The News From Planet Ruby—Friday, November 24, 2023
- Signal: Binance, AGI
- Noise: Benance, OpenAI
TradFi Booms
Conventional markets have had a good week. As traders gain confidence that interest rates have topped out and the dollar weakens, the S&P 500 has pushed higher. It's now 6% off its all-time high. The NASDAQ is just 5% down from its ATH (16,765). Gold his $2,000 again, and Japan's Nikkei stock index is testing its all-time high for first time in over 30 years.
There was plenty of drama from OpenAI, with the shock firing of Sam Altman by the board—followed by an employee rebellion, Altman's reinstatement, and a replacement board being installed. Interestingly, one of the possible catalysts for the whole episode appears to have been the creation of a precursor to artificial general intelligence, a technology that poses significant opportunities and risks.
The UK government announced new tax giveaways in its annual Budget report, hoping to lure back voters, but the country's financial situation left little room for generosity.
Bitcoin Chops But Targets $38k
Crypto has taken a bunch of negative headlines in its stride over the past week, correcting a little but maintaining impressive strength. The total crypto market cap remains well above that $1.3 trillion breakout line it passed earlier this month.
Bitcoin topped out at $38k but has been making higher lows on its short-lived corrections. It's currently trading at $37,500, which is no mean feat given what has been going on...
US Treasury Throws $4 Billion Party
The big news this week was that CZ stepped down as CEO of Binance, admitting: "I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself." CZ hands the reins over to Richard Teng, Binance's former Global Head of Regional Markets. The move is linked to Binance settling various criminal charges by the DOJ, at a cost of $4.3 billion. CZ himself pays a fine of $50 million, and may spend up to 18 months in jail for allowing money laundering and other crimes to take place on Binance (or "Benance", as Janet Yellen corrected him).
They don't even know who they are regulating. 🤣#Binance or #Benance ? pic.twitter.com/Cyo7m4dDI1
— Duo Nine ⚡ YCC (@DU09BTC) November 23, 2023
Separately, the SEC has announced enforcement action against Kraken, alleging that (like Coinbase) it acted as an unregistered securities exchange and (like FTX) it commingled customer funds.
"What today showed is that the treasury department's job is to vigorously investigate who we can shake down for money." - Janet Yellen
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) November 21, 2023
Perhaps one of the reasons that bitcoin hasn't reacted more negatively, as it surely would have done in a bear market, is that progress is clearly being made towards those ETFs. Ark has published a further update, which includes new details (such as its 80 bps fee), indicating that discussions with the SEC are ongoing.
What's New In The SKALEVERSE?
SKALE has had a good week! The network goes from strength to strength, hitting the milestone of 200 million transactions. It took 13 months to reach the first 100 million, and just 113 days to reach the second 100 million. How long will it take to hit 300 million txs?
SKALE Network hits a monumental 200 million transactions! The rapid pace at which the network is achieving major milestones is a testament to the strong community and ecosystem of revolutionary dApps.🎉
— SKALE (@SkaleNetwork) November 20, 2023
Were you part of the journey before the 200 million mark? pic.twitter.com/eb9IrGROkw
The SKL token certainly got the memo, soaring by over 100% in just two days, from $0.03 to a high of $0.07.
That's all for this week, and Happy Thanksgiving!
May all your Thanksgiving feasts avoid investments of money, common enterprises, and expectations of profit from the efforts of others.
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) November 23, 2023
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