Adam Efrima is the SSV Core team Co-founder. He has been active in the crypto industry since 2013. Over eight years living in China working in the financial industry and fintech space, Adam has worked in CITIC Bank covering outbound investments for Chinese SOEs, he was also in charge of setting up the eToro Shanghai operation. Since then, Adam has been deeply involved in Ethereum staking, co-founding top performing staking project Bloxstaking as well as co-founding SSV Network, a decentralized validator infrastructure for ETH staking.

Adam Simmons is Chief Strategy Officer at RDX Works, a key contributor to the Radix public ledger. He has over 13 years of experience in building &amp; growing businesses in a range of industries including online video, blockchain &amp; digital marketing. With experience in both senior leadership &amp; hands-on roles, he has repeatedly recruited, managed, and trained highly successful teams within marketing, customer success and operations functions. Adam is also a previous member of the UK Paralympic Sprint Kayaking Team and has competed in multiple World and European Championships.


Adam Swick is the Chief Growth Officer at Marathon Digital Holdings. Prior to joining Marathon, he served as a principal at Refinery Ventures, where he was responsible for identifying and recommending business strategies to accelerate the growth of all companies in Refinery’s portfolio. Before Refinery, Swick was the director of strategic finance at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, where he managed the company’s balance sheet, debt program, investor relations, and all forecasting activities. Prior to Kraken, he founded Swick Capital, a crypto-asset hedge fund, worked at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Swick holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Adrian Brink is the co-founder of Namada and Anoma, where he focuses on building privacy-preserving systems that are resilient to global crises. Previously, he was a core developer at Tendermint (Cosmos) and worked at the Web3 Foundation. He also co-founded Cryptium Labs, which was later sold to Chorus One, and Metastate, where he contributed to major upgrades to the Tezos protocol​.

Adrien Stern is the founder &amp; CEO of Reveel, the omnichain payments infrastructure that enables one-click cross-chain payments to connect people across borders and networks. Before founding Reveel, Adrien led digital transformation efforts at BNP Paribas CIB. He was also previously a venture builder, and owns Bridge Music, a record label and recording studio. Adrien has a Bachelor’s degree in Sciences of Management from The University of Lausanne and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Esade. 

Alex Hoffman is Head of Ecosystem at Superposition Finance. Superposition is revolutionizing DeFi by addressing its core challenges through robust risk management powered by Concordia’s best-in-class risk engine, omnichain functionality, and transparency.

Alexei Zamyatin is a co-founder of BOB, a first-of-its-kind hybrid Layer-2 powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum. He has been a Bitcoin and interoperability research contributor since 2015 and is most known for his work on trustless cross-chain bridges and L2s. Alexei holds a PhD in computer science from Imperial College London.


Alison Haire is the CEO and founder of Lilypad, a serverless, decentralized compute network that democratizes access to computational power by providing scalable infrastructure for AI, machine learning and other high-demand processes. Before founding Lilypad, she held roles at companies such as Filecoin, IBM and Accenture. Under her leadership, Lilypad leverages idle GPU capacity worldwide to fuel an open AI economy, providing cost-effective and scalable compute resources. Her work focuses on making high-performance computing accessible to more developers and researchers, while challenging the dominance of large centralized cloud providers​​.

With over 20 years of experience leading and designing games and tech companies, Alun is well-versed in creating innovative products that tackle experiential and developer challenges. In addition to his stewardship of LAOS Network, he is CEO and co-founder of the company building LAOS, Freeverse, which focuses on building scalable blockchain infrastructure. His history as the co-creator of ‘Barcelona World Race - THE GAME,’ a cutting-edge video game enabling virtual participation in real-world events, and his wider passion for gaming, have fed into his vision for LAOS Network as a solution for the intersection of Web3 tech with both gaming and real-world applications. Alun also led Shar3d.io, a pioneering company enabling collaborative 3D web applications, and served as CTO of Bodypal.com, a virtual garment services company. He holds a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from University College London.



Amanda Cassatt is the founder and CEO of Serotonin. Amanda previously served as Chief Marketing Officer of ConsenSys from 2016 through 2019. Joining one year after the launch of Ethereum, Amanda played a crucial role in defining, creating, and growing the narrative for ConsenSys, Ethereum, and blockchain overall.

Amanda stewarded the ConsenSys brand through its global expansion across enterprises, governments, developers, and consumers. She created and scaled the marketing team to over 50 people, serving both the ConsenSys brand and 50+ portfolio companies such as MetaMask, Infura, Truffle, and Gitcoin; managing teams in product marketing, growth, design, content, community, events, email, analytics and SEO. Amanda’s contributions to some of the most successful product launches, token sales and fundraises landed her on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016. Amanda is the author of the world's first web3 marketing book, Web3 Marketing: A Handbook for the Next Internet Revolution.

Amanda Keleher currently serves as Chief People Officer at Consensys, one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the blockchain technology space. A well-rounded business leader with an over 25-year career in the technology space, Amanda is the driving force behind the human element of Consensys where she is responsible for overseeing all of the aspects of people, from building and maintaining the company culture to harnessing human capital as a key driver of business. 

Before joining ConsenSys, Amanda served as the Head of People at ThoughtWorks, a global technology consultancy company, for nearly ten years, where she led the global scale expansion by opening offices around the world and recruiting a diverse workforce at a time when the DevOps movement had just been born and a new skill set were yet to be developed. After her time at ThoughWorks, she served as the Executive Vice President, People &amp; Culture of Index Exchange, one of the world’s premier ad tech organizations; and as VP of People at Little Bits and Intent Media where she excelled in designing effective and creative strategies to attract and retain world-class talent in hyper competitive environments

Andrea Berry is a seasoned online video strategist with 15+ years of experience in transformative media partnerships. 

Her early successes include helping to launch Qello Concerts, the first direct-to-consumer live-music OTT service, later transforming it into Qello Media Services and Vimeo’s OTT channels offering across various industries as their first strategic sales director for their enterprise.

Currently, as the Head of Business Development at Theta Labs, Andrea leverages her expertise in online video and blockchain to drive strategic partnerships and growth opportunities for the company. She helps enterprises take advantage and lean into the opportunities Web3 presents. 

Andrew Redden is the CEO and CTO of Last Network, a blockchain platform focused on sustainable cash flow and reinvestment. Previously, he worked at Gitcoin and has contributed to numerous DeFi and Web3 projects. Redden's career reflects a commitment to developing technologies that prioritize long-term viability and community engagement​.

Andrew Thurman is a Data Editor based in Washington, DC. He previously wrote for CoinDesk and Cointelegraph, and worked in various roles for Chainlink and Nansen. His analysis has been quoted in The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Reuters, The BBC, CNBC, and elsewhere. Contact Andrew at andrew@blockworks.co.

Andrey Sergeenkov writes educational articles as a freelancer. His works have been published in Coindesk, Cointelegraph, Entrepreneur and CoinMarketCap. He believes that transforming society towards lifelong learning, combined with decentralization in government and business, will lead to exponential social development.

Andy Bromberg is CEO of Beam and Contributor to the Eco Protocol. Eco has raised more than $90 million from an array of leading investors, including a16z Crypto, L Catterton, Activant Capital, Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and others. Prior to Eco, Andy was Co-founder and President of CoinList. Andy is also a founding board member at FreeWorld, a non-profit seeking to end institutionalized poverty in the United States by providing access to living-wage jobs for people with criminal histories. He studied Mathematics and Computer Science at Stanford University and co-founded the Stanford Bitcoin Group.

An established and versatile Financial Executive with over two decades of experience running multiple trading businesses across top-level banks such as HSBC, Barclays, and UBS. After running the top Agency and SSA business for both UBS and Barclays, he took over Emerging Markets macro trading for Barclays. In 2018, wanting to go deeper into Emerging Markets he took a role as Head of Latam local markets trading where he was responsible for trading activities across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. In 2021 DeMartino moved into Crypto when he became CEO and founder of Coinbase Risk Strategies focused on DeFi and Derivatives trading. More recently he started Trident Digital Group, a crypto-native solutions firm that is focused on lending and safe yield generation and stablecoin adoption.


Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio.

Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001. Earlier, he worked in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs &amp; Co.

In 2022, Scaramucci was ranked #47 in Cointelegraph’s Top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain. In 2016, he was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst &amp; Young’s New York Financial Services “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award.  Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a board member of the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation. He is the author of five books.

Scaramucci served on President Donald J. Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, and in 2017 briefly served as Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and White House Communications Director.

Scaramucci, a native of Long Island, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Antoni is a co-founder of Aleph Zero Foundation (Switzerland), an organization overseeing the development of the Aleph Zero blockchain, and a Managing Partner of Cardinal Cryptography (Poland), firm focused on core development of the Aleph Zero ecosystem.

Ari Juels is the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor in the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and the Technion and a Computer Science faculty member at Cornell University. He is a Co-Director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3). He is also Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs. He is the author of crypto thriller novel The Oracle (Talos Press), which was released on 20 February 2024.

Austin Alexander is co-founder of LayerTwo Labs, a company focused on advancing the Bitcoin ecosystem through innovative solutions and specializing in the development of Drivechain, a specific type of blockchain sidechain designed to foster creativity and scalability within Bitcoin.

Austin Campbell is the founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Previously, he has run portfolio management at Paxos for the stablecoins as well as being the chief risk officer of Paxos National Trust, has managed fixed income trading desks at JP Morgan and Citi, and has been a portfolio manager and structurer at Stone Ridge, the parent of NYDIG. He holds a BS in Mathematics from CSU Chico and a MBA from NYU Stern.

Ben Mills is the co-founder of Meso, a payments platform connecting banks and blockchains. Prior to Meso, Ben spent a decade building payments products as an early team member at Braintree (acquired by PayPal), as Head of Product at Venmo, and working on Solana Pay at Solana Labs.

Ben Rubin is the CEO and co-founder of Towns, a decentralized messaging platform dedicated to redefining online communication. Rubin has a rich background and a decade of experience in creating digital spaces that build trust and foster human connection. Prior to founding Here Not There Labs, the developer of Towns, Ben founded two venture-backed startups, Meerkat and Houseparty, both of which reimagined how people interact digitally. He scaled his communication products to hundreds of millions of users and raised over $70M in funding from Sequoia Capital and Greylock. After Houseparty was acquired by Epic Games in 2019, Ben went on to found Here Not There Labs, a venture-backed startup with over $30M in funding from a16z crypto and Benchmark Capital.

Ben Strack is a senior reporter covering macro and crypto-native funds, financial advisors, structured products, and the integration of digital assets and DeFi into traditional finance. Prior to joining Blockworks, he covered the asset management industry for Fund Intelligence and was a reporter and editor for various local newspapers on Long Island. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism.

Contact Ben via email at ben@blockworks.co

Bessie is a Brooklyn-based reporter covering DeFi and technology. Bessie worked as a tech journalist for The Org prior to joining Blockworks and was a management consultant for KPMG in another life. She is originally from Melbourne, Australia and holds an MA from New York University. She is also the mother of a bratty cat named Mochi. You can reach Bessie at bessie@blockworks.co

Bezalel Eithan Raviv, an ex-member of IDF Cyber Unit 8200, is a seasoned entrepreneur with deep expertise in technology and innovation. He now leads Lionsgate Network, a blockchain analysis firm specializing in professional money recovery services for digital asset investors in the +$2.5 trillion market. Prior to this role, Bezalel founded an investment banking firm supporting AI startups and developed Halleluiah, a pioneering web3 migration pattern for global music copyrights.

Billy Luedtke is the CEO and founder of Intuition, an information protocol powering a more trustful internet. Billy previously served as senior technology advisor at EY, a leading global professional services organization providing assurance, tax, audit, strategy and transactions. At EY, Billy created the company’s blockchain consulting practice, leading the technical development of blockchain-enabled distributed systems. Billy later became a senior token engineer at Consensys, a leading Ethereum developer (MetaMask, Infura, Linea). Billy continues to serve as an advisor at Consensys and MetaMask.

