2024-10-31 13:23

Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as the crypto exchange's CEO last year amid a multi-billion-dollar settlement with the U.S., spoke at a conference in front of a standing-room-only crowd. DUBAI — Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao was greeted with a standing-room-only crowd and ovation in his return to crypto following his release from a U.S. prison. Attendees stood shoulder to shoulder at Binance Blockchain Week to hear Zhao, colloquially known as "CZ," make his first public appearance since his release last month. He served a four-month sentence following his guilty plea for violating the Bank Secrecy Act during his time running the exchange. Zhao took the stage Thursday on the second day of the event, a two-day conference held in Dubai. In the hour or so before his scheduled appearance, the main stage area began filling up and no seats were left half an hour before the scheduled time of his appearance. When he was announced, attendees cheered and pulled out their phones to film him walking up onto the stage. Altcoin Daily founder Austin Arnold, the session's moderator, opened the talk by asking Zhao about his experience in prison. "First question, how was your summer?" he asked, drawing laughter from the room. Zhao smiled at first but grew serious as he delved into the charges he pleaded guilty to — including violating the Bank Secrecy Act — noting that per his plea agreement, he can't speak badly about the deal. "It's not good," he said of prison. "It's less fun than now [at the Binance event]. I think the whole experience is just very limiting in a lot of ways, right? Your freedom is taken away and you have nothing to do, so it gives you a lot of time to reflect." The crypto founder, who spoke about missing his family, friends and colleagues during his time behind bars, said he has no immediate plans to run another crypto exchange. He came back to the sentencing process itself a few times, saying the judge had a tough job but that he was also the first person to go to prison over a Bank Secrecy Act violation, in contrast with TD Bank's recent settlement with U.S. prosecutors in which no individual has so far pleaded guilty to any similar charges. He also noted that while he was in prison, former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris — the Republican and Democratic nominees for U.S. president, respectively — have started talking about crypto on the campaign trail. "I'm just sitting in prison like 'What the hell happened?' What if I waited for two months?" he said. Asked about what's next, Zhao said he's spending at least half of his time on an educational platform called Giggle Academy, something he originally announced last year. The project is aiming to provide digital education services to people who don't have access to educational resources already, he told the audience. "Today there's about 700 to 800 million adults who are illiterate, and two-thirds of them are women. And on top of that, there's about, depending on which report you read, there's about 300 million to 500 million kids who don't go to school," he said. "When you look at educational apps, educational projects, they're all in places where … they're all supplementing the existing education system." Alongside Giggle Academy, Zhao said he's focusing on investments, including in artificial intelligence, biotech and other blockchain projects. Blockchain week Zhao's successor, current Binance CEO Richard Teng, made the rounds on the exposition floor during the first day of the conference, taking photos with attendees both before and after his opening remarks. During opening remarks on Wednesday, Teng said the theme for the upcoming year is "momentum" in the crypto industry, pointing to approvals of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. as an example of forward progress for the industry. Around 4,000 people are in attendance, with 1 million more streaming the panels online, a spokesperson for Binance said. CORRECTION (Oct. 31, 15:06 UTC): Corrects spelling of Zhao's surname throughout. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/10/31/cz-talks-prison-new-educational-venture-at-first-public-appearance-since-release-from-us-jail/

2024-10-31 12:17

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Oct. 31, 2024. Latest Prices CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,140.40 -0.60% Bitcoin (BTC): $72,289.97 +0.11% Ether (ETH): $2,631.15 -1.26% S&P 500: 5,813.67 -0.33% Gold: $2,778.66 -0.35% Nikkei 225: 39,081.25 -0.5% Top Stories Bitcoin appears to be taking a breather as October draws to a close, trading around $72,500 during the late European morning, about 0.3% higher in the last 24 hours. The broader digital asset market has fallen nearly 0.9%, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, with ETH and SOL lower by 1.15% and 0.3%, respectively. Bitcoin has gained over 6% in the last week, so the temporarily muted price action may point toward profit-taking. Nevertheless, spot bitcoin ETFs registered $893 million of inflows on Wednesday, a second consecutive day of over $850 million. The strong showing was almost entirely attributable to BlackRock's IBIT, which added $872 million. ETFs' net inflows are a sign of institutional demand as bitcoin’s dominance continues to grow, traders said. “Strong BTC net inflows indicate robust institutional demand as BTC dominance continues to rise (59.8%),” Augustine Fan, head of insights at DeFi platform SOFA, told CoinDesk. “Equities are trading with a distinctive ‘Trump-win’ flavor despite official betting odds still calling for a 50–50 race. Similar positive skews can be observed in gold and crypto prices with call skews being bid up post-election as a hedge." Skew refers to the shape of the distribution of returns for a financial asset. Positive skew in an options market context indicates that there's an increased demand for call options relative to put options. This means more investors are buying options betting on the price of the asset to go higher. The outcome of next week's presidential election doesn't really matter in the context of mainstream bitcoin adoption through ETFs, according to Darius Sit, the chief investment officer of QCP Capital. While there may be some volatility depending on whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris emerge victorious, the broader integration of bitcoin into American finance through firms like BlackRock is far more important, Sit said in an interview at Hong Kong Fintech Week. "When you have [BlackRock CEO] Larry Fink on CNBC talking about how bitcoin is a store of value, that's when you know crypto has become a part of the American investing narrative," he said. "BlackRock has brought crypto from frontier to mainstream." Chart of the Day The chart shows the 365-day and 30-day moving averages of active bitcoin addresses. The two form a "golden cross" when the latter moves above the former, traditionally an indicator of upward price movement. The six months of sideways movement in BTC's price this year coincided with the 30-day MA falling below the 365-day MA. Source: CryptoQuant - Jamie Crawley Trending Posts Archax to Buy Spanish Broker King & Shaxson Capital Markets to Expand in Europe Coinbase Pours $25M More Into Fairshake as CEO Armstrong Says 'We’re Not Slowing Down' U.S. Treasury Advisory Panel Says Tokenization Could Be Big, But May Need Central Control https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/31/first-mover-americas-bitcoin-returns-to-725k-in-muted-market-activity/

