Report:
00:00-09:00
Keywords: Paradigm Co-founder: Stablecoins are the Next Killer Application for Cryptocurrencies, Musk: xAI API Now Live, CME Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Sets New Record, US CFTC Chairman Urges Congress to Advance Cryptocurrency and Election Betting Legislation, Ancient Whale from 2009 Has Sold Bitcoin Worth $9.68 Million, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Political Donations for US Presidential Election Approaching $200 Million, Former CEO of Crypto Exchange Mine Digital Charged with Fraud, Chainlink Collaborates with Swift and Other Major Financial Institutions to Use AI and Blockchain to Improve Corporate Behavior Data Reporting, Nomura Holdings-backed Crypto Custodian Komainu in First Acquisition, Grass: Airdrop Query Opened, Will Airdrop 100 Million GRASS Tokens to Early Users, Ripple Co-founder Donates Another $10 Million in XRP Tokens to Harris, Coinbase Seeks Document Support from FDIC on Whether Bank Regulatory Agencies Have Unilaterally Banned Depository Institutions from Holding Digital Assets
1. According to reports, Matt Huang, Co-founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm, stated on X that “stablecoins are the next killer application for cryptocurrencies – this is obvious to everyone in the cryptocurrency industry, but not so obvious to the outside world. Congratulations to Stripe and Bridge.” Earlier reports revealed that payment company Stripe had acquired stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking the largest acquisition in the cryptocurrency field.
2. Reports indicate that Elon Musk announced on the social media platform “X” that xAI API is now live.
3. According to Lookonchain, a whale has sold 7,220 AAVE tokens (approximately $1.1 million) to purchase UNI and DYDX. The whale currently holds 10,000 AAVE tokens (approximately $1.53 million) with a profit of $883,000; 546,100 UNI tokens (approximately $4.12 million) with a loss of $34,000; and 647,630 DYDX tokens (approximately $803,000) with a loss of $834,000.
4. Lookonchain data reveals that on October 21, the data for US Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs is as follows: 1) Nine US Ethereum ETFs saw a total net outflow of 3,081 ETH, equivalent to approximately $8.24 million. Among them, Grayscale ETHE had an outflow of 6,178 ETH, equivalent to approximately $16.51 million, and currently holds 1,619,808 ETH, equivalent to approximately $4.33 billion; 2) Ten US Bitcoin ETFs saw a total net inflow of 4,330 BTC, equivalent to approximately $290.85 million. Among them, ARK21Shares had an inflow of 1,598 BTC, equivalent to approximately $107.35 million, and currently holds 52,347 BTC, equivalent to approximately $3.52 billion.
5. Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero, stated that the Across Protocol token contract has a critical issue that allows tokens to be withdrawn from any wallet and zero out the account balance. He suggested transferring the contract ownership to an immutable new smart contract to prevent over-minting and token destruction.
6. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is requesting more time from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding cryptocurrency cost basis reporting.
7. According to reports, Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, stated that very few transactions occur with cryptocurrencies unless it is related to drugs or illegal activities.
8. According to The Block data, as of October 18, the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has reached a new historical high of over $12.26 billion. This number has increased by more than 36% in the past two weeks and is more than 3.5% higher than the previous historical high set in April. The surge in open positions in recent weeks is a significant increase from the levels seen in the summer. This is the highest record since April 1 when the open positions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reached $11.84 billion.
9. Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated at the SIFMA Annual Conference that it is not expected that Congress will take action on cryptocurrency legislation until 2024. He urged Congress to focus on cryptocurrency asset regulation and election betting issues, emphasizing the importance of these areas. Behnam pointed out that although the FIT21 bill has passed in the House of Representatives, it has not made further progress in Congress. Additionally, there is an ongoing legal dispute between the CFTC and prediction market Kalshi, which has begun offering betting services for the US presidential election. The CFTC is working to overturn the court’s ruling and regain regulatory authority over this area.
10. According to Arkham data, an “ancient whale” that has been mining Bitcoin since its early days has recently made large-scale sell-offs. Tracking data shows that this address started mining thousands of BTC just five days after the birth of the first block in 2009 and has now sold BTC worth $9.68 million, with $72.09 million BTC remaining.
