Key Updates on Blockchain Early Reference for October 22 2024

CoinDesk Report:
00:00-09:00
Keywords: Paradigm Co-founder: Stablecoins are the Next Killer Application of Cryptocurrencies, Musk: xAI API Now Live, CME Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Reaches All-Time High, US CFTC Chairman Calls on Congress to Advance Cryptocurrency and Election Betting Legislation, “Ancient Whale” from 2009 Has Sold Bitcoin Worth $9.68 Million, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Political Donations for US Presidential Election Near $200 Million, Australian Securities and Investments Commission: Former CEO of Cryptocurrency Exchange Mine Digital Charged with Fraud, Chainlink Collaborates with Swift and Other Major Financial Institutions to Leverage AI and Blockchain for Improving Corporate Behavioural Data Reporting, Nomura Holdings-backed Cryptocurrency Custodian Komainu Engages in First Acquisition, Grass: Airdrop Query Now Open, Will Airdrop 100 Million GRASS Tokens to Early Users, Ripple Co-founder Donates Another $10 Million Worth of XRP Tokens to Harris, Coinbase Seeks Documentation Support from FDIC on Whether Banking Regulatory Agencies Have Unilaterally Prohibited Deposit Institutions from Holding Digital Assets.
1. According to reports, Matt Huang, co-founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm, stated on X that “stablecoins are the next killer application of cryptocurrencies – it’s obvious to everyone in the cryptocurrency industry, but not so obvious to the outside world. Congratulations to Stripe and Bridge.” Previously, payment company Stripe acquired stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking the largest acquisition in the cryptocurrency field.
2. Reports indicate that Musk announced on social media platform “X” that the xAI API is now live.
3. According to Lookonchain, a whale has sold 7,220 AAVE tokens (approximately $1.1 million) to purchase UNI and DYDX. The whale currently holds 10,000 AAVE tokens (approximately $1.53 million) with a profit of $883,000, 546,100 UNI tokens (approximately $4.12 million) with a loss of $34,000, and 647,630 DYDX tokens (approximately $803,000) with a loss of $834,000.
4. Lookonchain data shows that on October 21, the data for US Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs were as follows: 1) Nine US Ethereum ETFs saw a net outflow of 3,081 ETH, equivalent to approximately $8.24 million. Among them, Grayscale ETHE had an outflow of 6,178 ETH, equivalent to approximately $16.51 million, with a current holding of 1,619,808 ETH, equivalent to approximately $4.33 billion. 2) Ten US Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of 4,330 BTC, equivalent to approximately $290.85 million. Among them, ARK21Shares had an inflow of 1,598 BTC, equivalent to approximately $107.35 million, with a current holding of 52,347 BTC, equivalent to approximately $3.52 billion.
5. Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero, stated that there is a critical issue with the Across Protocol token contract, allowing tokens to be extracted from any wallet and zeroing out the account balance. He suggested transferring ownership of the contract to an immutable new smart contract to prevent over-minting and token destruction.
6. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has requested more time from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in regards to cryptocurrency cost basis reporting.
7. According to reports, Federal Reserve’s Kashkari stated that very few transactions occur in cryptocurrencies unless they involve drugs or illegal activities.
8. According to data from The Block, as of October 18, the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached a historical high of over $12.26 billion. This number has grown by over 36% in the past two weeks, surpassing the previous historical high set in April by over 3.5%. The surge in open positions in recent weeks represents a significant increase from the levels seen during the summer. This is the highest recorded level since April 1, when the open position on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reached $11.84 billion.
9. Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated at the SIFMA annual meeting that it is not expected that Congress will take action on cryptocurrency legislation until 2024. He urged Congress to focus on cryptocurrency asset regulation and election betting, emphasizing the importance of these areas. Behnam pointed out that although the FIT21 bill has been passed in the House of Representatives, it has not made further progress in Congress. In addition, the CFTC continues its legal dispute with prediction market Kalshi, which has started offering bets on the US presidential election. The CFTC is working to overturn the court’s ruling and regain regulatory authority in this area.