2024-10-31 11:38

The company missed consensus revenue expectations, Wall Street analysts said. Robinhood shares tumbled more than 10% in premarket trading on Thursday following its third-quarter earnings report. JPMorgan said the negative reaction was unsurprising given the stock's outperformance this year. Broker JMP raised its Robinhood price target to $33 from $30 and remained bullish on the stock. Robinhood (HOOD) shares slumped more than 13% on Thursday after the popular platform missed Wall Street's expectations for the third-quarter earnings. Still, one analyst is brushing off the negative reactions and remaining bullish on the stock. The company missed many important revenue metrics, including "account growth, new net assets, trade pricing, new gold account subscriptions," the Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan said in a note. Still, it is managing expenses well, which supported earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, the bank's analysts said. JPMorgan viewed the quarter as a "seasonal deceleration in the business after a robust 1H24 with record net deposit growth." It cut its price target on the shares to $20 from $21, while maintaining its underweight rating on the stock. JPMorgan said Robinhood reported net deposits of $10 billion in the third quarter, the lowest quarterly figure this year and below the bank's estimate of $11.2 billion. Citi (C) said that despite Robinhood's positive commentary for October, it expects the shares to come under pressure due to a top-line miss and recent outperformance. The bank has a neutral rating on Robinhood stock with a $23 price target. However, one Wall Street broker, JMP, stayed positive on the stock, saying Robinhood's earnings were in line with its estimates and just a bit shy of consensus. The broker said that the initial weakness in the shares was a "knee-jerk reaction," as it maintained its bullish outlook on the company and raised its price target to $33 from $30. JMP maintained its rating on the stock at market outperform. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/31/robinhood-slumps-after-third-quarter-earnings-disappoint-analysts/

2024-10-31 09:59

The U.S. presidential election is an important short-term catalyst for Coinbase and the wider industry, and could lead to more regulatory clarity, analysts said. Coinbase third-quarter net revenue missed estimates. Institutional interest in the stock is growing as it becomes a more important component of various equity indices, JMP said. The U.S. presidential election is an important short-term catalyst for both Coinbase and the industry, and may lead to a more benign regulatory backdrop, the analysts said. Coinbase (COIN) shares fell after the crypto exchange reported a top-line miss for the third quarter. The stock dropped 2% to $207.50 in early trading Thursday. The company reported earnings after the close of U.S. markets on Wednesday. KBW noted that total net revenue of $1.1 billion was 3% below its forecast and 5% below consensus estimates. The miss was driven by lower transaction revenues and a drop in subscription and services revenues, the investment bank said. Still, reduced operating expenses more than offset the revenue miss and contributed to a better figure for adjusted EBITDA, said KBW, which has a market perform rating on the stock and a $165 price target. Retail trading volumes were higher than expected but were totally offset by a compression in the retail fee rate, it said, noting that fourth-quarter commentary was also weak. JMP said Coinbase management remains focused on the product roadmap, which is expected to drive further mainstream adoption. The U.S. presidential election is likely to be a positive catalyst for both Coinbase and the wider crypto market, the broker said, as its expects "greater clarity and building consensus among legislators on both sides of the aisle in the coming months." Institutional interest in Coinbase is growing as it has become a more meaningful component of various stock indices, which is a positive development, JMP said. The broker has a market outperform rating on Coinbase shares with a $320 price target. Canaccord noted that Coinbase continued to grow its business model in the quarter, despite lower market volatility and trading volumes, with more revenue coming from recurring sources such as staking and custody. A larger catalyst in the short term could be a change in the regulatory regime following the U.S. election next week, the broker said. A clearer regulatory framework could result in the dismissal of the current Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against Coinbase, Canaccord said. The broker has a buy rating on Coinbase stock with a $280 price target. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/31/coinbase-third-quarter-revenue-misses-estimates-shares-fall-analysts/

