Balancer is a non-custodial automated portfolio manager, liquidity provider, and price sensor. The big idea of Balancer is, it is a new financial primitive that combines asset management and decentralized exchange. In traditional finance, this is similar to combining Fidelity asset management and NASDAQ’s exchange, then distribute NASDAQ’s trading profits to Fidelity’s asset holders.

Balancer

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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This week’s FOMC meeting ended as expected Thursday, with central bankers opting to lower interest rates by <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fed-25bps-rate-cut">25 basis points</a>. President-elect Donald Trump, however, may have been caught off guard by some of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments.&nbsp;



Powell asserted yesterday that he had no intention of leaving his post before his term ends in 2026, even if Trump asks him to step aside.&nbsp;



“No,” Powell said simply when asked during the post-FOMC press conference if he would resign at the new administration’s request.&nbsp;



To be clear, Trump said in June that he would allow Powell — a Trump appointee — to serve out his term. The comments come after the former president threatened to remove Powell during his first term in the White House, an act Powell said Thursday is not legally sound.&nbsp;



Removing a chair, Powell said, is “not permitted under law.”&nbsp;



The comments got us thinking about a topic we’ve talked about before: Trump’s plans for the SEC. I was in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-2024-nashville-recap">Nashville</a> when Trump proclaimed at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that he would “fire Gensler on day one” — a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-speaks-bitcoin-2024">promise</a> that riled up the crowd more than I think even Trump imagined.&nbsp;



There are a few possible outcomes now that we know Trump will be moving back to Washington in January. First, it’s worth noting that agency chairs often resign on their own once the president that nominated them leaves office.&nbsp;



Chair Mary Jo White, who served under the Obama Administration, announced she’d be leaving shortly after Trump was elected. Jay Clayton, White’s successor, did the same after Trump lost his re-election bid in 2020. Both departures gave the incoming president the power to select an interim chair before ultimately submitting a nomination for Senate approval.&nbsp;



We haven’t heard any comments from Gensler yet. But even if he doesn’t step aside before Inauguration Day, legal scholars <a href="https://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2024/07/trump-pledges-to-fire-sec-chair-gary-gensler-does-the-president-have-the-power-to-do-so.html">generally agree</a> that Trump would be allowed to name a current commissioner as acting chair.&nbsp;



The concept of “firing” an agency chair is a bit of a legal gray area, though.&nbsp;



“Courts’ general view is that the president can only remove a commissioner, including the chairman, of the SEC ‘for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office,’” said Jon Ammons, a partner in Reed Smith’s onchain digital asset group.



Regardless, the current <a href="https://x.com/BTC_Archive/status/1854831785068081481">consensus</a> seems to be that Commissioner Mark Uyeda would take over for Gensler — at least as acting chair before Trump nominates an outsider. Rumor has it that Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher, who has had his own unproductive dealings with the securities regulator, is on Trump’s short list.&nbsp;



If I were Gensler, I’d give Powell a call. I bet he already has.



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Chair Powell says he won’t step aside if Trump asks 

Jack Kubinec

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Two months ago, I reported on some of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-small-solana-validators-struggle">woes facing Solana’s smaller validators</a>, which are computer nodes that verify Solana’s ledger is accurate. Solana’s fees and tips were in decline amid apparent fatigue from memecoin traders. In response, the Solana Foundation — the non-profit charged with supporting Solana — set a cap on the commissions that validators could charge while receiving a staking delegation from the foundation, which is a necessity for some small validators.&nbsp;



Most crucially, the price of SOL was languishing, limiting upside for validators’ biggest potential source of revenue. Some estimated that validators would need to attract millions of dollars more in SOL than before to break even.&nbsp;



Today, that all appears to have shifted. SOL’s price crossed the $200 mark for just the third time since 2021, and daily validator revenue has been in excess of $30 million every day since mid-October, according to data from 21.co. In early September, revenue was around $22 million per day.&nbsp;



Anza, which is the developer shop spun out of Solana Labs, just released v2.0.14 of Solana’s software, one of its first upgrades since it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-solana-block-scheduler">implemented a central scheduler</a> over the summer.&nbsp;



So far, only around 40% of validators have <a href="https://solanabeach.io/validators">made</a> the switch from v1 to v2. The upgrade makes minor tweaks to the Solana protocol, but validators who made the switch have anecdotally reported better performance.&nbsp;



One validator said the new client version has better maximal extractible value (MEV) rewards than the old one. Another said their votes — or transactions made to validate the blockchain ledger is accurate — have been going through quicker since the upgrade.&nbsp;



Knoxtrades, the anonymous owner of the Juicy Stake validator, told me that they have noticed Solana’s central scheduler “works in conjunction” with stake-weighted quality of service (SWQoS), a feature that lets larger validators land transactions more effectively. This has caused a “noticeable change in block rewards” because Solana blocks are packing in transactions more efficiently, knoxtrades said in a text.



But what could be most important to look for is how many validators plug their computers back in. A year ago, the Solana network had around 1,970 nodes, according to Solana Compass. Today, that figure is 1,358, indicating a less distributed set.



Still, some validators have chosen to get back in the game during Solana’s recent metrics and price rally: The network has added 58 new nodes since Sept. 28.



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Solana upgrades software as validators see fortunes shift

Donovan Choy

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In early October, Synthetix passed an ambitious <a href="https://gov.synthetix.io/#/proposal/0x1d05f9a88760323d75504b04baf159d5fb58f5eb3f8a1c51d164de7891900266">governance proposal</a> to “reboot” the entire project. Major changes proposed included the likes of revamping SNX tokenomics, introducing a SNX-backed stablecoin, launching on Ethereum mainnet and Solana and redesigning the Synthetix frontend.



