The cryptocurrency industry continues to anticipate the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States as more investment managers submit modified applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The high level of anticipation has even caused the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to jump positions among derivatives exchanges in terms of Bitcoin (btc) open interest, outperforming traditional crypto exchanges and highlighting demand for a spot Bitcoin product. The CME also recently saw its cash-settled futures contracts surpass 100,000 BTC in volume.
In the week's negative developments, the SEC accused SafeMoon and three of its executives with fraud and sales of unregistered securities related to the SafeMoon (SFM) token.
According to SEC allegations, SafeMoon executives withdrew $200 million worth of assets from the project and misappropriated investor funds despite promising that the funds would be locked in a liquidity pool. Two executives were arrested.
This week's Crypto Biz also features Circle's decision to discontinue consumer accounts, while X's (formerly Twitter) valuation has plummeted a year after Elon Musk took over.
Circle to phase out consumer accounts, but businesses and Mint will remain
Circle of stablecoin issuers will close consumer or individual accounts on Nov. 30, according to emails received by its customers over the previous few days. On the morning of October 31, Circle customers reportedly received an email announcing that individual accounts were being closed "as part of Circle's strategic review." According to the message, โwiring and coining functionsโ would no longer be supported. In an email to Cointelegraph, a Circle representative confirmed that accounts will be closed but that commercial and institutional accounts will remain open.
CME Becomes Second Largest Bitcoin Futures Exchange as Open Interest Surge
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a regulated derivatives exchange that trades Bitcoin futures, is now just behind Binance in terms of notional open interest and ranks second on the list of BTC futures exchanges. CME Open Interest reached $3.58 billion on October 30, pushing the regulated derivatives exchange platform to jump two positions from the previous week. The CME surpassed Bybit and OKX with $2.6 billion and $1.78 billion in open interest, respectively, and is just a few million shy of Binance's $3.9 billion.
X is now worth half of the $44 billion Elon Musk paid for it: Report
Elon Musk's social media platform, X, is worth less than half why the tech billionaire bought it in October 2022, an internal memo reportedly revealed. According to a Bloomberg report on Oct. 30, restricted stock units recently paid to company employees were valued at $45 per share, putting the company's value at around $19 billion, less than half of the $44 billion Musk paid for the company. on October 27, 2022. Musk has made a number of controversial moves since taking over the platform, including changing its name to X, changing many of its content rules, and laying off about 80% of the company's workforce.
Worldcoin claims to have 4 million app downloads and 1 million active users
Worldcoin iris scanning project has reached a new milestone, as its World mobile app has been downloaded more than 4 million times, according to a Nov. 1 blog post from the project team. If CoinGecko eventually confirms this number, it could put World App in sixth place on CoinGecko's list of most downloaded software wallets. Each user who goes through iris verification receives 25 Worldcoin (WLD) tokens, with a current value of approximately $46.50. The project has become popular in developing markets like Argentina, as some participants have seen registering and then selling the coins as a quick way to make a few extra dollars.
World App now has over 1 million monthly active users, 4 million downloads and 22 million transactions. Not bad for six months. pic.twitter.com/pagXxTfc8E
- Tools for humanity (@tfh_technology) November 1, 2023
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