Avalanche is an open-source platform for launching decentralized finance applications and enterprise blockchain deployments in one interoperable, scalable ecosystem. Developers who build on Avalanche can create applications and custom blockchain networks with complex rulesets or build on existing private or public subnets.

Avalanche

David Canellis

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



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They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.



But you should totally judge a chain by its memes. And Solana memecoins are collectively at an all-time high.



There are 57 memecoins with at least a $75 million market cap on <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/solana-meme-coins">CoinGecko</a>. Sixteen of those are native to Solana, 18 are on Ethereum, and the remaining 40% are scattered across chains like Base, Bitcoin, Avalanche and Binance Chain.



It turns out that this particular selection of Solana memecoins have never been valued higher: $9.84 billion on Wednesday and slightly below that today.



Ethereum memes are otherwise sitting at about $19 billion, although shiba inu makes up nearly 60% of the total.&nbsp;



What’s on CoinGecko probably doesn’t encompass the full scope of memecoinery, as it doesn’t reflect everything on Pump.fun. But those coins would probably only make a marginal difference in the end.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdr5CRN9YMbZCszYFPKy3z_HMmyrInG0mWktLX1N8fqnobr0Mff3WN4xDtl6bIP6ywmIe_e7bOxwckRaZqu3BqI5iyIKklIpAv_qaYijH7AsO2ns7UJfwbrVZ0v8Z2u0zj8ekzMu8YZvG1SAZ720Co2gw?key=z0B_pWEUVrpQPMzlHwAuE4Kw" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Solana’s memecoin sector is in blue, Ethereum’s in purple, while Base’s and Bitcoin’s are orange and red</figcaption></figure>



Still, it’s telling that Solana memecoins are still gaining ground while Ethereum’s are stagnating at 35% below where they were when bitcoin peaked in March.



And if that doesn’t satisfy your Ethereum bloodlust, consider yourself lucky you’re not a Bitcoin or Base memecoin maxi.



Base still only has two primary memecoins — DEGEN and BRETT — and together they’re stuck at about a $1 billion market cap.



Bitcoin otherwise has three Runes with market caps over $75 million. For a brief moment in May, Bitcoin’s memecoins were more valuable than Base’s, but today the two ecosystems are practically neck-and-neck.



In any case, the fixation surrounding a potential Ethereum flip by Solana has us all watching DEX volumes and fee spend, to see the signs ahead of time.



I’d watch for a flippening of memecoin markets instead.



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A memecoin market flippening could be underway

Macauley Peterson

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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Alliance DAO continues to shape the crypto landscape as an influential accelerator, supporting Web3 innovators with high-growth potential.&nbsp;



With thousands of applications each year, Alliance leverages its extensive dataset to track trends and offer insights into evolving crypto sectors. This was evident in Alliance’s latest Demo Day yesterday, where a cadre of crypto prospects showcased their latest and greatest ideas to provide a snapshot of the future of crypto development.



The startup pitches jived well with Alliance’s <a href="https://alliance.xyz/essays/crypto-startup-trends-24">recent report</a> on industry trends. The report highlights Ethereum’s ongoing dominance as a preferred blockchain for building dapps, where approximately 62% of startups in Alliance’s program are rooted. Yet, interest in alternatives, particularly Solana, is <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solana-mobile-app-season">growing</a>.



Optimistic rollups like Optimism, Arbitrum and Base are seeing rapid adoption relative to zk rollups. Base has captured significant developer interest since its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/base-dapp-layer-2">launch</a> in 2023, and now comprises a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/base-dex-volume-decentralization">major portion</a> of L2 activity.



Solana has rebounded strongly in the two years following the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ftx-meltdown-timeline">FTX collapse</a>, accounting for 18% of recent Alliance applications. Meanwhile, Polygon, once a favored EVM scaling solution, has seen waning interest as it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polygon-validum-zk-tech-future">pursues a switch</a> to a zk validium.



Projects like Amihan game Farm Frens and Offramp are deploying as Telegram apps while tapping into other networks in the background. Farm Frens relies on NFTs minted on Solana, while Offramp partners with wallet-as-a-service and account abstraction solutions from Dynamic and Zerodev to enable embedded, EVM-based non-custodial wallets. This helps Offramp deliver user-friendly blockchain interactions within Telegram while abstracting away complex technical details from its users.



Product verticals in the crypto space are undergoing a shift, with increased attention on infrastructure, payments and DeFi applications, Alliance found.



Infrastructure projects have steadily gained traction, partially due to their high valuations and investor appeal. DataHive, a distributed data collective powered by AI, exemplifies this interest by addressing the need for data democratization and privacy in a crypto-native framework. Starpower, a DePIN for sustainable energy, combines DeFi with real-world assets to support distributed energy resources.



In contrast, interest in DAOs and NFTs has receded as founders increasingly prioritize utility-based applications that cater to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-depin-public-goods">specific user needs</a> over community-led governance structures.



Alliance partner Qiao Wang has also been vocal about the role of speculation in the crypto space, framing it as a pivotal driver for innovation and early-stage project growth. Wang argues that unlike traditional venture capital where risk aversion can stifle bold ideas, the speculative culture within crypto enables projects to secure resources and iterate rapidly.



This approach aligns with Alliance’s selection of startups. It backs protocols including the likes of Whalefare, which merges speculative gameplay with the allure of applications like Candy Crush. The goal is to demonstrate the appeal of gaming as an accessible entry point for crypto adoption.&nbsp;



The theme carries over to Demo Day participants Force Prime and Kiss or Rug. Force Prime, a prediction market built for strategy games, exemplifies how startups are creating gamified experiences that also cater to high-risk, high-reward speculation. Similarly, but with a “SocialFi” bent, Kiss or Rug is trying a spin on the dating app by applying game theory to its matching system.



