The cryptocurrency industry continues to look forward to approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US as more investment managers file amended applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
High expectations lead Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to leapfrog its position among derivatives exchanges in Bitcoin (BTC) open interest, overtaking traditional cryptocurrency exchanges and moving to Bitcoin spot products. highlighted the demand for CME also recently confirmed that the trading volume of cash-settled futures contracts exceeded 100,000 BTC.
In a negative development this week, the SEC has indicted SafeMoon and three of its executives on charges of fraud and sale of unregistered securities regarding the SafeMoon (SFM) token.
The SEC complaint alleges that SafeMoon executives withdrew $200 million worth of assets from the project and misappropriated investor funds, despite promising to keep the funds in a liquidity pool. Two executives were arrested.
This week on Crypto Biz, we feature Circle’s decision to retire its consumer accounts, while the valuation of X (formerly Twitter) has plummeted in the year since it was acquired by Elon Musk.
Circle will phase out consumer accounts, but business and Mint will remain
Stablecoin issuer Circle plans to close consumer or personal accounts on November 30, according to an email customers received the day before. On the morning of October 31st, Circle customers allegedly received an email informing them that their personal accounts would be closed “as part of Circle’s strategic review.” According to the message, “wiring and minting features” will no longer be supported. A Circle representative confirmed in an email to Cointelegraph that the account will be closed, but corporate and institutional accounts will remain open.
CME becomes second-largest Bitcoin futures exchange as open interest surges
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a regulated derivatives exchange that lists Bitcoin futures, currently ranks second on the list of BTC futures exchanges in terms of nominal open interest, behind Binance. On October 30, CME’s open interest reached $3.58 billion, with the regulated derivatives trading platform up two positions from the previous week. CME has overtaken Bybit and OKX in open interest with $2.6 billion and $1.78 billion, respectively, just a few million dollars behind Binance’s $3.9 billion.
X is now worth half the $44 billion paid by Elon Musk: Report
Elon Musk’s social media platform X is worth less than half the price the tech billionaire bought it for in October 2022, an internal memo has reportedly revealed. Bloomberg reported on Oct. 30 that the restricted stock units recently paid to employees of the company were valued at $45 per share, valuing the company at about $19 billion, but Musk That’s less than half of the $44 billion he paid for the company. Since taking over the platform, Musk has made a series of controversial moves, including renaming his brand to X, changing many of its content rules, and laying off about 80% of its employees.
Worldcoin claims 4 million app downloads and 1 million active users
Iris scanning project Worldcoin has reached a new milestone with over 4 million downloads of the mobile World app, according to a November 1 blog post from the project team. If CoinGecko ultimately confirms this number, the World App could move into sixth place on CoinGecko’s list of most downloaded software wallets. Each user who performs iris authentication will receive 25 World Coins (WLD) tokens, currently worth approximately $46.50. The project has gained popularity in developing markets like Argentina, where some participants see it as a quick way to register and sell their coins to make a few extra dollars.
The World App currently has over 1 million monthly active users, 4 million downloads, and 22 million transactions.Not bad for half a year pic.twitter.com/pagXxTfc8E
— Tools for humanity (@tfh_technology) November 1, 2023
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