🥂 Good morning, today is Friday, Dec. 02, 2022.

TL;DR

🔹 BTC and ETH opened lower for the second consecutive day amid declining trading volumes. Gold once again becomes a global haven.

🔹 The CBOE volatility index (VIX) drops below 20 while BTC and ETH’s correlation coefficients with the index remain above 0.5 on average, implying the combination with declining trading volumes may result in stagnant price movements going into next week.

🔹 Thursday, Beijing has given the green light for its residents to quarantine at home while the city of Chengdu lifted the mandatory status quo for its residents to get tested on a daily basis, marking a significant shift in policy for the second largest economy, which also implies supply chains will recover sooner than expected.

🔹 Friday, global investors and particularly FX traders will look to the latest job figures (Non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate) coming from the US. The unemployment figure last seen at 3.7% signaled a bigger slowdown is needed to bring demand more in line with labor supply in order to contain wage growth, which is the key to beating back inflation according to the Federal Reserve.

🔹 The topic of the Day: SBF Attends Dealbook Conference, Doesn't Think He's Guilty

🔹 Happenings of the Week: Italy proposes 26% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency gains over €2,000; Andre Cronje said Fantom will become the Youtube or Twitch of blockchain platforms; DEX trading volume nearly doubled in November; US Watchmaker Timex to make 500 watches for BAYC and MAYC holders…

As of 01:57 UTC,

⚡️ Bitcoin (BTC) 24-Hour Change: 17,148 (+1.57%)

⚡️ Ether (ETH) 24-Hour Change: 1,285 (+1.03%)

Non-Farm Payrolls, Rising Gold, And China’s Landmark Shift

During Friday’s Asian session, both Bitcoin and Ether maintain a sluggish outlook after shredding 1.08% and 1.42%, respectively on Thursday from Wednesday’s close. A notable phenomenon persists throughout the past four weeks -- trading volumes have been declining drastically week over week since the FTX implosion.

In TradFi, Asian equities started the day in the mix led by declines from Japan. According to Bank of Japan board member Naoki Tamura, the BoJ should conduct a policy assessment, with the timing dependent on inflation, wages, and the economy after the bank conducted its most recent review in March last year. Review results in the past have often come with policy adjustments, including the introduction of the yield curve control program in 2016.

The Dollar Index (DXY) steadied after sinking to its lowest since June. The yen fluctuated after a fourth straight daily advance.

In the US, Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said further hikes are needed to curb inflation. Concern that such tightening raises the odds of a recession became more pronounced after data showed American manufacturing contracted in November for the first time since May 2020.

Bets on where the central bank rate will peak have now dropped below 4.9%, according to swap markets. The current benchmark sits in a range between 3.75% and 4%. The 10-year US benchmark yield rose slightly to 3.54% during Asian trading.

Amid all the choppiness, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell below 20, the lowest since August. Per IntoTheBlock data, Bitcoin and Ether’s correlations with the VIX are at 0.58 and 0.59, down from 0.7 and 0.71 a week ago, respectively, implying the combination with low trading volumes may result in stagnant prices going into next week.

On Friday, global investors and particularly FX traders will look to the latest job figures coming from the US, which some analysts see may fall far short of the turning point Fed officials are seeking in their battle to beat back inflation -- a bigger slowdown is needed to bring that demand more in line with labor supply in order to contain wage growth.

In commodity markets, oil was set for a weekly gain with China further easing Covid restrictions and the US considering a pause in sales from its strategic reserves. The political capital of China, Beijing announced yesterday that the city will allow some virus-infected people to isolate at home, a significant move that reflects the pressure officials are under from public opposition to Covid Zero that started last weekend.

Gold, on the other hand, has been up for three consecutive days, or +3.5%, implying the traditional global haven is gaining traction and that uncertainties have built up, especially this week.