Geographically, the trends report notes a significant drop in applications from the US and Canada, whose combined share fell from 45% in late 2021 to 29% in 2024.&nbsp;



This decline can be attributed to growing regulatory challenges in North America, leading founders to either relocate or build in more crypto-friendly regions. Startups like RPS, a Twitch-inspired platform for monetized competitive games, embody this shift, tapping into Asia’s active market for gaming and social platforms. Asia and Africa, meanwhile, are witnessing increased adoption, driven by real-world applications <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecoin-report-market-capitalization">like stablecoins</a>.



The report emphasizes that about 72% of startups within Alliance’s accelerator operate fully remotely, a setup that aligns with crypto’s inherently global and decentralized ethos.&nbsp;



However, Alliance still maintains a preference for in-person teams when possible, as face-to-face interactions are believed to foster stronger team cohesion and accountability.



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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>.



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Alliance DAO’s Demo Day showcases industry trends

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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Air traffic control is often pegged as the most stressful job in the world.&nbsp;



Managing private key security at Coinbase might just take the cake.&nbsp;



Coinbase is big. Influential. On the front lines of the war for hearts, minds and regulatory clarity.



There’s no greater way to prove Coinbase’s standing in the crypto space than by just how much of it is given to it for safekeeping.



We know now that Coinbase users held $272.7 billion in crypto at the end of September, plus an additional $4 billion in cash.&nbsp;



That’s nearly $3.5 billion more crypto than at the end of June — probably in part boosted by rising asset prices — and $200 million less cash than the prior period.



Then, there’s all the crypto tied up in Grayscale’s suite of ETPs and ETFs: $22.62 billion at Q3’s close, per Arkham Intelligence data. Grayscale went all-in on Coinbase Custody <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-nl/blog/welcoming-grayscale-the-worlds-largest-crypto-fund-to-coinbase">back</a> in 2019.&nbsp;



Another $31.7 billion is custodied on behalf of other ETF issuers like BlackRock, Bitwise and Ark/21Shares.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXddT-3TZ9R2tMHxBpvCw5HhHqQG57Jl9fg0dTuHoGmO3F37vEn451gHBHeqtwabturvBnEOgirFSCMngAHv6_weLYbKLAqJgVdeuM4PAd4HGCK_qzMAUrdR2HsuhQjc1DJFPB3F2U9xhZe7I53UjdB3mqVI?key=jN09XnEmKyKNO6yghsvBoIXQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A nickel of every dollar of crypto value on the planet is kept with Coinbase</figcaption></figure>



Coinbase’s final total for Q3: $331 billion, the equivalent of 15% of the total crypto market cap at the time.



And if you want to go even deeper: Chainalysis <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/04/24/bitcoin-wallets-waking-up-lost-coins-satoshi/">recently</a> estimated that about 1.8 million BTC could be lost forever — or 9.1% of the circulating supply.&nbsp;



Scrub that from crypto’s market cap, along with the 1.1 million lost Satoshi coins, and Coinbase would technically be sitting on closer to 17% of crypto’s remaining paper value.



No doubt, Coinbase recognizes the significance of it all. Still, the way things are going, Coinbase could go down as one of the most aptly named companies in fintech history:&nbsp;



A base for literally all the coins.



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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>.



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Coinbase safeguards more of crypto than you might think

Ben Strack

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



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Dominic Rizzo, who manages T. Rowe Price’s new technology-focused ETF, is “a big believer” in crypto, DeFi and stablecoins.&nbsp;



“Over the long run, I think there are going to be plenty of applications that utilize the technologies,” he said. “Unfortunately, right now — as a public market equity investor — there are actually not a lot of ways to get exposure to those trends (that fit my investment frameworks), outside of Coinbase.”



0.89% of the fund’s total holdings are in COIN, as of Tuesday. A drop in the bucket when compared to the roughly 30% combined positions in Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, sure — but still a component.&nbsp;&nbsp;



T. Rowe Price’s technology ETF invests in companies across the hardware, software, internet and payments segments. Within those categories, Rizzo said Coinbase fits his four-part checklist of being a “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-q3-earnings-analysis">linchpin technology</a>”; innovating in a secular growth market; having improving fundamentals; and sporting a reasonable valuation.



Coinbase is “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/under-the-hood-coinbase-earnings-q1-2024">a unique animal,</a>” Rizzo added. Outside of the trading business, he noted its custodian status to most of the US crypto ETFs, as well as its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbases-circle-investment-reflects-the-shoring-up-of-major-revenue-stream">partnership</a> with USDC issuer Circle and its layer-2, Base.



COIN was up 40% year to date, as of Tuesday’s close.&nbsp;



“It comes to this thesis on Coinbase being kind of the ultimate linchpin for the on- and off-ramp of crypto into TradFi and vice versa,” Rizzo explained.&nbsp;



Other crypto-related stocks (MicroStrategy or bitcoin miners, for example) don’t fit that “linchpin” definition, he said — meaning they’re mission-critical to the success of their customers or make users’ lives dramatically better.



Rizzo would like more crypto equity opportunities, and believes more will come.



“We’re trying to make sure we’re on top of it,” he said, “because I think this is such a big trend.”&nbsp;



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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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T. Rowe Price PM a ‘big believer’ in crypto

Molly Jane Zuckerman

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="256" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-93957" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/image-3.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



I’ve already written about the way Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have been <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-murder-mystery-books">oozing their way into popular culture</a> for years now, mainly covering Netflix’s quippy one-off jokes about dating crypto bros, or more nefarious criminal plot points involving money laundering.



But for the first time (as far as I can tell, it’s really the first time, unlike many a crypto press release announcing a new kind of tech), a play entirely about Bitcoin was put on in New York. “Off Broadway,” or even Off-Off Broadway, if I need to get technical, written by CoinDesk crypto journalist and editor Ben Schiller.