2024-10-31 09:49

Strong net flows into bitcoin exchange-traded funds indicate robust institutional demand as BTC dominance rises at the expense of ether, one trader noted. Bitcoin experienced profit-taking after a week of gains, dropping by up to 0.5% over 24 hours before recovering to stabilize just above $72,400. U.S. bitcoin ETFs saw significant inflows for a second day, with more than $893 million invested on Wednesday following $879 million on Tuesday. High ETF inflows indicate robust institutional interest in bitcoin, particularly as its market dominance grows, some traders said. Bitcoin (BTC) markets saw profit-taking over the past 24 hours after a strong week in which the largest cryptocurrency posted a seven-day gain of almost 8%. BTC fell as much as 0.5% before recovering to just over $72,400 during the European morning. It rose as high as $73,200 in early Asian morning hours Wednesday. Major tokens posted losses with Solana’s SOL and BNB Chain’s BNB falling as much as 2.5% while dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 1% after several days of outperformance. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index of the largest tokens by market capitalization, lost 1.3% in the past 24 hours. A breather in the market from a wider pump earlier in the week came amid a second straight day of strong inflows for U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The ETFs recorded over $893 million in inflows on Wednesday after taking in $879 million on Tuesday, the first back-to-back inflows of more than $850 million. Cumulative net inflows since their introduction in January now total $24 billion, according to data tracked by Farside Investors. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for most of Wednesday’s flows, attracting a record $872 million. Other ETFs posted inflows under $12 million, while Bitwise’s BITB was the only product with net outflows, losing $23.9 million. The net inflows are a sign of institutional demand as bitcoin’s dominance continues to grow, traders said. “Strong BTC net inflows indicate robust institutional demand as BTC dominance continues to rise (59.8%) at the expense of ETH,” Augustine Fan, head of insights at DeFi platform SOFA, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. “BTC has outperformed ETH by nearly 10% on a week-on-week basis. “Equities are trading with a distinctive ‘Trump-win’ flavour despite official betting odds still calling for a 50–50 race. Similar positive skews can be observed in gold and crypto prices with call skews being bid up post-election as a hedge,” Fan wrote. Skew refers to the shape of the distribution of returns for a financial asset. Positive skew in an options market context, such gold and cryptocurrency prices, indicates that there's an increased demand for call options relative to put options. This means more investors are buying options betting on the price of the asset to go higher. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/31/bitcoin-prices-take-breather-as-btc-etfs-record-another-day-of-monster-inflows/

2024-10-31 08:58

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink appearing on CNBC means more to QCP's founder and chief investment officer rather than presidential candidates promoting crypto Darius Sit, QCP Capital's co-founder and chief investment officer, says BlackRock entering crypto is more important than Republican candidate Donald Trump re-taking the White House. A crypto-friendly White House would benefit the industry globally, Sit said. HONG KONG — The winner of next week's U.S. presidential election doesn't really matter to Darius Sit, the chief investment officer of QCP Capital, a Singapore-based crypto trading firm. While there may be some short-term volatility in crypto markets depending on whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris becomes the leader of the world's largest economy, what's more important is the broader integration of crypto, especially bitcoin (BTC), into American finance. For example, the widespread adoption of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with BlackRock (BLK), the world's largest asset-management firm, running the biggest. "The biggest change this year has been BlackRock," Sit said in an interview. "Suddenly we have bitcoin being distributed in BlackRock’s extensive network. "When you have [BlackRock CEO] Larry Fink on CNBC talking about how bitcoin is a store of value, that's when you know crypto has become a part of the American investing narrative," he said. "BlackRock has brought crypto from frontier to mainstream." Trump has made part of his election campaign ensuring that U.S. crypto rules are attractive to projects so they can stay onshore, which earned his crypto policy a rare endorsement from CoinDesk. Bettors on Polymarket give Trump a more than 60% chance of winning the election. One might wonder if a U.S. without a hostile Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led by Gary Gensler might raise concerns in jurisdictions like Hong Kong, which have courted American companies to set up shop in places where rules are more certain. It's not just East Asia. Earlier this year, QCP opened in Abu Dhabi, and Sit says he's a fan of the regulator's approach to crypto, explaining that the regulator there “didn’t see crypto as a carve-out of capital markets.” Instead, he said, Abu Dhabi views "digital assets as part of the capital market." Still, a rising tide lifts all ships. “Bitcoin becomes even more of a cornerstone asset if Trump comes in and has more friendly policies,” Sit said, arguing that U.S. growth would likely fuel global opportunities rather than stifle them. Bitcoin is currently trading above $72,000, up 19% from a month earlier, according to CoinDesk Indices data, coming close to challenging its all-time high. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/10/31/blackrocks-entry-into-crypto-matters-more-than-us-election-qcp-capitals-darius-sit-says/