Use of Tether has increased in Venezuela after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on oil exports. A tether spokesperson said that it will freeze addresses linked to evading sanctions. Reuters reported earlier this week that Venezuelan oil company PDVSA was using USDT via intermediaries to bypass U.S. sanctions. Venezuela’s original crypto project, Petro, was shut down earlier this year. Stablecoin issuer Tether has said it will freeze wallets that are using USDT to evade sanctions on oil exports in Venezuela. The decision comes after Reuters reported that Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA increased its use of tether after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on oil exports. The firm froze 41 wallets tied to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list in December. “Tether respects the OFAC SDN list and is committed to working to ensure sanction addresses are frozen properly,” a Tether spokesperson told CoinDesk. PDVSA’s use of USDT, which began last year, has accelerated following the U.S.’s decision to reimpose sanctions due to concerns over Venezuela’s upcoming election. Venezuela began experimenting with cryptocurrencies in 2018, setting up a token called “petro” as it aimed to tackle economic instability spurred by U.S. sanctions. The token was shelved earlier this year following a lack of adoption. Using cryptocurrencies allows PDVSA and its counterparties to avoid transacting in cash that could be seized by the U.S. in foreign bank accounts. Reuters reports that PDVSA uses intermediaries when transacting in tether to make transfers harder to track. OFAC is privy to the use of crypto, having increased its clamp down on the industry over the past year, fining crypto exchange CoinList $1.2 million for aiding Russian users evade sanctions in December after imposing sanctions on a crypto mixer that was allegedly used by hackers in North Korea. In October last year, Tether froze 32 crypto addresses tied to terrorism and warfare in Israel and Ukraine. One year earlier, however, Tether took a stance against freezing wallets tied to sanctioned coin mixing service Tornado Cash. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/24/tether-will-freeze-wallets-evading-venezuelan-sanctions/

Zhao, who has been in a halfway house since late August, was released on Friday. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been released from prison, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Zhao’s release comes two days ahead of his scheduled release date this Sunday, Sep. 29. The BOP is legally allowed to release prisoners early if their release date falls on a weekend or holiday. In April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance. As part of his guilty plea, Zhao also agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down as CEO of the crypto exchange. The exchange agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine to various U.S. regulators to settle related charges. Though custodial sentences for violations of the BSA are unusual (former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2022 was sentenced only to probation), Zhao’s four-month sentence was lenient compared to the three years sought by federal prosecutors. The judge overseeing Zhao’s case, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones of the Western District of Washington, seemed to be swayed by Zhao’s squeaky-clean criminal record and positive reputation – aided by 161 letters of support from his friends, family, and colleagues. Zhao – formerly known as Inmate #88087-510 – served three months in a low-security prison, Lompoc II, on California’s central coast. In August, he was moved to a halfway house in San Pedro, California. At an estimated net worth of $25.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, he is believed to be the richest person to ever go to prison in the U.S. A spokesperson for Zhao declined to comment when reached by CoinDesk. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/09/27/binance-founder-changpeng-cz-zhao-is-a-free-man/

Mango DAO, Mango Labs and Blockworks Foundation agreed to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled charges with Mango DAO, Mango Labs LLC and Blockworks Foundation alleging that the MNGO token was an unregistered security and that the latter entities offered unregistered broker services. The entities will destroy their MNGO tokens and ask crypto exchanges to stop trading the tokens, as well as pay $700,000 total as part of the settlement, which is still subject to a court's approval, the SEC announced Friday in a press release. The settlement comes just over a month after Mango DAO held an open vote on whether it should adopt the settlement offer proposal. The DAO voted on a settlement proposal with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) earlier this week as well, which passed unanimously. Mango DAO members vote on proposals through the MNGO governance token. It's unclear what the project's future will look like without the token. The SEC's press release noted that Mango DAO and