I arrived at the theater a little bit early and a little bit tipsy, immediately running into a college acquaintance who recently had his own play make it to Broadway. “Wow,” I said to him, impressed, “you’re really interested in this satirical Bitcoin show?” “Oh, no, what is that?” He looked confused. “I’m going to a workshop next door.”



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/onecoins-crypto-queen-should-be-old-news">OneCoin’s Crypto Queen should be old news</a>



The play (or musical, since there is one number called — I kid you not — “Bitcoin Bad Boy”) is chock-full of Bitcoiner humor and inside baseball that only the well-initiated will understand. Even the pre-recorded voices that move the plot along or provide background noise throughout the show are mainly voiced by crypto journalists.



And the audience, on what appeared to be a sold-out opening night — full of the same people that I waited in line for the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sbf-trial">Sam Bankman-Fried trial</a> with every day last fall — were lapping up even the cringiest Bitcoin humor. One actor compared Satoshi to both MLK Jr. and Christ, which got a big laugh.&nbsp;



The play itself was loosely based on both the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sbf-blew-it-final-defense-trial">crypto genius to jailbird stories</a> of Charlie Shrem and Sam Bankman-Fried. The SBF connection was looser (although the main character’s overbearing mother is an effective altruist named Barbara).&nbsp;



Read more from our opinion section: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-charitable-facade">‘Cryptomania’ reveals the true cost of SBF’s charitable facade</a>



The Charlie Shrem connection was stronger to the extent that the main character is actually named Charlie Schwagg. And the real Charlie Shrem was there, having long since served jail time for his connection to the Bitcoin Foundation and the Silk Road. In fact, he was so present that I was booted out of the front row to give him and his wife the best seats in the house.



Play/musical Charlie’s crypto crimes are that of an open-source coder whose code is used to do bad things (in this case, kill people). His jail term starts Monday, and he’s fully resigned himself to serving out his sentence in full, taking the time to write his crypto manifesto.&nbsp;



His mom (effective altruist Barbara) wants to use their privilege to get Charlie out of the US, stat. Her hysteria culminates on Charlie’s last night of freedom at his nightclub, Pseudonymous, when she tries to drug him and shove him on a private plane to Africa.



Charlie’s girlfriend, the hippie Sally, doesn’t seem to care if he goes to jail or not, just as long as he gives her money to open a yoga center for humans and dogs. But in one of the final turns of events, Sally has to make peace with the fact that her human and dog yoga center will actually be a Bitcoin and spirituality studio — a plot twist which gets a sole, very loud, clap. At one point, Ben Schiller himself gets on stage to join a Kundalini yoga ritual at Pseudonymous. And without giving away the ending, Charlie does get a chance to write his manifesto, but probably not in the way that he thought.&nbsp;



Schiller’s play is commentary on crypto, effective altruism, wealth, finance, free speech and yoga. There were lines like: Decentralize your wallet, decentralize your soul. And: Well, you’re my satoshi/And you’re my goddess. And don’t get me started on the lyrics to “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKW1cjrXXss">Bitcoin Bad Boy.</a>” It’s so satirical at times to be nonsensical —&nbsp;there’s no chance in hell that a real life Bitcoin spirituality dog yoga center would be a real thing, let alone a thing needing $200 million (I dare you to prove me wrong, crypto builders!).



But what sticks in my mind the most was the camaraderie at the Bitcoin play. Just as waiting in line on freezing fall NYC mornings brought a group of crypto journalists <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sbf-trial-crypto-journalism-polycule">together in a faux-polycule way</a>, it was genuinely heartwarming to see the crypto journos and builders all come together in one tiny theater on the lower East Side to support cryptocurrency’s first theatrical debut. There was networking, there was drinking, there was someone checking the price charts in the row in front of me.&nbsp;



What more could you expect at a Bitcoin play?



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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>.



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Bitcoin belongs on Broadway?

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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You know how Empire pulls back the curtain to give you that look inside the crypto industry?&nbsp;



Well, the fun part about Wall Street’s earnings season is that it does the work for us. For the public crypto companies, I mean.



We’re in the thick of it, and last night had a ton of earnings-related news. There are two things I want to focus on this morning.&nbsp;



The overall tone of the earnings call after the results were announced was positive with Coinbase executives including Brian Armstrong updating analysts on how the business is faring this cycle.&nbsp;



Of course, Armstrong spent a chunk of the non-Q&amp;A portion discussing the company’s political efforts. Not a big surprise given that the election is less than a week away.&nbsp;



He also affirmed something we’ve talked about numerous times here: That regulatory clarity on the institutional side will be a “massive source of inflow of capital.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfVuDNq-RIiUXOlyOTsWEYheego6UyxbabsQo_ulcx2hyrL_ESY0-bYRATDYjDKUIUqdOSN27pwmC52KuLFxMKmxuwLIGmKQq20MI56KA24ciNdQyLgjIwIbbkh8-Zu3jNigcjsTvCL8mKzpf59oto9-gs?key=jN09XnEmKyKNO6yghsvBoIXQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Coinbase</figcaption></figure>



Overall, the $1.2 billion revenue reported by the exchange was impressive albeit just shy of analyst expectations for $1.25 billion. To put it in perspective, that figure is nearly double the amount reported in the same quarter last year ($674 million).&nbsp;



The real figure to watch going into the next (and final) quarter of 2024 is the total trading volume, which was down 18% QoQ to $185 billion. That metric will stand out if we start seeing more pickup in the overall spot market.&nbsp;



That second thing I teased? An interesting tidbit in the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001713445/000171344524000102/rddt-20240930.htm">SEC filing</a> from Reddit yesterday. The doc itself is pretty run-of-the-mill, but buried within it, the newly-public social media company said that it sold off the “majority” of its crypto portfolio, which had primarily been made up of bitcoin and ether.&nbsp;



All in all, it looks like Reddit sold crypto for roughly $6.8 million. How much of that was divided up between bitcoin and ether is unclear, unfortunately. In the filing, crypto is just grouped into intangible asset sales.



