Together with

Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Bitcoin is getting harder to mine reaching all time highs, a Russian influencer scammed investors out of $22M to fund the Ukrainian army, Uniswap bounces back following a bridge announcement, Ethereum founder reacts to Saylor’s controversial Bitcoin comments, and more.

Let’s dive in.

Market Snapshot

• Crypto markets slipped as Bitcoin ETFs recorded their first net outflows in two weeks (DF)

• Despite the near-term correction, analysts are bullish about a Bitcoin rally after the US presidential election, irrespective of outcome

• Ethereum has slid the past few days, with on-chain data suggesting that high transaction fees (~$4 avg. per transaction) are pushing activity away from the network, ultimately reducing demand for native staking

• A full breakdown of price action and technical analysis for BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, TON, ADA, AVAX, SHIB can be found here: CT 

Headline Roundup
^{_{The major headlines driving crypto markets}}

• Nigeria released and dropped charges against a Binance executive detained for several months (BBG)

• Bitcoin mining difficulty reached an all-time high (CD)

• Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, publicly endorsed Republican John Deaton, who is running against Senator Elizabeth Warren (CT)

• Saylor’s comments on big bank BTC custody are ‘batsh*t insane’ according to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (CT)

• XRP ledger sees surge in active wallets after Elon Musk’s comments (ME)

• Despite moving its Bitcoin to new wallets, Tesla still owns ~$780M worth of Bitcoin (CD) 

• The US government can run a permanent fiscal deficit if it bans or taxes Bitcoin (DH)

• Uniswap is launching a new bridge that allows users to swap crypto assets between nine different blockchains directly from Uniswap (DH)

• Startup booster Cointelegraph Accelerator opened applications for its upcoming cohort (CT)

• Hedge fund Brevan Howard does a significant amount of its crypto trading from the UAE, citing the country’s “sensible regulations” (RT)

• Vietnam aims to be Asia’s leading blockchain research, application, and innovation hub with its newly announced 2030 strategy (CS)

• ‘Assassin's Creed’ maker Ubisoft releases first original NFT game ‘Champions Tactics’ (DC)

• Number of Bitcoin ‘whales’ holding at least 1,000 BTC reach highest levels since 2021 (CT)

• Bernstein analysts predict bitcoin will reach $200,000 by the end of 2025, calling the forecast “conservative'“ (TB)

A Message from Gemini

The US National debt increased by $300,000 while you read this sentence.

Invest in the future of money with Gemini.

M&A Announcements

• Crypto hedge fund managers JellyC and Trovio Asset Management, based in Australia and Singapore, respectively, merged in an effort to attract allocations from institutional investors such as pension funds (BBG)

Token Launches

• Rising Telegram crypto game Tomarket revealed airdrop details ahead of its TOMA token launch (DC)

Venture Capital

• Borderless.xyz, a blockchain based payments firm, emerged from stealth and raised a $3M pre-seed round led by Amity Ventures (TB)

• Arbitrum-based crypto derivatives trading protocol Variational raises $10.3M in seed funding from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures and others.

Regulation

• Japan’s regulators are reluctant to approve cryptocurrency-based ETFs (CT) 

• Ripple dodges SEC case default with last-minute legal play (DC)

• UK will soon introduce laws to regulate stablecoin, says Circle’s head of policy (CB)

• Denmark’s Tax Law Council has recommended introducing a bill that could tax unrealized gains and losses on crypto assets beginning as early as 2026 (CT)

• Ripple should have engaged with US regulators a lot earlier, says the firm’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse (CT)

Cybersecurity

• A Russian influencer known as the ‘Queen of Crypto’ scammed investors out of $22M to fund the Ukrainian army (NYP) 

• A Chinese OTC trader was linked to laundering tens of millions worth of stolen crypto for North Korean hackers (CS)

Extra Reads

• Russia plans to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to evade sweeping Western sanctions (CG)

Chart of the Day

Meme Dump
^{(powered by Gemini Intern)}

Pls send us crypto memes to be featured in the newsletter 🤝

🐦 Follow Us: Visit our X account for constant updates on all things web3, DeFi, and crypto.

💵 Litquidity Ventures: Accredited investors & qualified purchasers within the Litquidity community can gain access to alternative investments such as venture, late-stage growth, and private equity through Litquidity Ventures. Interested? Fill out this form.

☎️ Book a call with Lit: Want to pick Litquidity’s brain on business advice, insights, or just chat to say what’s up? Buy his time here.

📧 Launch your own newsletter: Have great content ideas and looking to launch your own publication? We highly recommend Beehiiv to get started.