2024-11-06 12:00

MicroStrategy and Coinbase both added 12%, with bitcoin miners also gaining more than 10% in pre-market trading. U.S. crypto equities are up double digits across the board as bitcoin climbed above $75,000 to a record. MicroStrategy is approaching a record high, adding 12% in pre-market trading. Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this piece owns shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR), Riot Platforms (RIOT), IREN, Semler Scientific (SMLR) and Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA). U.S. crypto company shares surged in pre-market trading after bitcoin (BTC) jumped above $75,000 on indications Donald Trump was on track to win the U.S. presidential election, an outcome confirmed when he secured more than the 270 electoral college votes needed for victory. MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, added 12%, approaching $255 and is just a few percentage points away from a record high that would represent a 280% climb this year. Crypto exchange Coinbase also gained 12% as did crypto miner Riot Platforms (RIOT). Other miners also rallied, with Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) rising 11% and IREN (IREN) 12%. Other notable mentions include Tokyo-based Metaplanet (3350), which is mimicking Microstrategy's policy of buying bitcoin, and added 24%. The investment adviser has rocketed more than 1,100% year-to date. CEO Simon Gerovich said the company saw a record trading volume of 11.63 billion yen ($76 million). This comes after Semler Scientific (SMLR), another bitcoin investor, saw a 30% increase in its share price yesterday. Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk supported Trump during the election campaign and has voiced his support for cryptocurrencies, advanced 15%. With the uncertainty surrounding the election — which showed the candidates closely matched in opinion polls — the prospect of favorable regulation for crypto industry under Trump could be a new catalyst for a bull run, said André Dragosch, head of research in Europe at Bitwise. “A more pro-crypto stance among U.S. regulators will likely allow a more diverse set of investment opportunities such as ETFs," Dragosch told CoinDesk. "There are still several spot crypto ETFs waiting for the SEC’s approval, including spot ETFs on Solana and XRP. Cryptoasset service providers will be freer to operate and will likely face less pressure by regulators, i.e. the so-called 'Operation Chokepoint 2.0' will likely end.” Bitcoin has generally performed very well after past U.S. elections, regardless of the outcome, he said. "That being said, a Trump win is bound to accelerate the coming bull run in bitcoin and cryptoassets. The latest U.S. election results imply that the political sentiment has significantly shifted towards a pro-crypto stance in the U.S. and will likely accelerate the mainstream adoption of cryptoassets”. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/11/06/crypto-equities-surge-more-than-10-as-us-political-uncertainty-diminishes-with-trump-victory/

