SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to officially step down on January 20, 2025
According to an announcement on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler will officially step down at noon on January 20, 2025. Since taking office on April 17, 2021, Gensler has pushed through a number of important reforms, including those related to capital market efficiency, resilience, and integrity. During his tenure, the SEC has completed thousands of enforcement actions, collected about $21 billion in fines, and returned $2.7 billion to injured investors.
Gensler has taken a strong enforcement stance in the cryptocurrency field, taking action against fraudulent transactions and registration violations. According to SEC data, about 18% of tips in fiscal year 2024 were related to cryptocurrencies. In addition, he has pushed for multiple rule reforms, including shortening the stock settlement cycle to one day, enhancing cyber and climate risk disclosures, and strengthening oversight of investment advisers.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart reported that Cboe BZX Exchange filings show the exchange has proposed to list and trade four Solana-related ETFs on its platform. These ETFs, categorized as "commodity-based trust shares" and filed under Rule 14.11(e)(4), were initiated by Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Funds. If the SEC formally accepts the filings, the final approval deadline is expected to be in early August 2025.
Trump media may plan to launch a cryptocurrency payment service called "TruthFi"
According to The New York Times, former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, recently filed a trademark application to launch a cryptocurrency payment service called "TruthFi". The platform will focus on cryptocurrency payments, financial custody, and digital asset trading.
Charles Schwab plans to launch spot cryptocurrency trading after regulatory improvements
According to Bloomberg, Charles Schwab's incoming CEO Rick Wurster said the company plans to launch spot cryptocurrency trading after U.S. crypto regulations improve. Wurster stated in an interview, "We expect the regulatory environment to change, and we are preparing for that possibility."
Currently, Charles Schwab offers crypto-related ETFs and crypto futures, but has not yet directly entered the spot trading market. Wurster mentioned that cryptocurrencies have attracted a lot of attention, but he personally has no investment plans for now, although he supports clients investing in crypto assets. Wurster will take over as CEO in early 2025, as current CEO Walt Bettinger retires.
Coinbase International will list CoW Protocol perpetual futures contracts
Coinbase International posted on the X platform, announcing that Coinbase International and Coinbase Advanced will add support for CoW Protocol perpetual futures contracts. The COW-PERP market is expected to open at 5:30 PM Beijing time on November 26, 2024 or later.
According to CNBC, Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz shared his views on Bitcoin. He stated that while Bitcoin has seen a strong rebound after the U.S. election, reaching the closely watched $100,000 level is "inevitable" and it may continue to rise, but will ultimately correct. Novogratz pointed out on the "Squawk Box" program that there is a lot of leverage in the cryptocurrency market, and the crypto community is highly leveraged, so a market correction is imminent.
However, Novogratz predicted that Bitcoin will not fall below $80,000, the price level before Trump's election. He also warned that stocks like MicroStrategy, whose trading is similar to Bitcoin leverage trading, may face larger adjustments. In addition, Novogratz advised investors to buy Bitcoin directly rather than companies like MicroStrategy.
Bitcoin miner MARA completes $1 billion convertible preferred note offering
According to the official announcement, Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings, Inc. has completed a $1 billion convertible preferred note offering, including $150 million in notes issued under a purchase option granted to the initial purchasers, which was fully exercised by the initial purchasers on November 19, 2024 and the additional purchase was completed on November 20, 2024.
According to MicroStrategy's announcement, the company has completed a $3 billion zero-coupon convertible senior note offering, maturing in 2029 with a conversion premium of 55% over the market price, or about $672 per share. The net proceeds of about $2.97 billion will be used by MicroStrategy to purchase more Bitcoin and for other corporate purposes.
This bond offering was only made to qualified institutional investors and was not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The bonds can be converted into cash, stock, or a combination of both after conversion. MicroStrategy continues to solidify its position as the "world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin".
Canaan raises $30 million through preferred stock issuance
According to Finance Magnates, Bitcoin miner manufacturer Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) recently signed a securities purchase agreement to sell up to 30,000 shares of Series A-1 preferred stock to an institutional investor at $1,000 per share, raising $30 million to support the development of North American digital mining and equipment. Previously, Canaan completed a Series A financing in September 2024, selling up to 125,000 convertible preferred shares.
Decentralized gaming player network KGeN raises $10 million, led by Aptos Labs
According to the official announcement, the decentralized gaming player network KGeN has announced the completion of a $10 million funding round, led by Aptos Labs, with participation from Game7 DAO and Polygon.
KGeN aims to provide more accurate user profiles for game projects by collecting data on game players, thereby reducing customer acquisition costs. So far, KGeN has mapped over 197 million game player attributes based on 10.8 million players, generating insights into gaming behavior.
According to Greeks.live, 29,000 BTC options will expire this week, with a Put Call Ratio of 1.1 and a maximum pain point of $86,000, for a total notional value of $2.84 billion. At the same time, 164,000 ETH options will expire, with a Put Call Ratio of 0.65 and a maximum pain point of $3,050, for a total notional value of $550 million.