11. According to Schmid, a member of the Federal Reserve, his personal opinion is that cryptocurrencies are risky assets and a playground rather than a currency.
12. Since the 50 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September, Bitcoin has risen by 14%, while Ethereum has only risen by 12%. Kaiko Research pointed out that there is weaker institutional demand for Ethereum, leading to the ETH/BTC ratio dropping to its lowest level since April 2021. Bitcoin has benefited from the inflow of funds from exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while Ethereum has not performed as well as other mainstream cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, analysts believe that Ethereum will have difficulty surpassing Bitcoin until there is a significant shift in institutional demand.
13. According to CloverPool data, the total network hash rate of Bitcoin has now risen to 722.46 EH/s, reaching a new all-time high.
14. According to Bitcoin Magazine, the combined trading volume of the BlackRock and Fidelity spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $1.37 billion yesterday (October 21).
15. According to Bitcoin Magazine, political donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for the US presidential election are approaching $200 million.
16. According to Farside Investors monitoring data, the funding data for US spot Bitcoin ETFs and spot Ethereum ETFs on October 21 are as follows: Spot Bitcoin ETFs: BITB saw a net outflow of $22.1 million, ARKB saw a net outflow of $6.1 million, HODL saw a net outflow of $7.6 million, and GBTC saw a net outflow of $4.8 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs: ETHE saw a net outflow of $29.6 million, and ETHV saw a net inflow of $3.9 million.
17. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission stated that the former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Mine Digital has been charged with fraud.
18. Data provider Chainlink (LINK) announced a collaboration with major financial market participants such as Euroclear, Swift, and Franklin Templeton on Monday to launch an initiative that uses artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to make corporate behavior data more accessible and standardized. The project aims to address long-standing challenges in the financial sector, such as the lack of standardized and real-time data on corporate actions, such as mergers, dividends, and stock splits, which are highly fragmented in markets like Europe. Automating and standardizing this information can help significantly reduce operational inefficiencies, which currently cost businesses millions of dollars each year due to errors and manual data processing, and are commonly used by investors.
19. Komainu, a cryptocurrency custodian company backed by Nomura Holdings, is acquiring Singaporean competitor Propine Holdings Pte Ltd. for its first acquisition. Paul Frost-Smith, Co-CEO of Komainu, stated in an interview that the acquisition of Propine is awaiting approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and he declined to disclose the price of Komainu’s acquisition of Propine. Frost-Smith said that Komainu will also apply for the so-called “Major Payment Institution” license in Singapore, which will allow the company to provide comprehensive payment services. He stated that the company has seen a growing demand from Singaporean private banks for advisory services and from hedge funds and other asset management companies for collateral management services.
20. Grass Foundation has announced the Airdrop One program and opened the Airdrop Query, with the application not yet live. It will distribute 100 million GRASS tokens, accounting for 10% of the total supply, to eligible users: 9% will be given to users who obtained GrassPoints in the first phase (network snapshot); 0.5% will be given to GigaBuds NFT holders; and 0.5% will be distributed to users who have installed desktop nodes or the Saga application. The network snapshot includes users who have obtained more than 500 GrassPoints within a given period.
21. Ripple Co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen announced on Monday that he has donated an additional $10 million worth of XRP tokens to support Vice President Harris in her bid for the US presidency. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Larsen donated $10 million to the prominent Democratic political action committee Future Forward, during a record-breaking fundraising quarter for Harris’ campaign team and related organizations. Larsen confirmed the report on Twitter, noting that the donation was made in the form of XRP tokens.
22. Coinbase is seeking document support from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on whether bank regulatory agencies have unilaterally banned depository institutions from holding digital assets. The first request for documents submitted details the alleged imposition of limits or quotas on the amount of digital assets held by US depository institutions by the FDIC. The application was submitted under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which requires US administrative agencies like the FDIC to disclose internal information in response to public requests. The second application submitted by Coinbase to the FDIC requests relevant information on the types of FOIA applications submitted to bank regulatory agencies since early 2022.