2024-11-06 11:00

One of the biggest trends of 2023 among the leading layer-2 projects on Ethereum was the emergence of “blockchain in a box,” where teams encouraged developers to clone their code to spin up new layer 2s. Now, one project in particular, Optimism, appears to be pulling away as the clear leader. Optimism, one of the major layer-2 networks, has managed to get a slew of clients and firms to deploy their own blockchains using its technology, known as the OP Stack. Part of the strategy to get new networks to use the technology is to give out large sums of OP tokens in the form of grants. Officials within the Optimism ecosystem say those tokens are supposed to help different projects kickstart their building on OP Stack. Some argue within the ecosystem it's too early to conclude whether OP Stack has won the layer-2 race. One of the biggest trends of 2023 among the leading layer-2 projects on Ethereum was the emergence of “blockchain in a box,” where the teams encouraged developers to clone their code to spin up new layer 2s. Now, one project in particular appears to be pulling away as the clear leader. And as is often the case in blockchain development, a crucial factor is the money changing hands behind the scenes. Optimism, one of the major layer-2 networks, has managed to get a slew of clients and firms to deploy their own blockchains using Optimism’s technology, with the OP Stack, under open-source software licenses. Optimism’s first major client to come out of OP Stack was Coinbase’s Base — last year. But in recent months, additional projects have broken toward the ecosystem, with Uniswap, Sony and Kraken all sharing plans to deploy new layer-2 networks using the OP Stack. It's a crucial development in the evolution of the broader blockchain universe, since layer-2 networks stand at the heart of developers' efforts to make transactions faster and cheaper in the Ethereum ecosystem. Ethereum, while the second-largest blockchain after Bitcoin, is currently the leading smart-contracts network — meaning it can handle programs and support applications — and it has become the dominant home for decentralized exchanges and lending platforms. Layer-2 blockchains work like auxiliary networks atop Ethereum, providing a venue for transactions to be executed quickly and at a low cost, and then settled down to the base chain. Part of the Optimism Foundation's strategy to get new networks to use their technology is to give out large sums of OP tokens in the form of grants. Officials within the Optimism ecosystem claim that those tokens are supposed to help different projects kickstart their building on OP Stack while contributing to Optimism’s Superchain, a network of OP chains that are connected amongst each other, as well as to Optimism’s governance system, which is known as the Collective. Ultimately, the goal is to reach critical mass — perhaps not unlike the ascendance in the 1980s of VHS over Betamax as the dominant videotape technology. Kraken's OP token grant The deal with Kraken came with a sizable grant, which included an allocation of 25 million OP tokens, worth about $42.5 million when CoinDesk broke the news recently. Kraken's network is called “Ink.” Representatives for World (the recently renamed Worldcoin project), Uniswap and Sony all declined to comment on how many tokens their projects received as part of their packages, but according to Kraken’s Andrew Koller, the creator of Ink, other OP Stack participants also got sizable amounts. Optimism Foundation officials say they leave it up to the projects to disclose the amounts of their grants. In an industry that prides itself on transparency, the unwillingness to share how many OP tokens are designated to those chains raises some questions on how big of a factor those grants played into those deals. A spokesperson with the Optimism Foundation shared with CoinDesk that the Optimism ecosystem has been transparent about their treasury, and that the Kraken deal falls under their “partnerships fund,” which goes “to certain projects to help support initial development of the chain.” Optimism's Treasury and Grant Breakdown According to the data as of Sept. 30, there are about 841 million OP tokens designated towards that kind of funding, with just under 480 million OP tokens already committed. That works out to 361 million remaining, or nearly $480 million at the current OP token price of $1.32. Some smaller projects building layer 2s on the OP Stack have also received tokens. Celo’s governance forum previously disclosed that it would receive up to 6.5 million OP tokens for building on OP Stack, and the Bitcoin-focused BOB project shared that it was still in the negotiating process, but at the time of writing the deal was for about 500,000 OP tokens. The tokens designated to BOB come from a different grant bucket, called Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RPGF), which is distributed through Optimism’s DAO, not the Foundation. The Grants Council, which is part of the DAO, is in charge of distributing those tokens, which takes place over cycles. As of Sept. 30, there’s just shy of 860 million OP tokens under the RPGF bucket, “which goes towards rewarding on-chain impact across Optimism, and the Superchain,” according to a spokesperson at the Optimism Foundation. Projects like Kraken’s Ink will also be eligible for RPGF funding. So has Optimism ultimately won the layer-2 race, and does their grant strategy play into it? The spokesperson at the Optimism Foundation told CoinDesk over email that, “Like many ecosystems in the space, we view grants as ways to support projects and developers, and allocations are earned by achieving agreed-upon growth milestones that are ROI-positive for the whole Collective. We’re all working together to scale the future of Ethereum and when teams in the Superchain are successful, it benefits the entire Ethereum community.” ROI stands for return on investment. Has OP Stack Won The Layer-2 Race? Optimism Foundation’s chief growth officer, Ryan Wyatt, told CoinDesk in an interview that “the adoption of OP Stack being the de facto choice for scaling L2s is starting to happen, which is exciting. Whether you want to call that winning or whatever, I don't know.” The OP token price has fallen a staggering 65% this year, based on pricing from the website DigitalCoinPrice. But that's less than the declines for other major layer-2 tokens, such as Polygon's MATIC, down 70% in 2024, and Arbitrum's ARB, which has slid 72%. Etherum's native cryptocurrency, ETH, is up about 6% year-to-date. Wyatt added: “Whether we're at a point where it's just a fact that if you're going to launch an L2, you're going to just go with OP Stack, I think it's too early to say. But if any large institutions, companies, are coming into this space, and they want to be an L2, I think you start orienting more like, ‘Why would we not choose the OP Stack?’” Competitors, like Offchain Labs, the main developer firm behind layer-2 Arbitrum, have taken a different approach in trying to get users to build with its technology. “There's a strategy that prioritizes announcements, and there's a strategy that prioritizes actually on-chain success and metrics,” Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Offchain Labs, said to CoinDesk “Our strategy is to empower real users and real builders, and build real technology that's empowering new interesting as well as established different use cases of technology.” As for Kraken’s Ink decision to pick OP Stack, Koller told CoinDesk that the reasoning came down to “what is going to allow me to spend the resources of engineering the most effectively," he said. "Do I want to worry too much about security and the protocol upgrades, and having to manage that myself, or do I want to be able to use resources effectively and just make good UX, good tooling, and bring our clients on-chain and make the applications?" Koller said. "That's really what we cared about.” He added: “Let's just focus on experience so we don't have to worry about the complexities of running a blockchain. I think that's why Optimism was a clear choice.” https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/11/06/is-optimisms-superchain-winning-the-ethereum-layer-2-race/