Blockworks Foundation (no relation to the news and events business) sold $70 million worth of MNGO tokens starting in August 2021. As part of the settlement, Mango DAO, Blockworks Foundation and Mango Labs are neither admitting nor denying the charges. In a statement, SEC Acting Crypto and Cyber Unit Chief Jorge Tenreiro said any entity that offers "securities-intermediary functions" needs to register or otherwise be exempt from registration with the SEC. "Since the inception of our crypto enforcement program, our view has been that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind a project, what activities they engage in, or whether their activities need to be registered. Nor does engaging in intermediation of securities with the aid of automated or open source software change the nature of such activities," he said in the statement. Last year, Mango Markets – which has struggled to recover since Avraham Eisenberg drained more than $110 million worth of tokens from the exchange in 2022 – tried relaunching the decentralized trading venue. Eisenberg was convicted of fraud and market manipulation tied to his actions around Mango earlier this year, though his sentencing has been pushed to Dec. 12. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/09/27/mango-markets-agrees-to-destroy-mngo-tokens-in-sec-settlement/

The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of Sept. 26-Oct. 2. Friday, Sept. 27 Bedrock to Integrate Chainlink Proof of Reserve After $2M Exploit Involving UniBTC Smart Contract Bedrock released a post-mortem on a vulnerability in the uniBTC smart contract that was exploited, "allowing the exploiter to mint 30.8 uniBTC and swap them for wBTC in Uniswap pools." According to the post: "In response, we paused the vulnerable contract and implemented a fix to mitigate the vulnerability, which was later confirmed to have affected approximately $2 million in liquidity, primarily within the Uniswap pool." Separately, the Chainlink team sent this message: "Following today’s security exploit on Bedrock's platform involving uniBTC, Bedrock is integrating Chainlink Proof of Reserve (PoR) to help secure their minting function and fortify the security of their protocol." (LINK) Thursday, Sept. 26 Helium Mobile Strikes Sponsorship Deal With USC Trojans Helium Mobile, a mobile network enabled by the Helium Network's blockchain-powered wireless infrastructure, says it has entered into a sponsorship deal with the University of Southern California (USC) and its Trojans college sports teams. According to a message from a Helium rep: "By leveraging the world’s first people-built wireless network, Helium Mobile enables users to contribute to coverage and benefit from affordable, reliable phone service. The crypto incentive model rewards subscribers and Hotspot operators for supporting network growth, driving participation in decentralized wireless." In an email, the rep wrote: "Expect stadium branding, activations and on-site giveaways." Ethereum Name Service Developer ENS Labs Integrates With Arianee for 'Onchain Brand Identity Management' ENS Labs, behind the Ethereum Name Service for human-readable blockchain address identifiers, has integrated with Arianee "to enhance onchain brand identity management, according to the team: "This collaboration will enable brands to directly link their corporate domain names to ENS names. Under their ENS domain, companies can authenticate all digital ownerships and tokenization of assets. Luxury watchmaker Breitling is first adopter of this integration, utilizing ENS domains to verify product authenticity and digital ownership. Every Breitling watch will now have a blockchain-based digital passport, verifiable only through the brand’s ENS name." 'Gaia Domain Name' Lauches to Simplify Interactions in Decentralized AI Ecosystem Gaia launched the Gaia Domain Name (GDN) to simplify interactions in its decentralized AI ecosystem. According to the team: "Like Ethereum Name Service, GDN allows users to register readable domain names, replacing complex wallet addresses with intuitive identities. This initiative addresses issues in centralized AI, such as IP theft and bias, by protecting knowledge owners and providing a more accurate data foundation for innovators. GDN also lets domain owners grow nodes and agents linked to their domains, earning token rewards for their contributions." Arthur Hayes-Backed Maelstrom Awards Second Bitcoin Developer Grant to BIP Editor Atack Maelstrom, a decentralization-focused venture firm managed by the family office of BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, announced in a press release Thursday that Jon Atack (GitHub profile) is the second recipient of its Bitcoin Grant Program, to continue his research and development work. According to a bio, Atack started contributing to Bitcoin Core in 2019 and recently was made a maintainer and editor of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) repository. "Bitcoin isn't perfect," Atack said in the press release. "Among other things, it needs further decentralization, continued