10. According to Arkham data, an “ancient whale” that has been mining Bitcoin since its early days has recently made large-scale sell-offs. Tracking data shows that the address started mining thousands of BTC just five days after the birth of the first block in 2009 and has now sold BTC worth $9.68 million, with $72.09 million worth of BTC remaining.
11. According to Federal Reserve’s Schmiedel, the personal view is that cryptocurrencies are a risky asset and a playground, not a currency.


12. Since the 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September, Bitcoin has risen by 14%, while Ethereum has only risen by 12%. Kaiko Research points out that Ethereum’s institutional demand is weaker, leading to the lowest ETH/BTC ratio since April 2021. Bitcoin has benefited from inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while Ethereum has not performed as well as other mainstream cryptocurrencies. Additionally, analysts believe that Ethereum is unlikely to surpass Bitcoin sustainably until there is a significant shift in institutional demand.
13. According to CloverPool data, the total network hash rate of Bitcoin has now reached a record high of 722.46 EH/s.
14. According to Bitcoin Magazine, the combined trading volume of the Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity reached $1.37 billion on October 21.
15. According to Bitcoin Magazine, political donations in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for the US presidential election are nearing $200 million.
16. According to Farside Investors monitoring data, the funding data for US spot Bitcoin ETFs and spot Ethereum ETFs on October 21 are as follows: Spot Bitcoin ETFs: BITB had a net outflow of $22.1 million, ARKB had a net outflow of $6.1 million, HODL had a net outflow of $7.6 million, GBTC had a net outflow of $4.8 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs: ETHE had a net outflow of $29.6 million, ETHV had a net inflow of $3.9 million.
17. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission stated that the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Mine Digital has been charged with fraud.
18. Data provider Chainlink (LINK) has announced a collaboration with major financial market participants such as Euroclear, Swift, and Franklin Templeton to launch an initiative that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to make corporate behavioral data more easily accessible and standardized. The project aims to address long-standing challenges in the financial field, such as the lack of standardized and real-time data on corporate behavior, such as mergers, dividends, and stock splits, which are highly fragmented in markets such as Europe. Automating and standardizing this information can significantly reduce operational inefficiencies, which currently result in millions of dollars in losses for companies each year due to errors and manual data processing, and is commonly used by investors.
19. Komainu, a cryptocurrency custodian backed by Nomura Holdings, is acquiring Singaporean competitor Propine Holdings Pte Ltd. This is its first acquisition. Paul Frost-Smith, Co-CEO of Komainu, stated in an interview that the acquisition of Propine is awaiting approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and he declined to disclose the price of Komainu’s acquisition of Propine. Frost-Smith said that Komainu will also apply for a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore, which will allow the company to provide comprehensive payment services. He mentioned that the company has seen a growing demand from Singaporean private banks for consulting services, as well as hedge funds and other asset management companies for collateral management services.
20. Grass Foundation has announced the Airdrop One program and opened the Airdrop Query, with the claim not yet live. It will distribute 100 million GRASS tokens, accounting for 10% of the total supply, to eligible users: 9% to users who obtained GrassPoints in the first phase (network snapshot); 0.5% to GigaBuds NFT holders; and 0.5% to users who install desktop nodes or the Saga application. The network snapshot includes users who have obtained more than 500 GrassPoints within a given period.
21. Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, announced on Monday that he has donated an additional $10 million worth of XRP to support Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Larsen donated $10 million to the prominent Democratic political action committee Future Forward, as the Harris campaign team and related organizations had a record-breaking fundraising quarter. Larsen confirmed this report on Twitter and noted that the donation was made in the form of XRP tokens.
22. Coinbase is seeking documentation support from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regarding whether banking regulatory agencies have unilaterally prohibited deposit institutions from holding digital assets. The first request for documentation details the alleged upper limit or quota on the amount of digital assets that the FDIC has imposed on US deposit institutions. The application was submitted through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which requires US administrative agencies such as the FDIC to disclose internal information in cases of public demand. The second application submitted by Coinbase to the FDIC requests information on the types of FOIA applications submitted to banking regulatory agencies since early 2022.