Your Friday Crypto Roundup | 22 November 2024

This week in crypto, we’ve got everything from political power plays to groundbreaking moves in global markets. Whether it’s Trump’s intriguing pick for Secretary of Commerce, major delistings, or gaming tokens showing mixed results, this roundup will get you up to speed. Here are the stories that shaped the crypto industry this week. 

Biggest Story: Trump’s Crypto Advocate Pick—Game Changer or Just Hype?

Donald Trump has tapped Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, as his Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick, well-known in crypto circles, brings heavyweight credentials. His firm manages Tether’s $129 billion US Treasury portfolios and recently launched a $2 billion Bitcoin financing venture.

This appointment could bring even more crypto closer to mainstream commerce and politics. With Lutnick stepping into Gina Raimondo’s role, the impact of a crypto-friendly voice in Washington could be transformative—or, as skeptics argue, just a flashy headline. Either way, Lutnick’s track record suggests the industry will be paying close attention.

Trump looks like he is really going to make do with his campaign promises about crypto. 

Other Stories Making Waves

• Coinbase to Delist Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC): Coinbase announced it will delist WBTC on December 19, citing “failure to meet standards.” WBTC still holds over $13 billion in value, so what gives? Wrapped Bitcoin isn’t disappearing—it just won’t trade on Coinbase. 
• Shaquille O’Neal Settles NFT Lawsuit: The basketball legend has agreed to an $11 million settlement over promoting Astrals NFTs, which investors claim lost value after his endorsement. Shaq might be off the hook now, but it’s a cautionary tale for other celebs dabbling in crypto.
• BIT Mining’s Double Trouble: The Bitcoin miner admitted to bribing Japanese officials with $2.5 million in a failed casino license bid, leading to a $10 million U.S. fine.
• Michael Saylor’s $100K Bitcoin Bet: The MicroStrategy CEO is planning a New Year’s Eve celebration for Bitcoin hitting $100K by year’s end. Confident or wishful thinking? Time will tell.
• Tether’s Tokenization Revolution: Tether’s new platform, Hadron, lets you tokenize everything from stocks to loyalty points—basically making real-world assets blockchain-ready. The USDT issuer is really serious about expanding beyond stablecoins.

Around the World: Bold Moves and Crypto Regulations

• Gemini Goes Live in France: Gemini has launched operations in France, offering 70+ digital assets and easy payment options like Apple Pay. France’s (and Europe’s) crypto scene is heating up, and Gemini’s ready to ride the wave. 
• MiCA Compliant Stablecoins in the EU: Quantoz Payments, backed by Tether, Kraken, and Fabric Ventures, has two MiCA-compliant stablecoins, EURQ and USDQ in the European Union. These are the latest in the race to gain market share as the MiCA (short for Markets in Crypto Assets) framework comes to full effect in the region by the end of the year. Binance launched its own earlier in August. 
• Tax Updates in Asia: South Korea and Japan are introducing flat taxes on crypto gains. While South Korea plans a 20% rate by 2025 with increased tax-free thresholds, Japan is moving forward after cutting rates from 55% to 20%.
• Web3 Innovation in Hong Kong: Its innovation-dedicated business district, Cyberport, now hosts over 270 blockchain/web3 companies. But it is not all that rosy—95% of these companies can’t even open bank accounts without jumping through hoops for months. Lawmakers are begging banks to chill out so Hong Kong can truly own the Web3 crown. 

Market Trends: Winners and Losers

Top 5 Gainers

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the five biggest gainers for this week are: 

1. MANTRA (OM): Market cap surged 151%, from $1.44B to $3.62B, driven by increased DeFi activity.
2. Hedera (HBAR): Climbed 128%, from $2.4B to $5.46B, due to adoption in supply chain solutions.
3. Stellar (XLM): Rose 89%, reaching $7.42B, fueled by new partnerships in cross-border payments.
4. XRP: Gained 45%, moving from $44.01B to $63.71B after favourable regulatory news.
5. Algorand (ALGO): Increased 54%, buoyed by updates in its governance model.

Top 5 Losers

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the five biggest losers for this week are all memecoins:  

1. Peanut the Squirrel: Dropped 19%, from $1.77B to $1.43B.
2. Dogwifhat: Fell 15%, sliding from $3.58B to $3.04B.
3. Neiro: Lost 20%, dropping to $725.56M.
4. Popcat: Declined 9%, with its market cap shrinking to $1.48B.
5. Cat in a Dog’s World: Decreased 10%, with its market cap falling to $917.05M.

Project Spotlight

Tokenized Vaults Bridge Traditional Finance and DeFi

Securitize and Elixir have teamed up to launch DeFi vaults tied to BlackRock’s tokenized money fund, BUIDL. They created a liquid staking token (LST) called sBUIDL, which is tied to BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund. This means if you hold BUIDL, you can stake it to mint sBUIDL and then dive into DeFi using a currency called deUSD. While you’re exploring DeFi, your BUIDL still earns its regular yield from Treasury bills.

It’s using Ethereum’s ERC-4626 standard, which is basically a gold standard for vaults in DeFi. It also works across multiple chains like Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon, making it super flexible.

Why It Matters: They’re basically bringing together the best of two worlds—safe, low-risk investments like U.S. Treasury bills and the exciting yield-generating potential of DeFi. Also, over $1 billion in tokenized RWAs are now accessible for DeFi applications.

This is it for this week. See you next Friday. Till then, stay XXX

Disclaimer: This article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein should be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrencies carries a considerable risk of financial loss. Always conduct due diligence. 

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