5️⃣ Friday

07:00 UTC

Germany Balance of Trade OCT

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: €9.1B; Previous: €9B

Source: Federal Statistical Office

- In SEP, the trade surplus in Germany fell to €9 billion from €16.1 billion a year earlier.

- Exports were up 20.3% year-on-year to reach a new record high of €142.4 billion and imports rose at a faster 30.7% to also top an all-time high of €133.4 billion.

- On a seasonally adjusted basis, the German trade surplus increased to €3.7 billion from €1.2 billion in August, as exports went down 0.5% to €134.5 and imports sank 2.3% to €130.8 billion, the biggest fall since January.

- Sales fell 1.7% to the EU while those to countries outside the EU went up 1%, namely the US (5.6%). On the other hand, shipments to China declined by 2% and to Russia by 5.4%.

- Imports from the EU decreased by 1.2% and purchases from non-EU countries were also lower (-3.4%), namely from the US (-1.3%) and Russia (-33.1%). Imports from China, however, rose by 5.4%.

13:30 UTC

Canada Unemployment Rate NOV

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 5.3%; Previous: 5.2%

Source: Statistics Canada

- In NOV, the unemployment rate in Canada was at 5.2%, unchanged from the prior month and beating market estimates of 5.3%, signaling that the Canadian labor market remains tight.

- The number of unemployed individuals was relatively unchanged from the prior month at 1,073,400. In the meantime, employment rose by 108,300 to 19,656,200, the sharpest increase since February and well above estimates of 10,000 jobs being added.

- At the industry level, increased employment for goods-producing industries (1.1% to 4,027,100) was supported by construction (1.6% to 1,534,000) and manufacturing (1.4% to 1,744,200), while higher employment for services producers (0.4% to 15,629,100) was supported by food and accommodation services (1.7% to 1,077,300).

- Also, employment rose both for the public sector (0.4% to 4,286,800) and the private sector (0.6% to 12,718,300). In the meantime, the labor force participation rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 64.9 percent.

⭐️ 13:30 UTC

US Unemployment Rate NOV

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 3.7%; Previous: 3.7%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

- In OCT, the unemployment rate in the US increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7 percent, up from September's 29-month low of 3.5 percent and slightly above market expectations of 3.6 percent.

- The jobless rate has been in a narrow range of 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent since March, suggesting that the labor market is already very tight, which, in turn, is likely to contribute significantly to inflationary pressure in the world's largest economy for some time to come.

- The number of unemployed persons rose by 306K to 6.06M in October, while the number of employed decreased by 328K to 158.6 million. The labor force participation rate edged down to 62.2 percent from 62.3 percent.

Non-Farm Payrolls NOV

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 200K; Previous: 261K

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

- In OCT, the US economy added a stronger-than-expected 261K jobs, above market forecasts of 200K. Although it is the weakest reading since December of 2020, figures continued to point to a strong albeit slowing labor market, as worker shortages persist.

- Notable job gains occurred in health care (53K), namely ambulatory health care services (31K), nursing and residential care facilities (11K), and hospitals (11K); professional and technical services (43K). Also, the manufacturing sector unexpectedly added 32K jobs, with some investors expecting a fall; and the leisure/hospitality sector added 35K jobs.

- Monthly job growth has averaged 407K thus far in 2022, compared with 562K per month in 2021.

4️⃣ Thursday

⭐️ 01:45 UTC

China Caixin Manufacturing PMI NOV

Actual: 49.4; Consensus: 48.9; Previous: 49.2

Source: Markit Economics

- In NOV, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly edged up to 49.4 from 49.2 in October, above market forecasts of 48.9. However, this was the fourth straight month of fall in factory activity, amid a new wave of COVID cases and tough curbs in many parts of the country.

- Output fell for the third month, new orders were under pressure, and foreign sales remained weak. Also, firms cut back on buying activity, contributing to a further drop in staff numbers. Further, there was a deterioration in supplier performance, which fell the most since May.