Billy Sebell is the Executive Director of the XDC Foundation and an early contributor to the XDC Network. Since early 2018, Billy has worked to develop the XDC community, focused on ecosystem and network growth and implementing use cases in trade finance. Billy previously spent more than 25 years in manufacturing and consumer products, dealing with the challenges businesses face in capital markets and international trade.

Bob Bodily is the Provo, Utah-based CEO and Co-Founder of Bioniq, a BTC Ordinals wallet and marketplace. He has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a Ph.D. in educational/instructional technology from Brigham Young University, with 25 articles and 1K citations. He is a data engineer with 100K+ lines of production Python code, and he has two previous software startups, including an EdTech SaaS that sold in 2021.


Bogdan is the Co-Founder and CTO of Tenderly, the full-stack infrastructure solutions provider powering Web3 developer teams with the essential tools and services throughout their development journeys. 

Prior to co-founding Tenderly, Bogdan worked as a software engineer for major software platforms such as MVP Workshop and Go Daddy where he was responsible for constructing and managing the development of distributed cloud systems before realizing the lack of infrastructural support for Web3 developers. With his vast experience in constructing, expanding, and overseeing extensive distributed cloud systems, he is well-versed in the intricacies of blockchain technologies and their practical applications. 

Brandon Truong is lead product contributor for ZetaChain. He previously co-founded social platform Yada (which was acquired in 2020) and spent time building products for BuzzFeed and Udacity. 


 Brian Pak is CEO &amp; Co-Founder of ChainLight, an award-winning blockchain security firm that specializes in smart contract audits and on-chain monitoring. He is also a co-founder of Theori, an established US-based offensive cybersecurity company, since 2016, which he still leads today, having now amassed trusted partners including Microsoft, Google and Samsung. Brian’s early career started when he co-founded and developed Kaprica Security, inventing and patenting the Skorpion Charger, an Android mobile charger that can detect malicious software with no user action required. He has worked on research and development projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US. Brian is also a founder of the team PPP (Plaid Parliament of Pwning) which won DEF CON CTF, one of the most prestigious hacker competitions held in Las Vegas, in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. Brian graduated with a Masters Degree in Software Security Research from Carnegie Mellon University.

Three years ago, his act of burning a physical Banksy ignited global discourse on NFTs and Web3, exposing the industry's flaws. Now, through XION, founder Burnt Banksy leads a mission to democratize Web3 to the masses, making ownership accessible to all by removing unnecessary barriers and complications through chain abstraction. To date: XION has raised over $36M in funding with the goal of "making crypto disappear." Ultimately, Burnt Banksy wants to provide the benefits of crypto to people without requiring them to know anything about crypto.

Byron Donalds grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and he is also the proud son of a hardworking and loving single mother. His mother dedicated her time instilling in him that greatness requires sacrifice, which drives him as a devoted family man and United States Congressman.  

Byron is a graduate of Florida State University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance and marketing. Byron's career led him to Southwest Florida, where he worked in the banking, finance, and insurance industries. Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016, Byron represented Hendry County and east Collier County in the State Capitol. During his tenure in the Florida House, Byron served as the PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee Chair during the 2018-2019 Legislative Session and served as the Insurance &amp; Banking Subcommittee's Chairman 2019-2020 Legislative Session. While serving in the Florida House, primarily focused on elder affairs, criminal justice reform, and ensuring that each child has access to a world-class education. 

Byron is committed to serving and giving back to the community that gave him so much. He has served Southwest Florida in many ways, including previously serving on the Board of Trustees for Florida Southwestern State College after being appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott. Byron continues to volunteer in his church as a youth leader and a mentor. He also enjoys volunteering as a coach in youth football and basketball leagues.

Congressman Byron Donalds lives in Naples, Florida, with his wife, Erika, and their three sons: Damon, Darin, and Mason. Byron has spent his entire adult life serving others, whether it be through volunteering, business, or leadership. He is committed to representing Florida's 19th Congressional District's conservative values in Washington DC to ensure a stronger Florida and a stronger nation.

Cameron B. Pick is a partner and patent attorney at the Chicago-based intellectual property boutique law firm Marshall, Gerstein &amp; Borun. He prosecutes patents for emerging technologies, including blockchain and crypto, among other innovative areas. He may be reached at cpick@marshallip.com. 

Candace Kelly is the Chief Legal and Policy Officer for the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world's financial infrastructure. She leads the team responsible for SDF’s legal affairs and the policy team that is focused on bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. Previously, Candace worked for Uber Technologies, Inc., where she helped navigate the company’s response to regulatory investigations and advised on safety, security, privacy, consumer protection, and law enforcement response. Prior to that she served for 17 years at the United States Department of Justice.

Carlos Mercado is a data scientist at Flipside Crypto, specializing in the convergence of data science, cryptocurrency, economics, and open-source research. His expertise spans the Ethereum ecosystem and over 20 other blockchains, where he leverages SQL, R, Python, and Solidity to develop innovative data models and analytics tools. Carlos's notable contributions include the creation of the True Freeze DeFi primitive and leading the production of the 2023 Crypto Users Report, generating significant industry impact. Prior to Flipside, he applied his skills in AI strategy and product development at Guidehouse and offered data science consulting services.


​​Casey Wagner is a Senior Reporter based in New York. Casey covers crypto regulation, markets and central banks. Prior to joining Blockworks, she reported on macroeconomics at Bloomberg News. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Media Studies. Contact Casey via email at casey@blockworks.co

Charles Hoskinson is a Colorado-based technology entrepreneur and mathematician. He attended Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Boulder to study analytic number theory before moving into cryptography through industry exposure.

His professional experience includes founding three cryptocurrency-related start-ups – Invictus Innovations, Ethereum and IOHK – and he has held a variety of posts in both the public and private sectors. He was the founding chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation’s education committee and established the Cryptocurrency Research Group in 2013.

His current projects focus on educating people about cryptocurrency, being an evangelist for decentralization and making cryptographic tools easier to use for the mainstream. This includes leading the research, design and development of Cardano, a third-generation cryptocurrency that launched in September 2017.

Chris Barrett serves as the Director of Communications at Chainlink Labs and has been involved with Chainlink since 2017. Chainlink is the only on-chain data and cross-chain platform that enables financial institutions to develop customized, flexible, compliant, and future-proof blockchain applications and tokenized assets. Before this role, he founded a leading PR agency for technology startups, where he worked with over 1,000 innovative companies. Chris is also an avid runner, having maintained a streak of running for over five consecutive years. 

Chris Brooks founded CryptoAssetRecovery.com in 2017 to help digital asset owners recover lost assets. Chris was a programmer at Fidelity Investments, VP of Technology at venture-backed Carescout (which sold to GenWorth, a spinoff of General Electric) and has founded and sold three bootstrapped internet companies. 

Chris Swenor is a seasoned entrepreneur and blockchain pioneer with a 20-year career that kicked off as a self-taught programmer at age 13. He swiftly moved from corporate roles into startups, leading several to successful acquisitions. Chris started venturing into blockchain and cryptocurrency in 2013, founding Reach in 2019, a platform that has since attracted over $13M in funding and onboarded more than 8,000 developers.

In recent years, Chris founded Humble, a decentralized exchange on Algorand, and Alloy, a blockchain gaming platform acquired in 2023. He is currently working on Voi Network, a layer 1 blockchain empowering its community with user-centric governance and economics. 

Christopher Perkins is President of CoinFund, a web3 focused Registered Investment Advisor.  He is also a member of the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee and its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee.

Ciarán Murray is a seasoned veteran of the blockchain industry. Aside from advising on numerous blockchain projects over the years, and releasing a synthetics assets proof-of-concept last year, Ciarán previously worked in the media industry for British Sky Broadcasting. He is not only well placed to understand the issues facing the media industry but also how to apply blockchain and other distributed technologies to remedy them.

Da Hongfei is the founder of Neo, an open-source, community-driven blockchain platform designed to welcome developers into the Smart Economy. Hongfei operates as CEO of Neo Global Development (NGD), the executive arm of the Neo Foundation that is committed to developing the Neo protocol and its supporting ecosystem. He is seen as a luminary in the Web3 space and as a blockchain pioneer in Asia. Hongfei received his education at the South China University of Technology, receiving degrees in technology and English.

Damian Alvarez is a communications professional helping Web3 clients get their stories heard. He is currently the Head of Communications at Aori, an omni-chain logic layer that leverages off-chain data storage to enable high-frequency on-chain trading. He has worked at agencies such as Edelman and YAP Global to assist a variety of emerging and established clients to engage in industry-wide narratives surrounding technology. He may be contacted at damian@aori.io.

Dan Keeler is Editor-in-Chief at Blockworks. Prior to joining Blockworks, he was Frontier Markets Editor at the Wall Street Journal where he managed the Journal’s coverage of smaller emerging markets as well as created a number of high-profile events and a highly regarded newsletter. Before joining the WSJ, he was the Editor of Global Finance magazine. He is also the founder of New York’s FM Network, a group that hosts gatherings of finance professionals focused on smaller emerging markets.

Contact Dan via email at dan@blockworks.co

Daniel Batten is a ClimateTech investor, Bitcoin environmental impact analyst, CEO advisor and author. He is most widely known for his data-driven approach to Bitcoin mining research.


Daniel Cawrey has been involved full-time in the crypto space since 2013, including as an editor at CoinDesk. He is author of 2020’s “Mastering Blockchain” and 2023’s “Understanding Crypto” books, both available on Amazon.

Daranee Ganesh is a publishing and production manager based in Washington, DC. She holds an LLB with a focus on emerging technologies. Prior to Blockworks, Daranee worked on several legal and non-profit projects aimed at integrating decentralized solutions in the social justice framework, specifically within immigration and environmental law. Contact Daranee at daranee@blockworks.co.

Darren Kleine is an Alberta-based reporter covering podcast content at Blockworks. Previously reporting for Cointelegraph, he wrote feature content and a weekly series focused on the personal stories of influential figures in the Web3 space. He has been an active participant in the NFT art scene since 2020, creating works on curated platforms including SuperRare and KnownOrigin and hosting an NFT art-focused podcast called NFP with DKleine. Contact Darren Kleine at darren@blockworks.co.

David is an Editor based in the Netherlands focused on data-driven journalism. Previously, he wrote for TheNextWeb's crypto vertical before launching Protos in 2021. He's a reformed hardline Bitcoiner passionate about permissionless and decentralized networks. Contact David at david@blockworks.co

David Schwed serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Halborn, an elite blockchain security firm. Prior to Halborn, he was the Global Head of Digital Assets Technology at BNY Mellon, the world's biggest custodian bank, where he integrated the IT strategy for the company's digital asset services. David was also CISO for Galaxy Digital, where he led the development of information security and IT infrastructure, and served as a risk committee advisor, evaluating emerging threats in financial services. He also founded the Cybersecurity Master's Program at Yeshiva University’s Katz School of Science and Health, sharing his expertise as a practitioner-in-residence.


Delphine Forma is the policy lead for Europe &amp; UK at Solidus Labs, a leading market compliance and market integrity firm in digital assets. With a career spanning roles in major banks and blockchain ventures, she brings extensive experience in compliance and legal across sectors. She is the founder of the crypto compliance and legal TG group with 1,400 members. A Sciences Po Lyon alumna, Delphine also holds advanced degrees in European Criminal Business Law and anti-money laundering.

Denelle Dixon is the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting changemakers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. She leads the teams that help maintain Stellar's codebase, support the communities around Stellar, and advocate on behalf of the network with international stakeholders. Before joining Stellar, Dixon served as COO of Mozilla, one of the most successful mission-driven open-source organizations.. During her tenure at Mozilla, she led the organization’s business, revenue and policy teams including the ongoing fight for net neutrality and the global effort to ensure that people can control their personal data.

