BTC is currently trading around $62,500 and ETH around $2,450. Notable gainers in the last 24 hours are APT, SEI, and FTM. The global crypto market cap is $2.27T, down 0.9% over the last day. DeFi Total Value Locked is ~$82b and BTC dominance is around 58%.
It’s been a particularly busy 24 hours for impactful crypto news. First, the US Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal regarding the ownership of ~$4.4b of seized Bitcoin related to Silk Road. While it’s unclear if the government will do so, media outlets are reporting that this removes a hold on the assets and allows the government to sell all $4.4b of BTC. Such large sales would clearly negatively weigh on the markets, and its unclear why the potential for such sales is not currently doing so. Second, a bankruptcy court approved FTX’s reorganization plan, paving the way for $14.7-16.5b of cash to be returned to creditors. While the exact distribution dates are not yet set, it appears as if small creditors will receive their payments in the current quarter, while large creditors are likely to receive their funds in 1H25. Analysts have suggested $3-8b of the cash could find its way back into crypto, acting as a positive catalyst for the markets. Finally, HBO’s Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery documentary is set to be released today and claims to have identified Satoshi. Bettors on Polymarket currently expect Nick Szabo to be named by the documentary as Satoshi after Len Sassaman was the clear leading candidate until yesterday. Some believe revealing Satoshi’s true identity, should that occur, would benefit Bitcoin’s price if the real Satoshi has passed and therefore cannot sell their estimated $50b of holdings, while others believe it would negatively impact prices as it removes some of the allure and intrigue of Bitcoin.
Notable news includes: Russia’s Energy Minister stated a desire to cut crypto miners’ power during energy shortages; a UN report claimed that Telegram is a hotbed for Southeast Asian organized crime; Trump’s odds of winning the presidency on Polymarket hit their highest mark since Harris accepted the democratic nomination; experts suggested that crypto-friendly Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher could be chosen to lead the US SEC should Trump win the election; financial giant State Street is reportedly exploring tokenized bonds and money market funds; Bitcoin rewards app Fold filed an S-4 with the SEC to go public; crypto exchange Bitget promised to repay effected users after its BGB token crashed 50% before recovering; the prominent cofounder and general manager of the Atom Accelerator DAO that supports Cosmos was removed from his position; and, Ethereum L2 Linea unveiled a proposal outlining steps to decentralize its network.
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Author:
Brian Rudick, Senior Strategist | Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn
Carlos Guzman, Research Analyst | Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn
Toe Bautista, Research Analyst | Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn
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