🥂 Good morning, today is Thursday, Dec. 01, 2022.

TL;DR

🔹 Both BTC and ETH were slightly down from yesterday’s close, essentially disregarding the optimism coming from Wall Street following Fed Chair Powell’s speech that signaled a definitive downshift in rate hikes during the next FOMC meeting in mid-December.

🔹 The stellar performance of US equity markets has pushed Asian equities into new highs. Meanwhile, China’s Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the country’s efforts to combat the virus are entering a new phase.

🔹 Thursday, global traders will look to Japan’s consumer confidence data, the Eurozone’s latest unemployment figures, as well as the business confidence, personal income & spending changes in the US.

🔹 The topic of the Day: Yellen says most activity in the crypto space is unrelated to financial innovation

🔹 Happenings of the Week: EU announced a bill to require crypto service providers to report customer information to Tax Authorities; Telegram to Launch Crypto Wallet and DEX; Sony launches Mocopi, a $358 metaverse wearable sports tracking device…

As of 01:57 UTC,

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

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

Fed Chair Powell Confirms Downshift In Rate Hikes, China Official Hints Zero-COVID May No Longer Be Necessary

The ascension of the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap on Wednesday has raised some eyebrows as trading volumes remained suspiciously low.

On early Thursday, both BTC and ETH were slightly down from yesterday’s close, essentially disregarding the optimism coming from Wall Street following Fed Chair Powell’s speech that signaled a definitive downshift in rate hikes during the next FOMC meeting in mid-December.

Asian equities, on the other hand, extended gains following stellar performance from Wall Street and after China appeared to soften its Covid stance. The dollar fell against most of its Group-of-10 counterparts, with the yen speeding to a three-month high. Treasury yields stabilized after large declines on Powell’s comments.

According to an article by CoinDesk, the correlation of Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) to the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has once again turned negative. BTC’s correlation coefficient to the DXY has fallen to -0.36, after moving as high as 0.84 on Nov. 19. However, per IntoTheBlock data, the correlations remain high at 0.88 and 0.84, respectively as of this writing.

More on China, yesterday Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said the country’s efforts to combat the virus are entering a new phase with the omicron variant weakening and more Chinese getting vaccinated, matching investors’ speculations that China may open its borders sooner than expected.

Meanwhile, Chair Jerome Powell signaled the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest-rate increases next month while stressing borrowing costs will need to keep rising and remain restrictive for some time to beat inflation.

“The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting. Given our progress in tightening policy, the timing of that moderation is far less significant than the questions of how much further we will need to raise rates to control inflation, and the length of time it will be necessary to hold policy at a restrictive level,” said Fed Chair Powell.

Traders and investors alike also scoured several economic reports, with key gauges of US activity painting a mixed Q3 picture while the latest CPI data coming from Europe suggests the war in Ukraine has stagnated growth and is keeping prices high, particularly in the energy sector. Oil fluctuated after three days of gains on China’s Covid developments and data showed a steep drop in US inventories.

On Thursday, the latest Caixin Manufacturing PMI data coming from China indicates business confidence has grown for three consecutive months. Later in the day, traders will look to Japan’s consumer confidence data, the Eurozone’s latest unemployment figures, as well as the business confidence, personal income & spending changes in the US.

On Friday, the long-awaited non-farm payroll from the US will provide further concrete proof of improving, or at the minimum, in-line employment conditions which will help investors decide the next haven to allocate their assets.

5️⃣ Friday

07:00 UTC

Germany Balance of Trade OCT

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

13:30 UTC

Canada Unemployment Rate NOV

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

⭐️ 13:30 UTC

US Unemployment Rate NOV

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

Non-Farm Payrolls NOV

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

4️⃣ Thursday

⭐️ 01:45 UTC

China Caixin Manufacturing PMI NOV

Actual: 49.4; Consensus: 48.9; Previous: 49.2

- In NOV, the Manufacturing PMI in China rose for the third consecutive month to 49.40 points from 49.20 points in October of 2022, beating the market consensus of 48.9 points. Equity indices of mainland China and Hong Kong rose as a result of this optimistic data following yesterday’s Fed Chair speech that signaled rate hikes will slow earlier than expected.