vigilance, review, bug-fixing, updates, maintenance and improved robustness, performance, privacy, scaling, documentation and user experience." Maestrom awarded its first developer grant earlier this month, after unveiling the program in July. The goal is to fund open-source Bitcoin developers, since unlike many newer crypto projects, Bitcoin has no single company or foundation driving the strategy or providing top-down funding. Bitcoin 'Hybrid' Layer-2 Project BOB Launches DEX Uniswap V3 PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE: BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”), a "hybrid" layer-2 project focused on Bitcoin with Ethereum's EVM compatibility, has launched Uniswap v3, now available via the Oku decentralized exchange aggregator, according to the team: "This integration enhances trading efficiency, reduces slippage and improves liquidity provisioning for users. Additionally, traders and liquidity providers can earn Spice points during BOB Fusion's final season, incentivizing active participation." Hinkal, Privacy-Focused Self-Custodial Protocol, Launches 'Shared Privacy' Hinkal, an institutional self-custodial protocol designed for cross-chain shared privacy, has launched Shared Privacy, "a solution that extends ETH’s privacy protocols to multiple chains and eliminates bootstrapping separate anonymity sets on each chain," according to the team: "This tech is a leap that scales on-chain privacy horizontally across networks and fixes fragmented privacy solutions. It introduces Liquid Privacy Tokens, enabling stakers to earn yield while contributing to privacy via Hinkal’s permissionless, self-custodial Anonymity Staking system." Anoma, RISC Zero Disclose Plan to 'Bring Intents to the ZkVM' Anoma and RISC Zero disclosed that they are "teaming up to bring intents to the zkVM." According to a message from Protocol Village: "Using the Anoma Resource Machine as a backend for RISC Zero’s zkVM will enable intent-centric apps to generate ZK proofs that can be verified by Ethereum or any blockchain. This will enable any chain to verify that user intents have been satisfied. By marrying the user-friendliness of intents with the zkVM’s off-chain computation and on-chain verification, this collaboration will unlock massive scalability for multichain dapps that have the same ease of use as Web2 applications." Hermetica Launches Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin USDh on Stacks Hermetica has launched its bitcoin-backed stablecoin USDh on the Stacks layer-2 network, making it the "first Bitcoin-backed stablecoin to enter the thriving Bitcoin ecosystem," according to the team. "This will transform the way Bitcoiners can store value and earn yields up to 25%, all while maintaining full control of their assets." The effort is leveraging liquidity technology from Velar, a DeFi protocol with Bitcoin finality, according to the team. XProtocol, Built on Base Chain, Unveils XForge as 'World's First Node-Operated DePIN Smartphone' XProtocol, an entertainment-focused blockchain built on the U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, has unveiled what it says is "the world’s first node-operated DePIN smartphone." According to the team, the Web3 startup’s new Android device, XForge, functions as a fully operational blockchain node. Users can participate in the DePIN network directly from their phone, earning rewards, airdrops and cryptocurrency incentives: "XForge represents the next evolution in mobile devices, combining blockchain power with smartphone convenience." Oasys, Arbitrum Foundation, Uprising Launching First Gaming-Focused Arbitrum Orbit Chain Beyond Ethereum Oasys, Arbitrum Foundation, and layer-2 Uprising have teamed up to launch what they say is the first gaming-focused Arbitrum Orbit blockchain beyond Ethereum." According to the team: "Uprising, a layer-2 gaming yield blockchain, and Oasys, a layer-1 gaming chain, are collaborating to enhance Web3 gaming through Arbitrum Orbit technology. This marks the first deployment of Arbitrum Orbit for gaming outside Ethereum, showcasing a shared vision for blockchain gaming's future." Bitcoin Staking Protocol Babylon Forms Strategic Alliance With Asphere to Allow Developers to Deploy Customizable L2s The Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol has entered a strategic alliance with Asphere, a scaling solution from the team behind Ankr, "to empower developers with an end-to-end solution for launching innovative Bitcoin layer 2s, according to the team: "The solution will allow developers to seamlessly deploy highly customizable L2s backed by the unparalleled security of the Bitcoin network. This enables developers to tap into Bitcoin’s vast liquidity, leverage Bitcoin’s $1 trillion market cap for ironclad security, and achieve extremely fast finality when building new use cases within the original blockchain ecosystem." Nomic Brings Bitcoin-Backed 'nBTC' to Berachain Nomic DAO Foundation, supporting the Nomic Network, a blockchain powering a decentralized custody engine for Bitcoin, announced the launch of nBTC, a 1:1 bitcoin-backed token, on Berachain, an