- On prices, input cost inflation accelerated slightly while output charges fell slightly. Looking ahead, the sentiment was subdued in the context of historical data, but improved to a 3-month high.

- According to Caixin Insight economist Dr. Wang Zhe, "The pandemic continued to take a toll on the economy. Beijing should further coordinate fiscal and monetary policies to expand domestic demand and boost incomes.”

⭐️ 05:00 UTC

Japan Consumer Confidence NOV

Actual: 28.6; Consensus: 29.1; Previous: 29.9

Source: Cabinet Office, Japan

• In NOV, the consumer confidence index in Japan declined to 28.6, the lowest level since June 2020, from 29.9 a month earlier, amid soaring prices and mounting global headwinds.
• Households' sentiment weakened for all components: overall livelihood (down 0.8 points from the prior month to 26.5), employment (down 1.9 points to 32.4), the willingness to buy (down 1.1 points to 21.4), and income growth (down 1.1 points to 34.2).

09:00 UTC

Italy Unemployment Rate OCT

Actual: 7.8%; Consensus: 8%; Previous: 7.9%

Source: National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)

• In OCT, the unemployment rate in Italy eased to 7.8%, from 7.9% in the prior month while analysts had expected it to rise to 8%. It was the lowest reading since April of 2020, as the number of unemployed edged down by 8 thousand people to 1.97 million while the number of employed people rose by 82 thousand to 23.2 million.
• The youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, rose to 23.9 percent from 24.1 percent in September.

⭐️ 10:00 UTC

Eurozone Unemployment Rate OCT

Actual: 6.5%; Consensus: 6.6%; Previous: 6.6%

Source: EUROSTAT

- In OCT, the unemployment rate in the Euro Area fell to a new record low of 6.5% from 6.6% in the prior month, slightly below market estimates of 6.6%. It compares with a much higher jobless rate of 7.3% in the corresponding period of 2021, as economic stimulus and growth-oriented policy supported the labor market's recovery from the pandemic.

- There were 10.872 million unemployed persons in October, 142 thousand less than in the previous month. In the meantime, youth unemployment fell by 25 thousand to 2.326 million, pushing slightly down the rate to 15% from 15.2%. Among the largest economies, the unemployment rate fell in Spain (12.5% vs 12.7% in September) and Italy (7.8% vs 7.9%) but remained steady in France (at 7.1%) and Germany (at 3%).

12:00 UTC

Brazil GDP Growth Rate YoY Q3

Actual: 3.6%; Consensus: 3.7%; Previous: 3.2%

GDP Growth Rate QoQ Q3

Actual: 0.4%; Consensus: 0.7%; Previous: 1.2%

Source: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE)

- In Q3, the Brazilian economy expanded 3.6% YoY, following an upwardly revised 3.7% advance in the previous three-month period and mostly in line with market expectations.

- It was the seventh consecutive quarterly growth, with government spending (1.0% vs. 0.9% in Q2) and gross fixed capital formation (5.0% vs. 1.5%) increasing faster. Meantime, private consumption slowed (4.6% vs. 5.7%).

- Regarding net trade, exports advanced 8.1 percent (vs. -4.6% in Q2), while imports grew 10.6% (vs. -1.0% in Q2).

- QoQ, the GDP grew by 0.4%, easing from a revised 1.0% advance in the previous period.

⭐️ 13:30 UTC

US Personal Spending MoM OCT

Actual: 0.8%; Consensus: 0.8%; Previous: 0.6%

US Personal Income MoM OCT

Actual: 0.7%; Consensus: 0.4%; Previous: 0.4%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

- In OCT, personal spending in the US increased 0.8% MoM, following a 0.6% rise in September and matching market forecasts helped by a tight labor market and high savings, despite rising prices and borrowing costs.

- Within goods, the leading contributors were new motor vehicles, namely light trucks, and gasoline. Within services, the largest positive contributor was spending on food services and accommodations, which was partly offset by a decrease in financial services and insurance, namely financial service charges, fees, and commissions.

