Hodler’s Digest, November 17 – 23 – Cointelegraph Magazine

The main news of the week

When Gensler set the launch date, Solana ETF's regulatory filings flooded in

Cboe BZX Exchange filed four 19b-4 filings for asset managers to list Solana's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Nov. 21 — the same day U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler confirmed he would step down in January.

If approved, Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital will list the Solana ETFs on the Cboe BZX exchange.

19b-4s notify the SEC of a rule change proposed by a self-regulatory organization such as a financial regulatory body or stock exchange.

They differ from the Form S-1 registration statements that VanEyck and 21Shares already filed with Solana ETF in late June and Canary Capital filed four months later on Oct. 30.

FTX provides a timeline for creditor and customer compensation payments

The FTX bankruptcy estate has updated its timeline for creditor and ex-client compensation – due to be completed by January 2025 – with first payments expected in March 2025.

According to the crypto exchange's announcement that fell on November 21, FTX will arrange compensation payments in early December with distribution agents who handle the payment process and manage the customer's payment portal. John J. Ray III, interim CEO of FTX Sanctions, said:

“As we continue to take steps to maximize recoveries, we are full steam ahead to reach arrangements with our distribution agents and return proceeds to lenders and customers as quickly as possible.”

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is about to step down.

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, known for his strong stance on cryptocurrency regulation, resigned from the agency in 2015. They will release on January 20, 2025, the securities regulator said in a November 21 notice.

Gensler will leave the agency on the same day crypto-friendly President-elect Donald Trump begins his second term as president, according to the announcement.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to serve with Americans every day on behalf of them and ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world,” Gensler said in a statement.

In July, Trump promised to “fire” Gensler to woo crypto enthusiasts ahead of the November 5 US presidential election.

The president has the power to appoint a chair to lead the SEC, but he cannot force the commissioner to leave the agency entirely, as Gensler plans to do in January.

As MSTR falls by 25%, Microstrategy completes raising $3B to buy more Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy has completed a $3 billion offering of 0% convertible senior notes due December 2029, with plans to use a portion or all of the proceeds to purchase additional bitcoin.

On Nov. 21, the company's stock recovered more than 25%, according to Business Intelligence, according to Google Finance.

The convertible senior notes come at a 55% premium and an implied strike price of around $672 – the predetermined price at which the option holder can buy or sell MicroStrategy Class A common stock.

A 0% senior convertible note means it pays no regular interest to bondholders. These derivatives are sold at a discount and will instead go to value if not converted before the maturity date.

Coinbase CEO to meet with Trump to discuss staff appointments – WSJ

Brian Armstrong, CEO of US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, will meet with Donald Trump as the president-elect continues to announce staff selections to the administration and government department heads.

According to a Nov. 18 Wall Street Journal report, Trump plans to discuss staff appointments privately with Armstrong. The CEO of Coinbase does not appear to have directly endorsed the Republican 2024 campaign or political action committees (PACs), but said the crypto exchange would be ready to work with the Trump administration ahead of the US election.

It's unclear whether Armstrong or Coinbase employees may have a role in the administration of the next US president.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $98,877, Ether (ETH) at $3,319 and XRP at $1.47. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $3.31 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Stellar (XLM) at 137.21%, Hedera (HBAR) at 108.20% and Mantra (OM) at 72.86%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Peanut Squirrel (PNUT) at 35.62%, Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) at 29.96% and Popcat (SOL) (POPCAT) at 23.72%. Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“The good thing about memecoins is that they only get people who are in. [crypto] Mainly speculative reasons and thinking very short term – attracts those people.

Jeffrey Zirlin, co-founder of Sky Mavis

“In this rapidly changing crypto landscape, it cannot be overestimated how important these federal judges and willing partners are to the resolution of issues.”

Adam Moskowitz, Managing Partner at Moskowitz Law Firm

“These options were definitely part of Bitcoin's move to new highs today.”

by Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seifert.