As part of that overhaul, SIP-411, which passed yesterday with 6/6 votes from Synthetix councilors, is reacquiring Kwenta as a frontend and bringing it back as part of Synthetix’s relaunch.



Kwenta was once a Synthetix project. Spun out in 2021 as a dedicated frontend for Synthetix to operate independently as per <a href="https://sips.synthetix.io/sips/sip-179/">SIP-179</a>, it is now <a href="https://x.com/kaiynne/status/1854772707411583267">referred</a> to by Synthetix co-founder Kain Warwick as “unequivocally a terrible idea.”



Benjamin Celermajer, Synthetix’s strategy seat, said of the acquisition: “Bringing Kwenta back into Synthetix will unify the vision, the roadmap and the strategic priorities of both protocols. This will help Synthetix provide the best possible user experience to its community of traders and a seamless integration experience to the various protocols that utilize Synthetix liquidity.”



As part of SIP-411, KWENTA token holders will be able to exchange their KWENTA to SNX at a 1:17 rate. SNX will then be subject to a three-month lock-up starting on Nov. 15, followed by a nine-month linear vesting period. The KWENTA token will be <a href="https://mirror.xyz/kwenta.eth/wVUYfVNYx_QG_LfzOAwvsK5tI-yMsJ1vacaej59Pf_U">deprecated</a> thereafter.



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Synthetix perps DEX acquires Kwenta to unify ‘strategic priorities’ of both protocols

Macauley Peterson

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It started with an understated “woo-hoo” and a laugh. The latest Ethereum All Core Developers (ACD) call marked a milestone for being the 200th such meeting.



As Galaxy’s Christine Kim <a href="https://x.com/christine_dkim/status/1854603304476533019">noted</a> on X, “[W]hat&#8217;s cool about these calls is that through the years they&#8217;ve remained open, transparent and accessible for anyone to join and listen in on. [A]lso, devs still rely on these calls to act as a critical forcing function for making key governance decisions about [E]thereum.”



As usual, developers discussed key updates around testing networks for the upcoming <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research/issue/post_a2d3d0b2-7573-4379-a2d8-db9d7c7dc488">Pectra upgrade</a>, and a host of other topics in the world of Ethereum technical planning.



Unusually, several of the participants were in the same room together in Thailand, where the largest annual Ethereum conference, <a href="https://devcon.org/en/">Devcon</a>, is set to be underway next week.



A highlight of the call was the launch of Mekong, a new short-term devnet created to support Devcon hackathons. Built on the Devnet 4 spec, Mekong is now live, giving developers a focused environment for innovation ahead of Ethereum&#8217;s upcoming changes.



“Mekong is meant to be a playground for wallet developers to experiment with UX changes and for stakers to gain confidence in the upcoming changes,” according to a <a href="https://blog.ethereum.org/2024/11/07/introducing-mekong-testnet">blog post</a> announcing the testnet.



Devnet 4 will remain accessible for further testing over the next few weeks so as to maintain flexibility for developers experimenting with the evolving protocol.



The conversation also covered recent proposed updates affecting core functionality, specifically in EIPs 7002 and 7521. Minor modifications to these contracts aim to improve user-friendliness, notably by helping users avoid accidental overpayments. While the contracts are currently under audit, developers were asked to review these updates asynchronously, a process that will likely continue after Devcon.



Devs further explored ways to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/testing-bottleneck-next-ethereum-upgrade">streamline testing</a> by isolating specific parts of the fork — specifically EOF and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-ethereum-tps">PeerDAS</a> — for independent activation. Nethermind’s “chainspec” <a href="https://docs.nethermind.io/fundamentals/configuration/">configuration</a> option already supports fine-grained control for EIP activation, allowing teams to toggle individual EIPs for testing. However, concerns arose over the complexity of this approach, as some teams prefer Geth’s simpler fork activation model.



A consensus on a universal approach remains unreached, with some developers noting that fine-grained control could lead to unpredictable interactions if not managed carefully.



Another central issue during the call was Ethereum’s growing data footprint and ways to handle historical data more efficiently. <a href="https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-7801-eth-70-sharded-blocks-protocol/21507">EIP-7801</a> — aka eth/70 or Sharded Blocks Protocol — was proposed as a short-term solution to reduce nodes’ storage requirements. This measure would ease the data burden until <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/networking-layer/portal-network/">Portal</a>, a more comprehensive data solution, becomes fully integrated. While some teams favor a universal standard for history retention, others advocate for a client-specific approach to managing storage.



<a href="https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7610">EIP-7610</a> also featured in the discussion, as it aims to resolve certain edge cases in contract deployment. While the proposal is close to finalization, some clients reported challenges in implementation. As a result, an alternative design is now being explored, with a new proposal expected soon.



Devcon provides a rare opportunity for a major cohort of core developers to get together in person and hash out unresolved issues. Ethereum developers are advancing on multiple fronts to optimize infrastructure and meet the scaling demands of dapps and users, at a time when the conventional Twitteratti narrative is that the second most valuable blockchain network is falling behind rivals.



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Ethereum devs mark milestone ahead of Devcon

Katherine Ross

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Framework’s Vance Spencer is a fan of Maker’s Sky rebrand.



I don’t know about you, but until I chatted with Spencer, I really hadn’t seen or heard anyone come out in favor of the rebrand. Most folks were either ambivalent or critical.&nbsp;



For Spencer — after speaking with various stakeholders — the “brand equity is actually relative to the value of a redenomination, which is just a lower unit bias. There&#8217;s a reason that stocks do this in the stock market,” he explained.