- On the other hand, personal income increased by 0.7% from a month earlier, up from a 0.4% rise in September and above market expectations of a 0.4% gain. It was the strongest reading since October of 2021, primarily reflecting increases in compensation and government social benefits.

- The increase in compensation was led by private wages and salaries. Within private wages and salaries, both services-producing industries and goods-producing industries increased. The increase in government social benefits reflected increases in "other" benefits, primarily reflecting one-time refundable tax credits issued by states.

⭐️ 15:00 UTC

US ISM Manufacturing PMI NOV

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 49.8; Previous: 50.2%

Source: Institute for Supply Management

- In NOV, the ISM Manufacturing PMI declined to 49 from 50.2 in October and more than market forecasts of 49.8 pointing to the first contraction in factory activity since May 2020.

- New orders (47.2 vs 49.2), supplier deliveries (47.2 vs 46.8), and backlog of orders (40 vs 45.3) contracted faster. Also, employment declined (48.4 vs 50) with companies confirming that they are continuing to manage headcounts through a combination of hiring freezes, employee attrition, and now layoffs.

- At the same time, slower growth was reported for both production (51.5 vs 52.3) and inventories (50.9 vs 52.5). On a positive note, price pressures eased again (43 vs 46.6).

- According to the Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Committee Timothy Fiore, "Managing head counts and total supply chain inventories remain primary goals. Order backlogs, prices, and now lead times are declining rapidly, which should bring buyers and sellers back to the table to refill order books based on 2023 business plans.”

💡 Today's Markets at 00:57 UTC

BTC +0.28%; Ether +0.30%.

Asia: Japan -1.42%; Hong Kong +0.75**%**; China +0.45%; India +0.29%.

Europe: London -0.17%; Paris +0.23%; Frankfurt +0.65%.

US Spot Indices: Dow -0.56%; S&P -0.09%; Nasdaq +0.13%.

US Index Futures: Dow -0.20%; S&P -0.32%; Nasdaq -0.21%.

US Two-year Treasury down 5bps at 4.266%.

US Ten-year Treasury down 8bps at 3.537%.

UK Ten-year Government down 2bps at 3.095%.

US Dollar Index -1.04% at 104.52.

FX in 24hrs: GBP: +1.50%; EUR: +1.02%; JPY: +1.96%; CNY: +0.64%.

Gold +1.79%; Brent Crude -2.79%.

👉 Catalysts remaining this week

• Friday: US Non-Farm Payroll & Unemployment Rate, Germany Balance of Trade, Canada Unemployment Rate

🗓 Catalysts next week

• Monday: US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI
• Tuesday: Australia RBA Interest Rate Decision, Canada Balance of Trade, US Balance of Trade, Canada PMI
• Wednesday: Australia GDP, China Balance of Trade, India RBI Interest Rate Decision, Canada BoC Interest Rate Decision
• Thursday: Australia Balance of Trade
• Friday: China Inflation Rate, US Producer Price Index, US Michigan Consumer Sentiment

🏦 BTC

BTC Weekly timeframe:

• Major Level: 13,965 (Monthly High of Jun. 2019)
• Closest support zone: 16,845 - 16,430
• Key resistance level: 17,085 - 17,715

Analysis as of Dec. 2 - Dec. 4 Session.

Note: To maintain an upward momentum going into next week, BTC will have to close within the closest resistance zone by the week’s end. Otherwise, next week we may see BTC lose some of the gains it recouped this week amid declining trading volumes.

BTC Weekly Resistance zones

1. 17,085 - 17,715
2. 17,875 - 18,245
3. 18,890 - 19,085

BTC Weekly Support zones

1. 16,845 - 16,430
2. 16,185 - 16,010
3. 15,525 - 15,200

BTC Daily Timeframe:

• Closest support zone: 16,875 - 16,635
• Closest resistance zone: 16,990 - 17,205
• Key Level: 15,952 (Weekly Close Between Nov. 02 - 09, 2020)

Dec. 02 00:43 UTC Update:

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $16,987, or -1.02% in a 24hr period.