“Instead of doing the right thing, I took the easy way, the cowardly way. I will spend the rest of my life trying to fix it.

Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX

“As long as there is retail distrust, whales may continue to pour into cryptocurrencies with little resistance.”

Santiment, an onchain analysis company

“While the SEC has clearly filed a theory of securities infringement against Kraken, only the findings confirm that the sales, trades and exchanges on Kraken properly connected all Hawaii entities.”

William Orrick, Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of California

Forecast of the week

Will Bitcoin return to $90K next? Traders differ in BTC price reversal possibilities.

After hitting $100,000 on November 22, Bitcoin faced a tough challenge as $300 million in sell-side liquidity blocked its path.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC prices taking over at the Wall Street open.

A trip to a key six-figure high ended in an early breakout as sellers lined up to keep BTC's price from rising — a common feature for Bitcoin at key psychological levels.

“FireCharts shows a massive wall of Bitcoin sales squeezed between the $99.3k – $100k range,” confirmed trading resource Material Indicators in a recent post on X.

Others speculated where a deeper price correction would lead, with popular fake trader Crypto Chase seeing $90,000 in what he called a “best-case scenario.” Crypto Chase stated that this “washout” would be healthy price action to continue above $100,000.

Fellow anonymous trader CJ had a high target centered on the mid-$90,000s.

FUD of the week

South Korea's Delio has declared bankruptcy due to the loss of $1.75 billion in assets

South Korean virtual asset depository platform Delio was declared bankrupt by a court in Seoul on November 22, according to several local press reports. Delio, which owes customers 245 billion won ($1.75 billion), stopped issuing last year.

Delio initiates vetting procedures. Customers can file claims till February 21, 2025, and the first meeting of creditors will be held on March 19, 2025. Reports quoted the court official as saying:

“The borrower has leased and entrusted the customer-deposit virtual assets to the management company, but the majority of them are held and managed on account of FTX.”

Coinbase scammer claims to earn 5 figures every week targeting crypto CEOs

Crypto-phishing scammers are making five-figure weekly incomes by impersonating Coinbase support and targeting high-level crypto executives and software engineers using leaked information.

Nick Neumann, CEO and Bitcoin self-storage solutions provider Casa, was recently called a scammer by “Coinbase support” and said he found out more than he expected after “deciding to turn the tables on him and ask about being a scammer.”

“We make at least five figures a week. We hit $35K two days ago; we do it for a reason, there's money to be made in it,” the scammer replied when asked how much they made.

Neumann posted the conversation on X on November 20 in a video where the fraudster orchestrated the attack by claiming that the password change request had been deleted and a notification had been sent.

US indicts 5 in $11M crypto hacking scheme linked to ‘Spider Scatter'

US prosecutors have charged five people with being part of a ring that defrauded dozens of businesses and individuals to steal $11 million in crypto and confidential information.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said on Nov. 20 that the defendants sent SMS phishing links or SIM-switched individuals and employees of certain companies to steal their work or crypto exchange accounts.

Court documents seen by Cointelegraph list at least 29 alleged victims of crypto-theft. Prosecutors say one victim was robbed of more than $6.3 million worth of crypto after their email and wallet were breached.

The best magazine stories of the week

Crypto has 4 years to grow so big ‘no one can shut it down': Kain Warwick, Infinex

Cain Warwick says that Infinex and other crypto platforms should adopt Uber's model and not become too big and valuable to shut down.

Bitcoin's $100k push sparks the crowd, Vitalik visits the real Moo Deng: Asia Express.

Governments Consider Crypto Tax When Bitcoin Hits $100K, Chinese Judge Says BTC Is Commodity, Crypto Scandal Explodes In Indian Elections, And More

110M Doodles Coffee Cups Appear at McDonald's Across the US: NFT Collector

110 Million Doodles Coffee Cups Launched Across the U.S. McDonald's in Biggest NFT Partnership

Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.