<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">Fundamentals of MKR/SKY, Endgame, Brand TLDR: I support relaunching the SKY brand in lieu of MKR Three things have become apparent to me in talking with MKR/SKY ecosystem participants 1. USDS is an unqualified success and MKR/SKY fundamentals have never been stronger. MKR is…&mdash; Vance Spencer (@pythianism) <a href="https://twitter.com/pythianism/status/1853454891928420800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



As for the naysayers, it’s simply “too early” to determine if the strategy’s even worked yet, given that no major exchange has listed SKY.



“The brand has been confusing so far, but there hasn&#8217;t been enough adoption to tell you know, one from the other in terms of, do people not like the brand, or do people not like one big fund selling their MKR, and then a general market pullback, because, right now, MKR is ripping again, and I think people you know care less about the brand or about what their perspective is when that&#8217;s the case,” Spencer said.



<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">Now that the Sky branding is upheld, Sky Ecosystem can focus on getting to work: 1) Grow adoption of USDS by expanding to Solana and Eth L2s 2) Migrate all MKR to SKY on CEXes and coingecko 3) Prepare to launch Spark, the first Star, and SPK token rewards for USDS holders&mdash; Rune (@RuneKek) <a href="https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1854569937190129958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2024</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The tradeoff of having “something that’s more retail-oriented and lower unit bias,” is more important when it comes to the rebrand. And, to add to that, the lower retail participation so far makes it hard to get a read on success down the line.&nbsp;



However, this rebrand could change the story, especially paired with the potential market rally we could see if there’s regulatory clarity (and firms aren’t at risk of sudden lawsuits).



“If we assume Wall Street institutions and retail get in and they value certain things, like fundamentals, I think they&#8217;re also going to value a brand that makes sense within the context of what the project&#8217;s trying to do, which is kind of start over for this next chapter of crypto, redenominate. Fresh chart, completely transition the token to the next one, there&#8217;s probably going to be a lot of lost tokens,” Spencer said. But it’ll end up being a “clean slate.”



Despite criticisms of the rebrand, Framework won’t be going anywhere. 



“This is something that we have a venture perspective on, and we&#8217;re going to hold for a long time. And I think what they&#8217;re doing is in the spirit of growing the fundamentals, which is really what we care about, because at a certain point, if you&#8217;re holding some of the last MKR, like, they&#8217;re gonna be buying it from you, and that&#8217;s kind of the market you want to create in the future,” Spencer added.



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Maker’s rebrand hasn’t deterred Framework

Ben Strack

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Galaxy Digital reported its third quarter earnings this morning, though founder Mike Novogratz’s remarks on the election stood out to me most.&nbsp;



“The last quarter seems a little less relevant right now given that this is kind of a whole new world,” the CEO noted.&nbsp;



He was, of course, alluding to Donald Trump’s win and the impact the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/revisiting-trumps-crypto-promises-after-his-election-win">president-elect’s pledges</a>, if fulfilled, could have on the crypto industry. Not to mention the flood of pro-crypto <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/races">Congress members</a> elected Tuesday.



Galaxy’s stock, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, rose about 25% Wednesday, and went up another 16% Thursday, as of 2 pm ET.



Novogratz did not publicly support Trump. “I was actually on the other side,” he noted on today’s call.



“But I was always pro-crypto, and I thought, let’s do the best we can to have a bipartisan agreement,” the exec said.



Novogratz noted the crypto-friendly people Trump will have around him. Outside of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-selects-vp-2024-election">JD Vance</a>, he mentioned <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/presidential-candidate-rfk-jr-on-crypto-trump">RFK Jr.</a>, Peter Thiel and Howard Lutnick. Here’s a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-tradfi-btc-transacting">reminder</a> of what Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, said about bitcoin in September.



The Galaxy CEO said he is expecting “one piece of good news every week” for the next one or two years.&nbsp;



Among those could be new appointments at the SEC, FDIC and OCC, he said — adding that he expects <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-gensler-sec-overturn-sab-121">SAB 121</a> will be “repealed very quickly.”&nbsp;



That SEC accounting guidance is what many say has kept a number of traditional players out of the crypto industry. President Joe Biden vetoed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-passes-resolution-to-overturn-sab121">Congress’ bipartisan resolution</a> that would have invalidated SAB 121.



“When you bring in the [BNY Mellons] and the State Streets as custodians, [and] when you allow TradFi competitors to own crypto on their balance sheet, it is going to unleash a tsunami of institutional participation,” Novogratz said.



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Galaxy CEO expects ‘one piece of good news every week’

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The FOMC today, as expected, lowered interest rates by 25 basis points. Committee members cited a commitment to “achieving maximum employment” and a 2% inflation target as reasons for the decision.&nbsp;



Odds of a second 25bps cut in December are now at 66%, according to CME Group’s federal funds futures markets data.



The FOMC’s forward guidance (see what we did there) from this week’s meeting remained unchanged, indicating committee members likely are confident that interest rates will end 2024 another 25bps lower.



“In considering additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks,” today’s statement read.&nbsp;



It’s the same crucial sentence we’ve seen before, which shouldn’t shock markets. And, as a result of no surprises, stocks should see at least a mild extension of their <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-carves-out-fresh-all-time-high">Trump-fueled rally</a>, according to Sevens Report Research founder Tom Essaye.



“Given yesterday’s strong rally, I’d expect some digestion of the move or a mild drift higher,” Essaye said. “However, this outcome should keep expectations for a rally into year-end in place, led by cyclical sectors — industrials, financials, small caps [and] energy — with tech and defensives lagging.”