We know, from previous disclosures, that Reddit had exposure to crypto. Although, in an S-1 filing ahead of its public debut, the firm had previously invested its “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/reddit-invests-btc-eth">excess cash reserves</a>” in bitcoin and ether. We also know that the company held a bit of MATIC, but it was immaterial.&nbsp;



So there you have it: COIN’s readthrough shows the potential setup for a very interesting fourth quarter, while Reddit’s backing away from holding crypto.&nbsp;



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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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The crypto nugget in Reddit’s SEC filing

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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The artificial intelligence craze is alive and well — at least, if Alphabet earnings and investments in Elon Musk’s new venture are any indication.&nbsp;



Alphabet (GOOG and GOOGL) stock surged almost 7% in the first hour of trading Wednesday on better-than-expected <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/major-earnings-week-stocks">earnings</a> from Google’s parent company Tuesday evening.&nbsp;



Alphabet said Tuesday its AI investments are “paying off,” as demonstrated by an increase in its Cloud and Search businesses, which jumped 35% and 12%, respectively, during Q3 2023.&nbsp;



“This business has real momentum, and the overall opportunity is increasing as customers embrace gen. AI,&#8221; Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Tuesday of the company’s Cloud product.&nbsp;



The earnings report comes as fundraising in the AI space continues to explode.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/elon-musks-xai-in-talks-to-raise-funding-valuing-it-at-40-billion-af808b9e">Reports</a> swirled yesterday that Elon Musk is in the midst of a funding round for xAI that would value the startup at around $40 billion. The news comes just months after the company closed a $6 billion round over the spring, which valued xAI at $24 billion.&nbsp;



OpenAI earlier this month secured a $6.6 billion round, putting the company at a $157 billion valuation.&nbsp;



On tap after the close today we have earnings reports from two more of the Mag 7: Meta and Microsoft.&nbsp;



Analysts expect Meta to post an 18% increase in year-over-year revenue, largely driven by the company’s growing use of AI-driven advertising strategies.&nbsp;



Microsoft’s third quarter report comes just after the company announced its GitHub product will bake in AI models from Anthropic and Google into its coding assistant.&nbsp;



Should be an exciting day in after-hours trading. We’ll be back tomorrow unpacking all the details.



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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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AI boom boosts Alphabet earnings, bumps Elon Musk’s xAI valuation

Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at FTX, has been sentenced to time served with three years of supervised release for his role in the exchange’s collapse. He will not serve any prison time.



Singh, who was a government witness in FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial last fall, in February 2023 pleaded guilty to six charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations.&nbsp;



His lawyers earlier this month asked the court to sentence Singh to no prison time.&nbsp;



“I’m not foolish enough to think there was no self interest involved, obviously,” Judge Lewis Kaplan told Singh of his cooperation. “But you did the right thing.”&nbsp;



Singh’s parents, fiancé and numerous extended family members and friends filled the gallery Wednesday afternoon. After handing down his sentence, Kaplan addressed Singh’s parents.&nbsp;



“This is purely personal,” he said. “I don’t see anything you did wrong.”&nbsp;



Singh’s mother mouthed “thank you” to Kaplan in response.&nbsp;



The guideline sentencing for Singh’s offenses and criminal history suggested 75 years in prison, court filings show. Kaplan on Wednesday told Singh that his cooperation was “remarkable.”&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">Judge Kaplan: Your cooperation has been remarkable. You are a very important cooperator. It has contributed to an appropriate outcome all around. Caroline Ellison got credit, but you deserve more. I sentence you to time served, 3 years supervised release&mdash; Inner City Press (@innercitypress) <a href="https://twitter.com/innercitypress/status/1851715916553437315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Prosecutors in a letter to the court last week emphasized Singh’s “exemplary cooperation” that contributed to the “successful prosecutions” of Bankman-Fried and former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-final-statement-sentenced">SBF’s ambitions went too far, judge says when handing down 25-year sentence&nbsp;</a>



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/sam-bankman-fried">Bankman-Fried</a> is currently serving a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-sentenced">25 year sentence</a> after being convicted of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.&nbsp;



Salame is currently serving a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/former-ftx-exec-ryan-salame-sentenced">7.5 year sentence</a> after he pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Salame entered his guilty plea just ahead of Bankman-Fried’s jury trial but did not serve as a witness for either the defense or prosecution.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Singh’s sentencing comes roughly a month after former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/caroline-ellison-sentenced-to-24-months">24 months in prison</a>. Ellison in December 2022 pleaded guilty to seven federal counts and served as a key witness in Bankman-Fried’s 2023 trial. Prosecutors had requested Ellison serve no jail time in exchange for her “extraordinary cooperation.”&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/caroline-ellison">Ellison</a> deserved leniency for her cooperation, Kaplan told the court Wednesday, but Singh “deserved more.”&nbsp;



FTX co-founder Gary Wang, who also testified against Bankman-Fried, is scheduled to be sentenced next month. Wang in 2022 pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and conspiracy in December 2022.