Ethereum-compatible layer-1 network. The move follows Nomic’s recent Ethereum upgrade, which made nBTC natively available as an ERC-token on Ethereum, and capable of deployments to EVM-compatible chains, according to the team: "This integration allows users to directly deposit BTC for nBTC, bringing Bitcoin’s substantial liquidity into Berachain’s ecosystem, which operates on a unique proof-of-liquidity consensus model. This will enhance the capabilities of Bitcoin within Berachain’s growing ecosystem, offering developers the ability to integrate nBTC into DeFi protocols and to build BTC-backed applications without relying on centralized intermediaries." ZKVerify, Hyberbridge Team Up to Deliver Cross-Chain ZK proof Verification ZkVerify, a blockchain designed to provide zero-knowledge proof verifications, and Hyperbridge, a so-called coprocessor where verification operations are performed offchain and then the results securely reported back, have teamed up to deliver cross-chain zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) verification, cutting costs by over 90%, according to the team: "ZkVerify handles the computationally heavy proof verification off-chain, enhancing scalability, while Hyperbridge makes verified proofs accessible across multiple blockchain networks, reducing gas fees. This partnership tackles Ethereum's limitations and supports a broader range of cryptographic techniques, fostering innovation and cost-effective ZKP solutions for developers and end-users across various blockchains." Lido, Fireblocks Form Partnership Making It Easier for Institutions to Liquid-Stake ETH Lido, a liquid staking project that's the largest DeFi protocol overall, has partnered with Fireblocks, a digital-asset security firm, to make it easier and more secure for institutions to liquid-stake ETH, according to the team: "This integration allows institutions to stake any amount of ETH and receive liquid stETH, providing flexibility to trade or use their staked assets without locking them up, giving instant liquidity. By simplifying the staking process, this integration makes liquid staking more accessible for retail exchanges and institutions." Theta Labs Launches 'EdgeCloud for Mobile,' Implements AI Video Detection Theta Labs, the developer behind the entertainment-focused blockchain project Theta Network, has launched EdgeCloud for Mobile, allowing Android users to contribute spare GPU power to the Theta EdgeCloud network and earn TFUEL tokens. According to the team: "Available on Google Play, the app lets users provide resources during idle times, supporting AI research in media, healthcare and finance. Using a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), Theta EdgeCloud cuts GPU-intensive task costs by over 50% compared to traditional cloud providers, offering scalable, decentralized AI model training and inference services." The blog post reads: "For the first time ever, the Theta team has implemented a video object detection AI model (VOD_AI) that runs on consumer grade Android mobile devices, delivering true computation at the edge and enabling unparalleled scalability and reach. VOD_AI is a computer vision technique that uses AI to analyze video frames to identify objects by scanning video frames, looking for potential objects and drawing bounding boxes around them. This process is similar to how the human visual cortex works." (THETA) EOS Network Unveils Major Upgrade with 1-Second Transaction Finality EOS Network has successfully launched its groundbreaking Spring 1.0 upgrade, "featuring the Savanna consensus algorithm, which enhances transaction finality to just one second, over 100X faster than previous versions," according to the team: "This significant improvement in speed, security and scalability marks a new chapter for the network. With BLS cryptography, the upgrade reflects EOS’s community commitment for future network development." (EOS) GFT, Red Date Integrate Hedera-Based Stablecoins, EMTECH CBDC Sandbox Into Universal Digital Payments Network GFT, a global IT engineering and solutions provider, and Red Date Technology, a decentralized cloud infrastructure company, have integrated Hedera network-based stablecoins and the EMTECH CBDC Sandbox into the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN). According to the team: "This integration will make it easier to create programmable payment applications using stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on Hedera. In this proof of concept, GFT developed and integrated two custom transaction nodes, connecting the UDPN to digital currency systems via a single transaction gateway—one for stablecoins from the Hedera Stablecoin Studio, and one for CBDCs from the EMTECH CBDC Sandbox." (HBAR) Movement Labs Launches Accelerator 'Move Collective,' Highlights Funding for Early Participants Movement Labs, a network focused on open-source tooling for the Move smart contract language, announced the launch of its elite accelerator program, "Move Collective." According to a press release, "This innovative program is designed to nurture and support the most promising projects in the Movement ecosystem, offering comprehensive support to projects at various stages of development." The following companies "leveraged the resources and support provided by the Move Collective to connect with investors and secure their pre-seed funding:" Lync: $1.5 million for their consumer-centric rollup HelixLabs: $2 million for their innovative cross-chain interoperability solution Nexio: $2.2 million for their parallelized Bitcoin rollup Echelon: $3.5 million for their decentralized lending protocol Meridian: $4 million for their advanced DeFi platform https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/09/25/protocol-village/