Note: The sluggish performance of BTC on Thursday extended the strength of both the closest resistance zone as well as the closest support zone.

BTC Daily Resistance zones

1. 16,990 - 17,205
2. 17,370 - 17,575
3. 17,645 - 17,805

BTC Daily Support zones

1. 16,875 - 16,635
2. 16,300 - 16,010
3. 15,860 - 15,780

🌐 ETH

Weekly Timeframe

• Major Level - 757 (Monthly High of Dec. 2020)
• Closest support zone: 1,265 - 1,220
• Key resistance zone: 1,280 - 1,330

Analysis as of Dec. 2 - Dec. 4 Session.

Note: For Ether to maintain an upward momentum going into next week despite a seemingly decreasing trading volume throughout the past 4 weeks, the price of ETH on the weekly candle will need to close within the closest support, or above 1,280.

ETH Weekly Resistance zones

1. 1,280 - 1,330
2. 1,345 - 1,390
3. 1,415 - 1,470

ETH Weekly Support zones

1. 1,265 - 1,220
2. 1,155 - 1,110
3. 1,060 - 1,035

ETH Daily Timeframe

• Closest support zone: 1,280 - 1,265
• Closest resistance zone: 1,300 - 1,325
• Key Level: 1,254 (Weekly close from Jan. 04, 2021 - Jan. 11, 2021)

Dec. 01 00:48 UTC Update:

ETH was trading at $1,278, or -0.87% in a 24hr period.

Note: Like BTC, the sluggish performance of ETH on Thursday extended the strength of both the closest resistance zone as well as the closest support zone.

ETH Daily Resistance zones

1. 1,300 - 1,325
2. 1,330 - 1,347
3. 1,370 - 1,390

ETH Daily Support zones

1. 1,280 - 1,265
2. 1,245 - 1,220
3. 1,175 - 1,160

📌 Today's topic: SBF Attends Dealbook Conference, Doesn't Think He's Guilty

On November 30, Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times video interviewed former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried at the Dealbook conference.

During the interview, SBF defended his actions and stumbled over his answers, which were at times incoherent.

He claimed he is still in the Bahamas but is free to go elsewhere; he said he screwed up by not managing the company properly, especially risk management, and diverted a lot of money and energy into going around getting licenses, argued that FTX's collapse stemmed from accounting errors rather than fraud, that he was not involved in Alameda's operations, and that he does not believe he is criminally responsible.

He claimed not to know the details of the Bahamian apartment held by his parents and denied rumors of parties at the company, that they did not drink excessively and only played some board games, and said he only had about $100,000 in assets on his bank card.

Throughout the interview, SBF apologized or admitted to failing a total of 12 times, and also admitted to a major crisis due to mismanagement, but also defended a great deal of information.

In response, crypto lawyer Jeremy Hogan said that SBF has been lightly cross-examined on DealBook and has made at least three incriminating statements so far.

Alan Rosca of Rosca Scarlato Law Firm also said, "It's very surprising that he actually testified at the DealBook summit. It's hard to think of a precedent for that."

When asked during the interview what advice SBF's attorney gave him, SBF said that his attorney's "classic advice" to him was "not to say anything," but that he was reluctant to do so and felt it was his responsibility to explain to people what was going on.

SBF answered many questions about the collapse of FTX and even hinted that some of his statements could be used against him in legal proceedings.

The collapse of FTX is pretty clear at this point, but we'll have to wait and see what the fate of SBF will be.

👁 Happenings of The Week (Nov. 28 - Dec. 02):

📣 Notables

🔹 ECB: Bitcoin should not be legalized in terms of regulation.

🔹 US CFTC Chairman: Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that should be treated as a commodity.