Dermot O’Riordan serves as a Director at the POKT Network Foundation where he helps steer product development and strategy. From Ireland to Silicon Valley, Dermot’s career ranged from advising tech companies and VC firms to leading marquee industry events. His interest in Web3 was sparked in 2016 with the rise of DAOs, leading him to dive deeper into the blockchain space, where he served as an advisor to projects like Radix and Dusk, and later, spearheading growth at Eden Block.

Donovan is a reporter based in Singapore. He previously worked in editorial at Bankless and is a huge fan of spaghetti Westerns and the Wu-Tang Clan. Contact Donovan at donovan@blockworks.co.

Elena leads product marketing at Hiro Systems, a developer tooling company bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin. She has spent the past six years working in blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. Elena co-founded Blockchain Latinx, an online community that explores what blockchain means for Latinos and for Latin America. She has an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

Eli Cohen is a corporate lawyer with 25+ years of experience in commercial transactions, financial services and regulatory matters and has worked in Asia, Europe and the United States. He is the General Counsel for Centrifuge, a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and securitization platform and Chief Compliance Officer for Anemoy Capital SPC Limited a British Virgin Islands fund company issuer of the tokenized Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund 1. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, has a Masters in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Eli Zeger writes about democracy and its relationship with technology. His work has been published in the Boston Review, Noema Magazine, Strange Matters, Zora Zine, among numerous other publications.

Elliot is the Head of Climate Strategy at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, where he is helping unlock Bitcoin's clean energy potential by bridging sustainable miners and climate-conscious investors. In his role at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, Elliot educates policymakers and NGOs on Bitcoin’s relationship with the energy system. He is a climatetech operator focused on alleviating energy poverty, bridging the digital divide, and promoting financial inclusion through technologies such as Bitcoin. Elliot was previously a Schwarzman Scholar and has served in the military, US Department of Energy, Clinton Foundation, and more. 

Evan Thomas is General Counsel for Alluvial, a software development company supporting the Liquid Collective liquid staking protocol. He was previously at Wealthsimple, Canada’s largest consumer fintech, where he was Head of Legal for Wealthsimple’s crypto trading platform. While at Wealthsimple, Evan helped launch Canada’s first regulated staking product. Before Wealthsimple, Evan was a litigator at Osler, Hoskin &amp; Harcourt LLP for nearly 15 years. Among other notable cases, Evan was hearing counsel to 3iQ Corp. in its appeal securing regulatory approval for Canada’s first publicly traded bitcoin fund in 2019.

Felix Jauvin is the host of the On the Margin podcast. Based in British Columbia, Canada, he lives and breathes where crypto and macroeconomics intersect.

Felix Xu, crypto geek, early adopter, and NFT collector. Felix graduated from NYU Stern and founded two crypto projects, ARPA and Bella Protocol, among the global top 500 by market cap. Felix previously worked at Fosun Investment, Sackler family office, and Vertical Research in New York and Beijing. Felix loves sailing, kitesurfing and was featured in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for his NFT collection.

Frank has a diverse career that spans creative writing, day trading, and a 12-year stint in financial planning. After experimenting with blockchain and being an early adapter to the Solana ecosystem, Mathis co-founded GenesysGo in 2021 to create a faster, more reliable and more secure decentralized data storage protocol. Their flagship product, shdwDrive is built on Solana and aims to bridge the gap between blockchain technology and traditional business infrastructure. GenesysGo is powered by a new type of decentralized data storage consensus mechanism, built from the ground up by the GenesysGo team.

Fraser is co-founder &amp; CTO of Cubist and an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She is an expert in software correctness: her research focuses on systems security, automated bug finding, and formal verification, from verifying (parts of) production systems like browser JITs, to finding exploitable bugs in real codebases. Her tools have found many zero-day bountied bugs and CVEs in the Chrome and Firefox browsers and multiple operating systems. Fraser received her BA in English and her MS and PhD in Computer Science from Stanford.


Garrett Harper is the producer for the Empire podcast. Garrett worked in private equity and product management before jumping into crypto full-time in 2021. His favorite thing about crypto? It conflates art, gaming, finance, software, and psychology into one hyper-growth industry.

Gijs op de Weegh is the CEO and Founder of StablR, where he leads the strategy, business operations, and investor relations. He founded StablR out of his passion for implementing blockchain technology in the financial industry and exploring its possibilities. Before founding StablR, Gijs co-founded Payvision, an e-commerce payment service provider, in 2002. Under his leadership, Payvision grew to over 300 employees and achieved a turnover exceeding €4 billion.

Gísli Kristjánsson is co-founder and CTO of Monerium, the first company to issue fiat onchain. He fell in love with programming at the age of 13. After working as a bonds broker, Gísli saw the inefficiencies of securities settlements firsthand and recognized the potential of Bitcoin. Prior to co-founding Monerium in 2015, Gísli founded and sold a platform to give users access to geo-blocked content. Fun fact: Gísli’s Ethereum address is among the 1% of the oldest addresses.

Haden Patrick is Director of Business Operations of Cordial Systems, a provider of institutional-grade self custody software using a Zero Trust security model.  Haden has executive experience in team leadership, engineering and education originating from his 24 year career as a Naval Officer. After co-founding SoloKeys, the first open-source security key company, he went on to manage projects connecting web3 to traditional finance at a cryptocurrency trading firm before joining Cordial Systems.

Hadley Stern, Advisor to MPCH, has extensive experience in leadership roles within TradFi and digital asset industries. As Global Head of Custody at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) from 2021 to 2023, Hadley spearheaded the creation of the industry’s first bank-grade crypto-custody platform. Hadley also previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Bloq where he was responsible for the P&amp;L, product roadmap, and general operations. Hadley was Founding President of Fidelity Digital Asset Services where he led Fidelity's Blockchain Incubator and Digital Currency group and was pivotal in early product launches, including activating Bitcoin donations to Fidelity Charitable and building and running Fidelity first Bitcoin mining Operation.



Hannah Finnerty is Blockworks' editorial operations manager and is based in the US. Hannah previously worked in podcast production for The National in Abu Dhabi. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in multiplatform journalism and Middle Eastern politics. Contact Hannah at hannah@blockworks.co.

Hatu Sheikh is the co-founder and CMO of DAO Maker, the largest on-chain funding platform with 1.5M+ users. The platform's contracts have distributed over $600M, with a cumulative return of around 10x. Hatu has a strong background in marketing and strategy and has played a pivotal role in driving the success of various blockchain-based projects and tokens, crafting effective marketing strategies, and forging powerful synergies within the industry.

Harry Duckworth, a law graduate, embarked on a unique journey that led him to become the youngest trader at global commodities giant Trafigura. He then went on to set up desks for several hedge funds worldwide, accumulating over a decade of experience in trading, hedge funds, and emergent technologies. 

Through his work, he became fascinated by the revolutionary power of blockchain tech soon after the inception of Bitcoin. Years later he founded AgriDex International, to provide digital marketplaces and supply chain information for all participants in the global food chain. 

Hind Kurhan is a Co-Founder of Thesis Defense, a decentralized technology security auditing company whose mission is the facilitation of broad adoption of decentralized technology by improving security and audit consistency throughout the blockchain sphere.


Ian Rogers is the Chief Experience Officer at Ledger, leading the consumer-facing business delivering the world’s #1 way to buy and secure cryptocurrency.  Prior, Ian was the Chief Digital Officer at LVMH for five transformative years, working with a portfolio of nearly one hundred brands across luxury including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, and Hennessy.  Ian also sits on the boards of Dr Marten’s and Lyst.

Ian spent twenty years bringing digital music to the mainstream, first with Winamp then Yahoo!, Beats, and Apple.  Ian contributed to the 2015 launch of Apple Music including Beats 1, their digital streaming channel. Ian graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science (with honors, Phi Beta Kappa) from Indiana University in 1994.  Ian built some of the earliest music-related Web sites in the early 90s and has been working with Beastie Boys since 1993.

Igor Telyatnikov is the CEO and co-founder of the blockchain and financial services technology company AlphaPoint. Headquartered in New York, AlphaPoint supports over 10 million users, powering marketplaces and wallets in over 35 countries. With 15 years of experience in tech and innovation, Igor has empowered over 150 clients, including CME Group and Scotiabank. In 2022, he partnered with the Government of El Salvador to upgrade its Chivo Wallet into a national Bitcoin and dollar wallet, creating the first nationalized crypto ecosystem. Igor previously held roles at Cvetlo, LiftDNA, and Ingersoll Rand/Allegion, and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Penn State University. He is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Ishan is a University of Texas McCombs School of Business graduate with a BBA in Finance &amp; Marketing. He founded and managed a Private Equity Fund that reached an eight-figure Assets Under Management (AUM) and has also gained experience with many top 200 projects of crypto market cap. In 2022, he helped found SCRIB3, a Web3 Marketing and PR venture. He was notably among the first to raise an alert about potential deceptive and unethical business practices by FTX. Ishan contributes as a DeFi analyst, an active angel investor, and an advisor in projects like Polygon Technologies.

Jack Kubinec is a Solana ecosystem reporter based in Brooklyn, New York. Jack previously interned at Blockworks before joining full-time. He graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a degree in sociology. Contact Jack at jack.kubinec@blockworks.co.

Jag is the CEO and co-founder of re.al, an L2 build to facilitate deep onchain liquidity for tokenized RWAs. re.al seeks to redefine how RWAs are integrated into DeFi, using yield-generating real-world assets as novel building blocks in existing DeFi primitives.

James Cirrone is a breaking news reporter based in New York. Prior to joining Blockworks, James was a reporter and newsletter writer at Bloomberg News. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism. He also played trumpet in the university’s marching band. Contact James via email at james.cirrone@blockworks.co.

Jason Allegrante is the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Fireblocks. He is an experienced Counsel with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry with both large, traditional financial institutions as well as early stage fintech startups.



Jason Dehni is the co-founder and group CEO of Credbull, a leading DeFi platform offering structured high fixed yield solutions in SME private credit. Jason has over 25 years of senior management experience in asset management, private banking, SME lending, insurance, risk management, and crypto across North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. His background includes serving as group COO &amp; MENA CEO of a publicly traded crypto asset management company, co-founder &amp; CEO of an SME trade finance platform, and senior leadership roles in asset management, wealth management,  insurance, and management consulting. Jason holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honours BA in Economics &amp; Political Science from the University of Toronto. 

Jean-Marie Mognetti is Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares, a publicly listed investment firm that manages over five billion in digital assets on behalf of a global investor base, and an experienced commodities trader with a background in quantitative strategies. A veteran of the Global Advisors group of companies since 2011, Jean-Marie has served in various leadership roles throughout his tenure, most recently as CEO of Global Advisors (Jersey) Limited and director of GABI, the world’s first regulated Bitcoin fund. In addition to his management responsibilities as CEO, Jean-Marie oversees the firm’s proprietary trading arm, capital markets portfolio, and risk management practices – areas in which he has developed unique expertise over his career. Prior to joining Global Advisors, Jean-Marie was a quantitative strategist with Hermes Commodities Fund Managers, and an Energy Trader Assistant at Lehman Brothers. He holds Master of Science degrees in Mathematical Trading and Finance from Sir John Cass Business School in London, and Bank-Finance-Insurance from Université Paris Dauphine in Paris, in addition to a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Finance from Université Paris Dauphine.

Jeff is an editor at Blockworks, based in the United States. He has been a part of the blockchain space for over a decade, most recently working as US news editor at Cointelegraph. His areas of focus include empowering artists and creators through technology, using proof-of-participation methods to reward self-improvement, reducing the effectiveness of Sybil attacks, seeking transparent equity for disadvantaged communities, and exploring fairer models of world governance. Contact Jeff at Jeffrey@blockworks.co.