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Ex-FTX engineering head avoids prison, sentenced to 3 years supervised release

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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Gross domestic product came in marginally softer than expected for the third quarter of 2024, but the pace of growth still indicates that a soft landing is within reach — or, according to some analysts, already here.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.bea.gov/news/2024/gross-domestic-product-third-quarter-2024-advance-estimate">GDP</a> in the third quarter rose at a 2.8% annualized pace, according to advanced estimates, coming in just below expectations of 3%. The figure was boosted by strong consumer and government spending. Personal consumption increased to 3.7% during Q3, marking it the strongest quarter since the beginning of 2023.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Quarterly personal consumption expenditures index increased 1.5% annually vs. 2.5% during the second quarter. The monthly PCE index for September is scheduled to be published tomorrow.&nbsp;



Today’s GDP reading comes after the Atlanta Fed’s <a href="https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow">GDPNow</a> model lowered its third quarter estimate from 3.3% to 2.8% Tuesday.&nbsp;



Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab, <a href="https://x.com/KathyJones/status/1851603140040098087">called</a> Wednesday’s figures “soft landing numbers.”&nbsp;



James Bullard, former president of the St. Louis Fed, told CNN earlier this month he thought we should already “declare a soft landing.”&nbsp;



I’ll hold off on making any declarations for now. Tomorrow’s PCE numbers and Friday’s US employment report are going to be very telling. Plus, the JOLTS data we got yesterday doesn’t paint the prettiest picture.&nbsp;



The JOLTS report showed that US job openings in September fell to the lowest point since the beginning of 2021. Available positions also declined to 7.44 million from 7.89 million in August, missing economists’ expectations of 8 million.&nbsp;



Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, said the report “was not enough to derail the soft landing thesis by itself, but it was a step in that direction as investors will want to start seeing the decline in headline job openings slow as part of a soft landing dynamic and still-healthy labor market.”



Like I said, the September jobs report is going to be key. 



Markets are, unsurprisingly, still all but certain (96% sure) the Fed will <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fed-rate-decision-tightens-financial-conditions">opt for</a> another 25-basis point interest rate cut next month, according to <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html?redirect=/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html">data</a> from CME Group.



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GDP estimates boost hopes for a soft landing 

Kraken announced layoffs Wednesday as the crypto exchange looks to shift its organizational structuring.&nbsp;



It wasn’t immediately clear how many roles were impacted, and a Kraken spokesperson declined to comment.



New York Times reporter Mike Isaac said 15% of roles were impacted, citing sources.&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">kraken just cut 15% of its workforce, per two people inside&mdash; rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/1851680598534033815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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“As we’ve grown north of $1 billion in net revenue as a remote organization worldwide, we fell into the trap of building organizational layers. We put managers in charge of the successes or failures of the groups they controlled, and we predicated success based on siloed P&amp;Ls,” a blog post <a href="https://blog.kraken.com/news/a-new-day-for-kraken">said</a>.



“At its best, this structure can provide clear paths for ‘managers’ whereby they can move from smaller, less complex areas of focus to progressively larger and more complex ones. So, ‘managers’ are incentivized to do the wrong thing.”



The exchange said that it needed to get “leaner” as it moves forward, echoing a sentiment heard from Consensys CEO Joe Lubin when he announced that his firm laid off 20% of its staff on Tuesday.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dydx-consensys-industry-layoffs">dYdX, Consensys layoffs shake up the space</a>



“Looking ahead, I see a next generation economy not dominated by large monolithic companies; instead, smaller, agile, AI-supercharged companies with Web3-based coordination tools will operate more efficiently. To stay competitive in this fast-growing space, we need to reshape ourselves and be more agile, more effective and even higher-performing,” Lubin said.



Additionally, Kraken <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241030235650/en/Kraken-Appoints-Arjun-Sethi-as-Co-CEO-to-Accelerate-Company-Mission-and-Growth">appointed</a> Arjun Sethi as co-CEO of the firm, who will join Dave Ripley in helming the exchange. Sethi previously served on Kraken’s board.&nbsp;



Perp exchange dYdX also announced layoffs on Tuesday, announcing a reduction of 35%. According to its website, dYdX employed roughly 50 employees.



Blockworks <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/helium-parent-company-layoffs">reported last week that Helium’s parent firm</a> laid off 40% of its staff back in August and Matter Labs <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matter-labs-layoffs-incoming">told Blockworks that it let go of 16%</a> of its staff back in September. 



The <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/base-dex-volume-decentralization">news comes after Kraken announced</a> it was launching its own layer-2 called Ink, somewhat following in the footsteps of a competitor. Coinbase launched its own layer-2, Base, last year. Unlike Base, Ink plans to bring new users to DeFi.



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Kraken lays off staff, announces new co-CEO

In a newly released report, the Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA) and co-authors Khushi Wadhwa, Nikhil Raghuveera and Jane Khodarkovsky urge the Ethereum community to assess the legal and policy ramifications of unconditional inclusion lists, a mechanism proposed to ensure censorship resistance on Ethereum.&nbsp;



The paper calls for a nuanced discussion on whether such lists genuinely preserve Ethereum’s principles of credible neutrality and censorship resistance.



Ethereum inclusion lists, in essence, ensure that specific transactions are included in blocks, preventing validators from excluding them based on their content or origin. The idea is that by mandating inclusion, Ethereum can better guarantee its principles of censorship resistance and credible neutrality, which are foundational to a <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/decentralization">decentralized</a> blockchain.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-ethereum-blockchain-innovation">Ethereum is looking more like the “Microsoft of blockchains” every day</a>



However, inclusion lists raise concerns around regulatory compliance and potential legal liabilities.



“The censorship resistant aims might be undermined by the policy and legal implications of [inclusion lists],” Raghuveera, CEO at <a href="https://docs.predicate.io/essentials/introduction">Predicate</a>, told Blockworks.



As they push Ethereum toward more formalized transaction processing, inclusion lists might expose validators, builders and other network actors to stricter regulatory scrutiny. The debate now centers on balancing this technical solution with Ethereum’s ethos and practical implications for network participants, particularly those in regulated markets.



The report, which was also reviewed by the Ethereum Foundation, goes beyond purely technical discussions on inclusion lists to scrutinize potential regulatory outcomes.&nbsp;



As Wadhwa, head of product research at Predicate, emphasized, “The paper ultimately emphasizes the critical need to define credible neutrality in order to assess all proposed changes to Ethereum.” Defining this neutrality, she added, is essential for sustaining Ethereum’s stability and participant protections.