⭐️ 05:00 UTC

Japan Consumer Confidence NOV

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 29.1; Previous: 29.9

- In OCT, the consumer confidence index in Japan dropped to 29.9 from 30.8 a month earlier. This was the lowest figure since August 2020, amid surging prices and mounting global headwinds.

- Households' sentiment deteriorated for all components: overall livelihood (down 1.7 points from the prior month to 27.3), employment (down 1.1 points to 34.3), the willingness to buy (down 0.7 points to 22.5), and income growth (down 0.1 points to 35.3).

09:00 UTC

Italy Unemployment Rate OCT

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 8%; Previous: 7.9%

- In SEP, the unemployment rate in Italy remained at 7.8 percent, unchanged from August and above market expectations of 7.9 percent. It remains the lowest jobless rate since April of 2022, as the number of unemployed edged up by 8 thousand people to 1.98 million while the number of employed people rose by 49 thousand to 32.1 million.

- In the meantime, the labor force participation rate went up by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month to 65.4 percent. The youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, rose to 23.7 percent from 22.1 percent in August.

⭐️ 10:00 UTC

Eurozone Unemployment Rate OCT

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 6.6%; Previous: 6.6%

- In SEP, the unemployment rate in the Euro Area fell to a record low of 6.6% from an upwardly revised 6.7% in the prior month, in line with market estimates. It compares with a much higher jobless rate of 7.3% in the corresponding period of 2021, as ample stimulus and growth-oriented policy supported the labor market's recovery from the pandemic.

- There were 10.988 million unemployed persons in September, 66 thousand less than in the previous month. In the meantime, youth unemployment rose by 25 thousand to 2.241 million, pushing the rate to 14.6% from 14.4%. Among the largest economies, the unemployment rate fell in France (7.1% vs 7.3% in August) and remained steady in Germany (at 3%) and Italy (at 7.9%).

12:00 UTC

Brazil GDP Growth Rate YoY Q3

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 3.7%; Previous: 3.2%

GDP Growth Rate QoQ Q3

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 0.7%; Previous: 1.2%

- In Q2, the Brazilian economy expanded 3.2% YoY, picking up from the 1.7% advance in the previous three-month period and surpassing market forecasts of a 2.8% rise. It was the sixth consecutive quarter of economic expansion, driven by a 5.3% rise in household consumption amid strong growth in real income and higher credit for Brazilian companies.

- Gross fixed capital formation advanced by 1.5% in the period supported by growth in construction and software development, while government expenditures expanded by 0.7%.

- On the other hand, net foreign demand contributed negatively to growth, as exports fell by 4.8% while imports dropped a softer 1.1%. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the GDP grew 1.2%, picking up from a 1% advance in the previous period.

⭐️ 13:30 UTC

US Personal Spending MoM OCT

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

US Personal Income MoM OCT

Actual: Awaiting Data; Consensus: 0.4%; Previous: 0.4%

- In SEP, personal spending in the US increased 0.6%, the same as an upwardly revised 0.6% rise in August and beating market forecasts of a 0.4% rise.

- Within services, the leading contributors were housing, international travel and air transportation.

- Within goods, increases in pre_script_ion drugs and new motor vehicles were partly offset by a decrease in gasoline and other energy goods. Consumer spending has proven resilient this year, despite soaring inflation rate and borrowing costs.

- On the other hand, personal income rose by 0.4% in September, the same pace as in August and slightly above market expectations of 0.3 percent, primarily due to increases in compensation and personal income reac8 on assets. Compensation of employees rose 0.5 percent (vs 0.3 percent in August), led by private wages and salaries (0.6 percent vs 0.3 percent).

- Within private wages and salaries, both services-producing industries and goods-producing industries increased.

- In addition, personal income reac8 on assets were up 0.4 percent, the same pace as in August, reflecting increases in both interests (0.6 percent vs 0.5 percent) and dividend income (0.3 percent vs 0.2 percent).

⭐️ 15:00 UTC

US ISM Manufacturing PMI NOV

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

- In OCT, the ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 from 50.9 in September, pointing to the slowest growth in factory activity since the contraction in mid-2020. Still, figures came slightly higher than market forecasts of 50.

- New orders contracted less (49.2 vs 47.1) and employment was little changed (50 vs 48.7) while backlogs of orders went down (45.3 vs 50.9).

- Companies are continuing to manage headcounts through hiring freezes and attrition to lower levels, with medium and long-term demand still uncertain.

