Market Update (Week 41, 11/10/2021 – 17/10/2021)

Price and volume indices up, volatility index down. Elon Musk makes dogecoin news again, plans to use his funds to extend life to mars.

Key Takeaways

• News of the SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) has continued to provide upticks for the cryptocurrency market, especially for Bitcoin (BTC). The ETF approval of ProShare will only allow for BTC futures trades rather than tracking the BTC price directly; however, market watchers still view this as positive news.
• Coinbase announced Wednesday that it is launching a peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT). A total of 1.35 million users have reportedly been put on the waiting list, and COIN has risen 6% on the news.
• Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network, has recently raised USD 400 million in a funding round, giving its platform a valuation of over $3 billion, despite being summoned for hearings by the securities boards of New Jersey and Texas. On the other hand,  Binance Smart Chain, the smart contract trading subsidiaryof the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance, will also use a $1 billion fund to foster growth for blockchain and its related applications. 
• The Fantom Developer Conference 2021 at Abu Dhabi starts next Monday. Besides the original incentive program in DeFi, Fantom Foundation is also launching a similar program in GameFi with a total funding of $340 million.
• The market is also gearing up for Polkadot (DOT) parachain auctions on 11 November 2021. The schedule is still subject to changes. 
• The general price index and the volume index have increased by+8.45% and +6.38% respectively, while the volatility index decreased by -19.26%.

Highlights

• Wall Street may get four Bitcoin futures ETFs in a few weeks
• Bitcoin reaches $61K as SEC’s ETF deadline nears
• Coinbase jumps after sign-up numbers for NFT marketplace revealed
• SEC approves Bitcoin ETF, opening crypto to wider investor base
• New Bitcoin ETF launched for European investors
• CFTC fines Tether and Bitfinex $42.5M for ‘untrue or misleading’ claims
• Axie Infinity announces a new controversial update. AXS and SLP drop -7%
• THORSwap relaunches cross-chain trading on four of five networks
• Polkadot sets date for hotly anticipated parachain auctions
• Ripple joins the development of digital British pound CBDC
• Binance to suspend Chinese yuan from P2P platform in December
• Binance unit launches $1 billion fund to fast-track blockchain tech adoption
• Crypto lending platform Celsius raises $400 million
• Bakkt to start trading on NYSE under the ticker ‘BKKT’ on Monday
• Serie A club SS Lazio strikes $35M sponsorship deal with crypto exchange Binance
• Art house Sotheby’s launches curated NFT platform called ‘Sotheby’s Metaverse’
• FTX.US expands NFT marketplace to support Solana tokens

Check the latest prices on crypto.com/price.

Notable events

ProShare will start its trading of Bitcoin (BTC) futures today. (ref)

Gas price quotation platform for Ethereum (ETH) has shut down due to China’s crackdown on crypto trading. (ref)

Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama (KSM) are set for the parachain auctions in early November. (ref)

Techstars, Visa, and Stellar (XLM) are partnering with Techstars and Visa to host a blockchain forum. (ref)

Notable events

Total Value Locked (TVL) for cross-chain bridges has risen 89% in a month, with Loopring (LRC) being one of the platforms recording low transaction costs. (ref)

Kwenta, a derivative trading platform backed by ​​Synthetix Network (SNX) liquidity mode, has moved its testnet competition to next week. (ref)

Nexus Mutual (NXM) is launching its New Shield Mining Campaign. (ref)

Notable events

Elon Musk plans to use his wealth in DOGE to extend life on Mars. (ref)

FLOW works with Filecoin aiming to provide securable NFT everywhere. (ref)

Illuvium (ILV) is partnering with WilderWheels to give away exclusive NFTs. (ref)

Axie Infinity’s (AXS) new update announcement upset some fans, especially latecomers of the game. (ref)

Ultra (UOS) claims itself to be the only games platform which is blockchain-compatible with Steam out of the picture. (ref)