Bitcoin’s $233K Forecast, SEC X Account Hacker Arrested, and More: Hodler’s Digest, October 13

The main news of the week

Trump's global financial freedom token has crashed and burned

Former US President Donald Trump's token launch was a big deal.

On October 16, former US President Donald Trump launched the World Freedom Financial (WLFI) token. The token website said it will allow investors to gain voting rights in the future decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol.

However, after almost a full day of trading, the token sales were very heavy. As of 10:00 a.m. UTC on October 17, the token's website showed that 848.63 million WMFI (12.7 million worth based on the presale price) had been sold, with an additional 19.1 billion coins ($287 million) remaining unsold. The amount sold on the first day is only 4.24% of the total.

A few reasons explain why the token failed. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, WMFI cannot be transferred from one wallet to another. This means that accredited investors cannot sell Tok to non-accredited individuals, nor can anyone outside of the US sell it to a US resident.

Furthermore, despite selling only a few hundred million tokens, the website could not handle even this small amount of traffic. Some users have reported receiving a “This page is not working” message when trying to purchase tokens.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs see $556m inflows on biggest day since June

US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their biggest one-day inflow in more than four months, with inflows exceeding half a billion dollars.

11 ETFs saw $555.9 million in inflows on Oct. 14, their biggest daily volume since early June, according to data from Farside Investors. The big day came when Bitcoin hit a two-week high of $66,500 in late trading.

ETF Store President Nate Gerasi called it a “monster day” for spot BTC ETFs, which are now approaching $20 billion in net income over the past 10 months.

In an October 15 X post, “It's simply ridiculous and destroys every assumption of pre-launch interest. “This is not ‘Degen Retail', which advisors and institutional investors continue to use slowly.

Fidelity Wise Bitcoin Base Fund (FBTC) was the leader of the pack with $239.3 million in inflows – the highest since June 4.

Warren, Deaton spar on crypto in the first debate for the US Senate seat

Senator Elizabeth Warren and crypto advocate John Deaton exchange views on crypto policy in the first debate of their race to become the United States Senator from Massachusetts.

During the Oct. 15 debate, Republican candidate Dayton called out Democratic rival and incumbent Warren for focusing on building an “anti-crypto army” instead of prioritizing other issues that affect the state's lower and middle class.

“Illegal immigration is bankrupting the country, inflation is forcing regular people out of the economy. […] “Why is this senator going to wake up one day and build an anti-crypto army with all that,” Deaton said.

Warren said she is “fine” with people who want to buy and sell crypto but want to make sure the industry “follows the same rules” as banks and stockbrokers — namely consumer protection and anti-terrorism laws.

FBI Arrests Hacker Behind SEC Approval of Fake Bitcoin ETF

A 25-year-old man from Athens, Alabama was arrested by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in January for hacking the Securities and Exchange Commission's official X account.

In an Oct. 17 statement, Eric Council Jr. was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and instrument fraud.

Federal authorities say Council was accused of hacking the SEC X account in January 2024 and posting a fake message on January 9 that the SEC had approved the first Bitcoin exchange in the United States.

The false announcement caused Bitcoin's price to rise above $1,000 following X's post, sending further shockwaves through the markets.

SEC Approves Listings of NYSE, CBOE Bitcoin Options ETFs

On October 18, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved applications from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to list the long-awaited options for the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Options trading is now available for 11 NYSE-approved ETF providers, including Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, ARK21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, Franklin Bitcoin ETF, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF. , BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange also filed an application in August 2024 through a rule change to list options for bitcoin ETF providers.

This change in regulatory policy puts Bitcoin ETF options in the same category as other commodity-based ETFs that the SEC has allowed to list on the CBOE, with the exception of Greyscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $67,759, Ether (ETH) at $2,625 and XRP at $0.54. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $2.32 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were BOOK OF MEME (BOME) at 54.05%, Cat in a Dog World (MEW) at 49.77% and Athena (ENA) at 40.45%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Maker (MKR) at 12.33%, Helium (HNT) at 9.16% and Uniswap (UNI) at 8.19%. Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“Ethereum should feel like one ecosystem, not 34 different blockchains.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin

“While Trump is more favorable to the industry, we hope that Harris can provide more support than Biden.”

Alex Thorne, head of firm-wide research at Galaxy Digital.