The S&amp;P 500 was up 0.6% over today’s session in the moments after the Fed’s decision, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.3% just after 2 pm ET.



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In a surprise to no one, Fed cuts rates by 25bps

Felix Jauvin

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After Trump’s election win was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-declared-president-2024-election">confirmed</a> (and with a likely sweep of Congress), markets began to digest the news.&nbsp;



In bond markets, the major factor was a Congress sweep that will allow unrestrained legislation from the Republican party. This — paired with concerns around a re-accelerating economy and potential inflationary policies, such as Trump’s tariffs — sent long bond yields soaring globally, but especially domestically:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd5IELWZJJMVFoqwGhmMdK2GCzuTcWvVtZv48EM-rDey-uyisqoODgm5JLdQaxjKbpYY0Z14vQUsY1wV6D8gNeOz3B0whU15BUli1iWyY68yVK8rRIhD2-perNJbjn01hx7s0yE?key=wPb1ntoH5CUCMdssIRRm6h3j" alt=""/></figure>



At the same time, the DXY soared as global investors anticipated higher nominal growth and a roaring economy in the US. That said, half the move has reversed today alongside a calming down of long bond yields.&nbsp;



So what does this all mean? And what were the implications for the Fed as it entered its FOMC meeting today?



As Jim Bianco shows in the chart below, this reverse in yields on the long end since the Fed’s first rate cut is historic:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXecLPehAlsKel5_VCc5nTP6kpUSkwcy43u4R5BVq8Q_g1xlAfuDJMprjp0goWDy42FQAISqKbtDPr2-exnaNXRL9Xbh9jvdZXYRMXUNFiIXqlRLIQxqyTa8uRU5POJPBj-H_nf9sw?key=wPb1ntoH5CUCMdssIRRm6h3j" alt=""/></figure>



Regardless of what the Fed does to the short rate (i.e the fed funds rate), the vast majority of the economy borrows and lends on the long end of the yield curve, such as mortgages.



Therefore, regardless of what happens to the short rate, the surge in long bond yields has been tightening financial conditions.&nbsp;



With respect to today’s FOMC meeting, Powell needs to carefully consider where he wants to attempt to guide yields. There are currently two evolving approaches:



Andy Constan of Damped Spring Advisors <a href="https://x.com/dampedspring/status/1853817893089112487">believes</a> that for yields to come down and counter-intuitively ease financial conditions, the Fed needed to be more hawkish today and potentially pause its cuts. In his view, more rate cuts could actually tighten conditions as bond vigilantes show up and send bond yields higher — doing the tightening the Fed refuses to do.&nbsp;



On the other side is <a href="https://x.com/CNBCOvertime/status/1854274724521492929">Tom Lee</a>, who believes the Fed needs to be even more dovish. This is because a large portion of what comprises the price of long bond yields is expectations on short rates for the maturity of the bond.&nbsp;



With the FOMC’s 25bps cut today and no signal yet of an end to QT, it&#8217;s looking likely the Fed will continue to wait and observe how its current rate-cutting path transpires and is digested by markets.



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What’s the market saying about the Trump win?

The quest to bring &#8220;covenants&#8221; to Bitcoin — a mechanism that enables more sophisticated transaction types by controlling how coins can be spent in the future — has been an ongoing challenge. Recent research sheds light on how covenants may be achieved without the contentious and complex process of a soft fork.



This new approach, outlined in <a href="https://x.com/avihu28/status/1854570598439014807">a paper</a> by Ethan Heilman, Victor Kolobov, Avihu Levy and Andrew Poelstra, introduces &#8220;ColliderScript,&#8221; an innovative methodology that could allow covenants on Bitcoin as it exists today.



The primary advantage of ColliderScript is that it enables covenants without requiring a protocol change such as OP_CAT. The concept of covenants on Bitcoin has been viewed by some as threatening due to the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/starkware-bitcoin-scaling-upgrade-cat">substantial changes needed</a> at the consensus layer to enable it.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/op-cat-bitcoin-taproot-wizards">Satoshi-era Bitcoin code idea gets a boost from Taproot Wizards</a>



ColliderScript side-steps that issue by proving that covenant functionality is technically feasible on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/bitcoin">Bitcoin</a> even now, albeit at a high computational cost — initially estimated at millions of dollars per transaction due to the significant computational power required.



While this may be impractical in its present form, the paper presents a valuable proof of concept. StarkWare’s Avihu Levy, one of the paper’s co-authors, expects that even costly covenants have a place in Bitcoin.



&#8220;If you have an alternative and people are using it, and it’s already there and maybe just more expensive,” Levy told Blockworks, “it potentially accelerates the social process towards the soft fork.”



ColliderScript&#8217;s approach relies on <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/glossary/#secure-hash-algorithms-shas">SHA-1 cryptography</a>, which requires substantial computational power to achieve covenant-like outcomes. Levy and his co-authors project that advances in hardware or dedicated algorithms may eventually reduce these costs, making Collider Script more practical.



“I’m 100% certain we could improve, and improve significantly,” Levy said. “It’s very clear we can improve things on the hash function front.”



SHA-1 is also <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/12/nist-retires-sha-1-cryptographic-algorithm">slated for deprecation</a>, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).



That doesn’t worry Levy, however, so long as the cost to a malicious attacker remains about a million times greater than the cost of an honest one.



“If SHA-1 becomes problematic, you can replace it in the algorithm — for example, with SHA-256, which also exists on Bitcoin and with some changes, this would probably also work — so that&#8217;s not a problem.”



Levy acknowledges that even as efficiencies improve, soft-forking Bitcoin to formally include covenants would remain the &#8220;cleanest, safest and most efficient&#8221; path forward.



