Daily digital currency dynamic summary (2024-10-16)

Mini Program: Daily Digital Currency Dynamic Summary

1. Tesla Transfers Its Remaining Bitcoin Reserve Worth Around $770 Million to Multiple New Addresses

According to TheBlock, according to on-chain data tracked by analytical company Arkham Research, the electric vehicle giant Tesla (Tesla) operated by Elon Musk (Elon Musk) has transferred 11,509 bitcoins worth about $770 million to about seven new addresses. This appears to be the company's entire remaining Bitcoin reserve. The company invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021. Prior to these token transfers, Tesla conducted six test transactions, the first time Tesla has interacted with its Bitcoin wallet since Tesla sold most of its assets in 2022. It's unclear why the company moved bitcoin after more than two years of inactivity, but some doubt it might be ready to sell more bitcoins. As of October 15, the number of bitcoins held by Tesla is estimated to be 9,720, worth about 650 million US dollars, far below its peak of 43,000. However, Arkham believes Tesla holds up to 11,509 bitcoins at 68 addresses, worth around $770 million at current prices. According to Bitcoin Treasury estimates, Musk's space exploration company SpaceX also holds an additional 8,285 bitcoins. The company will announce financial results for the third quarter after the market closes on October 23.

2. Bitcoin Cash margin futures contracts reach a record high of $25.5 billion

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin Cash margin futures (Open Interest (OI)) reached a record high, currently around 384,000 BTC ($25.5 billion). This record surpassed the November 2022 high when Bitcoin approached $16,000, and was mainly driven by CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) institutional investment activity. CME futures account for 40% of open cash margin contracts. In contrast, the proportion of open futures contracts based on cryptocurrency margins fell to an all-time low, accounting for only 18.5% of total open contracts. This indicates that the market is gradually shifting to more stable cash margin futures, reducing the risk of volatility, and may lay the foundation for the 2025 bull market.

3. Standard Chartered Bank Says Bitcoin May Return to Historic Highs Ahead of US Election

According to Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered (Standard Chartered Bank), Bitcoin is showing strong upward momentum and may approach an all-time high of $73,800 before the US election. Factors driving Bitcoin's rise include a steeper US Treasury yield curve, capital inflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs, and a rise in Trump's chances of winning the election. Current data shows that Trump's chances of winning the election are 56.3%, and the probability of an overall victory for the Republican Party is 39%, which may create favorable conditions for risky assets, including Bitcoin. Furthermore, there has been a recent increase in open positions for $80,000 call options on the Bitcoin options market, indicating that institutional investors are optimistic about Bitcoin's medium-term upward potential.

4. Arthur Hayes: Meme coin holdings have been drastically reduced. Currently, the only Meme coin held is SCF

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said in his latest article that due to geopolitical and other risks, preparations have been made to drastically reduce the value of their positions, and when the situation in Iran and Israel escalated, they have drastically reduced their previously purchased Meme coins. The only Meme coin currently held is SCF. Arthur also said that Maelstrom's investment director Akshat has not yet been instructed to slow down or stop deploying funds to the pace of pre-sale token transactions. Maelstrom's idle fiat currency will be pledged on Ethena to earn rich interest income while waiting for the time to buy various cryptocurrencies with poor liquidity.

5. “Cyber Nation” project Praxis raises $525 million to build crypto-friendly cities

According to The Block, the “cyber nation” project Praxis announced on Tuesday that it has received $525 million in funding to build a cutting-edge city in technology to support the development of cryptography, artificial intelligence, energy and biotechnology. Praxis is headed by Dryden Brown, a 28-year-old co-founder, and has provided a number of new investors, including Arch Lending, Manifold Trading, GEM Digital, and angel investors such as Farcaster CEO Dan Romero and Worldcoin co-founder Max Novendstern. The project previously raised funds from Paradigm, Alameda Research, and Three Arrows Capital. Praxis said in a statement: “Seeing that institutions like BlackRock are committed to cryptocurrencies, we have designed a crypto-native mechanism to finance large-scale projects using tokenized real-world assets, and partnering with Global Emerging Markets, the largest new urban development project in the Middle East. This financing mainly consists of withdrawal tools and represents the first deployment of the mechanism. The project's website also says it has nearly 14,000 “Praxians” living around the world. It should be noted that GEM Digital's previous investments are suspected to be problematic, and the usual tactics are “investment promises” and “large investments.” Earlier, PanNews reported in 2022 that most of the projects invested by GEM had no highlights, and they were basically announced in the form of investment promises rather than direct investment. Through cooperation with the project party, favorable news was sent out, and the interests of the project parties were distributed.

6. Crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial completed a $25 million financing led by Ripple Labs and launched a futures trading platform in the US

Crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial announced on Tuesday that it has raised $25 million in a round of financing led by Ripple Labs and launched the perpetual futures trading platform Botanical in the US, according to The Block. Botanic is currently in closed testing and will provide investors with a way to trade perpetual futures, traditional futures, and options, and will “use” Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin to settle perpetual futures. Bitnomial CEO Luke Hoersten said in a statement: “With the launch of Botanical, we are taking a bold step towards our mission of providing a regulated and innovative trading experience that will provide an alternative to DEX and VPN-based solutions common in perpetual transactions today. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement: “Bitnomial's introduction of an offshore trading model into the US derivatives industry presents huge market opportunities because they have established a compliant derivatives market for digital assets such as XRP.” Tuesday's announcement comes after Bitnomial filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the startup alleging that XRP futures products not yet listed on the exchange violated federal securities laws. In 2020, Bitnomial was one of the few US companies to receive approval from the CFTC to manage designated contract markets. The approval allows Bitmonial to offer Bitcoin futures and options.

7. WLFI tokens supported by the Trump family may have been sold or have been launched. More than 220 million WLFI tokens were sold within 20 minutes

According to CoinDesk, the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token sale, which is supported by the Trump family, appears to have officially launched. According to the data, the token sale started at 20:40 Beijing time, and more than 220 million WLFI tokens were sold in the first 20 minutes, attracting the participation of more than 1,700 independent wallets. A token-related blockchain wallet holds nearly $3 million in Ethereum (ETH), and less than $1 million in Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). WLFI will be the platform's governance token, and users can participate in DeFi activities such as lending through the platform. The project plans to raise $300 million and is valued at $1.5 billion.

8. Ripple Unveils Exchange and Market Maker Partners for its RLUSD Stablecoin, Awaiting Regulatory Approval

According to CoinDesk, Ripple Labs announced that it is an exchange and market maker partner for its upcoming dollar-linked stablecoin RLUSD and is awaiting regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Ripple has cooperated with exchanges such as Bitstamp, Bitso, and Bullish, while KeyRock and B2C2 will act as market makers for RLUSD. Monica Long, president of Ripple Labs, said that RLUSD will serve as an important bridge between payments and tokenization of real assets, and will support its value through short-term US bonds, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents. RLUSD is scheduled to be tested on the XRP Ledger and the Ethereum network and is expected to be launched in the near future.

9. Analyst Bernstein: Bitcoin's strengthening is due to the rising chances of Trump being elected, and MicroStrategy is the leading indicator

According to analyst Bernstein, Bitcoin's recent rise is highly correlated with Trump's rising chances of winning the election, and MicroStrategy's stock has become a leading indicator of a potential bullish breakthrough. Bitcoin rose about 14% this month to surpass $65,000, while MicroStrategy's stock price outperformed Bitcoin, rising 191% this year. MicroStrategy increased its Bitcoin holdings at a low level through its “Bitcoin Strategy,” holding more than 252,000 BTC, making it the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Additionally, analysts pointed out that as Bitcoin rises, investors are shifting from AI stocks to companies focused on Bitcoin mining, and these companies are expected to benefit from the bull market.

10. Hong Kong police uncovered a fraud gang under the guise of “cryptocurrency investment”. The amount involved reached HK$360 million

According to the Hong Kong 01 report, the Hong Kong police busted a fraud syndicate operating locally and arrested 27 people. They are suspected of defrauding a number of local and overseas victims during about a year of operation. The total amount of money was as much as HK$360 million. The investigation revealed that the group defrauded a number of young people with relatively high education, divided the group members into different teams to defraud them, provided them with “training manuals” and guidance on how to falsify their miserable lives, attract victims to develop online relationships with them, thereby defrauding them of money by “investing in cryptocurrencies”, and also set up a “performance dragon and tiger list” to encourage group members to “rush to the top of the performance” list, defrauding more than 266,000 US dollars (over HK$2.06 million) over the past month. Senior Superintendent Fong Chi-kin of the Criminal Division of the New Territories Southern Regional Criminal Division pointed out that the busted fraud syndicate hired graduates from local universities majoring in digital media as “technology specialists”, and worked with overseas fraudsters and IT specialists to build false cryptocurrency investment platforms, and also used deepfake technology (Deepfake) to shape attractive figures with their appearance, personality, occupation, education, etc., to develop online relationships with victims, thereby luring each other to invest in cryptocurrencies.

11. Coinbase Requests Court Decision Requiring SEC to Provide Cryptocurrency Securities Regulatory Documents

Coinbase filed a partial summary judgment motion with the US District Court in the District of Columbia to obtain US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documentation on how the securities law applies to cryptocurrencies. Currently, the SEC says it will take three years to provide the documents required by Coinbase.