Jesper Johansen is the founder and CEO of NORTHSTAKE, a regulated custodial staking company specialized in building regulatory compliant crypto staking products for institutional investors and financial institutions. The team holds backgrounds from financial institutions, pension funds, large investment companies to consulting, technology and audit firms, such as Accenture, Deloitte, PwC as well as blockchain and crypto projects e.g. DAI Foundation (MakerDao), Ethereum and L1/L2s. 

Prior to NORTHSTAKE, Jesper held leadership positions with Accenture Strategy and Deloitte Consulting advising clients in heavily regulated industries to implement new technologies and drive business transformation. He holds a MBA from Copenhagen Business School and a B.Sc. in International Business. 

Jess Sun is an independent writer and content strategist. She loves bringing good ideas to light, helping the people behind them shine, and bridging gaps in understanding. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn. Go to her website to learn about working with her.

Jesse Knutson is the head of operations at Bitfinex Securities, where he is responsible for expanding the platform’s issuance pipeline, overseeing distribution and building its user base while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Prior to this role, Knutson served as vice president of financial products at Blockstream, and held roles at prominent investment banks including Macquarie Group and Barclays.

Jim Myers is an engineer, early-stage investor, and the CTO &amp; Co-Founder of Flipside Crypto, a leading blockchain data analytics and business intelligence platform. Prior to co-founding Flipside, Jim developed the core technology that took products from 0 to 1 at companies such as Mylestone, Pluralsight, and Smarterer. Jim’s journey into the crypto industry began in 2015, eventually co-founding Flipside Crypto in 2017 to help empower crypto communities to create and share data-driven insights on the projects they care most about. Jim's passion for building extends to the broader startup community via his developer event series, Stack Dive, and as an angel investor to several local Boston-area startups, including AdHawk and LinkSquares. In a previous life, Jim developed advanced models to quantify risk and abnormal returns in the market for Financial Transmission Rights, a type of energy derivative.

JJ is an advisor, mentor and co-founder working across Bitcoin, mining and web3. He currently mentors for Outlier Ventures new Bitcoin Base Camp program and has co-founded a new protocol operating in stealth mode.

Joey is ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the top 12 lawyers in the world, advising many of the largest platforms around the globe in the space. He co-chaired the Gibraltar Government’s working group on Blockchain for 3 years, which was established to develop the infrastructure to accommodate a DLT regulatory framework. Joey is also a specialist consultant to the United Nations and trains and assesses authorities primarily around South East Asia in virtual asset developments, DeFi and regulation. He is a member of several think tanks including the prestigious global ‘Wharton Reg@Tech’ initiative, the Blockchain Industry Parliamentary Roundtable on Blockchain Technologies at Parliament in the UK, and also contributed to the UK Law Society on the Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Guidance publication. He was the Xapo Representative on the Libra/Diem Association and has also contributed to various stablecoin and CBDC developments. 

Joeyz Yu is an entrepreneur with over 18 years of experience in product design and development. He co-founded Sending Labs to revolutionize communication protocols and social applications for Web3, leading the development of their flagship products SendingMe and SendingNetwork. Previously, Joeyz co-founded MoboTab, where he created the Dolphin Browser, used by over 200 million users and later acquired by ChangYou. Joeyz's passion for empowering users and building exceptional teams drives his mission to shape the future of the internet. 

John is the Editor of Evergreen Content at Blockworks. Before Blockworks, he was the producer and founder of an explainer studio called Best Explained. As Evergreen Editor, he manages the production of explainers, guides and all educational content for anything crypto related. He is passionate about making digital asset education more accessible for degens and fence-sitters alike. Contact John at john@blockworks.co

John Woods is the CTO of the Algorand Foundation, which supports Algorand’s rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the framework for decentralized governance.

Prior to joining the leadership team at Algorand, John worked as Chief Architect of Cardano at IOHK. He has held roles leading software architecture and applied cryptography at a number of firms including Informatica, ConsenSys and Central Bank of Ireland.

John Wu is President of Ava Labs, an Andresseen Horowitz backed technology company building the next-generation blockchain platform: Avalanche. John’s objective is to open up financial services and products to all. In this role, he leverages his expertise from over 20 years as a fintech executive and technology investor to create a blockchain-enabled solution for originating, issuing, and trading financial assets.  

Jonathan currently serves as the Global Head of Growth at the Web3 ecosystem, Elastos, overseeing marketing, business development, investment and ecosystem strategies. With a background in corporate communications and technology marketing from roles at Edelman, Weber Shandwick, and Burson-Marsteller, Jonathan has transitioned to focus on Web3 innovation in his recent positions at Elastos and CreDA.

David Canellis

Only one milestone left before bitcoin officially enters price discovery mode: gold.



No question that bitcoin is at an all-time high for US dollars. BTC hit $98,000 earlier this morning, awarding it a market cap close to $1.94 trillion (fully-diluted: $2.06 trillion).



Bitcoin’s price has also formally broken 2021 records against all three major US benchmark stock indexes: the Dow Jones, S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq 100.



Gold, though, had outperformed bitcoin following crypto’s peak in November 2021 — until this past week. As of this morning, bitcoin was up 55% since then compared to gold’s 46%.



Bitcoin still needs to catch up to gold, which converts to lag between BTC’s gold all-time high, as well as its US dollar and stock market ratios.



On Thursday morning, the bitcoin-to-gold ratio was just under 36.83. When BTC set its November 2021 high, it was as much as 37.05, a tiny difference of less than half a percent.



If gold is steady today, a single move to $98,500 would do it from here, and even less if gold slips slightly. (Current bitcoin price: $97,845.)



At that point, there’s probably some other annoying technicality to pin on bitcoin. Perhaps it’s still below its all-time high against gold after adjusting for inflation, for instance. But whatever.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1549" height="982" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png" alt="" class="wp-image-94661" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=1549 1549w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=405 405w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=412 412w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=345 345w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image-16.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1549px) 100vw, 1549px" /></figure>



In any case, we’re all totally locked into the bitcoin price chart for the foreseeable future, including, probably, the Feds.



The US government crypto stash — seized in a variety of criminal cases — has now ballooned to almost $21 billion, over 98% of it bitcoin. The rest is mostly made up of ETH, BNB, TRX and stablecoins.&nbsp;



That’s up from just under $10 billion at the start of the year, per <a href="https://intel.arkm.com/dashboards/view?dashboardID=47d779bb-3c6f-4dd3-8f8e-1f6602e2f631">Arkham Intelligence</a> data. Although it’s difficult to find the exact value of the crypto kept by the US government, as agencies regularly move it between unmarked wallets.



We can however zoom in on the 3,999 BTC <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-german-governments-selling-bitcoin">sold by the Feds</a> in June and July. Valued at the times of transfer to Coinbase Prime, those coins were worth on average $61,300 and likely generated more than $245 million for government coffers.



If sold today, they would’ve netted closer to $392 million, leaving $147 million on the table.



The German state of Saxony has it much worse. It altogether <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/germany-bitcoin-stash-exchange-transfers">dumped almost 50,000 BTC</a> on a string of exchanges around the same time as the US, raking in the euro equivalent of $2.78 billion.



Had Saxony held, it would’ve had almost $4.9 billion — converting to over $2.1 billion in lost potential revenue. That’s equal to 1.7% of Saxony’s total GDP in 2018.



All told, identified government treasuries are worth a combined $28.5 billion, belonging to the US, UK, Bhutan and El Salvador.&nbsp;



And with bitcoin properly in price discovery mode, now comes the true test of strength for their hands.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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Bitcoin is inches away from cracking all-time high against gold

Casey Wagner

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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It’s a high-stakes day for tech stocks as the grand finale to earnings season looms: Nvidia’s third quarter report, set to drop today after the bell.&nbsp;



As the world’s largest public company by market cap, Nvidia has been the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-nvda-market-breadth">definitive winner</a> of the AI boom. Shares are up almost 200% year to date and 1,000% since September 2022.&nbsp;



Analysts are expecting big things from Nvidia tonight. Wall Street has consistently upped its predictions for the report, increasing earnings per share estimates to $2.84 (from $2.81 in September). Earnings per share from the second quarter came in at $2.70, a 148% increase year over year.&nbsp;



Revenue estimates for the third quarter come in at $33 billion, which would be an 83% increase from the prior year. Second quarter <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nvidia-earnings-and-the-baked-in-premium">earnings</a> showed revenue was $30 billion.&nbsp;



Investors are going to be looking for signs that Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU, a high-performance chip expected to drive the next AI wave, is in high demand and functioning well. Tonight’s call comes as reports of Blackwell GPUs overheating continue to swirl. Nvidia has invested more than $2 billion in developing Blackwell, so shareholders (and the broader market) are going to want to see signs that these issues are being worked out.&nbsp;



Check back tomorrow for a full recap of Nvidia’s Q3 earnings and what will no doubt be some interesting market moves to follow.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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Nvidia heads into earnings as its star chip continues to glitch 

Ben Strack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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It’s been two weeks since the US presidential election outcome that sent BTC to new highs and spurred some of the latest bullish happenings.



Let’s review what’s occurred in crypto land since Donald Trump’s political victory.



Starting with the crypto price rally, BTC rose 8.8% on Election Day (<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/btc-election-day-boost">Nov. 5</a>), Coinglass <a href="https://www.coinglass.com/today">data</a> shows. There were modest gains the next few days before BTC saw notable daily price increases of 4.8% and 10.2% on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, respectively. Then a 4.2% rise on Nov. 14.



By Bitfinex analysts’ count, BTC rose roughly 40% (from the pre-election selloff point of about $66,880 to a then-peak $93,300) — marking the largest nine-day <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/btc-surge-above-86k-analysis">price increase</a> for BTC since January 2021.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Bitcoin surged to a new high over $94,900 early Wednesday. It was hovering around $93,800 at 2 pm ET — up 1.5% from 24 hours prior.&nbsp;



Outside of price, everyone was reminded of some of Trump’s crypto-related <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">pledges</a>. Given the Republicans’ majority in the House and Senate too, hope around the US creating a <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/daily/issue/post_a86f70e8-2026-4c78-821e-c99cc7fd3a4b">strategic bitcoin reserve</a> (via a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senator-lummis-bitcoin-reserve-bill-crypto-policy">bill proposed</a> by Sen. Cynthia Lummis) is aplenty.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">WE ARE GOING TO BUILD A STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸&mdash; Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenLummis/status/1854208373740458432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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In an X space yesterday, Lummis said she hopes “we can tee this up for adoption in 2025.” She noted that after Trump is sworn in, the US could get a headstart by converting gold certificates to bitcoin (even before the bill’s potential passage).



“The advantage of having legislation is it sets up the functional basis for the government holding bitcoin in a variety of locations, and then helping states hold their bitcoin as well,” she said.&nbsp;



On the latter point, a notable post-election crypto headline was <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/pennsylvania-house-introduces-bill-implement-strategic-bitcoin-reserve">Pennsylvania lawmakers </a>introducing a bill that would allow the state’s treasury to keep BTC on its balance sheet.



Then there are the companies following MicroStrategy’s lead in buying bitcoin <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/company-treasuries-btc-reserve-asset">for their treasuries</a> (or planning to). MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor said on the same X space with Lummis that if the US creates a strategic bitcoin reserve, others will “stampede to keep up” — namely the EU, Asia and Brazil.



“This is all about laying in place a power infrastructure to build the 21st century economy that’s so incredibly compelling that it attracts the capital from the rest of the world into the United States and into US values and US politics,” Saylor added.



As for US spot bitcoin ETF demand during the trading days after the election (from Nov. 6 to Nov. 19), those products have seen net <a href="https://farside.co.uk/btc/">inflows</a> of about $5 billion.



Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matt-hougan-crypto-reputational-risk">told me</a> the election outcome “removes the last vestige of reputational risk from crypto” — noting he expects institutional ownership to follow “an exponential curve from Q1 onwards.”&nbsp;



And Jersey City’s mayor and business administrator <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jersey-city-pension-funds-btc-exposure">told me last week</a> the city’s pension fund was just about ready to allocate to bitcoin ETFs — undeterred even given the latest price increase.&nbsp;



Ether products saw an uptick in demand as well, reeling in $796 million in the six trading days after the election. Despite <a href="https://farside.co.uk/eth/">net outflows</a> over the past four trading days, the category’s flows <a href="https://x.com/JSeyff/status/1858568816865014242">remain slightly positive</a> since those launched in July.&nbsp;



Positive sentiment around the space has shown up in more ways than buying-fueled price increases and fund flows.



Robinhood appeared to ride the wave of regulatory optimism by adding solana, cardano, XRP and pepe <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/hood-cashes-in-on-crypto-rally">to its platform</a>. ETF issuers are also perhaps betting on a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-etfs-filings-to-test-sec">more lenient SEC</a>, with Bitwise, for example, proposing after the election to convert its crypto index fund into an ETF.&nbsp;



A more recent amended ETF <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1976672/000168035924000410/gsbtcncvrclsetf485apos112024.htm">filing</a> for a Grayscale Bitcoin Covered Call ETF came as options on the US spot bitcoin ETFs got the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-etf-options-trading-begins">final regulatory OK</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



What am I forgetting?



Well, Trump’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-nominates-commerce-dept-leader">nomination</a> of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce sets the stage for another <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-tradfi-btc-transacting">crypto-friendly person</a> in a powerful position (if confirmed).&nbsp;



And then there’s the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-11-18-2024/card/exclusive-trump-to-meet-privately-with-coinbase-ceo-brian-armstrong-DDkgF0xW1BW242rVeuqx">conversation</a> between Trump and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong — reportedly in part about personnel appointments.



The biggest thing to watch for now? Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith has a thought on that:&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">The next SEC chair is the most critical position for crypto <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdonaldtrump</a> will appoint. The chair must be a known quantity committed to undoing the damage of the last 4 years, have expertise on crypto–and share Trump’s vision of making the US the crypto capital of the world.&mdash; Kristin Smith (@KMSmithDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/KMSmithDC/status/1858933820457631930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Industry watchers have labeled SEC Commissioner <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/11/19/mark-uyeda-securities-exchange-commission-trump-gary-gensler-transition/">Mark Uyeda</a> and former Coinbase chief legal officer <a href="https://cryptoslate.com/krakens-founder-jesse-powell-backs-brian-brooks-for-sec-chair/">Brian Brooks</a> as potential candidates to replace Gary Gensler as SEC chair, but we don’t yet know Trump’s thoughts on the matter.



So we’ve been busy writing. And it doesn’t appear there will be a shortage of things to report on going forward. Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mike-novogratz-on-trump-presidency">prediction</a> was perhaps an understatement.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



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What the US election outcome spurred in crypto land  

Donovan Choy

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



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Running an Ethereum L2 was historically very expensive. L2s had to pay millions in data availability costs to the L1.



All that changed with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-dencun-upgrade-mainnet">Dencun hardfork</a> (EIP-4844) in March 2024. It introduced an expansion of blockspace called “blobs” for L2s to post batched data extremely cheaply to the L1. Blob space sits in a separate fee market from the L1. It’s about an order of a magnitude cheaper than L1 blockspace, making it a critical aspect of Ethereum’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/devcon-panelists-talk-fragmentation">rollup-centric</a> roadmap.



To illustrate that point, Base paid $9.34 million in expenses for Q1 2024, which saw a sharp drop to $699k in Q2 2024 and $42k in Q3 2024, based on <a href="https://tokenterminal.com/explorer/financial-statements/base">TokenTerminal</a> data.



The bad news (or good?) is that blobspace is getting somewhat pricey again as onchain activity picks up in the bull market.



Blobs today are limited to six per mainnet block. When blob usage hits a target limit of 50%, or three, a base fee is introduced to regulate demand usage by hundreds of L2s. When usage hits four blobs, base fees are further increased by up to 12.5% for the next block.



That is exactly what is starting to take place over the past several weeks (see chart below).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf9vvpx_wQ5S6nFIpTs9c8a2B2O4oJNfGFRrSzCBBfzANUpKlb-GmDJeFjOY_fRqeVQDJEFczgryZAZlgYw_QLT72DyrtGsOpFtXjhK7Xvj5lYiUDK5TEXlbm9Rdj71sXwJKFR7KA?key=q09Uf3Dp2Kx_a_xE7tOXk70k" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://dune.com/hildobby/blobs">Dune</a></figcaption></figure>



In short, blobs aren&#8217;t free anymore and L2s need to start paying “rent.” Based on <a href="https://ultrasound.money/">ultrasound.money</a>, blob fee burn is coming up to about <a href="https://ultrasound.money/">212 ETH</a> in the last 30 days, and has generated substantial blob fees to Ethereum mainnet.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeZcrKoAuAbdD6XRrkebT7g2zGhhLufUouEF6If4iHNnqLCZIP7Rw-bFwZaMyxq3Ryk6Torfv1BuJ-WUPM-ClcFyfU_ucgjM6GLwYBcMhAVLAPKugUR3vK8Z-8Q_o5qtyEoH_SYIg?key=q09Uf3Dp2Kx_a_xE7tOXk70k" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/eth?dashboard=ethereum-blobs">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>



So blobs are generally great. L2s are cheaper to operate, and that’s nice for L2 users.



But people (read: ETH holders) aren’t happy because it looks like L2s are getting away with paying barely any expenses to the L1, which thereby accrues less value to ETH the asset.



This complaint centers around pessimism that blob usage will be high enough to return value to the L1 for two key reasons:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>L2s are fundamentally a business. They will opt for a cheaper data availability provider like Celestia or EigenDA, or worse still, a centralized data availability committee (DAC) with weaker security properties.</li>



<li>L2s will simply delay posting data back to the L1 when blob markets get expensive, as we have seen <a href="https://x.com/0xBreadguy/status/1823463041155129594">Scroll and Taiko</a> do in the past.</li>
</ol>



In a debate around blobs at <a href="https://youtu.be/JMZcRMy-Oow?t=19530">Devcon</a>, Ethereum researcher Ansgar Dietrichs acknowledged the misaligned incentives of L2s but counter-argued that Ethereum’s DA would matter more in the long term with more L2 networks coalescing around it as trust bottlenecks emerge around bridging.



There was also the “blobs is a loss leader” argument by Blueyard’s <a href="https://x.com/timjrobinson/status/1851222337787740425">Tim Robinson</a>. He notes that while blobs do not generate much revenue at present, they would do so very quickly due to the economics of blob design, and pay massive dividends for Ethereum in the future. According to Robinson’s blob simulator, a hypothetical Ethereum L1 processing 10,000 TPS with a 16 MB blob size (blob sizes are 125 KB today) would burn 6.5% of ETH a year.&nbsp;



This potential value accrual for ETH is why blobs would be fundamentally good for Ethereum in the long run. Throttling blob limits or raising blob fees to extract more value from L2s in the short run would basically be a bad “rent-seeking” idea.



And Ethereum researchers are putting their money where their mouth is. In an Ethereum Research post published two days ago, Toni Wahrstätter <a href="https://x.com/nero_eth/status/1858460235377336773">called for</a> either a conservative increase to 4/6 blobs or a higher 6/9 blob count.



In ACDE #197, Vitalik also <a href="https://youtu.be/Sq0ooAOaLpE">proposed</a> a 33% increment of blob space in the next Pectra <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/testing-bottleneck-next-ethereum-upgrade">hard fork</a>, which he cautioned was essential. Otherwise, users would leave to other chains.



In sum, the complex debate around blobs boils down to the question of whether Ethereum wants to prioritize the average L2 user and its “Ethereum-aligned” L2 ecosystems, or prioritize value accrual to ETH the asset.



Ethereum researchers believe that prioritizing the latter may cause an exodus of users and developers to cheaper chains, and are doubling down accordingly on scaling blob space for the long term. However, that damages the perception of ETH as an economic asset, which in turn angers ETH token holders in the short run.



It’s a tricky situation for Ethereum either way, one which requires the mammoth task of crystal-balling into the future and accounting for a myriad of “what-ifs.” Time will tell which path is correct.



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The blobs conundrum: Ethereum’s balancing act

Former top FTX executive Gary Wang was sentenced to time served with three years of supervised release Wednesday for his role in the $8 billion fraud that preceded the exchange&#8217;s collapse. Wang is the final cooperating member of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to be sentenced.&nbsp;



Wang, co-founder and former chief technology officer of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ftx">FTX</a>, served as a government witness in Bankman-Fried’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sbf-trial">criminal trial</a> last fall. He was the first co-conspirator to work with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and conspiracy in December 2022.&nbsp;



“You immediately did the right thing,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said Wednesday, addressing Wang. “You are entitled to a world of credit.”&nbsp;



While Wang does bear some responsibility for his role in the crimes, Kaplan added, his culpability is minimal compared to other defendants. “Life is a balance,” and cooperation should be rewarded, Kaplan said.&nbsp;



Wang’s parents and wife, who is expecting their first child, were present in the courtroom Wednesday.



Prosecutors and Wang’s team previously asked the judge to sentence Wang to time served. 



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-impacts-on-cryptos-future">Remembering FTX: How the collapse shaped crypto’s future</a>



Wang’s assistance, prosecutors said, was not only instrumental in their case against <a href="http://v">Bankman-Fried</a> but will help bring down more criminals in the future.&nbsp;



“Wang has built an interface that the Government has begun using for detecting potential fraud by publicly traded companies,” prosecutors wrote in a Nov. 13 note to the court.&nbsp;



Should Wang avoid jail time, prosecutors said he agreed to continue working on an additional “tool for detection of potential illegal activity in cryptocurrency markets.”&nbsp;



Last fall, Wang testified that at Bankman-Fried’s direction, he wrote the code that allowed Alameda’s “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-gary-wang">unlimited withdrawals</a>” from FTX. The excessive line of credit ultimately culminated in an $8 billion hole in the exchange’s books.



“We gave <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gary-wang-ftx-not-fine">special privileges to Alameda Research</a> on FTX,” Wang said during Bankman-Fried’s trial. “And we lied about this to the public.”&nbsp;



Wang’s attorneys said he was unaware Alameda was using the tool to take FTX customer money.



“As the Government has recognized, Gary first learned of the fraud after it was well underway having been lied to and deceived by Sam Bankman-Fried,” they wrote in a Nov. 6 filing. “Gary is profoundly remorseful and has taken extraordinary steps to assist the Government and others working on behalf of FTX victims.”



Wang is the third and final government witness to be sentenced. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/caroline-ellison-sentenced-to-24-months">sentenced to two years in prison in September</a>. Fellow top advisor Nishad Singh last month was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nishad-singh-sentenced-to-three-years-supervised-release">sentenced to time served</a> with three years of supervised release.



Updated Nov. 20, 2024 at 10:49 am ET: Added quotes from Judge Lewis Kaplan. 



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FTX co-founder won’t serve time in prison, judge rules

Jack Kubinec

This is a segment from yesterday&#8217;s Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">subscribe</a>.



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It&#8217;s often said that the real money in the gold rush was made by selling shovels.



You could argue that’s the case in crypto right now as well: As Solana eyes an all-time high, it’s the crypto exchanges — where users gain access to their magic internet money — raking in most of the revenue.