The concept of &#8220;credible neutrality&#8221; in Ethereum largely <a href="https://nakamoto.com/credible-neutrality/">derives from</a> Vitalik Buterin, who has been its most vocal proponent. It&#8217;s also been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjpYTB7PVE">expanded upon</a> by other key figures in the Ethereum community, such as Justin Drake. Vitalik initially introduced credible neutrality as a guiding principle for Ethereum to maintain fairness and impartiality. In a decentralized environment, bias or preference for any participant or transaction could undermine trust. Under this vision, credible neutrality is essential to building an open and decentralized network where all participants have equal access and opportunities, free from censorship or favoritism.



A key consideration raised is the inherent tension between Ethereum’s censorship resistance goals and the regulatory landscapes many participants navigate. That tension is at the heart of the report, according to POSA executive director Alison Mangiero.



“The Ethereum community has certainly been having a number of debates about inclusion lists, but not along these dimensions, and then in crypto legal and policy world — which is where I hang out — people have not talked about this at all,” Mangiero told Blockworks.



This creates an imperative for the network’s developers and policymakers alike to consider how inclusion lists might impact regulated entities, potentially pushing some participants out of certain markets or introducing liability risks.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-ethereum-tps">Ethereum wants to scale to 100K TPS</a>



The report draws an analogy between Ethereum and TCP/IP as &#8220;a protocol that remains fundamentally neutral as to the data it transmits.”



“Regulators might recognize that targeting the Ethereum base layer or infrastructure providers is ineffective, as these entities are merely facilitating the neutral transmission of data — similar to the role of TCP/IP on the internet,” the report states.



This could bolster the argument that inclusion lists may help Ethereum’s base layer remain unregulated, focusing regulatory attention on applications instead.



“Policymakers and regulators may shift focus to the application layer, which might be seen as a more appropriate place for regulation,” noting that decentralized apps “often have centralized points of control, administration, or participation, which could make them more susceptible to regulatory oversight.”



This approach mirrors traditional regulation in technology and offers Ethereum a pathway to remain credibly neutral.



On the other hand, there are risks that regulators don’t see inclusion lists in this light. “Inclusion lists involve proposers making deliberate choices about which transactions to include in a block — something that is inherently opinionated,” the authors note.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/building-credible-neutrality-mev">Building credible neutrality in the MEV battleground</a>



Which way the chips fall may depend on how a potential Harris or Trump administration views Ethereum. Under the status quo, “inclusion lists may bring additional scrutiny,” they argue.



If network participants, particularly block builders, are forced out of the US or other apparently hostile jurisdictions, that would decrease Ethereum’s geographic diversity and form another threat to censorship resistance.



Further research should focus on finding a structured approach to Ethereum’s credible neutrality principles with an eye towards minimizing legal challenges, the report states. Researchers can design solutions that inherently enforce neutrality, ensuring that Ethereum treats all transactions equally and maintains a decentralized, unbiased protocol.



Finally, the report advocates for active engagement with policymakers to clarify the distinctions between blockchain infrastructure and specific applications. By educating stakeholders on blockchains’ benefits and fostering collaborative frameworks, Ethereum can support innovation while addressing regulatory concerns.



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Report scrutinizes impact of inclusions lists on Ethereum’s credible neutrality

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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Both dYdX and Consensys announced hefty layoffs yesterday.



dYdX CEO Antonio Juliano said that 35% of the core team was let go, while Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin said his firm had cut 20% of staff.



For Consensys, that’s 162 positions. According to dYdX’s <a href="https://dydx.notion.site/Work-at-dYdX-79a4cd612ec9476fb2734d8f3b4f8d1c">site</a>, the company had around 50 employees and is still hiring new positions.&nbsp;



The two have very different stories about how they got to this point. Lubin was quick to cast some of the blame on the SEC. Consensys, a powerhouse in the Ethereum space, has notably been locked in multiple legal battles with the regulator and — if we’re going off the timelines we’re seeing for Ripple, Coinbase and Binance — then this might be a multi-year court case.&nbsp;



“Such attacks from the US government will end up costing many companies that have been investigated, sued, or sent Wells Notices, many millions of dollars,” Consensys said in a <a href="https://consensys.io/blog/consensys-path-to-long-term-sustainability-and-decentralization">blog post</a>.&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">3/5 To stay competitive, we need to reshape ourselves to be more agile, more effective, and even higher-performing. Today, we are making the tough but prudent decision to streamline our operations to position Consensys for ongoing rapid innovation, long-term sustainability…&mdash; Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethereumJoseph/status/1851253506574790674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



But the blame isn’t all on the SEC, and that’s where the similarities between the dYdX layoffs and what happened with Consensys come into play.&nbsp;



“Looking ahead, I see a next generation economy not dominated by large monolithic companies; instead, smaller, agile, AI-supercharged companies with web3-based coordination tools will operate more efficiently. To stay competitive in this fast-growing space, we need to reshape ourselves and be more agile, more effective, and even higher-performing,” Lubin said.



For Juliano, the decision was made after he rejoined the perps DEX firm earlier this month — he previously <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-dydx-founder-comeback#:~:text=The%20CEO%20of%20seminal%20perps,after%20he%20left%20the%20project.">stepped down months ago</a> after seven years at the helm — and realized that “the company we’ve built is different from the company dYdX must be.”



This wasn’t, Juliano clarified on X, a financial decision for the company. He also teased an “explanation” sometime today.&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">This wasn’t a financial decision&mdash; Antonio (@AntonioMJuliano) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntonioMJuliano/status/1851360965658624417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Lubin said the decision at Consensys focuses the organization on the “core revenue drivers,” while Juliano told <a href="https://blockworks.co/podcast/empire/d8258b50-9027-11ef-905e-1b5c3f6ba4c6">Empire</a> just last week that he planned to go full “founder mode.”



Consensys and dYdX aren’t the first crypto companies to cut jobs this cycle — Helium Mobile’s parent company <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/helium-parent-company-layoffs">cut 40% of its staff</a>, while Matter Labs <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/matter-labs-layoffs-incoming">cut 16%</a> — it shows that some firms are starting to get lean as we head into what many think will be a bull run at the beginning of next year.