This research doesn’t just highlight a technical pathway; as Levy points out, it can serve to demonstrate covenants&#8217; utility, potentially accelerating the often slow-moving process of consensus-building among Bitcoin stakeholders.



Drawing parallels to the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research/issue/post_d08feb9f-1ecf-4108-85fe-878d48edd78d">development of the BitVM</a>, which also started as a high-cost innovation before evolving into something more scalable, Levy believes that ColliderScript can follow a similar trajectory. Just as the BVM’s second version enabled more feasible usage for Bitcoin’s complex transaction environment, future iterations of ColliderScript could make covenant-based transactions increasingly viable.



The project arose out of a mix of curiosity and persistence, with Levy working on it in his spare time since April. As Bitcoin continues to face challenges around scaling and transaction flexibility, this type of grassroots experimentation could play a vital role in Bitcoin’s development, whether or not ColliderScript itself becomes a mainstream solution.



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ColliderScript: Advancing Bitcoin covenants without a fork

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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Eclipse launched its public mainnet today.&nbsp;



Eclipse is yet another general-purpose Ethereum L2, but with a unique twist. It’s an L2 powered by the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) for execution, while using Celestia <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/data-availability-transaction-costs-blockchain">for data availability</a>, and Ethereum for settlement and consensus.



The unique selling proposition of Eclipse is the unification of the best of both worlds: Ethereum’s liquidity and ecosystem plus the SVM’s superior execution parallelized transaction processing model.



Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse, said of the launch: &#8220;Eclipse is uniquely positioned as the first solution to bridge the gap between Solana and Ethereum, offering a powerful platform that caters to both communities. Our goal is to empower developers from both ecosystems to build and scale their dapps like never before, unlocking new opportunities across the largest networks in the industry.&#8221;



According to Eclipse, at least sixty dapps and service providers will be live at launch.



Eclipse has also taken it upon itself to lead the DeFi ecosystem with <a href="https://x.com/EclipseFND/status/1833143806478471448">tETH</a>, an aggregated restaking token that bundles most of the popular restaking liquid tokens such as ether.fi, Renzo, Puffer and Swell into one unified restaking token.



Bringing the SVM to Ethereum is not an effort exclusive to Eclipse, although it’s leading the charge.&nbsp;



The same idea is also pursued by Ellipsis Labs, which is <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/atlas-merging-solana-speed-ethereum-security">launching its own</a> custom implementation of the SVM with the Atlas L2. Purporting to do the same is also <a href="https://x.com/soon_svm">SOON</a> (Solana Optimistic Network).



It’s an idea that is catching on quickly, thanks to an increasing modularization of the once monolithic/integrated SVM stack. The primary effort behind the modularization of the Solana stack was driven by <a href="https://www.anza.xyz/blog/anzas-new-svm-api">Anza</a>, which separated the previously integrated SVM from the Solana validator client.



Solana’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ai-bots-solana-memecoin-trading">burst in usage</a> in the past year too has led to an increasing amount of attention being placed on Solana L2s, or “network extensions.” For instance, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solana-wallets-grass-airdrop">Grass network</a> is creating a Solana L2, and Solana “rollup-as-a-service” providers like <a href="https://docs.termina.technology/documentation">Termina</a> are emerging to facilitate that need.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd-S4cFMBS-2r8QgaIyOgdtqoFFyRDJbgQ9-vUTYl27CR8JHOdMKZebMlZgiFZcMx5PUoriY_CGN6--nzjvpl6Pb4hKCB-LE9ZiFbBGmi5cDA-n_r0LP49SgH2mScQLrMZPikHCuw?key=eL9pS9CGKj6qJcd_VZuwAxAJ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn5p7SKITXs">Anza</a></figcaption></figure>



It’s worth taking a second to consider what an SVM Ethereum L2 competes with.



Does Eclipse compete with the up-and-coming general-purpose Ethereum chains like Monad or MegaETH for users, which are all promising the same <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-ethereum-tps">blazing fast</a> TPS speeds?



Or does it go up against Solana, because it dilutes the exclusivity of the SVM execution engine from a dapp’s perspective? (Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko is also an investor in Eclipse.)&nbsp;



There isn’t a straightforward answer. Eclipse certainly adds to the Ethereum ecosystem. The mainnet was opened to builders back in July and Solana’s second-largest DEX, <a href="https://x.com/orca_so/status/1851345516514496737?s=46&amp;t=yjAdM2ddX0KgGQimu7jcDQ">Orca</a>, has already entered the ring. It joins another familiar Solana name, the lending platform Solend, that has since rebranded to Save Finance. It takes away some of builders’ need to make the hard decision between Ethereum or Solana.



At the same time, more SVM means taking away some of EVM developer mind share. If you believe that developer ecosystems are the bedrock of innovation, that might be a minus for the EVM.



Despite all of crypto’s infighting between ecosystems, Eclipse’s mainnet may just be a positive-sum game for both Ethereum and Solana.



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SVM-based Ethereum L2 Eclipse launches mainnet

David Canellis

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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Biden dropped out of the presidential race too soon for Trump to get proper revenge for 2016, and he’ll have to settle for taking out his VP instead.



Luckily, there’s still time to beat Biden in perhaps the only popular vote that really counts: bitcoin.



Bitcoin already set record highs alongside the stock market around Trump’s win this week — the S&amp;P 500 is up 4% in the past month to bitcoin’s 18%.



That’s much more than what happened after Trump’s win in 2016, which was good for a brief 5% jump.&nbsp;



Obama’s win in 2012 meanwhile coincided with bitcoin’s price dropping by one-fifth in the leadup to Election Day, before recovering over following weeks.