Despite the growth of decentralized exchanges relative to centralized ones, Coinbase is still lapping up a lot of the US crypto market, while Binance remains dominant in the east. These exchanges take in funds from trading fees and from their Solana validators, but onchain sleuths have also found the two exchanges to be wasting some of their funds with inefficient transaction processes.



Coinbase and Binance make money in roughly similar ways: When users trade, they take a cut. Their take rate varies but can be quite high (Coinbase charged me $0.99 in fees when I set up a $10 bitcoin order, for instance). Solana accounted for 9% of Coinbase’s transaction revenue for the first half of this year which would add up to roughly $167 million for the exchange, per its most recent financial disclosures. That figure has likely risen in the second half of the year, as Solana continues to showcase impressive price action.



Both exchanges also run Solana validators. Despite charging their stakers an 8% commission that is at the upper end of what most big validators charge, Coinbase and Binance still run the second- and sixth-largest validators, respectively. Operating a validator — which votes on transactions to keep the Solana blockchain running —&nbsp;is quite lucrative for Coinbase and Binance these days.



Assuming a Solana network reward of 8% annually, Coinbase would bring in around $19 million annually at current prices, and Binance would net $13 million. Those numbers would be especially elevated this week: Tips and fees validators brought in last week topped $110 million last week, an all-time high by more than double, according to Blockworks Research data.&nbsp;



It’s perhaps a market inefficiency that Coinbase and Binance, despite offering lower yields than competitors, still dominate staked SOL supply. This highlights the demand for platforms that simplify crypto’s technical complexities.



Interestingly, Coinbase and Binance are perhaps spending more SOL than they should as well.



Coinbase wasted $19,000 in the past week overpaying for computing resources on the Solana network, according to a Dune <a href="https://dune.com/queries/4269803/7201741">dashboard</a>. Essentially, Coinbase is overpaying on priority fees by not specifying the exact amount of compute units (which can be thought of like Ethereum gas) it intends to use.



Binance has hiccups on its own part. Blockworks Research’s Dan Smith <a href="https://x.com/smyyguy/status/1858263109858943004">identified</a> a Binance USDC transfer that paid $8 in priority fees — far higher than what the exchange should be paying for a stablecoin transaction that isn’t competing for blockspace like a memecoin would, for instance.



Do shovels still earn a lot of dough? Of course. But their sellers still have plenty of issues to work out.



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Binance and Coinbase are pocketing a lot of SOL

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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If the US government really intends to create a strategic bitcoin reserve, it will need to compete with MicroStrategy.



As it stands, the velocity of MicroStrategy’s bitcoin buying has exploded, to the point that it now holds 331,200 BTC ($30.9 billion), or 1.7% of the circulating supply.



For scale, Sen. Lummis has pitched a 1 million BTC target for the government reserve, worth $93.2 billion at current prices. In July, the latest figures showed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-strategic-bitcoin-reserve">the US holding over $608 billion in gold</a> certificates in its strategic reserve.



To be clear, there’s no official indication that the US will actually make bitcoin its fifth reserve asset (Polymarket puts the current <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/will-trump-create-a-national-bitcoin-reserve-in-his-first-100-days?tid=1732097029269">chance</a> at 36%). And as Blockworks’ Byron Gilliam <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/daily/issue/post_a86f70e8-2026-4c78-821e-c99cc7fd3a4b">pointed</a> out in his newsletter yesterday, it could even be a really bad idea.&nbsp;



Let’s say it does happen. That would mean MicroStrategy is frontrunning the US government at size, potentially driving up prices before the reserve buys its first, very hypothetical, coins.



Mapping exactly when MSTR buys its bitcoin — to perhaps find positive correlation between the price of BTC and the firm’s trades — is unfortunately impossible with the publicly-available data.



MicroStrategy does disclose the number of bitcoins it buys alongside its total dollar spend. But it generally only offers a range of dates on which those trades were made.



Still, averaging those figures out shows that over most of the past three years, MicroStrategy would’ve spent up to several millions of dollars on BTC per day during its buying sprees. Those sprees often last for over a month, according to its filings.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeWnL8r3XDyTcVNQIkVyXZ_uJIWA0qefMzxpiw7n-AzG2OMtlMVE0usRVGSE4FGaBJV5f71pXJV0rsIv0Cx8oCrNwB54HnkMEXMUHoUflRMx2cnDk7I5jNcMox1PHOCEDikD4Iu_A?key=ZGErJNgi7_FnoM3H-fcfO03J" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A range of dates wasn’t disclosed for those massive purchases on the left side of the chart (the green, peach and pink plus symbols). They were huge in any case.</figcaption></figure>



By March of this year, when bitcoin was setting all-time highs around $74,000, that number had jumped to $80 million per buying day.&nbsp;



Come early November, it was $190 million, before ramping up to over $657 million last <a href="https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltb564490bc5201f31/bltc841ab65fe7d972b/673b392ad908785dbba03616/form_8-k_11-18-2024.pdf">week</a> — $4.6 billion on 51,780 BTC between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17, at an average price of $88,627.&nbsp;



The price of bitcoin climbed up to 14% across that period, from $80,000 to more than $91,000.&nbsp;



Saylor has previously said that MSTR has bought bitcoin on spot markets, but that was early on.&nbsp;



It could be that the firm these days acquires bitcoin over the counter, which would dampen direct impact. The sheer size of the buys, however, would <a href="https://forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/09/26/over-the-counter-trades-hidden-trends-behind-bitcoin-price/">probably still influence prices</a> somewhere down the line.



Linking MicroStrategy’s bitcoin buys and its share price is far more straight-forward.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1550" height="997" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-94618" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=1550 1550w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=400 400w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=406 406w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=340 340w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/unnamed.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1550px) 100vw, 1550px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">MSTR has gone over 3,000% in the past five years or so, compared to 800% for bitcoin</figcaption></figure>



There was a time when MicroStrategy stock (in blue) was weighed down by its bitcoin (the orange area in the background) — leading the two assets to closely track each other in the bear market.



All that changed in late February, when Saylor announced his company had added 3,000 BTC ($155 million then, $280 million now). MSTR stock then jumped 27% in two days, and bitcoin went on to set an all-time high three weeks later.



MSTR has been tightly correlated with the dollar value of its bitcoin treasury ever since — not the price of bitcoin — swelling its market cap from $10 billion to nearly $100 billion.



If that persists, MSTR’s share price might be resistant to bitcoin downturns as long as it buys the dip, which it probably will, <a href="https://microstrategy.com/press/microstrategy-announces-proposed-private-offering-of-1-75b-of-convertible-senior-notes_11-18-2024">considering the debt raises keep coming</a>. In the meantime, shareholders are no doubt enjoying the show.&nbsp;



As would MicroStrategy execs and insiders, who’ve now offloaded almost $559 million in company shares so far this year, per OpenInsider data, which compiles SEC filings (almost three-quarters going to Saylor, who’s said that he intends to buy bitcoin himself).



And they say the key to building generational wealth is diversification.



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MicroStrategy’s bitcoin bet is paying off in more ways than one

Delphine Forma

MiCA compliance is the main catalyst that will separate winners from losers across Europe’s crypto industry. Companies that embrace the framework’s rigorous standards won’t just stay afloat; they’ll dominate, using compliance as a strategic weapon to outpace competitors, drive mergers and acquisitions, and secure their position in a rapidly consolidating market.



MiCA’s introduction is poised to ignite a surge in mergers and acquisitions across Europe’s crypto sector, as regulatory compliance becomes a key driver of deal-making. Firms that master MiCA’s standards won’t just protect their market positions — they’ll gain a competitive edge, leveraging compliance credentials to attract partners, investors and buyers. Consolidation will be a natural response to rising operational costs, with smaller players seeking alliances in order to survive and thrive. Meanwhile, I foresee larger firms capitalizing on similar opportunities to expand their footprints.



This wave of consolidation will most likely signal a major shift in the competitive dynamics of the European crypto sector. As smaller firms struggle to shoulder the costs of compliance, their strategic value to larger, more resourceful players will only grow. For acquirers, MiCA-compliant firms represent a safer bet, offering established infrastructure, robust internal controls and governance systems already aligned with regulatory demands. With MiCA emphasizing operational soundness and investor protection, these companies will become prime targets, reducing risks and accelerating post-acquisition integration. In this new era, compliance won’t just be a cost — it’ll be a mechanism for growth, reshaping the competitive landscape.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/micar-foreign-stablecoins-advantage-in-europe">MiCAR will give foreign stablecoins a clear advantage in Europe</a>



The framework itself sets a high bar for transparency and accountability. Under MiCA, any firm planning to invest in or acquire a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) or an asset-referenced token (ART) issuer must notify the national competent authority (NCA) in their EU member state in writing. CASPs, which include companies offering services like trading, custody or asset transfers, will now face detailed regulatory reviews to ensure the deal complies with MiCA’s strict standards. The acquiring party must also provide detailed information to the NCA to facilitate an evaluation of the proposed acquisition or any expansion of an existing qualifying stake. Regulatory due diligence will play a critical role in these transactions under MiCA.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/european-union-guidelines-clarify-mica">European securities regulator seeks limits on non-EU crypto firms</a>



Key factors for approval include the reputation and leadership track record of the acquiring party, the ongoing compliance of the target ART issuer or CASP with MiCA regulations, and the financial stability of the acquirer. These elements will be closely scrutinized to ensure that both parties meet MiCA’s stringent standards.



While NCAs have other measures that will factor in, it’s clear that MiCA compliance is critical for M&amp;A success. Firms that have clearly established controls in place will be the winners, independent of which aisle of the deal they sit on.



Firms that fail to comply with MiCA, however, will face serious challenges in the M&amp;A market as their regulatory gaps make them riskier and less appealing to buyers. Non-compliance can lead to fines, expensive fixes or devaluation during due diligence. For non-EU firms, acquiring a MiCA-compliant company to attempt to benefit from the “grandfathering period,” might seem like an easy way to enter the European market, but this comes with strict ESMA oversight. Regulators will be focused on ensuring investor protection and proper integration of EU-regulated functions, meaning non-EU firms must avoid tactics like regulatory loopholes or improper solicitation that could raise red flags.



MiCA-compliant firms will remain attractive targets for non-EU companies seeking easier entry into the European market. Without a MiCA license, non-EU firms risk being excluded from the EU entirely, as the reverse solicitation principle “should be understood as very narrowly framed and as such must be regarded as the exception; and it cannot be assumed, nor exploited to circumvent MiCA.” To succeed, non-EU acquirers must fully integrate and comply with MiCA’s requirements to meet EU regulatory standards and operate smoothly within the region.



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecoin-regulation-necessary-now-us">The time for US stablecoin regulation is now&nbsp;</a>



As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, MiCA’s strict approval process — focused on reputation, financial stability and compliance — will ensure that only the most prepared companies thrive in post-acquisition integrations. Firms that fully embrace MiCA’s framework will be best positioned to lead, setting new standards for trust, innovation and sustainable growth in Europe’s evolving crypto ecosystem.



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MiCA compliance will drive Europe into a crypto consolidation frenzy

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media &amp; Technology, continued to fluctuate Tuesday following a rally spurred by reports that the president-elect is furthering his crypto business interests.&nbsp;



The Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d7f921d5-3668-4b6b-a98d-2681ad73610f">reported</a> Tuesday that Trump Media is in “advanced talks” to acquire crypto exchange Bakkt — a company founded and owned by New York Stock Exchange parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).