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dYdX, Consensys layoffs shake up the space

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



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



How can you tell when a bull run is over?



After all, bitcoin is seemingly on the verge of breaking its price record from March. If it keeps going, then at some point it’ll reach another obvious local peak, and we’ll soon start to wonder whether that was it.



All we can do is look backward, and even then, it’s more entertainment than meaningful prediction. The crypto market is just astrology for dudes and so on.&nbsp;



Who cares, let’s lean into it.



We know that ETH has lagged behind bitcoin so far this year. Great fodder for think-y threads on X about the demise of Ethereum in favor of Solana, but ETH has always lagged behind BTC when it comes to setting new price records.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeuM2xEQp2r1CCCo-pDrvg4gh3dPngEIklxbhNPC1z1GV0Bn42azMpASZRe3DzhAkZpdB8Fcx08wgrQzejCfId_7wy-zTxvtyvWsKllyveZ0F2VOJH6fCXf-GN_0KIo_TMieRhKyGaUI7j9eSLS51S3IrDu?key=H5fYsss7bEGQsA8C11vqHBQ-" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The lines (ETH in purple, BTC in orange) start at bitcoin’s all-time high in Dec. 2017 and finish when they return to beat those records.</figcaption></figure>



ETH capped off the 2017-2018 bull run with an all-time high on Jan. 13, 2018 — 27 days after bitcoin had peaked at almost $20,000. 



It took BTC 1,080 days to blow past those levels in early December 2020 while ETH was still 60% below its own price record.&nbsp;



ETH would go on to more than double over the next 56 days, hitting an all-time high toward the end of January 2021.



This time is different. It’s been 238 days since bitcoin broke its previous high from November 2021, and ETH hasn’t been within 20% of beating its peak. Currently, it&#8217;s 45% below.



Although, SOL is doing just about as well as ETH over the same period.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfOtIicEE0AEeDfkc9wEokh4tIeVfKDNVKinbmxkKGFUYfhFn9hOmvpUUXE_1S4yGcclh3frd2XgqXDJNPuuZDqnYAad0QNTofb9xg7H6ed_3ZFd0Bgc8nqYT_27bFQBQ6BbqKJUnRBoojNAYIRe9G90eRK?key=H5fYsss7bEGQsA8C11vqHBQ-" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">SOL is the faded blue line — it’s a slightly more volatile ETH</figcaption></figure>



ETH and SOL have even been tightly correlated since bitcoin’s peak in March, with SOL still 31% below its November 2021 record high.



Whether ETH and SOL will catch upon confirmation of a bitcoin bull run is a question for your paid group leader.&nbsp;



I will give you this instead: BTC, ETH, SOL (and dozens of other tokens) may be out of sync right now. And that’s bullish, going by the palmistry of the prior four-year cycle.



How you tell the end of a bull run is when the major assets converge at all-time highs.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc9zp459A0p8--ZhhEbG_3sW9mGnOlxMnxkVjuT1iASbwf8L8uX6Jx7UoY9wIuKnnSwt61nvlAv2O6bUJc8oroNHqCfexqjcGsF5ZFZSMyCjCVoWy2mn3Ho3xPaAzGoUPYxf09mCZ1dsg9J3221L46JCzdA?key=H5fYsss7bEGQsA8C11vqHBQ-" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cycle peaks shown by the green dots</figcaption></figure>



BTC and ETH were not in lockstep during their drawdown recoveries between cycle tops. Returning to those highs was a staggered process.



But they were almost exactly aligned when they reached new peaks nearly a year later: BTC and ETH hit all-time highs on the same day, while SOL topped out a few days earlier.



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ETH and SOL are playing catch up with BTC

Rumors have been circulating that Tether may be the subject of a federal investigation.&nbsp;



The Wall Street Journal is alleging that the US government is investigating Tether. In an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/federal-investigators-probe-cryptocurrency-firm-tether-a13804e5">article</a> published last week, citing unnamed sources, the Journal reported that federal investigators in Manhattan are looking into alleged anti-money laundering violations and whether illicit actors have used the cryptocurrency to fund illegal activities.&nbsp;



Tether categorically denies the allegations.&nbsp;



“It is wildly irresponsible for WSJ to write articles with reckless allegations with such certainty when no authorities have gone on the record to confirm these rumors, and no sources are named,” a Tether spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. “These stories are based on pure rank speculation despite Tether confirming that it has no knowledge of any such investigations into the company.”



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/doj-binance-tether-terror-funding">Lummis, Hill push for ‘swift’ DOJ action against Binance, Tether&nbsp;</a>



The report comes months after conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research launched a campaign against Tether, alleging the stablecoin is “used by the world’s worst actors.” Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild told me Tuesday that the WSJ article is “yet another confirmation of the need for Tether to undergo and release an audit by a credible third party.”&nbsp;



“Consumers should be wary of Tether&#8217;s involvement with unsavory and criminal actors from across the world, and it raises questions as to why they are so desperate to keep them on the platform,” Hild added.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tether">Tether</a> CEO Paolo Ardoino over the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-ceo-breaks-down-reserves-backing-usdt-stablecoin">weekend</a> assured the public that Tether’s reserves for USDT are safe and plentiful. He said the company has around $100 billion in US Treasurys and 82,000 bitcoin, plus 48 tons of gold.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tether-q2-2024-earnings-report">Tether reports net profit of $5.2B in H1 2024</a>



To be clear, the WSJ article makes no allegations that Tether has lied about or violated any laws regarding its reserve assets. The company in 2021 <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8450-21">settled</a> with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tether-settles-with-cftc-for-42-5m">for $42.5 million</a> over its “claims that USDT was fully backed by US dollars.”&nbsp;



Ardoino added that Tether has <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tether-freezes-funds-doj">historically worked with law enforcement agencies</a> to combat fraud. He said the company has “voluntarily blocked” almost 2,000 wallets associated with suspected illegal activity.&nbsp;



Tether in September <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/vc-vet-joins-abra-board">brought in Jesse Spiro</a>, a PayPal veteran, to head up its government affairs team.&nbsp;



“Jesse will be responsible for leading policy and engagement efforts with lawmakers, regulators and key stakeholders,” Tether wrote in its <a href="https://tether.io/news/industry-leader-jesse-spiro-joins-tether-as-head-of-government-affairs/">announcement</a>.&nbsp;



Sounds like he might be very busy.