🔹 Korea Financial Services Commission to develop a crypto regulatory system centered on investor protection.

🔹 UK Chancellor of the Exchequer: FTX Bankruptcy won't change UK's agenda to become a crypto hub.

🔹 Italy proposes 26% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency gains over €2,000.

🔹 Fed Chair Powell: downshift in rate hikes may start as soon as December.

🔹 U.S. Q3 2nd estimate GDP revised to 2.9% Q/Q, above expectations of 2.7%.

🔹 Bank of Indonesia releases CBDC white paper.

🔹 Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT releases guidelines on Ethical Principles for the Metaverse.

🔹 EU announced a bill to require crypto service providers to report customer information to Tax Authorities.

🔹 Fed's Williams: Fed may cut rates in 2024

🔹 U.S. House Financial Services Committee to hold FTX hearing on Dec. 13.

🔹 European Parliament to introduce NFT-related legislation, vote expected in early 2023.

🔹 U.S. House Financial Services Committee to hold FTX hearing on Dec.

🔹 European Parliament to introduce NFT-related legislation, vote expected in early 2023

🔹 Putin calls for building international clearing solutions based on blockchain and digital currencies.

🔹 Hong Kong Treasury Secretary: New licensing regime for virtual asset service providers to be launched in coming months.

🔹 China's Central Bank will lower the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 0.25 percentage points on December 5.

🔹 Hangzhou, China: New government policy to support the integrated application of new technologies such as metaverse and blockchain in the field of animation games and e-sports.

🔹 China's Hubei: Xianyang High-tech Zone to branch out a "metaverse industry pioneer zone" with the aim to make it the "second growth curve” for the province within three years

🔹 Belgium HKMA: Cryptocurrencies without issuers such as BTC and ETH are not securities and do not need to comply with financial rules.

🔹 Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will further deepen cooperation with the UK Treasury in the field of crypto assets.

🔹 Israel's Ministry of Finance issues proposal for Digital Asset Regulation and calls for stronger regulation on Stablecoins and Crypto Taxes

📣 Dec. 02

🔹 U.S. authorities asked trading firms that work closely with FTX to hand over information on SBF and other key personnel.

🔹 Discord is available for U.S. creators to earn creative revenue on the platform starting now.

🔹 Payments giant Stripe launches Fiat-to-Cryptocurrency payments product for Web3 businesses.

🔹 US Watchmaker Timex to make 500 watches for BAYC and MAYC holders, launching today at an exclusive Art Basel event.

📣 Dec. 01

🔹 Andre Cronje: Fantom will become the Youtube or Twitch of blockchain platforms.

🔹 Zhu Su: SBF has been insolvent since July.

🔹 DEX trading volume nearly doubled in November on a YoY basis due to FTX crash.

🔹 MetaMask has been integrated into the blockchain platform of Sber, Russia's largest bank.

🔹 CryptoQuant: US crypto market is recovering, buying power is starting to return and large companies are starting to increase their Bitcoin positions.

🔹 CryptoCompare: Investors pulled $19.6 billion from cryptocurrency funds in November.

🔹 NFT Creators earned over $1 billion in royalty revenue this year through OpenSea.

🔹 Telegram to Launch Crypto Wallet and DEX.

🔹 SBF: FTX collapse stems from an accounting error, not fraud, and he’s not involved in Alameda operations.

🔹 Zuckerberg is optimistic about the long-term prospects of the metaverse, but Meta needs to improve operational efficiency in the short term.

📣 Nov. 30

🔹 SEC has authorized the listing of Bitcoin futures-based ETFs, but has not approved any Bitcoin spot ETFs as of date.

🔹 French fashion brand Lacoste launches its first Metaverse Store.

🔹 BMW is filing NFT-related trademarks for its virtual vehicles and peripheral goods.

🔹 Porsche to launch 911 model-themed NFT series, whitelist registration to open on December 20.