The news pushed Bakkt shares 162% higher Monday and Trump Media (ticker DJT) posted a 17% gain. Bakkt sustained its rally into Tuesday (trading 7% higher midway through the session), while DJT lost more than 8%.&nbsp;



The social media company began trading on the Nasdaq last spring after a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. Currently hovering around $30, DTJ shares are up almost 150% from their September low, but are still trading about 40% off of their IPO price of $50.&nbsp;



Trump Media’s recent gains have not been linear, though. Shares rose 65% at the end of October, a rally attributed to increased optimism at the time that Trump <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/prediction-markets-election-odds">would win</a> the election. The share price since Trump’s victory however has been flat, posting a modest increase the day after the election before erasing gains.&nbsp;



The market is, presumably, confused about what a Trump win means for the social media company. Yesterday’s rise shows that investors are decently certain that acquiring Bakkt would be a good move. But the subsequent retreat shows shareholders aren’t exactly sure why.&nbsp;



We’ll be following the acquisition story and will be writing a lot more about what it means when the majority shareholder of a public company moves into the White House. Stay tuned.



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Trump Media shares ride post-election, potential crypto acquisition wave 

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a crypto supporter to lead the Department of Commerce.&nbsp;



The Wall Street Journal (along with Punchbowl News founder <a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1858896766759841802">Jake Sherman</a>) <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/trump-commerce-secretary-howard-lutnick-cabinet-77c86b81">reported</a> Trump’s expected pick of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick for that job on Tuesday morning. Trump later confirmed the selection on Truth Social.



There were previous reports that Lutnick — a leader of Trump’s transition team — was in the running for treasury secretary.&nbsp;



We highlighted Lutnick’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-tradfi-btc-transacting">remarks on bitcoin</a> in a September edition of this newsletter. At the time, the CEO noted that TradFi players — including banks and brokerages — would “go headfirst into bitcoin” when the regulatory environment improved.&nbsp;



Donald Trump’s election win has seemed to set the stage for that, given the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">crypto promises</a> he has made (namely, “firing” SEC Chair Gary Gensler).



Bitcoin surged to above $93,900 for the first time just before 2 pm ET Tuesday — up 3.7% from 24 hours prior. &nbsp;&nbsp;



As BTC “gets invited into this party, up we go,” Lutnick added in <a href="https://x.com/howardlutnick/status/1831080474124681316?s=46">a September video</a> posted to X. That comes when banks can more freely clear, custody and transact in bitcoin, Lutnick said — a reality hindered by the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-gensler-sec-overturn-sab-121">(SAB) 121</a>, for example.



Aside from being vocally enthusiastic about the crypto segment, Lutnick’s firm has stablecoin issuer Tether as a client — a company that has denied being <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tether-denies-government-investigation">under federal investigation</a>.



We and others are curious about what roles Lutnick might drop if he indeed takes on this cabinet position, so as not to serve his own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/09/us/politics/howard-lutnick-transition-ethics.html">business interests</a>.



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Trump nominates pro-crypto CEO to lead commerce department

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">subscribe</a>.



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A new crypto-related financial tool is finally here.&nbsp;



Spot bitcoin ETFs hit US exchanges in January, and more than 10 months later, investors are able to trade options on the biggest of those products (and others very soon).



As you probably know, an option is a contract representing the right to buy or sell a financial product at a certain price for a specific period of time.



Industry watchers have told Blockworks that options would lead to a more <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-btc-etf-options">robust ecosystem</a> around the spot ETFs, enhancing liquidity and price discovery.



CK Zheng, CIO of crypto hedge fund ZX Squared Capital, told me today that bitcoin ETF options are “extremely powerful” for institutional investors to better manage their bitcoin exposures under various market conditions.&nbsp;



Indeed, Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley said in a statement that the new product shows bitcoin is further “cementing its place alongside stocks, bonds and commodities as a mainstream institutional investment.”



The options can also be used by speculators, Zheng explained, to leverage their bets when they are extremely bullish or bearish on the asset.



Bitwise’s Jeff Park previously <a href="https://x.com/dgt10011/status/1837278352823972147">noted</a> these options would mark “the first time the financial world will see regulated leverage on a perpetual commodity that is truly supply-constrained.”



Put another way by Joe Consorti in a <a href="https://x.com/JoeConsorti/status/1858666860960727249">video</a> on X, listing options on bitcoin ETFs “opens the door to the largest and deepest liquidity pools on the planet.”&nbsp;



Let’s quickly run through some of the events leading up to these listings:&nbsp;



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Nasdaq, NYSE and Cboe submitted proposals to the SEC in January to list options on spot bitcoin ETPs.</li>



<li>Grayscale Investments pointed out the SEC’s quick approval of options on bitcoin futures ETFs in a March blog <a href="https://www.grayscale.com/blog/legal-topics/investors-deserve-options-on-gbtc">post</a>, calling on the regulator to do the same for the spot products. But that month, the SEC said it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-delays-bitcoin-etf-options-proposals">needed more time</a> to consider the proposals.</li>



<li>The SEC, on Sept. 20, gave “accelerated” approval of options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). About a month later, the SEC <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-approves-cboe-nyse-options-btc-etfs">greenlit the bids</a> by NYSE and CBOE to list options on other bitcoin ETFs.</li>



<li>The CFTC last week essentially yielded to the SEC and the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9008-24">saying</a> that the listing of these bitcoin ETF options “does not implicate the CFTC’s jurisdiction.”</li>



<li>The OCC said in a Monday <a href="https://infomemo.theocc.com/infomemo/search?utm_source=forward-guidance.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=last-week-today&amp;_bhlid=cc18d512040548fa9bc7f854de1b4deae9cd23de">memo</a> that it was “preparing for the clearance, settlement and risk management” of bitcoin ETF options. A Nasdaq spokesperson <a href="https://x.com/Blockworks_/status/1858598159720870083">confirmed to me</a> later in the day that they intended to list IBIT options on Tuesday.</li>
</ul>



So here we are. Options on IBIT are available today; that fund has grown to have roughly $43 billion in assets under management — making it by far the largest bitcoin ETF and even bigger than the iShares Gold Trust (IAU).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">A few hundred million so far in options volume on <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24IBIT&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$IBIT</a> (a ton for Day One).. here&#39;s a rank of the contracts by volume, it&#39;s almost all calls. Seems very bullish, esp the Dec20th C100, which is basically betting price of btc will double in the next month. <a href="https://t.co/R6HB7OMUla">pic.twitter.com/R6HB7OMUla</a>&mdash; Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1858916477384225005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Grayscale said bitcoin ETF options are set to begin trading on NYSE — the exchange on which its GBTC and BTC products are listed — tomorrow. Bitwise <a href="https://x.com/HHorsley/status/1858697188282691924">expects the same</a> for options on its bitcoin ETF.



“Many new investors will, no doubt, leverage their experiences in investing in the meme stock options market to bitcoin options,” Zheng said. “The bitcoin ETF options market will compete greatly with Deribit to bring more investors to the US and help build the US as the bitcoin derivative trading center.”



Bitwise’s Park <a href="https://x.com/dgt10011/status/1857603360486216032">pointed out</a> on X that BTC ETF options will have “cross-margining capabilities in multi-asset portfolios” than an exchange like Deribit “can never provide.”&nbsp;



He added: “Only spot ETF options can leverage your GLD, SPY, HYG ETFs, bonds, loans, and cross-margin to achieve unmatched capital efficiency — closest thing that looks like free leverage.”



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Bitcoin ETF options marks new chapter for the asset class

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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Trump’s win could have you cooking up all sorts of profitable trading strategies.&nbsp;



It’s only natural, considering it feels like we’re on the cusp of a new paradigm: for arguably the first time ever, US regulators might take it easy on crypto and let innovation flourish.



And so the topic of risk appetite came up on today’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/podcast/empire/1c26e634-a606-11ef-896f-cf46c9751e10">Empire podcast episode</a>.&nbsp;



Yano asked Eric Peters, CEO and CIO of both Coinbase Asset Management and One River, what he’d prescribe for a 30-40-year-old first-time crypto investor who has a million dollars to allocate and a strong appetite for risk.



“I would advocate for them to be overweighted to bitcoin and ether but have some exposure to solana. Maybe 50/35/15 [percent], something like that,” Peters said. “[But] I think if you’re right on that trade, you’re gonna, at least for a period of time, wish you’d had a million bucks in solana.”



The question was really posed within the immediate context. Still, we can backtest Peters’ suggestion.&nbsp;



And even better, plot it alongside Coinbase’s new benchmark crypto index <a href="https://www.marketvector.com/indexes/digital-assets/coinbase-50">COIN50</a>, which is currently weighted 51.5% BTC, 23.4% ETH, 7% SOL with the remaining 18% or so spread across 47 other altcoins including DOGE, XRP, BCH and BONK.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXegmmGnRDQiqk9TJjDWKlvEQz_RUF3P9SXxyKmGrmcf6KXsFgs-TCEcpEMh80fQFw5AIu-85VNS40byP8klSJ5ZdIMi6dUes0TDQZvt3wXiwXalps30Ub9t9m-pNvbEJ7WfcXiz?key=QNtgq33Y3LRZMbcEKF6F1kmT" alt=""/></figure>



The above, in log view, plots the value of that $1 million allocation from the end of 2020, which is when COIN50’s performance data starts.&nbsp;



There’s indeed an element of time bias. The period starts in the leadup to the epic 2021 bull run when SOL’s market cap was under $100 million (now $117 billion).



So, back then, it would be questionable just how likely it would be to split a million-dollar allocation between BTC, ETH, and a token so small in relative terms.



In any case, the purple shows the split highlighted by Peters, which turned $1 million into $27 million and would now be at all-time highs for dollar value.



ETH maxis were second best with $4.2 million. And while there are currently no ETPs tracking COIN50, if there were, that vehicle would’ve converted to a $3.8 million portfolio.&nbsp;



Someone who aped a million dollars in BTC meanwhile would be holding $3.15 million right now.



For scale: Anyone who bought an index fund tracking any major benchmark from legacy finance would, at best, be sitting on $1.64 million, via the Nasdaq 100.&nbsp;



That’s a minimum $1.5 million difference between stocks and crypto. It’s hard to put an exact value on risk appetite, but that’s as solid a number as any.



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Coinbase Asset Management CEO’s allocation recommendation

This is a segment from yesterday&#8217;s Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">subscribe</a>.



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When I talk to Solana ecosystem people, I’ll sometimes ask what new projects they’ve been hearing about. One such project that’s been catching apparent buzz is Perena, a stablecoin infrastructure protocol.



Perena is built on the premise that as stablecoins proliferate, liquidity could fragment, and stablecoins aren’t useful if they aren’t liquid. The platform offers a Solana-based stablecoin liquidity pool, and it plans to offer an <a href="https://x.com/SamBroner/status/1857072872205730283">asset-backed</a> stablecoin in the future.



The project was founded by Anna Yuan, who started the Solana Foundation’s stablecoin arm during her more than two years at the non-profit. While working at the foundation, Yuan began to see that new stablecoin issuers would mint a lot of tokens but would have limited integrations, and users consequently weren’t able to benefit from stablecoins in the real world.&nbsp;



She cited Ondo as an example — the tokenized US Treasury stablecoin has over $100 million in supply but only 3,500 holders, <a href="https://solscan.io/token/A1KLoBrKBde8Ty9qtNQUtq3C2ortoC3u7twggz7sEto6">according</a> to SolScan.



I asked Yuan about the commonly cited claim in crypto that stablecoins have pulled off the difficult task of finding product-market fit, or satisfying the needs of an existing market.



“I don’t agree,” Yuan said, adding that liquidity begets PMF, and most stablecoins simply aren’t liquid enough to be useful. She added that the real-world need for things like money transfers in emerging markets will help stablecoins “get there.”



Perena is currently in closed beta, but the platform’s main feature will initially be a multi-stablecoin liquidity pool which uses a liquidity provider token called USD* that represents a piece of a seed pool containing Tether, Circle, and PayPal USD. In simpler terms, the liquidity pool model should make it easier to issue stablecoins, since smaller coins can access the liquidity from the well-capitalized seed pool.