A $10 billion surge in stablecoin minting over the past weeks has flooded the crypto market with liquidity, 10X Research's Markus Thielen noted. Impressive gains since the U.S. Federal Reserve's mid-September rate cut and subsequent China stimulus plans have pushed bitcoin (BTC) out of its downtrend, according to a new research report. "FOMO is Back: Are You Holding Enough Bitcoin and Altcoins to Ride the New Wave," is the title of 10X Research's Markus Thielen's latest analysis. "With bitcoin breaking above $65,000, we anticipate a swift move toward $70,000, followed by new all-time highs in the near term." Thielen took note of a sharp increase in stablecoin minting following the Fed's July meeting, at which it left rates unchanged but indicated a September easing was likely. Nearly $10 billion in stablecoin minting ensued in the subsequent weeks, said Thielen, flooding the crypto markets with liquidity and sharply surpassing spot ETF flows. Of particular interest, said Thielen, Circle's USDC accounted for 40% of recent stablecoin inflows, a far higher share versus Tether's USDT than is typical. It's important, he said, as while USDT minting on TRON is typically associated with capital preservation, USDC minting could indicate a rise in DeFi activity. Noting that 55% of currently mined bitcoins are coming from Chinese mining pools, Thielen said that country's massive monetary and fiscal stimulus measures – announced just after the Fed rate cut – could trigger large capital outflows from China and into cryptos. "The likelihood of a Q4 rally is exceptionally high, with gains likely front-loaded," Thielen concluded. "A major surge could be on the horizon, sparking even more FOMO across the crypto space." Bitcoin currently is higher by 2.3% over the past 24 hours and nearly 12% month-over-month to $66,300, its strongest level since late July. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/bitcoin-fomo-is-back-10x-researchs-markus-thielen/

“The new inflow of cash could indirectly push up the price of bitcoin, particularly in the long term perspective,” one analyst said. Bitcoin's price has been positively correlated with the size of the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) balance sheet over the past eight years. The PBOC is considering a massive stimulus of up to 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) to bolster its economy, leading to a surge in Asian stock markets, including a notable rise in the CSI 300 Index. Some say this stimulus could indirectly benefit bitcoin by potentially increasing investments in blockchain and crypto-related ventures. Bitcoin (BTC) prices seem to have tracked the growth in the Chinese central bank's balance sheet over the past eight years, maintaining a notable positive 30-day correlation. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), holds roughly $6.22 trillion worth of U.S. dollars on its balance sheet. At press time, the 30-day correlation coefficient between bitcoin's price and the PBOC's balance sheet size was 0.66, according to data source TradingView. Its always been positive except 2016 and from late 2022 to 2023. On the other hand, as of writing, bitcoin had a -0.88 correlation over 30 days with the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, the lowest on record since 2016. A strong correlation means a co-efficient of 0.6-0.9, and 0.8-1 is considered a very strong correlation. Correlations are a statistical measure of how two variables are related and can be used in financial markets to predict or track asset prices. The positive correlation is noteworthy as early this week, the PBOC said it was considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) of capital into its biggest state banks to increase their capacity to support the struggling economy. The central bank also cut the reserve requirement ratio for mainland banks by 50 basis points (bps) while lowering the seven-day reverse repo rate – the interest rate at which a central bank borrows funds from commercial banks – by 20 bps to 1.5%. BTC has gained nearly 3% this week and is up over 10% for the month, according to CoinDesk data. Asian stocks led by China have also surged in the wake of PBOC's stimulus bazooka. The CSI 300 Index of large-cap shares soared 4.5% on Friday, bringing this week’s gain to 16% in the biggest run since 2008. Like the U.S., China's stimulus aims to lower unemployment and spur business growth. The