According to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, US$100 billion in TradFi funds is waiting for Bitcoin ETF approval. Investment giant Galaxy Digital reportedly held a call earlier this month with around 300 financial service professionals about allocating capital to BTC ahead of the expected ETF debut. Industry players stated that significant institutional interest is now focused on Bitcoin, with a likely ETF approval on the horizon. More ETF news below.
Gift shopping this holiday season? Get up to 30% off in the official Crypto.com store until November 28!
Market Spotlight
Note: Market prices captured in USD at the time of sending. Explore more on Crypto.com/Price.
Want more? Get weekly Market and DeFi Updates from Crypto.com’s Research Team.
News Snaps
Fidelity Applies for Ether ETF
Fidelity has applied for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This follows BlackRock’s application for its own spot Ether ETF, the iShares Ethereum Trust.
Tether Plans to Invest $500 Million in BTC Mining
Tether plans to invest around US$500 million over the next six months in building Bitcoin mining facilities and acquiring stakes in other mining companies. Tether is currently building Bitcoin mining sites in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador.
Crypto.com Hackathon Winner Announced
The inaugural Crypto.com APAC Hackathon culminated with a stunning display of innovation and technological prowess. The winning solution uses AI to scan website details, smart contracts, and crypto wallet transactions for digital scams.
Chicago Exchange to Launch BTC and ETH Futures
Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Digital announced it will launch Bitcoin and Ether margin futures trading in January 2024.
Standard Chartered Launches Tokenization Platform
SC Ventures, the investment and innovation arm of Standard Chartered Bank, has launched a tokenization platform called Libeara. It aims to enable fund managers, governments, and issuers to bring real-world assets on-chain.
Singapore Focuses on Crypto Interoperability
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a white paper focused on interoperability for digital assets, developed in collaboration with financial institutions including JPMorgan’s Onyx unit, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Swift, among others, as well as crypto firms Chainlink, LayerZero, and Ava Labs.
Santander Introduces Crypto Trading for Private ClientsSantander Private Banking International, part of Spanish financial services giant Banco Santander, now offers trading and investing in BTC and ETH for clients with accounts in Switzerland.
What’s Ahead
Chart of the Week
Ethereum’s price is on the verge of a golden cross, following recent similar developments in Bitcoin’s price. A golden cross is a technical analysis sign commonly interpreted as strengthening bullish momentum in which the 50-day moving average (MA) overtakes the 200-day MA on an upward trajectory.
Learn how to identify a golden cross on crypto charts here.
Research & Insights
Monthly Feature Article | SocialFi Trends
SocialFi — which combines functions in traditional social networks with Web3 technology — takes different social categories, from content publishing to instant messaging to social media, and builds an integral financial experience into the product.
In our latest Private article, we take a closer look at the friend.tech model and report on the current state of the SocialFi space’s trends.
Key Takeaways:
- Friend.tech is a blockchain-based decentralized social platform allowing users to buy and sell shares (keys) of creators. Users can mint keys to unlock access to the creator’s content and a direct line of interaction.
- Beyond friend.tech, the SocialFi landscape is vast and continuously growing, with multitudes of emerging models today:
- SocialFi takes the social graph concept one step further by allowing users to create and own their networks, plus monetize their connections and content, with decentralized social graph protocols like Lens Protocol, CyberConnect, and Farcaster.
- By giving users private and secure communication channels, decentralized messaging services can provide them with greater assurance of data privacy and security. Several current protocols represent this, including XMTP Protocol and Cronos ID Messaging Service.
- Through a programmable on-chain identity, users have full control of their digital identity by deciding with whom and to what extent their profile can be accessed. Examples of a decentralized identity include soulbound tokens, representing a user’s social identity held by ‘Souls’; ENS Domains; and Cronos ID.
The full report is exclusive to our Private members. To join, sign up as a Private member, join our Crypto.com Exchange VIP Program, or collect a Loaded Lions NFT.
NFT Spotlight
From multidisciplinary digital artist Palash (aka Bandanaboi) comes the third season of ‘PHAZES’, his NFT collection consisting of 100 unique digital artworks that focus on connecting his love for human anatomy and surrealism. Handcrafted by the artist himself, each artwork is related to an emotion that Bandanaboi was feeling on a given day, blended with the surrealist and sci-fi reality from his mind.
