Bitcoin’s ‘Shocktober,’ New Crypto ATHs, Stablecoins in Singapore + More News

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news

• Data indicates that a supply shock (driven by long-term holders) contributed to bitcoin (BTC)’s rise to record levels in October, as, despite the latest rally, there has been little profit-taking from long-term holders, Kraken said in their latest report, named Shocktober. “Renewed demand for BTC is increasingly clear when looking at active addresses, new addresses, transaction count, velocity, and other metrics; since September, active addresses, new addresses, transaction count, and 1-year active supply velocity have risen +10.3%, +4.7%, +10.5%, and +4.9%, respectively,” they said, adding that their data indicates that much of this jump in network activity is attributable to BTC “whales.”
• Rising prices of cryptoassets and increased weekly inflows caused assets under management (AUM) to increase by 45.5% in October to a new all-time high of USD 74.7bn, CryptoCompare said in their latest report. Average daily volumes also rose in October to USD 802m (43.6% increase) as higher prices led to more volatility, creating a potentially more profitable market environment for crypto traders, they added. Total AUM in BTC-based products grew 52.2% to USD 55.2bn, another all-time high. Ethereum (ETH) based products also reached a new all-time high in October, increasing 30% to USD 15.9bn, per the report.
• Alchemy, a developer platform for blockchain and Web 3.0, announced a USD 250m Series C round of funding, led by Andreesen Horowitz (a16z), valuing the company at USD 3.5bn. Without providing specific numbers, Alchemy said that its revenues increased “15X in the last six months.”
• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked at least one asset manager to scrap plans for a leveraged BTC exchange-traded fund, the Wall Street Journal reported. The SEC signaled it wants to limit new bitcoin-related products to those that provide unleveraged exposure to bitcoin futures contracts, the report said.
• Public blockchain Findora has launched a USD 100m ecosystem fund, established to accelerate the growth and development of the Findora ecosystem. Developers and validators can apply for grants via the Findora Foundation‘s website, while the community will be able to vote on which projects get funded through a governance process.
• Crypto platform Voyager Digital announced a USD 75m investment from Alameda Research. “While the immediate opportunity is on the order flow and asset management front, we are tremendously excited about potential future synergistic opportunities in the continuously evolving crypto industry. These opportunities include NFTs and crypto derivatives through Alameda, as well as the creation of thought leadership as we work with lawmakers on shaping regulation,” Steve Ehrlich, CEO and Co-founder of Voyager, was quoted as saying.
• Cross-chain relayer protocol Biconomy has announced that it has raised approximately USD 11.5m in a CoinList token sale for its network token, BICO. More than 850,000 traders wanted to participate in the sale, in one of the highest sales by number of registrations on the CoinList platform, they said.

Regulation news

• Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said that cryptocurrencies have a place in their financial sector if they are regulated, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, stablecoins can have a role together with traditional payment systems, though these digital assets need to be regulated for illicit finance activities including anti-money-laundering, he was quoted as saying.

NFTs news

• A new feature on Adobe Photoshop will allow artists to prove they are the creators of artwork on non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, according to an Adobe blog post. Users can link their Adobe accounts, including the Content Credentials feature, with social media profiles or crypto wallets, and if they then sell their art as NFTs, the marketplaces will be able to show a digital certificate based on the Adobe-verified credentials.
• Filmmaker David Lynch and alt rock band Interpol are dropping a series of NFTs based on their collaboration in 2011, where Lynch made a crudely drawn film called “I Touch a Red Button Man” to accompany the band’s song “Lights” in a live performance, according to Forbes. The NFTs are available on the platform SuperRare.
• Sports media organization WWE and NFT project Blockchain Creation Labs announced a multi-year agreement to launch an NFT marketplace for licensed digital WWE tokens and collectibles. The NFTs will include events like “WrestleMania” and “SummerSlam,” while the marketplace’s name and launch date should be announced in the coming weeks.
• nameless™, the developer of API software for the issuance, testing, and sale of NFTs, announced today the close of a USD 15m seed investment round led by Mechanism Capital. The investment brings nameless’ valuation to USD 75m, they said.
• NFT company GigLabs has announced it has raised USD 4.5m in a seed round led by Dapper Labs and Panoramic Ventures. This funding round will allow the company to build out its team and scale to accelerate customer growth, they said.

Adoption news

• Thailand’s biggest shopping center developer, Central Retail Corp., is piloting a digital currency among its employees with plans to expand the offering to customers and the public once the so-called sandbox phase is complete, Bloomberg reported. The tokens are being distributed to its 80,000 employees globally, on merit on top of their regular compensation, and can be used as a substitute for cash at restaurants, or to buy products and services from partners under Central Retail, it added.
• P2P blockchain food ecosystem Bistroo has announced that merchants now have the option to accept payment in five cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, binance coin (BNB), litecoin (LTC), and bitcoin cash (BCH). The platform also accepts its own native token, BIST.
• Voyager Digital Ltd., a US-based listed crypto platform, said it has entered into a five-year partnership with the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, becoming the team’s first cryptocurrency brokerage and international partner.

Career news

• Bitpanda has appointed Joshua Barraclough as CEO for its professional exchange Bitpanda Pro. Barraclough is a former JPMorgan executive, where he was responsible for creating new businesses, products and services.
• Binance said it has named Patrick Hillmann as its first chief communications officer.  Hillmann, who joined the exchange from Edelman, will oversee all of the company’s corporate communications, public affairs, media relations, and stakeholder engagement efforts, as well as work with Binance’s compliance and security leaders.