new inflow of cash could indirectly push up the price of Bitcoin, particularly from a long-term perspective, market analyst Nick Ruck told CoinDesk in a Telegram message on Friday. “The stimulus could lead to increased investment in blockchain companies that may include mining technology and startups,” Ruck said. “Select funds may also be able to increase exposure to crypto-related investments offshore, such as in stock-listed firms and ETFs in Hong Kong.” The bump won’t be limited to bitcoin, some say, as all riskier assets are expected to get a boost in the coming months. “It’s all the green light for global risk markets as U.S. equities hit new ATHs for the 3rd time this week, helped by a rapid-fire of furious stimulus to resuscitate the long-struggling Chinese economy,” Augustine Fan, head of insights at SOFA, told CoinDesk. “This has led macro observers to turn explicitly bullish on all risk assets in the interim, with a seemingly globally synchronized easing move that was reminiscent of the easy-money days from the QE era.” “Naturally, crypto prices are still highly correlated to equity performance. However, investor sentiment seems to have flipped to a ‘buy the dip’ mode, and risk-reward favors a continued rally with no or little downside catalysts in sight,” Fan added. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/bitcoin-prices-show-positive-30-day-correlation-with-chinas-central-bank-balance-sheet/

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Sept. 27, 2024. Latest Prices CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,090.20 +1.76% Bitcoin (BTC): $65,567.06 +1.8% Ether (ETH): $2,649.73 +0.83% S&P 500: 5,745.37 +0.4% Gold: $2,666.73 -0.22% Nikkei 225: 39,829.56 +2.32% Top Stories Bitcoin closed in on a return to $66,000, climbing to its highest point since the start of August. BTC rose to over $65,900 during mid-morning in Europe, an increase of over 3% in the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin then retreated to trade just above $65,500. Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. enjoyed a monster day on Thursday, registering inflows of $365 million and bringing the weekly total to over $600 million. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, is also higher by around 1.8%, with dogecoin leading the gains. DOGE jumped around 9% to nearly $0.125 amid a surge in memecoin prices. China's plans for a huge stimulus package lit a fire under memecoins, with both SHIB and FLOKI registering double-digit gains. Memecoin prices tend to respond positively to liquidity injections because the increased availability of cash nurtures a greater appetite for risk among traders. Memecoins are community-driven and jump when the market displays risk-on behavior. "Leading the gains are the SOL and BTC ecosystems, indicating a strong focus on meme coins as overall liquidity grows. While not nearly as explosive as meme coins on the aforementioned chains, meme coins on Ethereum, such as $PEPE and $SHIB, are also experiencing heightened interest from the market," HashKey OTC CEO Li Liang said. TIA, the token of data-availability network Celestia, posted its best monthly gain this year, confounding traders who'd positioned for a drop in the price as the result of a $1.13 billion token unlock due next month. September's market-beating 40% surge takes place against a background of some market participants seeking downside hedges due to concerns the token unlock due Oct. 31, equivalent to 16% of its total supply, will flood the market and depress prices. However, the bias for shorts, likely stemming from the hedging activity, might have led to a short squeeze, contributing to the TIA rally. "Traders tried to sell ahead of the [unlock] event from Julyish. I'd argue the squeeze has already happened," Jake Ostovskis, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, told CoinDesk. Chart of the Day The chart shows the dollar value locked in the number of active XRP call and put options on Deribit. At $18.7 million, open interest in calls is at least five times greater than in put options, a sign of bias for bullish bets. Source: Amberdata - Omkar Godbole Trending Posts SEC's Gensler Won't Reveal His View on Trump's Bitcoin Reserve, Reiterates Bitcoin Isn't a Security BlackRock Highlights Bitcoin’s Unique Properties as Approved IBIT Options Could Cement Risk-Off Status Binance Founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Could Be Released on Friday https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/first-mover-americas-bitcoin-nears-66k-after-monster-etf-day/

