Saylor deems Bitcoin winner over major asset classes as downturn persists; Ethereum outperforming BTC after merge

The biggest news in the cryptoverse for Nov. 2 includes Saylor saying that Bitcoin is winning over gold and other major asset classes, JPMorgan executing its first DeFi transaction, EU’s MiCA targeting crypto influencers, and Ethereum outperforming Bitcoin post-merge.

CryptoSlate Top Stories

Saylor says ‘Bitcoin is winning,’ deems gold a 19th century solution as MicroStrategy outperforms major asset classes

MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor said that his company’s MSTR has outperformed all asset classes it analyzed, largely due to its Bitcoin-heavy portfolio.

Saylor added that Bitcoin is a better store of wealth than Gold. Since MicroStrategy delved into crypto in August 2020, Bitcoin is up 72%, while Gold has declined by 19%.

JPMorgan executes first DeFi transaction on Polygon

Legacy investment bank JPMorgan participated in Singapore’s Project Guardian to complete its first DeFi transaction on Polygon. It facilitated a cross-currency transaction involving tokenized Japanese Yen and Singapore Dollar.

In addition, JPMorgan built an institutional wallet for institutions to trade via approved DeFi protocols.

Bitcoin remains range bound as Fed enacts 4th consecutive 75 basis point rate hike

As expected, the Fed has raised interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) for the fourth time rolling. Following the announcement, Bitcoin surged to a high of $20,700, but has dropped to $20,166 as of press time.

Circle, Paxos secure regulatory approval from Singapore financial watchdog

Stablecoin issuers Paxos and Circle have received approvals from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to extend their crypto payment services in the country.

The license approval received by Paxos will allow it to offer all its blockchain products to the Asian market. Circle’s in-principle approval empowers it to facilitate cross-border and domestic payment services in Singapore.

MetaMask onboards NFTBank to handle pricing solution for its new NFT portfolio platform

Aggregating pricing information for NFTs has been a problem facing NFT holders. However, NFTBank has developed a machine-learning-based algorithm that computes the value of any NFT and makes it visible via its NFT portfolio product.

MetaMask has moved to integrate the NFTBank portfolio into its crypto wallet, so users can easily view the value of their NFT collections at a glance.

Europe targets crypto influencers with new MiCA clause

A clause in the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill suggests that crypto influencers may be mandated to disclose their interest in crypto assets before publicly discussing them.

According to the clause, a person who comments on a crypto asset via social media and profits from his promotion without disclosing his position will be considered market manipulation and prosecuted duly.

Galaxy Digital, BitMex, DCG announce staff cuts

The bear market has forced leading companies  Galaxy Digital, BitMex, and Digital Currency Group (DCG) to consider laying off their staff.

Galaxy Digital plans to lay off 20% of its 375 staff, while DCG will cut ties with 10% of its 100 employees. BitMex said it will lay off an additional 30% after it laid off 25% of its staff in April.

Ripple XRP Ledger integrates NFTs, Euro Stasis stablecoin

The Ripple community has passed the XLS-20 proposal which will see the Ripple XRP Ledger (XRPL) offer support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Ripple also announced the successful integration of the Euro-pegged stablecoin Stasis Euro (EURS) into the XRPL.

Hackers attack Deribit hot wallets, steal $28M in crypto

Crypto derivatives platform Deribit confirmed that its hot wallets was comprised and Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC worth approximately $28 million stolen.

Deribit has moved to halt withdrawals, but assured users that their funds were safe and any losses incurred will be covered by the company.

New Messari Q3 report on Polygon – bullish on growth of ecosystem

The state of Polygon report released by Messari revealed that by the end of the third quarter, the active addresses on Polygon reached an all-time high of 6 million, as its new addresses spiked by 180% QoQ.

Much of the ecosystem’s growth came from the NFT sector, which saw about 5 million users join the network in August, and completed over 50 million transactions. Gaming transactions also spiked by 100% in September, to reach an all-time high of 15 million transactions.

Bitcoin mining firm Iris Energy on verge of $103M loan default

The crypto bear market has caught up with BTC mining firm Iris Energy as its monthly mining revenue has declined to $2 million.

However, it holds a $103 million loan from NYDIG, which requires it to repay about $7 million per month.

Due to the low mining margin, Iris Energy may be unable to meet its monthly repayment schedule and risk getting its mining equipment held as collateral confisticated by NYDIG.

Alameda sells over $200M in stablecoins to exchanges; FTT token comprises majority of its $14B in assets

On-chain insights from Arkham reveals that Alameda Research sold $284 million worth of stablecoins to FTX and Binance between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2.

A look into Alameda Research’s crypto portfolio shows that it holds about $5.82 billion worth of FTT tokens, and roughly $1.2 billion worth of SOL tokens.

Crypto community bombard CZ with Binance-Twitter integration questions

During a Twitter Space AMA, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said that there is no official discussion between Elon Musk-led Twitter and Binance to integrate crypto payments into the social media platform.

With hopes that Elon Musk may consider crypto payments for Twitter, CZ said that the crypto community should give Elon time to settle in and release his actions plans, so Binance can see how to help make it a reality.

Research Highlight

Ethereum maintains dominance against Bitcoin post-merge

On-chain data analyzed by CryptoSlate indicates that Ethereum has gained dominance against Bitcoin. The BTC-ETH Dominance metric by Glassnode shows that Post-merge, Ethereum traded below the pink line which implies that ETH is outperforming.

News from around the Cryptoverse

Binance considers buying banks

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao  told Bloomberg that he wants to buy banks so that his exchange can become a bridge between traditional finance and crypto.

 Coinbase exec steps down

Coinbase Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee has left his role as the company restructures its product, engineering and design teams.

Chatterjee will continue to serve as an advisory to Coinbase until Feb. 3, 2023.

Crypto Market

In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) decreased by -1.35%%  to trade at $20,195, while Ethereum (ETH) also decreased by -4.05% to trade at $1,512.

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