But Biden’s victory in 2020 aligned with a far bigger rally. Bitcoin had risen 30% in the month heading into the vote and continued on for another 50% in the 30 days after.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXegJOeS5Cyn3H6PfxPS1NSrof2Hjcfp4HrwgBmwdz4LtdBwjiT6Z12Ce6s8P5hGbxFGMYXCKUwRU3O3_wwTJ3WS9jOsifIlbhckgow662YtLQJHIm_MH02svY8tDdbhXw_O32q9zA?key=BxdygvSe_YuQXs-EWv95Jr74" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Each line is bitcoin’s price performance around Election Day, with the week either side shown by the shaded area</figcaption></figure>



This was the start of bitcoin’s monstrous pandemic run from $10,000 to $60,000, as Trump was handing over the White House, which spanned September 2020 to March 2021.



Of course, bitcoin today is a much bigger beast. BTC’s market cap was under $300 billion at the time — now it’s almost $1.5 trillion. It takes much more to move the needle so far.



If it happened, it would be big. Bitcoin rallied up to 87% in the 60 days surrounding Biden’s election win.&nbsp;



BTC has so far gone about 20% for Trump, and another 70% would put bitcoin at almost $130,000 before year’s end.



We’re gonna need bigger bulls.



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Bitcoin is Trump’s next opportunity to beat Biden

Marisa Coppel

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach to crypto regulation under Chair Gary Gensler is stifling innovation and pushing American digital asset companies away from developing in the US. Instead of fostering growth through clear, constructive rulemaking, the commission has relied on aggressive enforcement actions that creates uncertainty and drives jobs, investment and innovation overseas.



To restore confidence and keep the US competitive in this emerging sector, the SEC must abandon its &#8220;regulation by enforcement&#8221; approach in favor of a transparent rulemaking process informed by public input. This shift would allow the digital asset industry to thrive under clear guidelines, keeping American innovation at the forefront of global finance.



Even if there is a change in SEC leadership with the upcoming change in administration, the SEC must seriously consider how it approaches digital asset regulation.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-lenient-crypto-regulation">Traders are banking on Trump’s pro-crypto action</a>



American digital asset firms have <a href="http://www.regulationbyenforcement.org/">spent</a> more than $400 million defending against SEC <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-2023-crypto-enforcement-actions">enforcement actions under Chair Gensler</a> — a figure that should serve as a stand in for the considerable opportunity costs of delayed innovation, loss of jobs and diverted capital. Just recently, a major software company in the digital asset sector announced they would lay off dozens of workers, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/10/29/consensys-cuts-20-workforce-blames-secs-abuse-of-power/">noting</a> that its battles with the SEC were <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dydx-consensys-industry-layoffs">costing the company millions</a>. The SEC’s strategy is anti-innovation and must stop.



The commission&#8217;s strategy reflects a fundamental misalignment between regulatory means and ends. Rather than pursuing rulemaking through notice and comment — the legally required pathway for establishing regulatory frameworks — the SEC has opted for &#8220;<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/regulation-by-enforcement-unsustainable">regulation by enforcement</a>.&#8221; This approach effectively transforms enforcement proceedings into de facto policymaking, bypassing the Administrative Procedure Act&#8217;s requirements for public notice and comment, and eliminating any public voice in the process.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/america-lagging-crypto-regulation">Is the world leaving America behind on crypto regulation?</a>



The industry has repeatedly <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-appeals-sec-rulemaking-petition">urged the commission</a> to establish clear rules and has sought clarity through multiple meetings with the agency. Instead of productively engaging with industry stakeholders, the commission has <a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-blockfi-20220214">stonewalled</a> and followed-up with enforcement actions. The commission’s regulation by enforcement strategy is so egregious that other industry participants have proactively sued them to seek clarity. In Lejilex v. SEC, for instance, the company <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/texas-crypto-company-sues-sec-overreach-digital-assets-2024-02-21/">articulates</a> that it cannot launch its non-custodial exchange due to a fear of SEC enforcement. In another case, Mann v. SEC, two artists <a href="https://unchainedcrypto.com/are-nfts-securities-offerings-two-artists-sue-the-sec-to-find-out/">describe</a> their fear of SEC enforcement by creating NFTs of their art.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/nft-artists-sue-sec-regulatory-uncertainty">The SEC continues to engage in ‘strategic ambiguity,’ lawyer says</a>



The consequences are both predictable and measurable. According to HarrisX survey data, voters <a href="https://theblockchainassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Voter-Perceptions-on-SEC-Enforcement-BA-Study-10.30.24-_vF.pdf">believe</a> that the US has taken the wrong approach toward crypto and that the SEC has been too heavy-handed. Indeed, voters prefer clear rules and regulation over enforcement by a factor of two-to-one. And even more critical: Two-thirds of voters agree the SEC should wait for clearer guidelines from Congress. More concerning is the effect on the American digital asset ecosystem: promising ventures that never materialized, investments never made and innovations redirected to more welcoming international jurisdictions.



The legal and business communities have long recognized that regulatory certainty creates economic value. When firms can accurately assess compliance requirements, they can allocate capital efficiently and innovate confidently. The current enforcement-first approach inverts this principle, creating a regulatory environment where even well-resourced legal departments struggle to provide definitive guidance to their clients. Investment increasingly flows to jurisdictions with clearer regulatory frameworks, while entrepreneurs choose to develop products in markets with more predictable oversight.&nbsp;



America&#8217;s position as a global financial leader relies on its ability to balance innovation and regulation effectively. The current enforcement-centric approach risks ceding leadership in an emerging technology sector to other jurisdictions — a mistake that could take decades to correct, if it is even possible. If the US wants to remain a leader in technological development, the SEC must change course.