FLOKI tokens could see a price jump as the project’s closeness to GraFun boosts fundamentals. GraFun, a new memecoin launchpad and trading platform on the BNB Chain, is set to launch on September 27, 2024, at 11 am UTC. It introduces a "Fair Curve" mechanism aimed at promoting fair launches and long-term investment in memecoins. GraFun has garnered support from significant players in the crypto ecosystem, including Floki, BNB Chain, DeXe Protocol, HOT Protocol, and strategic partnership with DWF Labs. Floki will own 40% of GraFun, expecting to leverage this to enhance its influence in the BNB Chain memecoin market - boosting the project’s fundamentals. The memecoin issuing and trading frenzy that gripped Solana and Tron blockchains in the past few months could soon see a repeat on the BNB Chain ecosystem, thanks to a protocol that says it is making the process easier and better for users. GraFun, a memecoin launchpad and trading platform exclusive to the BNB Chain network, will be released on September 27 at 11:00 UTC. It uses a unique bonding curve mechanism that allows anyone to fairly launch a memecoin for next to nothing. This is similar to Solana’s runaway hit Pump Fun, but GraFun’s developers say they have made certain key improvements. “It's all about promoting long-term investment and real growth,” GraFun developers explained in an X post. “Unlike the traditional bonding curve, the Fair Curve is community-first. And built to benefit everyone who participates. It gives you the power to be part of a DAO — where decisions are made by you and your fellow token holders.” The project has bagged support from crypto ecosystem project Floki and other industry heavyweights including BNB Chain, DeXe Protocol, and HOT Protocol. DWF Labs is also a strategic partner. “Floki is the biggest memecoin brand on the BNB chain by far, and our role in helping with its recent launch and ensuring its success has shown the kind of sway Floki holds within the BNB ecosystem and in this space as a whole,” Floki developer B told CoinDesk in a message. “With Floki’s backing, GraFun will send a strong message to the industry that it is the de facto platform for creating fair launch memecoins in the space,” B added. Floki will receive 40% ownership of GraFun and get 40% of the revenue generated from the launchpad. Floki’s ownership of GraFun will lead to key benefits for FLOKI and its sister project TokenFi (TOKEN), developers told CoinDesk in a release. What is bonding curve model? With the bonding curve model, anyone can deploy a memecoin or a launchpad that supports this model for next to nothing (e.g., anyone can create a memecoin with GraFun with a few dollars or less), with zero developer experience and without having to make any form of commitment (liquidity, expensive token deployment costs, etc). The memecoin launchpad then allows the market to determine the value of the memecoin: if there is enough demand to push the memecoin to a certain market cap (e.g., $100,000 market cap), it hits a “bonding curve,” and liquidity is automatically added to a decentralized exchange (DEX) and burned or locked - making it possible for anyone to buy the memecoin on DEXs. If a memecoin does not hit the bonding curve, it simply does not get “launched” on a DEX. The memecoin launchpad makes money regardless. The most popular examples of memecoin launchpads that use this kind of model are Pump on Solana - which pioneered such a model - and Tron’s Sun Pump. Pump.fun has made over $110 million in fees in the last 6 months alone and is currently projected to generate $136.5 million in annual fees. SunPump has made $5.2 million in fees since launching a little over a month ago and is currently projected to generate $51.8 million in annual fees. However, the massive amount of tokens launched on Pump and Sun means most tokens fail to reach a bonding curve and end up in losses - leaving a majority of users unhappy in the past months. As CoinDesk previously reported, Pump's quick token creation services mean tens of thousands of tokens have likely been issued since its March launch. However, only a few have reached more than $10 million in market capitalization. GraFun’s USP is the “Fair Curve” model, which developers say minimizes rug-pull risks, reduces price manipulation, and ensures fairer token issuances that result in fewer users losing money. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/09/27/grafun-supported-by-floki-and-dwf-labs-brings-memecoin-frenzy-to-bnb-chain/

BlackRock's latest report shows that bitcoin has a very low correlation to U.S. equities on a trailing six-month basis. Bitcoin is up 22% since the Yen carry trade unwind on Aug. 5, while gold and the S&P 500 are up around 11%. Over 65% of the circulating bitcoin supply has remained unmoved for over a year. Almost all holders are in profit if they held for three years, while they are all in profit if they held for at least five years - Unchained. BlackRock released a report last week, titled "bitcoin as a unique diversifier." The investment giant identified four key points from the report. First, how to analyze bitcoin (BTC) in relation to traditional financial assets due to its fundamental properties, such as not having a quarterly earnings report or a CEO. Second, bitcoin's high volatility can be perceived as a "risky" asset, which contributes to the discussion that whether it is a "risk-on" or "risk-off" asset. The token could be considered a flight-to-safety option because it is scarce, non-sovereign, and decentralized. Lastly, BlackRock pointed out that the long-term adoption of bitcoin may come from global