BTSE Weekly Digital Asset Industry Report – Nov 24th

This Week’s Big Movements

Welcome to the latest edition of the BTSE Blockchain Brief.

This week was about as eventful as they come – with big players like BlackRock and the SEC making their moves over the last seven days.

In this week’s cryptocurrency market overview, we observed notable resilience from major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which successfully maintained their values above $37,000 and $2,000 respectively, in spite of a downturn earlier in the week. Market analysts have linked this temporary downturn to the news involving Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, and his dealings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This development led to a temporary decline, with Bitcoin momentarily dropping below $37,000 and Ethereum falling under the $2,000 threshold.

However, the market quickly rebounded, largely due to the unexpected news of BlackRock engaging in direct discussions with the SEC about its application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. This ongoing saga surrounding crypto ETFs has been a significant factor influencing market dynamics in recent months, contributing to fluctuations in both directions.

Stay tuned for more insights and analysis in this fast-evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

This Week in the Business

• DeFi Technologies Inc. has announced the upcoming launch of Valour Inc.’s Ripple (XRP) Exchange Traded Product (ETP), expected to be introduced on a European exchange in early December 2023. This ETP will allow investors to gain exposure to XRP through banks or brokers.

• South Korea is set to launch a digital currency pilot program involving 100,000 citizens. This initiative marks a significant step in the country’s exploration of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The pilot aims to assess the practical aspects of using a digital currency in everyday transactions and its impact on the financial system.

• KyberSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX), was hacked for $48 million, with the attacker initiating negotiations post-incident. Prior to the hack, KyberSwap had over $80 million in total value locked. This event highlights the vulnerabilities and security challenges facing decentralized financial platforms.

• KPMG in Canada and Chainalysis have formed an alliance to expand the adoption of Chainalysis’ blockchain data platform among Canadian financial institutions, governments, and other organizations, aiming to foster greater blockchain knowledge in Canadian organizations.

• BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has joined Grayscale Investments in engaging with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a Bitcoin ETF. This meeting underscores the increasing interest and investment by major financial institutions in cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin.

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was ousted from his position in a shock to those across the AI, tech, and crypto industries. His departure was, however, short-lived – just a few days after being hired by Microsoft, Altman found himself once again reinstated as CEO of OpenAI , leading to a rally in Worldcoin.