Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | November 20, 2023

Bitcoin's Surge Amid Argentina's Election and Fed Anticipation

Bitcoin's price surged past $37,000, influenced by Argentina's presidential election results and anticipation of Federal Reserve notes. Javier Milei's victory in Argentina, a pro-Bitcoin figure, led to a near 3% increase in Bitcoin's value. 

Concurrently, 70% of Bitcoin has remained dormant for over a year, indicating a strong hold sentiment among investors. Additionally, Bitcoin held in exchange wallets is increasing at a rate of $1.16 billion per month, suggesting potential market shifts. 

Remarkably, Bitcoin options open interest on Deribit reached a record $15 billion, reflecting heightened trader interest in leveraging gains and hedging through options.

Crypto Funds Attract $175.6M in Weekly Inflows

Cryptocurrency funds, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, and Solana, attracted $175.6 million in weekly inflows, with Bitcoin alone drawing in $154.7 million. This aligns with expectations for a spot-based Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., as Bitcoin remains the preferred choice for investors, making up 3.4% of its total AUM in the past two months.  

Solana's Strong Rebound Post-FTX Collapse

Solana rebounded post-FTX collapse, with SOL up 100% in a month. Orca and Raydium DEXs saw a 34% volume surge, totaling over $3B last week. TVL rose 43% to $585M. SOL increased 600% in 2023, reaching $68 before a 10% correction. Institutional investments hit $767M, highest since 2021.  

Pyth Token Launches with $468M Market Cap

Pyth token debuted with a $468 million market cap, issued an airdrop to 90,000 wallets, with a circulating supply of 1.5 billion tokens and $1.5 billion in total value secured across 120 protocols. Participants have 90 days to claim tokens for governance votes, marking the launch of their permissionless mainnet.  

AI Tokens Surge Following X Corp's Investment

AI-focused tokens soared after Elon Musk's X Corp announced a 25% stake in AI venture xAI. The sector's boost was also driven by Sam Altman's potential OpenAI return and move to Microsoft. This rise was further fueled by the testing of xAI's Grok chatbot. Key tokens like TAO, OCEAN, FET, and AGIX outperformed major cryptocurrencies, reflecting strong market interest in AI technologies.

Crypto ETP Volumes Spike by 91% in 2023

In 2023, crypto ETP volumes surged 91%, surpassing underlying asset growth by 30%. Bitcoin represented 75% of total crypto ETP AUM, while its share in the market was around 50%. Crypto ETP AUM reached $38 billion in October, with a 25% month-over-month increase. Expectations for a Bitcoin Spot ETF approval in the U.S. are creating market anticipation.  

Santander's BTC and ETH Trading for Swiss High-Net-Worth Clients

Santander Private Banking International now offers BTC and ETH trading to high-net-worth Swiss account holders. The service is client-requested, with plans to expand to other cryptocurrencies. A secure custody model is utilized, making it a significant move for the banking giant, with 210,000 wealthy clients and $315 billion in assets.  

Mastercard and Feedzai Partner Against Crypto Fraud

Mastercard and AI-powered RegTech firm Feedzai are joining forces to combat crypto fraud by integrating Feedzai's real-time fraud detection AI with Mastercard's CipherTrace Armada platform. Feedzai's technology aims to protect consumers from fraud and money laundering, analyzing transactions worth over $1.7 trillion annually. This partnership reflects a broader push to legitimize cryptocurrency within regulatory and compliance frameworks.  

Bullish Acquires CoinDesk in All-Cash Deal

Former NYSE President Tom Farley's Bullish acquired 100% of CoinDesk from DCG in an all-cash deal. CoinDesk will operate as a separate subsidiary, retaining its management team. An editorial committee, led by ex-WSJ Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray, will oversee its operations. Financial details were not disclosed.  

Tether Freezes $225M Linked to Human Trafficking

Tether, the USDT issuer, froze $225 million linked to human trafficking with help from OKX, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Chainalysis. This marks the largest freeze in history and showcases crypto firms' proactive stance against criminal activity.   

