THE WEEKLY WRAP
Sentiment continues to inch closer to fear, dropping to 56 this week.
This week, ASIC proposed extending its retail trading protections for contracts for differences (CFDs) by 10 years, including updating the rules to cover eligible contracts settled using digital assets. Feedback is open until 9 November, and the proposal aims to maintain safeguards such as leverage limits.
Europe is turning its focus to regulations, with the EU finance ministers agreeing on a plan to bring major crypto platforms under direct supervision from the European Securities and Markets Authority. Although negotiations within Parliament are still required, this marks further steps towards consistent oversight within the region.
In tech news, later this month, Samsung is bringing stablecoin transfers to Samsung Wallet for eligible Galaxy users in the US. The feature will support transfers to compatible wallets and eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries.
BTC vs GOLD vs NASDAQ vs ETH vs VAS
🟡 Gold: -9.35%
🟢 Nasdaq: +19.01%
🟣 Vanguard Australian Shares: -0.02%
🟠Bitcoin: -10.46%
🔵 Ethereum: -20.68%
Source: https://www.tradingview.com/
Another week of Nasdaq holding onto its lead, up 19.01% for the year. Gold has taken a dramatic turn, falling from +4.73% to -9.35%, while Vanguard Australia Shares are verging on positive territory. Crypto is lagging after minor improvements last week.Â
BITCOIN:
Not quite the booming week we’ve come to expect from Bitcoin lately, having briefly slipped below A$119,000 on October 8th. US spot Bitcoin ETFs also recorded A$972.2 million in weekly net outflows, with A$694.4 million on Wednesday; the largest daily withdrawal since June.
Strategy continues to add to its Bitcoin holdings, announcing another purchase of 250 BTC on October 12th, bringing the company's total Bitcoin holdings to 848,250 BTC, approximately A$101.71 billion.
Simple Mining is expanding its Bitcoin mining operations, with an announcement on October 7th that the company has acquired an 8-megawatt facility from Sphere 3D in Iowa, which supports approximately 2,200 mining machines, bringing its Iowa platform to nearly 160 megawatts.
ETHEREUM:
Ethereum didn’t have much better of a week, with a sharp drop on October 7th seeing the largest single-day liquidation of trades betting on a price rise since June 5th.Â
The pressure continued across US spot Ethereum ETFs, recording approximately A$998.7 million in net outflows over nine consecutive trading days, with BlackRock’s ETHA accounting for approximately A$644.4 million of the withdrawals.Â
Bitmine is getting close to its goal of holding 5% of ETH’s circulating supply. Chairman Tom Lee reportedly told a conference in Singapore that the company plans to stop its regular purchases once it reaches its 5% target; it currently holds around 4.9% and is still buying.
ALTCOINS:
It seems altcoins are holding the spotlight this week. Osmosis (OSMO) grabbed attention with a 42% jump in just 24 hours over October 12th-13th, amid discussion around proposals to burn approximately 17.4 million OSMO. However, it would appear that the coin is correcting itself today, with a 22.92% drop overnight.
Source: https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/osmosis
Basic Attention Token (BAT) jumped 29.2% overnight; Celestia (TIA) also saw a 24-hour surge of approximately 21% on October 11th. Eight other altcoins recorded 30-day percentage gains at least three times Bitcoin’s 6.4% increase, according to reporting on October 10th, with NEAR leading the way with approximately 121% in gains, followed by SUI at a 47.5% increase, AAVE at 40.4%, AVAX at 37.3%, UNI at 25%, and ADA at 20.3%. After a positive week, eight of the six surging coins began to fall over the preceding week.Â
Beyond the numbers, XRP ETFs attracted about A$16.2 million in weekly net inflows, extending their 13-week positive streak, and Securitize announced tokenised shares in major US companies, including Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla, on Solana, adding another link between traditional markets and blockchain.
Security Alert:
4 Different Types of Scams You Should Know About: Part Two
As security measures continue to evolve, so do scammers. With the introduction of AI, scammers are getting more advanced, sneaky, and creative. But it’s not just AI scams you need to watch out for; traditional scam methods are still active, and they’re not as easy to spot as you may think.
