The Explosive Growth Of Some Cryptocurrencies Over The Past ~30 Days Highlights How Questionable Performances Remain A Feature Of The Space Over the past 30 days Cardano (ADA) and XRP have seen some of the most significant gains in the crypto market. The two assets added USD ~12B and USD ~51B to their market caps, respectively, both realizing gains of ~180% each. Stellar’s native XLM has also seen explosive growth, seeing its market cap grow from USD 2.8B at the end of October to a current USD 13.38B. Among notable performances over the past month is DOGE, whose market cap grew from USD 9.82B at the end of October, to a current USD 56.88B. DOGE’s rally has coincided with the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) and Elon Musk’s acceptance to lead it. While DoGE has no official connection to the memecoin, Trump’s election campaign began selling merchandise featuring the shiba inu dog breed, the token’s mascot, the night that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were appointed to lead the organization. Takeaway: The past year has seen numerous high-profile examples of governments and incumbent financial institutions adopting BTC and crypto more broadly. However, despite crypto’s mainstreaming, performances based on questionable narratives persist. Historically, crypto is full of examples of highly anticipated technologies or solutions falling well short of narratives and investors’ expectations. Examples are abundant: the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin Terra Luna which achieved a market cap of USD ~19B virtually overnight; NFT marketplace OpenSea was valued at USD 13.3B in January 2022 while the marketplace for blockchain-based art is now collapsed; in 2021 tokens associated with the ‘metaverse’ concept outperformed but blockchain-based virtual environments have seen virtually zero uptake.

- A federal appeals court ruled that the Treasury cannot sanction the software powering Tornado Cash. - Brazilian Congressman Eros Biondini proposed a bill for a BTC reserve. - Kraken transitioned to withdrawal-only mode for its NFT marketplace on November 27. - Ripple donated an additional USD 25M to the Fairshake PAC to aid pro-crypto candidates in the US elections. - Uniswap Labs launched a bug bounty program offering up to USD 15.5M for critical vulnerabilities found in v4 core contracts of its DeFi platform. - Deutsche Bank joined Partior's Series B funding round, raising the total to USD 80M. - Animoca Brands announced a strategic investment in Igloo, Inc., the parent of NFT collection Pudgy Penguins. - KYC verification platform Sumsub partnered with blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, seeking to enhance risk management in the crypto sector.

- Bloomberg: ‘UltraShort’ Bitcoin ETF Draws Record Inflows As Rally Stalls - Reuters: Bitcoin Options Trade Shows More Bets On Retreat After Failing To Breach $100,000

- Trump’s Embrace Of Crypto Poised To Increase CFTC’s Power Over Industry, Bloomberg, November 27, 2024 Bloomberg discusses how Trump's support for crypto will impact dynamics between the CFTC and SEC.

- Keeping Eye On Vanguard Entering Crypto Space: Crucible Capital's Demirors, Bloomberg, November 22, 2024 Crucible Capital General Partner Meltem Demirors shares her outlook on the crypto market.