The concept has raised to-be-announced seed funds, and Yuan’s deep links in Solana helped her tap into the ecosystem’s very-active angel investor community. Yuan said she decided to start raising funds on a Thursday, and by late Friday, she already had a couple dozen angel investors on board. Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal are both noteworthy backers.&nbsp;



At the end of our call, Yuan and I got chatting about how Solana’s stablecoin market capitalization can meaningfully grow. The network currently accounts for just 2% of all stables, according to DeFiLlama.



Yuan gave an interesting answer: Solana PayFi could grow the economy for people taking their paycheck in stablecoins. She estimated 2,000 people currently take their full-time salary in Solana stablecoins. That number could certainly get a lot bigger.



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Solana is excited about new stablecoin infrastructure provider Perena

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">subscribe</a>.



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Crypto is in love with AI agents now. Firstly, AI agent sentiment is at an <a href="https://x.com/_kaitoai/status/1858812982240682129">all-time high</a>, as captured by Kaito.



Secondly, we’ve witnessed AI agents in the last few months integrated into <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-goatse-memecoin">memecoins</a> (GOAT), social media influencers (<a href="https://x.com/luna_virtuals">Luna</a>), venture funds (<a href="https://x.com/internetphysics/status/1857419356910813582">ai16z</a>), launchpads (<a href="https://x.com/virtuals_io">Virtual</a>) and trading (<a href="https://x.com/Spectral_Labs">Spectral</a>).



Third, ETHGlobal hosted its largest hackathon post-Devcon (about 713 projects submitted), and the use of AI agents absolutely dominated the competition. I don’t know exactly how many teams used AI agents, but <a href="https://x.com/stonecoldpat0/status/1858051936446197903">at</a> <a href="https://x.com/wbnns/status/1858018625677840524">least</a> <a href="https://x.com/Jnix2007/status/1858148480465936740">four</a> <a href="https://x.com/benlakoff/status/1858062211522134525">judges</a> pointed out its prevalence at the hackathon.



I should know, since I was part of a team that created Dongle Party, an app that leverages AI agents for token trading competitions.



With a suite of 1inch APIs under the hood, the application essentially abstracted away the need to navigate between wallets and dapps. Just query your AI agent to look at your wallet balance, send tokens or execute trades, all within the app.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc57KH9AfcimXYqP4BjWesXQG3ULwbzH5KFsHF4424WtD5nTLeq3UOAgvStundbGf_pdkZyMeY4J60psax-DWiXJtELxSnX_Cf5vhvJPaVMNxVWyRufWPIo2OvEBUhh36Ee3vT7UQ?key=ABNeh2MGSHsSTQy-jt2chRtH" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://dongle-party.vercel.app">Dongle Party app</a></figcaption></figure>



A far more impressive team making use of AI agents was <a href="https://x.com/sohey_eth/status/1858046972868936143">Industry AI</a>, a top 10 finalist that created a gamified interface for multiple agents to work together to complete tasks. Industry AI was bloody impressive for a project completed in a few days, and its capabilities spanned the entire onchain experience, from wallet creation and launching an NFT collection to trading tokens.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc4h5geAKszxomQJr-hpFdWqkpvoyw0yhnq8N8HJliqSzbs9y66cAsS1GDlT7FQHt8ctBo1k2SRqM9cXTSQOUujrwBv1wO52VcxiM6gVS6ET3naMQFtXpta_KcJqp5H9LbbIXX8dA?key=ABNeh2MGSHsSTQy-jt2chRtH" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://ethglobal.com/showcase/industry-ai-4w3vy">EthGlobal</a></figcaption></figure>



Then there was also <a href="https://ethglobal.com/showcase/daogenie-nha62">DAOGenie</a>, another top 10 finalist that sought to streamline the thick bureaucracy of DAO governance with AI agents. AI applied to DAO governance isn’t a new idea, and it’s something that major DAOs like Maker have been <a href="https://forum.sky.money/t/the-5-phases-of-endgame/20830">experimenting</a> with.



The absolute ease in which AI agents can be integrated to serve crypto use cases is largely thanks to Coinbase Developer Platform’s (CDP) <a href="https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/agentkit/docs/welcome">AgentKit SDK</a> running LLMs under the hood.



Such tools are making the intersection of AI and crypto simpler. If developers can do it in a multiday hackathon, brace yourself for what organized and well-funded teams are going to achieve.



Jesse Pollak, founder of Base, told me confidently at Devcon: “Base is right now at the center of the onchain AI economy. One big focus for us in the next couple months is the use of AI agents for messaging on the XMTP protocol within Coinbase Wallet. We see messaging as a key channel for AI agents to become useful points of reference.”



One thing that stuck out to me at the ETHGlobal hackathon was the natural blend of AI agents with the permissionless ethic of crypto building blocks.



In crypto sits an openly accessible stack of world-class tools that are processing billions of dollars in value daily. These battle-tested financial building blocks — DEXs, L1/L2s, bridges — are going out of their way to incentivize crypto devs to integrate AI agents to capture value for themselves, in ways that centralized exchanges and banks cannot or will not.



That’s not to say that Robinhood or Wells Fargo aren’t looking at AI agents, but that innovation will inevitably be slow and introduced in piecemeal ways within the permissioned confines of TradFi.



In both cases, it’s the simple profit motive at work. But only in the case of crypto are the rules of the game far more competitive and the pace of innovation moving at breakneck speeds.



That might explain part of the hype that has captured the imaginations of crypto researchers looking into how AI agents can reshape the blockchain economy and the onchain experience as we know it.



The use of AI agents is also but only one sliver of use cases <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/decentralize-ai-to-curb-big-tech">applied to crypto</a>, in addition to a whole host of other use cases such as data training (<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solana-wallets-grass-airdrop">Grass</a>), zero-knowledge machine learning (<a href="https://gizatech.xyz/">Giza</a>), and of course decentralized compute (<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/daily/issue/post_9690fc34-cf42-4cb2-94fe-a7589dc910bc">Akash</a>).



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



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The AI agent invasion: How crypto is leading the charge

Katherine Ross

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">subscribe</a>.



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We’re just barely halfway through the month and CME’s crypto unit is already logging its best month since it launched bitcoin futures contracts way back in 2017.&nbsp;



As many loyal Empire readers know, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-100k-very-possible">I like to look at CME data</a> to understand where traders and institutions are putting their money.



So, yesterday I caught up with Gio Vicioso, CME’s head of crypto. Turns out, the firm is averaging “a little bit over $10 billion a day across our futures suite.”



“Just comparing November this year to last, our volume and contract terms are up more than 5x … and then we&#8217;re also seeing increases or records in terms of open interest, where November is also the record month, averaging more than 166,000 contracts. And that&#8217;s up 60% compared to October, and up over 3x compared to November 2023,” Vicioso said.



The large bitcoin contracts offered by CME are becoming so big that investors — primarily retail — are turning to CME’s micro bitcoin contracts.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcRv7msYK1At1aAnjROZlZGEiPE29QRCTDPLp2ZAh-YW8Axeg_UVAs6upccd0sCRUB8KlDOSsafq_3m5bI78j0bOgvCMsWN_fw4wSHXg3uBKYsB5SjcJhz5RaBpZLItAzApU4bsqg?key=QNtgq33Y3LRZMbcEKF6F1kmT" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A look at the volume CME’s seen since the election</figcaption></figure>



“Now we&#8217;re seeing an increase in volume in terms of our micro contracts, where those contracts, over the last couple weeks, have been averaging more than a billion dollars a day. When we look at the year, our micro bitcoin contract was averaging between $200 to $300 million per day, and we&#8217;re also seeing an uptick in terms of the representation of that smaller contract to the larger contract, whereas for the year, micro bitcoin futures volume represented roughly 6% of bitcoin volumes,” he said.



“Over the past few trading sessions, we&#8217;ve seen a micro contract represent now north of 15% or so of the large bitcoin contracts. We’ve really seen increases across the board.”



The makeup of participants is mixed, Vicioso noted. Micro contracts are seeing a fairly even spread of retail and institutional buyers given that the margin is a more “manageable” number. The readthrough for institutions, in that case, is that they could be testing out fresh strategies and finetuning their exposure.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeyKqSkTfYEiDoHwWW98_nThb-ObQmiaLFiLHB43HCfK6R3yAyugsM8bYI6uk_UDs1T0swKRWA9P4e1xP5GQxRee9lCInAC5e9NvM6tl-lYR942jYPHi_-129VX-Rz0ULDqViQs3A?key=QNtgq33Y3LRZMbcEKF6F1kmT" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: CME</figcaption></figure>



With all of this interest, there is a pickup in volatility across both ether and bitcoin. Vicioso said it’s “par for the course” and isn’t terribly worried. But he noted that the momentum we’ve seen from bitcoin has carried through a lot of this year and it looks to be a continuing trend.



Large Open Interest Holders — which means any entity holding over 25 contracts — is soaring. As of last Friday, CME recorded a record of around 600 large open interest holders in their futures contracts.



“So both our standard BTC and ETH contracts, as well as our micro BTC and ETH contracts, all achieved records in terms of the number of large open interest holders holding those contracts,” Vicioso said.



Updated Nov. 19, 2024 at 2:36 pm ET: Corrected Open Interest to Large Open Interest Holders.



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CME data suggests institutions are field-testing new crypto moves

The longtime Ethereum DeFi giant Sky has deployed its USDS stablecoin on Solana, the protocol told Blockworks exclusively.



USDS, which was formerly known as DAI, is the third largest stablecoin by market capitalization, trailing just USDT and USDC. The token had been exclusive to Ethereum since launching in 2017 leading up to today’s deployment. 



Sky was formerly known as Maker prior to its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/maker-rebrands-as-sky-dai-will-be-changed-to-usds">late-August rebrand</a>. It’s all part of the years-long “endgame” process being carried out by Sky co-founder Rune Christensen. The endgame comes with a slew of changes to one of the oldest DeFi protocols.&nbsp;



Christensen has made clear his admiration of Solana, floating the idea of using a <a href="http://freestreams-live1.im/new-york-mets-live-stream/">fork</a> of Solana’s code to build a new chain in 2023. USDS will be made multichain with the help of Wormhole’s native token transfer framework.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/multichain-native-token-transfers">Wormhole goes multichain with native token transfers</a>



USDS’ growth will be incentivized on Solana through liquidity incentive agreements with the DeFi platforms Jupiter, Orca, Kamino and Drift. Sky said the projects will distribute “over 300,000” USDS weekly in liquidity incentives.&nbsp;



Notably, PayPal’s stablecoin took a similar approach when <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/paypal-pyusd-stablecoin-live-on-solana">recently deploying on Solana</a>, shelling out lucrative liquidity incentives to drive market capitalization, particularly on the DeFi platform Kamino. A lot of this liquidity didn’t stick around once the incentives dried up, as Solana’s PYUSD market share has fallen precipitously since August.&nbsp;



But perhaps <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/solana">Solana</a> and Sky meet each other in a position of mutual need. Sky’s rebrand has been bumpy, and community backlash caused the protocol to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/maker-considers-rebranding-further">hold a vote</a> about whether to rebrand a second time (Sky won convincingly in a vote <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/325096/just-four-entities-account-for-nearly-all-the-votes-to-keep-makerdaos-rebranding-to-sky">dominated</a> by four whales). And despite the run-up in nearly every Solana metric, Solana’s stablecoin market share has yet to meaningfully increase. The chain <a href="https://defillama.com/stablecoins/chains">holds</a> just 2% of all stablecoins compared to 51% for Ethereum, per DeFiLlama.&nbsp;



For Sky, deploying on the moment’s buzziest blockchain could give its community something to rally behind. And for Solana, gaining access to the third-largest stablecoin could help grow its slice of the pie.



Updated Nov. 19, 2024 at 12:12 pm ET: A prior version of this article stated DAI was launched in 2014. It was launched in 2017.



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