A policymaking process driven by stakeholder input is the only way forward. Regulation by enforcement is not how a vibrant, innovative economy should function — it wastes taxpayer money, harms investors, kills innovation and pushes capital out of the country. It is now time for transparent, thoughtful regulation before the US loses its competitive edge in the digital economy.



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Chair Gensler’s anti-innovation crypto crusade must end

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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Here’s the deal: We know that Trump was definitely the favorable candidate for a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment.&nbsp;



And it’s clear from a lot of the reactions we’ve seen — either from bitcoin or crypto stocks like COIN — that investors are really banking on that environment over the next four years.&nbsp;



While I will once again repeat that we don’t have a clear policy framework from President-elect Trump, let’s just say that Trump’s one big task when he’s in office is somehow getting SEC Chair Gary Gensler ousted from his post as the head of the SEC.



If he’s successful, whoever Trump selects is likely to be “more lenient toward the crypto industry, perhaps focusing more on bringing regulatory clarity than a constant slew of enforcement actions. After all, Trump has even launched his own crypto trading platform,” Pillsbury partner David Oliwenstein told me.



Empire co-host Jason Yanowitz told <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/video/sec-chair-definitely-needs-change-191016459.html">Yahoo Finance</a> on Wednesday that there “needs” to be a change in SEC leadership. Who would take the place of Gensler is still way up in the air though if we’re listening to <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/11/05/gary-genslers-time-as-sec-chair-may-be-coming-to-an-end-who-will-replace-him-and-what-does-it-mean-for-crypto/">rumors</a> and <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2024/10/07/the-crypto-executive-who-could-soon-be-running-the-sec-00182663">reports</a>, then Robinhood’s Dan Gallagher’s name may be floating around the Trump sphere.



When I spoke to Oliwenstein — before Trump was officially announced as the winner — he also pointed out that one key role in the SEC is the director of enforcement for the enforcement division.&nbsp;



“The former director of enforcement at the SEC under Gensler, Gubir Grewal, left his position in October, but his replacement, Acting Director Sanjay Wadhwa, will likely be at least as aggressive in his enforcement actions against the crypto industry. If Sanjay receives a permanent appoint as director, the market should expect aggressive enforcement in general and specifically with respect to crypto assets,” Oliwenstein said. Though, under a Trump presidency, it may be unlikely that Wadhwa will receive that appointment.&nbsp;



Looking outside of the SEC — and honestly, the Trump presidency — Election Night was a win for a Republican Senate as well, with new pro-crypto folks taking seats, partially due to the immense support of crypto super PACs like Fairshake.



“With the amount of influence and political capital that the crypto industry has garnered over the past 12 months, it is likely that a stablecoin bill and market structure bill will pass in the next two years regardless of which administration we are dealing with. In addition to stablecoin legislation and the market structure legislation, the most important issue is tax treatment for crypto,” Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher said.&nbsp;



“A de minimis exemption is needed before the US can truly become a global crypto leader …This is a very pinnacle moment in the industry, as regulators have now become more open to working on digital asset policy and pushing the industry towards innovation.”



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Traders are banking on Trump’s pro-crypto action

While none of the big three crypto super political action committees (PACs) — Fairshake, Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs — donated to a US presidential candidate, they did support several congressional efforts. 



As election results continue to trickle in, there are some fresh faces headed to Washington in January and many of them have the crypto industry to thank.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Jim Justice&nbsp;</h3>



West Virginia Governor Jim Justice on Tuesday defeated Democratic challenger Glenn Elliot to take West Virginia’s open US Senate seat, earning about 68% of the vote.&nbsp;



Defend American Jobs spent more than $3 million supporting Justice. The Senator-elect has <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/politicians/person/jim--justice">said</a> he supports a crypto market structure that allows for innovation while also protecting investors.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Julie Johnson&nbsp;</h3>



Johnson, a state representative in Texas, on Tuesday defeated Republican challenger Darrell Day to win a seat in the US House for Texas’s 32nd district.&nbsp;



Protect Progress, the Democratic effort in the Fairshake Super PAC trio, spent almost $1 million supporting Johnson.&nbsp;



Johnson voiced support for crypto during the campaign, writing on her <a href="https://juliejohnson.com/issues/">website</a> that she hopes to “establish clear rules of the road for the crypto industry to build technology that benefits everyday Americans.”&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bernie Moreno&nbsp;</h3>



Republican challenger Bernie Moreno narrowly defeated sitting US Senator Sherrod Brown in a narrow race Tuesday, winning 50.2% of the vote.&nbsp;



Brown, the current chair of the Senate Banking Committee, has largely been seen by the crypto industry as an adversary. He voted against the resolution that sought to overturn the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s SAB 121 accounting guidance, which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senators-oppose-sec-accounting-standards">passed both chambers</a> with bipartisan support before ultimately being vetoed by President Biden.&nbsp;



Defend American Jobs spent more than $34 million supporting Moreno through the end of October, federal <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00836221/?tab=spending">filings</a> show.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Adam Schiff&nbsp;</h3>



Democrat US Representative Adam Schiff will make his way to the Senate next year after defeating Republican challenger Steve Garvey 57% to 42%, as of Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;



Schiff received support from the crypto industry during the Democratic primary after crypto super PAC Fairshake spent more than $10 million opposing his then-opponent Rep. Katie Porter.&nbsp;



Schiff has an A <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/politicians/person/adam---schiff">rating</a> from nonprofit Stand With Crypto, despite, like Sen. Brown, not voting in favor of the House resolution which sought to overturn the SEC’s SAB 121 accounting guidance. He did vote in favor of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">John Curtis&nbsp;</h3>



He’s also not a new face to the Hill, but John Curtis will be making a move from the House to the Senate. Rep. Curtis defeated Democratic challenger Caroline Gleich 62% to 32% to take Mitt Romney’s vacant Utah seat. 