🔹 Sony launches Mocopi, a metaverse wearable sports tracking device, priced at approximately $358.

🔹 Nearly Half of Forbes' 2023 North American Elite 30 Under 30 List Are Crypto Practitioners.

🔹 FTSE Russell has launched the Global Digital Asset Index. The index includes eight indicators covering small, medium and large assets. Developed by Digital Asset Research, the index will monitor data from hundreds of exchanges.

🔹 France, Luxembourg to test 100 million euro bond with CBDC.

🔹 DCG's crypto media Coindesk has received multiple offers, with one buyer offering $300 million.

📣 Nov. 29

🔹 Musk asks Twitter managers to 'regularly identify low performers' and lay them off if they don't improve.

🔹 Vitalik Buterin: The concept of 'governance rights' as a narrative to promote whether tokens have value is pathological.

🔹 Solana Web3 Mobile Saga Open for Pre-Order in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland.

🔹 BTC Trading Volume 7-Day Average Hits 2-Year Low.

🔹 DOGE's largest whale address has transferred 300 million DOGE.

🔹 SBF may participate in IBC Group founder Mario Nawfal's Twitter Space roundtable this Friday.

🔹 MasterCard files trademark applications related to encryption and Web3.

🔹 US has 45.3% of Ether nodes, ranking #1 globally.

🔹 Twitter restores 62,000 deactivated accounts, including one account with 5 million followers, and another with 75 million followers.

🔹 Across Protocol (ACX), the cross-chain bridge, is now open for airdrop claims.

🔹 BlockFi officially files for bankruptcy: there are over 100,000 creditors, while assets and liabilities are in the range between $1 billion to $10 billion.

🔹 Texas Governor is open to Bitcoin and has set up a working group to improve Bitcoin-related legislation.

📣 Nov. 28

🔹 Fidelity officially opens Fidelity Crypto, a crypto investment product for retail clients.

🔹 Global Web3 market raises $850 million in October, down 52% YoY.

🔹 Messari Founder: DCG and Genesis are facing a liquidity crisis, but there won’t be a GBTC Dump.

🔹 Aave deactivates YFI, CRV, MANA, 1INCH, and 17 other low liquidity asset pools to prevent attacks.

🔹 Crypto bloggers are gathering in the Bahamas, with many claiming to be joining the search for SBF.

🔹 Telegram now supports trading BTC and TON directly in the app chat interface.

🔹 The number of addresses holding 1 - 10 BTC is at a record high of nearly 800,000.

📣 This week’s fundraising activities include but are not limited to:

🔹 Crypto market maker Keyrock closes $72 million Series B funding round with participation from Ripple. Keyrock will use the round to fund infrastructure development and regulatory licensing efforts in Europe, the U.S. and Singapore. Kevin de Patoul, co-founder and CEO of Keyrock, said the round closed in September and that Keyrock pulled the majority of its assets out of FTX after the FTX crash, but a small portion of those assets remain stalled. The amount is "immaterial" to the company's operations and stability, and customer funds have not been affected at all.

🔹 Igloo, a Singaporean insurtech company, announced the closing of a Series B funding round totaling $46 million. InsuResilience Investment Fund II, a subsidiary of German development bank KfW, and other institutions participated. The funding will be used for hiring, infrastructure and M&A opportunities, and the Series B round was launched in March with $19 million in funding. Southeast Asia-focused Igloo, formerly known as Axinan, was founded in 2016 as Singapore's first full-stack insurtech company. Its blockchain smart contract-based insurtech product, which automates the calculation of claims expenses, is already being rolled out in the Vietnamese market.

🔹 Web3 developer platform Fleek closes $25M Series A funding round led by Polychain Capital. Fleek's goal is to build an interface and protocol layer that allows anyone to access the base layer of Web3 services and invoke features such as storage, hosting and billing.Fleek currently hosts about 50,000 applications on its platform Fleek currently hosts about 50,000 applications on its platform, primarily focused on the ethereum ecosystem.