instability. Bitcoin's realized volatility trends downwards Bitcoin's realized volatility continues to trend downwards over time, indicating increased stability. In the early years of bitcoin, its realized volatility used to trade over 200%; however, as the asset matured, so did the volatility. Since 2018, realized volatility has not exceeded 100% and is currently at 50%. As realized volatility decreases and liquidity increases through financial instruments such as the spot and futures market, this may bring in more sophisticated investors such as options traders. This seems to be on the horizon with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) approval of physically settled options tied to BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF. Risk-on or risk-off? BlackRock also asked the question: Is bitcoin risk-on or risk-off? While short-term trading may suggest that bitcoin behaves like a risk-on asset, the data reveals a different narrative over a longer time horizon. According to data from bitcoin custody service Unchained, "almost all holders (99%+) are in profit if they held for just three years. All bitcoin holders in this class are in profit if they held for at least 5 years". We can see this type of mentality on-chain among investors, where over 65% of the circulating bitcoin supply has remained unmoved for more than one year, according to Glassnode. This trend suggests that many investors tend to hold bitcoin because they believe in its store-of-value narrative and view it as a risk-off asset, even though bitcoin has faced multiple 20% corrections in 2024. Low historical correlation with U.S equities BlackRock also showed that bitcoin has a very low correlation to U.S. equities. A graph shows the trailing 6-month S&P 500 correlation with bitcoin; the average correlation is 0.2 since 2015. Sometimes, assets will trade near one-to-one with one another due to external macro factors, most likely in risk-off or liquidity events. The report notes, "These episodes have been short-term in nature and have failed to produce a clear long-term statistically significant correlation relationship." Bitcoin outperforms other risk-on assets after major events Continuing with the theme of having a long-term time preference, BlackRock noted that bitcoin tends to outperform other risk-on assets after 60 days following a major geopolitical event. The U.S.- Iran escalation in 2020 saw bitcoin return 20% after 60 days, outperforming gold and S&P 500. This was also the case for Covid-19, the 2020 U.S. election challenges, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. regional banking crisis, and most recently, the Yen Carry trade unwind on Aug. 5. During the recent Yen carry trade unwind on Aug. 5, which was now 53 days ago, major assets experienced declines on the day. However, bitcoin has risen by 22% since then, with gold and the S&P 500 up roughly 11%. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/blackrock-highlights-bitcoins-unique-properties-believes-btc-is-risk-off-in-the-long-term/

Thursday's bullish trading range marks an end of the recent consolidation and a resumption of the rebound from lows under $53,000. Bitcoin's widening trading range and a move above the August high suggests more gains ahead. The six-month corrective trend in altcoins seems to have ended. Earlier this week, analysts at the Bitfinex crypto exchange said August's $65,200 high is the level to beat for bitcoin (BTC) bulls. The breakout happened Thursday and how. Bitcoin jumped over 3%, the most in nine days, to the highest since July 31 with a wider trading range than Tuesday, according to charting platform TradingView. In other words, the cryptocurrency formed a bullish "outside day" pattern, signaling an end of the recent consolidation below $65,000 and a resumption of the rally from lows under $53,000. "The outside day can form midway in a price trend, just like flags and pennants. Since outside days act as continuation patterns, expect the breakout to be in the same direction as the inbound price trend," investor and technical analysis expert Thomas N. Bulkowski wrote in his book "Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns." The breakout flipped the August high into a support level, shifting focus to the next resistance closer to $70,000. The resistance is identified by the trendline connecting highs registered in March and June. Bitcoin has gained almost 1% so far on Friday, close to $66,000, validating the bullish breakout. The positive bias would be invalidated if prices fell below Thursday's low of $62,805. Altcoin breakout While bitcoin is still stuck in a broad descending channel, the cumulative market capitalization of alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins), or tokens other than market leaders bitcoin and ether, has broken out of a six-month corrective trend. The breakout points to a potential "alt season" ahead, a period characterized by smaller tokens outperforming BTC and ETH. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/bitcoins-outside-day-sets-stage-for-70k-altcoins-break-out-technical-analysis/