“Bear will only be surprised if BTC breaks below $58.8k.”

Matthew Hyland, independent crypto analyst

“Given all of these circumstances, we respectfully submit that the only appropriate sentence for Nishad is a period of time served and supervised release.”

Nishad Singh's lawyers

“Interestingly, the swing in open interest in ETH, with calls sold at about 2.5-times more than bought, suggests that traders see it as limited for now.”

Deriv co-founder Nick Forster

“Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto-assets can serve as both inflation and store of value. For us, it's no surprise to learn that Americans are more focused on where their candidates stand on crypto.

Craig Salem, Chief Legal Officer at Grayscale

Forecast of the week

Different this time? Bitcoin RSI Says $233K BTC Price Possible By 2025

Bitcoin is technically on track to hit $233,000 – and that could come as early as Q1 2025.

In a new BTC price forecast, X Analytics account Bitcoindata21 used the Relative Strength Index (RSI) to predict six figures for BTC/USD.

Bitcoin price action is currently consolidating around $65,000, but the coming months have the potential to change the market.

Applying the standard deviation to the monthly RSI, Bitcoindata21 suggests that the peak of the current bull market may be close to a quarter of a million dollars.

This is possible with reference to historical highs in the monthly RSI readings, which correspond to breakout surfaces on BTC/USD.

“The monthly RSI trend channel is around 88.6 in Q1 2025,” Bitcoindata21 said. “If you're waiting to be hit, you're going to believe this time is different.”

FUD of the week

Sui's price rally sparked allegations of a $400m insider

Sui Token's recent triple-digit rally has sparked accusations of insider trading among cryptocurrency investors, despite impressive price gains.

Sui has risen more than 120% in the past month to $2.25 as of 10:13 am UTC on October 14. The token is up more than 16% in the past week, according to Cointelegraph data.

However, despite Sui Token's strong price action, allegations of insider trading have been raised.

Wallets associated with SUI's initial coin offering reportedly sold more than $400 million worth of tokens at the rally, according to anonymous crypto analyst Berhanu, who posted the information on X on Oct. 14.

“Insiders (including what could be a large base wallet) have sold $400 million worth of tokens in the process, have already started selling material quantities at very low prices and are accelerating their sales at those higher levels.”

In an Oct. 14 statement posted on the X forum, Sui denied allegations of insider trading;[i]The occupants were not involved in any pre-sale or tampering with lock keys.

Register users targeted by malicious ‘clear signature' phishing email.

New scam emails are targeting Ledger users and trying to steal their crypto holdings.

The purpose of the phishing emails is to convince users to enable a security feature called “Ledger Clear Signing” by October 31 so they can continue using their email devices.

The emails – sent from addresses not linked to Ledger – direct users to a malicious link to activate a fake security feature. The phishing email reads:

“To continue using your Ledger device securely, enabling ClearSignature is mandatory from November 1, 2024. This feature is essential to protect your assets from phishing attacks and fraudulent activities.”

A $650 million defamation lawsuit is about to go to court.

Chainalysis is powered by Exceptional Media Ltd., the company behind the YieldNodes blockchain investment project. Accused. According to legal documents provided by Exclusive Media, Chainalysis falsely labeled the YieldNodes project an “investment scam.”

Special Media is seeking at least $650 million in damages for damages to its name and client. He also accuses malicious intent.

In the time since the original filing, Chinalysis' legal team has filed multiple motions to dismiss. According to Chainalysis, Exceptional Media and YieldNodes have failed to confirm that the YieldNodes project is not a scam or provide a rebuttal to Chainalysis' allegations.

“The complaint fails to allege that the complaint is false,” according to a court document filed by Chinalysis' legal team.

Magazine stories of the week

Jimoni worries about CryptoPunks: The NFT collector is ‘overbought'

“I bought the monkey for $150,000 and wanted to sell it for $5 million in 5 years,” says the collector.

Fake Rabi Wallet Scam Linked to Dubai Crypto CEO and Many Other Victims

In February, Rabi's fake wallet scam found $1.6 million lost in crypto to a wallet called “Konpyl,” but the rabbit hole runs deep.

Edgelord version of 3AC's big fat bet on memecoin supercycle: Asia Express

3AC's memecoin gambling, bitcoin discount in South Korea, Philippines crypto scam saga gets even more brutal, and more.

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Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.