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Tether denies it is being investigated by US government 

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Bitcoin’s price reached roughly $73,500 after 3 pm ET on Tuesday. It dipped to about $72,600 by 4 pm ET — up 4% from 24 hours ago.&nbsp;



This surge to just below BTC’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-all-time-high">record high</a> (above $73,700, set in March) comes as capital continues to pour into US spot bitcoin ETFs. Another $479 million of net new money entered that category on Monday, Farside Investors <a href="https://farside.co.uk/bitcoin-etf-flow-all-data/">data</a> shows.



Those funds have seen $22.5 billion worth of net inflows since launching in January — with nearly $3.9 billion, or 17%, of those gains coming since Oct. 11.&nbsp;



“I think that is people recognizing that the train may leave the station sometime around the election,” Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said during an X space late last week.&nbsp;



Hougan’s firm — a crypto-focused asset manager that offers <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitwise-europe-acquisition-crypto-etps">both</a> a BTC and ETH ETF — regularly meets with institutions about possible crypto allocations. The number of meetings that have led to such an allocation have gone up “significantly” in recent weeks, he explained.



A portion of these institutional players have embraced what he called “crypto sleeves,” Hougan added during the X space — exposure not just to a bitcoin fund, but perhaps an allocation to another that holds ETH and additional exposure to MicroStrategy or bitcoin miners. “[It’s] the idea of treating crypto the same way you treat stocks, which is you don’t just buy Nvidia; you buy a basket,” he said.



Beyond institutional buy-in, bitcoin investors are betting on governments continuing to debase fiat currencies, Hougan noted in a CIO <a href="https://experts.bitwiseinvestments.com/cio-memos/the-dual-drivers-of-bitcoins-value?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ck3N09VZri0LX3rA64nBW4B89ao6lIJcHGfga_g3H9Y03Am_2nUP7gXl19-P4DQYFOvfL-b9adq_qxWTMIBXQas320g&amp;_hsmi=331329998&amp;utm_content=331329998&amp;utm_source=hs_email">memo</a>. But, he argues, BTC does not need the dollar to collapse to hit $200,000, adding: “It can get there just by capturing a sliver of gold’s existing market.”



Thoughts differ on <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-price-predictions-election">the trajectory</a> of crypto prices from here in the case of a Trump or Harris victory. But perhaps we won’t have to wait for the election to wrap up before seeing BTC notch a new all-time high.



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Record BTC price in sight as bitcoin ETF flows surge

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A week out from the US election, the CEO of blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos is imploring the next presidential administration to be better than the last (when it comes to crypto).&nbsp;&nbsp;



Charles Cascarilla’s open letter to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris doesn’t say much that hasn’t been said before.&nbsp;



But perhaps the letter hits a little different as voters — millions of which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/political-candidates-cannot-ignore-crypto-voters">own crypto</a> — get set to cast their ballots next week. And, just days ago, Stripe’s $1.1 billion <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-bridge-acquisition-stablecoin-infrastructure">acquisition</a> of Bridge sends a signal that non-crypto companies recognize the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-dydx-founder-comeback">compelling benefits</a> of stablecoin-based payments.&nbsp;



Cascarilla’s <a href="https://paxos.com/2024/10/28/letter-to-vice-president-kamala-harris-and-former-president-donald-trump/">letter</a> addresses familiar key points: While the US is an “inhospitable” place for financial innovation, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/micar-foreign-stablecoins-advantage-in-europe">the EU</a>, UAE and others have capitalized on those “missteps” via regimes “that support safe innovation.”&nbsp;



The “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-overreach-failure-debt-box">regulatory overreach</a>, questionable <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/banking-sector-uncertainty-crypto">banking policies</a> and onerous and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nft-artists-sue-sec-regulatory-uncertainty">needless</a> legal actions” in the US have resulted in “enormous costs in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-wrong-about-crypto-asset-securities">wasted time</a> and money,” Cascarilla adds.&nbsp;



To that point, Consensys on Tuesday revealed cuts impacting 20% of its workforce.



“Multiple cases with the SEC, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/consensys-lawsuit-against-sec-dismissed">including ours</a>, represent meaningful jobs and productive investment lost due to the SEC&#8217;s abuse of power and Congress&#8217;s inability to rectify the problem,” Consensys CEO Joe Lubin <a href="https://consensys.io/blog/consensys-path-to-long-term-sustainability-and-decentralization">wrote</a>. “Such attacks from the US government will end up costing many companies that have been investigated, sued or sent <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-responds-to-sec-wells-notice">Wells Notices</a>, many millions of dollars.”



While Trump has said he would <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-speaks-bitcoin-2024">fire</a> SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Harris has not made any such statement. Blockchain Association’s Ron Hammond <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/forward-guidance-newsletter-interest-rate-cuts">previously told me</a> the industry is waiting for more clarity on that from the VP.&nbsp;



In the meantime, digital dollars will continue to move offshore until there is a stablecoin framework that drives innovation, Cascarilla wrote.



The positive note from the Paxos CEO: “Thankfully, there is bipartisan interest in fixing this broken status quo.”



Hammond said earlier this month he believed the chance of a stablecoin bill getting passed by the end of 2024 was 30%. That’s not exactly great. But at least it’s higher than the Yankees’ World Series title odds at this point.



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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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