Bitcoin ETF race has a new player, Binance ends support for BUSD, and more: Hodler’s Digest: Nov. 26 – Dec. 2

Top Stories This Week

Bitcoin ETF race gets 13th entrant, BlackRock revises ETF model

Asset manager Pando Asset has become an unexpected late entrant into the spot Bitcoin ETF race in the United States. On Nov. 29, Pando submitted a Form S-1 — used to register securities with the agency — to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Pando Asset Spot Bitcoin Trust. Like other ETF bids, the trust aims to track Bitcoin’s price with the custody arm of the crypto exchange Coinbase to hold Bitcoin on behalf of the trust. Pando is the 13th applicant for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. and joins the race with a dozen others, including BlackRock, ARK Invest and Grayscale.

Binance will end support for BUSD stablecoin in December

Crypto exchange Binance is winding down the services for its native stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD). According to an announcement, the exchange will cease support for all BUSD products following Paxos halting the minting of new coins. Binance said users should withdraw or convert their existing BUSD into other assets before Dec. 15, prior to it beginning the process of disabling withdrawals for BUSD on Dec. 31. At that point, existing balances will automatically be converted into First Digital USD for certain users.

CME Bitcoin futures show investors betting on $40K BTC price

The demand of institutional investors for Bitcoin (BTC) became evident on Nov. 10 as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin futures flipped Binance’s BTC futures markets in terms of size. According to BTC derivatives metrics, those investors are showing strong confidence in Bitcoin’s potential to break above the $40,000 mark in the short term. CME’s current Bitcoin futures open interest stands at $4.35 billion, the highest since November 2021, when Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $69,000 — a clear indication of heightened interest. The impressive 125% surge in CME’s BTC futures open interest from $1.93 billion in mid-October is undoubtedly tied to the anticipation of the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

ChatGPT’s first year marked by existential fear, lawsuits and boardroom drama

With ChatGPT, OpenAI has developed the most popular artificial intelligence tool in the world. It was launched a year ago, on Nov. 30, 2022, and catapulted to 100 million monthly users within its first three months. In just 12 months, ChatGPT’s existence has contributed to narratives surrounding the extinction of humankind, accusations that OpenAI built it by allegedly committing mass-scale copyright infringement, and a tumultuous CEO firing and rehiring that pundits are still trying to understand.

FTX and Alameda Research cash out $10.8M to Binance, Coinbase, Wintermut

Wallets linked to defunct crypto trading firms FTX and Alameda Research moved $10.8 million to accounts in Binance, Coinbase and Wintermute using eight cryptocurrencies. Blockchain analysis firm Spot On Chain spotted the movement, estimating that the defunct entities have transferred $551 million since Oct. 24 using 59 different cryptocurrency tokens. The funds’ movement dates back to March, when FTX and Alameda began the process of recovering assets for investors.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $38,673, Ether (ETH) at $2,084 and XRP at $0.61. The total market cap is at $1.45 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are TerraClassicUSD (USTC) at 294.40%, Terra Classic (LUNC) at 85.78% and IOTA (IOTA) at 31.53%. 

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Blur (BLUR) at 21.87%, dYdX (ethDYDX) at 13.90% and Gas (GAS) at 10.06%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“I think [Binance’s settlement with the SEC is] a net positive for their company. I think it’s a net positive for our industry.”

Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital

“Obviously, the treatment of CZ and Binance is absurd and only highlights the arbitrary nature of punishment at the hands of the state.”

Arthur Hayes, entrepreneur and former CEO of BitMEX

“Let us not forget that ‘innovation versus regulation’ is a false dichotomy that has for years been peddled by tech companies to evade meaningful accountability and binding regulation.”

Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International

“AI is […] a new type of mind that is rapidly gaining in intelligence, and it stands a serious chance of overtaking humans’ mental faculties and becoming the new apex species on the planet.”

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum

“Don’t be a loser. Get out of FAKE money system. Get into gold, silver, Bitcoin now…. Before it’s too late.”

Robert Kiyosaki, author and entrepreneur

“[Blast] crossed lines in both messaging and execution.”

Dan Robinson, head of research at Paradigm

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin ETF will drive 165% BTC price gain in 2024 — Standard Chartered

Bitcoin is in line to trade at six figures by the end of 2024, the latest forecast from Standard Chartered concludes. Thanks to the United States potentially approving Bitcoin spot price ETFs, BTC/USD has the ability to almost treble from its current $37,700 over the coming 12 months.

“We now expect more price upside to materialize before the halving than we previously did, specifically via the earlier-than-expected introduction of US spot ETFs,” Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s head of EM FX research, west and crypto research wrote. “This suggests a risk that the USD 100,000 level could be reached before end-2024.”

The figure continues the consumer banking giant’s already optimistic vision of how Bitcoin will grow in the coming years. In July, research eyed the declining availability of the BTC supply as a reason to believe that much higher prices were in store.

FUD of the Week

Crypto thieves steal $363M in Nov, the most ‘damaging’ month this year

The cryptocurrency industry has now seen its most “damaging” month for crypto thievery, scams and exploits in 2023, with crypto criminals walking away with $363 million in November, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. Around $316.4 million came from exploits alone, flash loans inflicted $45.5 million in damage, and $1.1 million was lost to various exit scams. 

Bankless controversy forces founders to burn tokens and separate from DAO

Amid the ongoing controversy around cryptocurrency media firm Bankless and the associated decentralized autonomous organization, BanklessDAO, the founders of Bankless have suggested separating the brand from the DAO. Bankless co-founders David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams plan to submit a governance proposal to BanklessDAO to separate the two entities. Hoffman and Adams’ decision to separate Bankless from BanklessDAO came in response to community criticism of BanklessDAO’s application for a grant from Arbitrum.

KyberSwap hacker demands complete control over Kyber company

The hacker behind the $46-million KyberSwap exploit has finally released their conditions for the return of the stolen funds, which include “complete executive control” over the Kyber Network company. On Nov. 30, the KyberSwap hacker sent an on-chain message addressing all relevant and interested parties. The hacker laid out demands, including control over the company, temporary full authority and ownership of its governance mechanism, the KyberDAO, all documents related to the company, and all of the Kyber Network company’s assets.

Top Magazine Pieces of the Week

Outrage that ChatGPT won’t say slurs, Q* ‘breaks encryption’, 99% fake web: AI Eye

A blizzard of AI bullsh*t is taking over the web from the torrent of human outrage that currently lives there.

Real AI use cases in crypto, No. 3: Smart contract audits & cybersecurity

Experts believe AI will become an invaluable tool for smart contract auditing and cybersecurity — but it’s not there yet.

Pudgy Penguins CEO says praise he gets ‘is actually pretty sad’: NFT Creator

“You can’t really be an angry, miserable person and then go click buy on a Pudgy Penguin.”