2024-11-06 10:25

Bitcoin dominance approached 61% with Solana dominance also primed to touch record high. Bitcoin broke all-time highs on Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election. Solana continues to outperform ether, making a new cycle high. The total cryptocurrency market cap hit $2.45 trillion, the most since June. Bitcoin (BTC) surged to an all-time high above $75,000 as Republican Donald Trump looked set to clinch the U.S. presidency. It was recently trading around $74,000 on major crypto exchanges. The election result was the news bitcoin needed to break through March's record, and the U.S. market's opening could propel the largest token by market cap to even greater heights. Crypto was one of the biggest winning industries on the Trump triumph, with total market capitalization hitting $2.45 trillion, the highest since June, according to the TradingView metric TOTAL. ETH/BTC ratio slumps The widely watched ratio tracking the relative price strength of ether (ETH) against bitcoin dropped to its lowest level since April 2021, suggesting a fallout in investor demand for the world’s second-largest token. The ether-bitcoin trading pair fell under 0.035 early Wednesday, extending year-to-date losses to more than 34%. Although colloquially called a ratio, ETH/BTC is simply the trading pair of ether against bitcoin on crypto exchanges, which attracts hundreds of millions in daily volumes. An increase indicates that ether is outperforming bitcoin and vice versa. When the price rises, traders consider a preference for ETH beneficial for riskier assets and Ethereum ecosystem bets. A slide indicates a preference for Bitcoin and blockchains other than Ethereum. Over the past five years, the ratio has risen from 0.02 to a peak of above 0.08 in early 2022, meaning ETH quadrupled in value relative to BTC at the time. Since then, it's been on decline. Even as BTC set a lifetime high, ether has yet to break through its high from 2021 and is down 46% from its peak. Year-to-date, bitcoin has returned over 75% to investors, while ether holders have gained just over 14%, according to MarketWatch data. In addition, bitcoin's market cap approached $1.5 trillion at the high and continues to widen and outperform ether. The spread between bitcoin and ether's market cap hit a new high of $1.16 trillion, which coincided with the ETH/BTC ratio continuing to make new lows. Solana's another big winner Solana (SOL) also flexed its muscles against ether. The token is up 10% in the past 24 hours, and also made new cycle highs against ether at 0.072. The Solana market cap dominance approached 3.70%, though it has yet to break into new all-time highs. Profit-taking continues Bitcoin has been climbing higher throughout September, October and into November. CoinDesk research has observed a lot of profit-taking over the past month. As bitcoin made new all-time highs, CoinDesk observed a notable amount of profit-taking, $1.5 billion worth, which coincided with bitcoin's slight pullback from all-time highs. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/11/06/bitcoin-solana-hit-new-cycle-highs-against-ether-as-trump-edges-closer-to-us-presidency/

2024-11-06 09:47

“There is going to be a media frenzy about Elon and how his aggressively backing Trump and the 'Department of Government Efficiency' narrative could have been a deciding factor for a Trump win,” one trader said. Dogecoin (DOGE) continued its winning weekly run, buoyed by a renewed Elon Musk endorsement, jumping over 25% in the past 24 hours and extending its 30-day gains to over 65% to making it the best-performing crypto major. Musk, who has publicly supported and promoted dogecoin since 2021, has been proposing a Department of Government Efficiency — abbreviated as D.O.G.E; a clear nod to the token — as an agency that will make government spending and monetary planning more effective as part of the Republican campaign. And that proposal could be close to reality as Republican Donald Trump won his second term as U.S. president in early European hours Wednesday, according to Fox News. Late Tuesday, bitcoin (BTC), dogecoin and other tokens moved higher as Trump’s odds surged higher on betting marketplaces. Futures tracking DOGE recorded over $30 million in short liquidations over the past 24 hours, an unusually high figure, suggesting part of its move was driven by covering losing bets. Open interest, or the number of unsettled futures bets, on DOGE is up to 8.30 billion tokens as of Wednesday compared to 7 billion tokens on Monday — showing brisk demand and expectations of further market movements. A parody D.O.G.E token on Ethereum is up 77% in the past 24 hours, and is up 500% since a CoinDesk analysis first flagged demand for the memecoin among some traders. Bullish sentiment for DOGE is also showing signs of spilling over to dog-themed tokens, with shiba inu (SHIB), floki (FLOKI) and bonk (BONK) up over 10%. Sector tokens have gained 16% on average, beating a 7.2% rise in the broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) majors index. And there could still be room to grow. Well-known trader ‘unipcs,’ who has been publicly bullish on DOGE and D.O.G.E since earlier this year on Musk’s endorsement, told CoinDesk in an X message today that he expects the two tokens, and bitcoin, to move even higher. “I especially think the 'Elon factor' is not yet priced in for DOGE,” unipcs said. “There is going to be a media frenzy about Elon and how his aggressively backing Trump and the 'Department of Government Efficiency' narrative could have been a deciding factor for a Trump win, and that's going to end up being a key catalyst that fuels both Dogecoin and the D.O.G.E ETH memecoin much higher.” “I do believe many are greatly underestimating just how much higher these assets are going to go from here,” unipcs added. Traders have long perceived Trump’s victory as a bullish catalyst for the industry for his pro-crypto stance and promises to make the U.S. a bitcoin powerhouse. Democrat Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has not made similar promises but said he would introduce regulations to protect certain groups. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/11/06/dogecoin-rockets-25-as-trump-nears-victory-top-trader-signals-more-gains-ahead/