The Defend American Jobs PAC (part of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-crypto-super-pac-elections">Fairshake</a> Super PAC trio) donated $1.9 million to Curtis’s campaign as of mid-October, making up almost 35% of the representative’s total contributions. Curtis co-sponsored the FIT21 and Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act bills in the House this session.



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The newest pro-crypto faces on Capitol Hill

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



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There was a lot of election uncertainty a day ago. Now there isn’t.&nbsp;



Donald Trump — a man who has promised to support the crypto industry — is set to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-declared-president-2024-election">return to the White House</a> in January. Bitcoin hit <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-new-all-time-high-trump-victory">a new record high</a> as a result.



The now-president-elect’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-speaks-bitcoin-2024">pledges</a> in recent months included firing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-trump-bitcoin-mining-meeting">supporting bitcoin mining</a> in America and halting government bitcoin sales.



Beyond Trump, more members of Congress are expected to support the space than ever before. There were so far 257 pro-crypto House candidates elected (compared to 115 with an anti-crypto stance), <a href="https://www.standwithcrypto.org/races">according to</a> nonprofit Stand With Crypto’s rankings. In the Senate, the crypto-friendly winners outpace those viewing the industry negatively, 16 to 12.



While Republicans gained control of the Senate, the House was still <a href="https://apnews.com/live/senate-house-election-updates-11-5-2024">up for grabs</a> as of midday Wednesday.&nbsp;



“With the likely Republican sweep, the obstacles for fulfilling [Trump’s] promises will come down to three factors: order of importance in the grand scheme of politics, how sound the policy proposed is, and the personnel hired within the White House and relative agencies,” Blockchain Association government relations director Ron Hammond told me.&nbsp;&nbsp;



FalconX’s David Lawant and Kaitlin Gately said in a Wednesday note that stablecoin legislation is “likely the lowest-hanging fruit.” They also highlighted the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act, which still needs to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fit21-crypto-bill-advances-to-senate">get through the Senate</a> after <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/house-passes-act-fit21-with-bipartisan-support">the House passed</a> it in May with bipartisan support.&nbsp;



CoinShares research head James Butterfill labeled the prospect of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senator-lummis-bitcoin-reserve-bill-crypto-policy">BITCOIN Act</a> — which would establish a US strategic bitcoin reserve — a “key focus.”



Though most of the long-term problems facing the crypto industry will need a legislative solution, Trump can take some actions in the short term, Hammond explained.



“The most immediate: the debanking issue plaguing the industry and course-correcting the hostile approach the banking regulators have taken under the Biden Administration,” he argued.&nbsp;



Speaking of regulators, many are keeping an eye on who Trump could select to replace Gensler as SEC chair — and when.



Trump seemed surprised by the Bitcoin 2024 conference crowd’s raucous applause when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiEIfBatnH8">he said he’d fire Gary</a>. And we know Trump loves big-crowd love.&nbsp;



Hammond told me last month he expected Trump, if elected, to replace Gensler quickly (in January or February). Lawant and Gately pondered whether Trump could select either <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-gary-gensler-crypto-regulation">Hester Peirce or Mark Uyeda</a> (both existing SEC commissioners) to lead the agency; we’ll simply have to wait and see.



One other action to watch out for, the FalconX pros pointed out, will be the crypto-focused advisory council Trump mentioned in July — “tasked with designing transparent regulatory guidance for the industry within the first 100 days of the new administration.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Professional Capital Management founder Anthony Pompliano told <a href="https://x.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1854134157779071247">CNBC</a> on Wednesday morning that while he doesn’t expect Trump to do everything he said he would while on the campaign trail, fulfilling some of the promises would suffice.&nbsp;



Creating a strategic bitcoin reserve, for example, would be a “huge tailwind” that would spur “global game theory,” he explained.&nbsp;



Former SEC senior counsel Ashley Ebersole <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/more-crypto-remarks-likely-coming-from-trump-harris">told me</a> in August that a presidential pro-crypto approach could be as simple as “White House silence” paired with stacking agencies with crypto-forward leaders.



I was reminded of that when Pompliano added: “If he’s going to protect [bitcoin] and not be abrasive, that’s a win.”



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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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Revisiting Trump’s crypto promises after his election win

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



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The November FOMC meeting begins today. Committee members are overwhelmingly expected to deliver a 25-basis point interest rate cut.&nbsp;



This morning’s election results came too late to impact this month’s decision, analysts say. But the potential Republican sweep and resulting market moves leave December’s outcome less certain.&nbsp;



Fed funds futures markets were pricing in a 99.2% likelihood that the committee announces a 25bps cut tomorrow, per CME Group data. Odds of an additional 25bps cut in December are now at 67%.&nbsp;



Donald Trump’s victory could impact the Fed’s leadership and mission. Trump’s planned tax cuts and tariff increases, which he promised on the campaign trail, could, by some economist’s estimates, increase inflation and the federal deficit.&nbsp;



Plus, Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026, giving Trump the opportunity to replace the central bank head. He has already said he will not reappoint Powell, and even mentioned wanting to fire him in 2018.&nbsp;



Trump will also have the opportunity to nominate a replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, whose term ends in January 2026.&nbsp;



Keep your ears open during tomorrow’s press conference, as we expect Powell will face questions about the election and how it impacts future policy. Buckle up; this week is far from over.



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



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.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

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