Dropping on Wednesday, November 29, ‘PHAZES S3’ holds 50 artworks of the collection and includes a 🪂 Special Edition NFT airdrop, 🖼️ canvas art print, and 👕 Phazes T-shirt. It is a “collection that transcends the NFT space,” and early access for holders of previously released ‘FRGMNT’ and ‘PHAZES’ collections starts 60 minutes before the scheduled drop time.
This is a collection from my mind to your screen; I wish to satisfy your eye holes.
Bandanaboi, with a unique wish
Transcend to the surreal mind of Bandanaboi.
Product Picks
Exclusive Black Friday Promotions With Crypto.com Pay (US users)
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Steadily Build Your Portfolio Across 190+ Tokens With Recurring Buy
GEKKO and JUNO have been added to the Recurring Buy feature in the Crypto.com App. Users can now apply the Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) strategy for over 190 tokens with this feature. Learn more here.
Get 2x Diamonds With Each CRO Purchase in Loaded Lions: Mane City
Loaded Lions: Mane City is holding a Black Friday sale too! You can now purchase 100,000 Diamonds for just 1 CRO. Act fast, this is only available from 24 November, 13:00 UTC – 26 November, 13:00 UTC.
Crypto.com App New Token Listings
Chainflip (FLIP) is a decentralized protocol designed for cross-chain trading, utilizing a proof-of-stake validator network, efficient threshold signing scheme, and a unique automated market maker (AMM) design. The protocol channels generated fees into the FLIP token, distributing it among token holders and compensating for incentives. Chainflip distinguishes itself with complete user control over digital assets, high efficiency, and self-sustainability, offering benefits over traditional centralized exchanges. It facilitates various use cases, such as cross-chain trading and asset swaps, providing a fast and low-friction method for users.
Crypto Level Up
Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake
Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) are common consensus mechanisms that blockchains use to process transactions and create new blocks. When functioning as intended, they prevent fraudulent activity like double spending. Read on to find out how PoW and PoS differ.
What Is Proof of Work?
PoW involves miners working to solve complex mathematical problems using a computer’s processing power in order to create new blocks and verify transactions. The fastest miner to solve the problem gets rewarded with the network’s token.
Which Blockchains Use Proof of Work?
The PoW consensus mechanism is used by Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, and many more blockchains.
What Is Proof of Stake?
Conversely, PoS requires network participants to stake a certain amount of the blockchain’s native token to create new blocks and verify transactions. Validators are chosen at random, and if they successfully confirm transactions and verify block information, they’ll be rewarded.
Which Blockchains Use Proof of Stake?
Ethereum, Cardano, Cosmos, and many more networks use the PoS consensus mechanism.
Learn All About These Consensus Mechanisms.
CryptoIRL
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Decoder
Liquidity Provider (LP)
A liquidity provider (LP) is someone who puts liquidity (funds) into a decentralized exchange. They are usually an individual or a group that funds a decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity pool with their own crypto assets in exchange for certain rewards.
Typically, the rewards come in the form of other tokens or transaction fees generated by the trades on the platform. The transaction fees are denominated in interest rates and vary in proportion to the total liquidity supplied to the pool.
Security Tips
US$768,000 Lost to Fake Ledger Live Application
A fake version of the Ledger Live application in the Microsoft Store managed to steal at least US$768,000 worth of cryptocurrency before being removed in early November. It was available in the Store since October 19, but it might have been listed earlier than that. Users of the application lost their assets by providing it with their seed phrases.
Five Tips to Safeguard Against Fraudulent Applications
1. Verify the Source. Before downloading any application, ensure it is from a legitimate and official source. Avoid downloading apps from third-party websites or links in unsolicited messages, emails, or advertisements. Legitimate app stores have stringent security measures in place to minimize the risk of hosting fraudulent applications.
2. Check the application’s download count. If a popular application only has a handful of downloads, it’s highly likely that it’s a fake version of that software.
3. Read through the reviews. While these can sometimes be faked, a large number of reviews may give you a better idea of the app’s legitimacy. If it has only a few reviews, hasn’t received any reviews, or if most of the reviews are negative, these are additional red flags.
4. Be vigilant. Fraudulent application listings tend to use low resolution images and even photoshopped screenshots to mimic the legitimate app. And If the application’s description is riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, be on high alert.
5. Research the developer. Legitimate applications are typically developed by well-known companies or developers with a solid track record. If the developer’s name seems suspicious (e.g., Official Dev for the fake Ledger Live application) or if the application has only recently been listed, it’s a cause for concern.
That’s it for this week’s Snapshot. Want more? Find out what’s trending in the crypto world.