Poloniex Offers Bounty for $100M Hack Identification

Poloniex claims to have identified the hacker behind the $100 million theft and has offered a $10 million bounty. Community members question the need for a multilingual message if the hacker's identity is confirmed. Poloniex says the stolen funds are marked, offering a deadline for their return.  

Atomic Wallet Seeks Dismissal of $100M Hack Suit

Atomic Wallet, based in Estonia, seeks to dismiss a $100-million hack class action suit in the US, citing lack of US ties. The suit, filed in Colorado, includes one plaintiff from the state and 5,500 allegedly affected users. Atomic asserts that its terms of service limit damages and liability.  

Celsius Faces SEC Hurdles in Bankruptcy Recovery

Celsius's bankruptcy recovery plan faces obstacles at the SEC, which seeks more information about the crypto lender's assets. The plan, following a Chapter 11 filing in July 2022 due to a $2 billion deficit, involves payments to creditors through a new mining firm and requires SEC approval.  

SingularityNET and DFINITY's DeAI Collaboration

SingularityNET and DFINITY's collaboration integrates ICP blockchain into SingularityNET's AI marketplace for decentralized AI (DeAI) models. The alliance aims to enhance transparency and trustworthiness, employing SingularityNET's reputation system and DFINITY's scalability. Their focus on developer grants and DeAI framework refinement underscores their commitment to decentralized artificial intelligence.  

Shibarium's New "Donate" Feature for Validators

Shibarium introduces "Donate" feature to support non-profit validators, aiming to enhance network resilience. Top 5 validators stake millions of BONE tokens. Limited to 100 slots, each requiring 10,000 BONE stake. 21,488,549 BONE ($13.6 million) staked. The feature aims to foster sustainability and integrity in the network.  

dYdX V3 Loses $9M in YFI Price Manipulation Attack

dYdX V3 lost $9 million in an attack linked to YFI's price manipulation, with its value plummeting 35% in an hour. YFI's open interest had spiked from $0.8 million to $67 million. Concurrently, YFI's price nosedived over 45% amid market manipulation claims, erasing recent gains. dYdX's centralized response, including FBI involvement, drew Web3 community criticism.

Kronos Research Halts Trading After $25M Hack

Quantitative trading firm Kronos Research halted trading due to a $25M API key hack, with over 12,800 ETH stolen. The firm expects to resume trading soon, as potential losses are not a significant portion of its equity. Q3 2023 saw over $700M in digital assets lost to various security incidents.  

Osaka Digital Exchange to Launch in Japan

Osaka Digital Exchange is set to pioneer digital securities trading in Japan on Dec. 25 via its "START" platform, following regulatory approval. Ichigo Inc. plans to sell $20.1 million in property-backed securities on the launch day. Japan's publicly offered real estate token assets total 129.3 billion yen ($871.9 million) as of Nov. 13.  

Worldcoin's Value Peaks Amid OpenAI Leadership Changes

Worldcoin's value soared to a record high amid OpenAI's leadership shakeup, with Sam Altman's firing and Emmett Shear's appointment as CEO. This turbulence, including high-profile resignations and Microsoft's involvement, significantly impacted the crypto and AI sectors, highlighting the intertwined nature of tech leadership and market dynamics.

Friend.tech's Trading Surge Signals Potential Exit

Friend.tech experienced a surge in trading volumes to surpass $10 million, but these may indicate exit behavior rather than growth, as suggested by a substantial increase in withdrawals compared to deposits. The total value locked (TVL) has dropped significantly, and user adoption has decreased, potentially indicating a declining future for the platform.  

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Kujira KUJI (+13.20%)

NEAR Protocol NEAR (+10.26%)

Synthetix SNX (+9.09%)

Losers:

Rollbit Coin RLB (-7.79%)

Kaspa KAS (-6.65%)

dYdX DYDX (-4.92%)