🔹 Web3 Games Studio Roboto Games Closes $15 Million Series A Funding Round led by a16z. Founded by Web2 veterans, the team behind ZipZapPlay, which produced 20 social Facebook games in 2007, Roboto Games has released the fast-paced combat game Last Mage Standing. Roboto Games has already released the fast-paced combat game Last Mage Standing and is currently focused on developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game codenamed Foragers and Fighters, with plans to release an initial playable version of the game in the first quarter of 2023. The company also plans to build a user-generated content (UGC) platform.

🔹Web3 wearable technology company Spatial Labs closed a $4 million Pre-Seed round with participation from American rapper Jay-Z's Marcy Venture. The company is in the process of raising Series A funding. Spatial LABS is said to be developing metaverse wearables based on the Polygon blockchain and launching LNQ, a metaverse project that integrates clothing, wearables and other physical objects, and will subsequently explore music, art and retail.

🔹 Layer2 cross-Rollup bridge Orbiter Finance has closed its first round of funding with participation from Tiger Global and Matrixport, among others. Next, Orbiter Finance will invest more effort in designing algorithm applications and cross-chain scaling solutions to create a ZK aggregation middle layer. In addition, the project also made a thank you to Vitalik Buterin, who had previously donated 16 ETH to the project.

📣 This week’s on-chain criminal activities include but are not limited to:

🔹Ankr was hacked, according to Pai Shield monitoring, trillions of aBNBc (Ankr Reward Bearing Staked BNB, BNB pledged credential Token) were minted, its trading pool on Pancake was emptied of liquidity, and aBNBc price has almost gone to zero. Security firm Ancilia tweeted that Ankr's deployer key is suspected to have been compromised. As of this writing, the hackers have made a profit of about 5 million USDC. the hackers have now transferred some of the stolen funds to Tornado cash or through Celer and deBridgeGate bridge streets to ethereum.

Subsequently, Ankr stated on its official social media platform that its aBNB was stolen and is now working with the trading platform to stop trading immediately.

🔹 Security firm CertiK Alert tweeted that NFT series Small Bros' Discord servers have been attacked and posted phishing links. Users are reminded not to click on any posted links until they are fixed.

🔹 The total amount of losses from all types of security incidents in November exceeded $500 million. According to Beosin EagleEye security risk monitoring, the number of various security incidents and the amount involved decreased in November 2022 compared to October. Over 18 more typical security incidents occurred in November, and the total amount of losses from various security incidents was about $518.09 million.

The number of attacks in the DeFi space declined this month compared to the previous month. The largest security incident in November was the theft of approximately $440 million by a hacker shortly after the FTX exchange filed for bankruptcy and continued to make transfers to the BTC chain. Fraud runs continued to be high this month, with some project parties rolling in over $10 million. As wallet security incidents and private key leaks increased this month, the Beosin security team suggested that both project parties and users should focus on wallet security, protect private keys, regulate operations, and not click on links from unknown sources. 80% of the attacks this month originated from contract vulnerability exploits, so it is recommended to seek a security audit from a professional company before the project goes live.

🔹FTX Hack Update: On November 25, on-chain analyst ZachXBT posted on social media that the FTX hacker "FTX Accounts Drainer" has laundered 360 BTC, nearly $6 million at current prices, by using the crypto coin mixer ChipMixer.

On November 29, the FTX attackers used the Bitcoin monger ChipMixer to transfer some of the stolen funds to OKX, and have now sent at least $4.1 million (255 BTC) to OKX. ZachXBT says that the FTX attackers started depositing BTC into ChipMixer on November 20 after using Ren Bridge.

Previously Slow Fog had posted an article on the Peel Chain technique, which on the one hand is because each individual transfer is so small that it barely triggers the trading platform's risk control alerts, and on the other hand, because this laundering chain is extremely long and complex, making the assets they steal extremely difficult to track.