2024-11-06 08:21

Buoyed by donations and votes from a digital asset industry he aggressively courted, Trump won a second term to the White House in his third bid for the U.S.'s highest office. Former U.S. President Donald Trump will once again take the White House, having secured more than enough electoral college votes to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris and auguring a more permissive regulatory environment for crypto in the world's largest economy. Crypto has not been a major issue through this election cycle, though Trump, the Republican candidate for president for a third election in a row, did a great deal of outreach to the crypto industry, by speaking at a bitcoin conference, handing out burgers at a crypto bar and otherwise making statements appealing to the industry, including promising to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. Harris, the Democratic candidate, has on a handful of occasions shared some general comments about supporting the industry but did not delve deeply into her views. On Wednesday morning, AP's live tracker showed Trump winning Wisconsin to gain another 10 votes in the electoral college for a total of 277. He needs only 270 to secure election. Republicans also won control of the Senate, flipping Ohio, Montana and West Virginia's seats. During Trump's first term as president, his regulators introduced a controversial wallet proposal that died under the Biden administration, as well as a special purpose broker dealer license that was later finalized under Gensler. Despite that record, in this campaign cycle Trump has promised to name a new chair to the securities regulator, and vowed that "Bitcoin will be made in the USA" on social media and in speeches. He also promised to free Silk Road developer Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted on multiple charges for creating and operating the dark net marketplace. Trump enjoyed vocal support from sections of the crypto industry as a result of his outreach, building on the support he already drew after selling multiple waves of non-fungible tokens. "Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology, as you know, it's a miracle of cooperation and human achievement and a lot of relationships that are formed. They just did a meeting, a roundtable, with a lot of the leaders, and it's amazing," Trump said at Bitcoin Nashville. "There's a great camaraderie." Trump has also more recently leaned into more authoritarian rhetoric, warning about "the enemy within" the U.S. and promising mass deportations over the past few months of his campaign. The former president's economic policies also rely heavily on imposing tariffs on various imports from the U.S.'s trading partners. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/11/06/trumps-triumph-is-also-cryptos-gensler-regulatory-clouds-likely-to-vanish/

2024-11-06 07:33

An incoming crypto-friendly Trump administration could make allowing crypto ETFs in the U.S. easier, traders say, boosting SOL’s prices. The price of Solana's SOL increased by 17% within 24 hours due to heightened expectations for a Solana ETF, with potential listings from VanEck and 21Shares following Cboe's filings with the SEC in July. This optimism is fueled by expectations of a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment under a potential Trump administration, with predictions of SOL potentially flipping ETH in market cap and reaching $1000. SOL's price surge was accompanied by a market cap increase to over $85 billion, making it the fourth-largest token by market cap. Solana’s SOL jumped 17% in the past 24 hours as Donald Trump's lead over Kamala Harris in the U.S. election renewed odds of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval for the token soon. “Markets are still heavily mispricing a republican sweep and upside for the industry is likely much higher than previously anticipated,” Syncracy Capital co-founder Daniel Cheung said in an X post. “SOL ETF likely happens in Q1 2025 putting SOL in a position to flip ETH and even trade at $1000.” Rennick Palley, founding partner at crypto venture fund Stratos, told CoinDesk in July that SOL was “poised to be the next token with an ETF” as investors widely believe that tokens “won't be viewed as securities by the Trump admin.” In early July, the Cboe submitted 19b-4 filings with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) asking to list VanEck's and 21Shares' potential spot Solana ETFs, which were initially filed in late June. SOL surged over $185 early Wednesday, reaching a market capitalization of over $85 billion that saw it flip BNB Chain’s BNB to become the fourth-largest token behind bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and stablecoin USDT. BTC rose 8.4%, while ETH added 6% in that period. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index of the largest tokens by market capitalization, rose by 7%. Coingecko data shows trading volumes crossed $8.8 billion in the past 24 hours, compared to $3.2 billion over the previous 24-hour period. The surge came as Republican Donald Trump moved closer to becoming U.S. president, leading most key states and grabbing 240 electoral seats of the 270 needed to helm the country. A Trump win is largely perceived as being bullish for the industry's long-term growth, where he is expected to ease crypto regulations and improve the business environment for entrepreneurs. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/11/06/solana-jumps-17-flips-bnb-chain-token-as-trumps-lead-renews-etf-hopes/