- Meanwhile, price pressures continued to ease for a seventh straight month and fell into contraction territory (46.6 vs 51.7), which should encourage buyers. Also, production rose faster (52.3 vs 50.6).

- According to ISM Chair Timothy Fiore, "With panelists reporting softening new order rates over the previous five months, the October index reading reflects companies’ preparing for potential future lower demand."

3️⃣ Wednesday

01:30 UTC

China NBS Manufacturing PMI NOV

Actual: 48; Consensus: 49; Previous: 49.2

- In NOV, the official NBS Manufacturing PMI declined to 48.0 from 49.2, below market forecasts of 49.0. This was the second straight month of contraction in factory activity and the steepest pace since April, amid a new wave of COVID cases and tough restrictions in some large cities.

- Output (47.8 vs 49.6 in October), new orders (46.4 vs 48.1), and export sales (46.7 vs 47.6) all fell at faster paces. Also, employment stayed weak, dropping the most in seven months (47.4 vs 48.3); and buying activity declined for the second month in a row, with the rate of fall the steepest since April.

- At the same time, delivery time lengthened the most in six months (46.7 vs 47.1). On the price front, input cost rose the least since August (50.7 vs 53.3); while a fall in output charges extended for the seventh month running (47.4 vs 48.7). Finally, business sentiment turned downbeat following months of optimism (48.9 vs 52.6).

07:00 UTC

Turkey Q3 GDP YoY

Actual: 3.9%; Consensus: 4%; Previous: 7.6%

- In Q3, the Turkish economy expanded 3.9%, following an upwardly revised 7.7% rise in the previous period, lower than market forecasts of 4%, signaling the weakest growth rate since a contraction in Q2 2020 at the height of the global pandemic, as surging inflation and plunging lira weigh on domestic demand and investment while a global slowdown in main trading partners weighed on foreign demand.

- Household spending increased at a slower 19.9% (vs 22.5% in Q2) and investment sank 1.3%, the first decline in a year (vs 5% in Q2).

- At the same time, exports rose at a softer 12.6% (vs 16.4%) while imports jumped 12.2% (vs 5.8%). Meanwhile, government consumption surged 8.5%, much higher than a 2% rise in Q2. Compared to the previous period, the economy contracted 0.1%.

07:45 UTC

France Inflation Rate YoY Prel NOV

Actual: 6.2%; Consensus: 6.2%; Previous: 6.2%

Inflation Rate MoM Prel NOV

Actual: 0.4%; Consensus: 0.4%; Previous: 1%

- In NOV, the annual inflation rate in France remained unchanged at 1985-highs of 6.2%, matching market forecasts, preliminary estimates showed.

- Prices accelerated for food (12.2% vs 12%) and manufactured products (4.4% vs 4.2%) while cost eased slightly for services (3% vs 3.1%) and energy (18.5% vs 19.1%).

- Compared to the previous month, the CPI rose 0.4%, below 1% in October. Meanwhile, the EU-harmonized CPI rose at a record 7.1% on the year, the same as in October but fell 0.5% on the month, following a 1.2% rise in the previous month.

⭐️ 10:00 UTC

Eurozone Inflation Rate YoY Flash NOV

Actual: 10%; Consensus: 10.4%; Previous: 10.6%

Inflation Rate MoM Flash NOV

Actual: -0.1%; Consensus: 0.2%; Previous: 1.5%

- In NOV, the annual inflation rate in the Euro Area eased to 10% from a record high of 10.6% in October, beating market forecasts of 10.4%, preliminary estimates showed.

- Cost of both energy (34.9% vs 41.5%) and services (4.2% vs 4.3%) likely slowed while prices for food, alcohol and tobacco rose at a faster pace (13.6% vs 13.1%).

- The inflation slowed for the first time since June last year, which could offer some early signs that price pressures have peaked. Still, the rate remains close to record levels and 5 times above the ECB target of 2%.

- President Lagarde recently told the European Parliament that Eurozone inflation has not peaked and risks are rising higher than expected.

- Considering the biggest economies, inflation slowed in Germany (11.3% vs 11.6%), Italy (12.5% vs 12.6%) and Spain (6.6% vs 7.3%) but remained unchanged at record levels in France (7.1%). Compared to the previous month, consumer prices edged 0.1% lower, the first decline since July last year.

10:00 UTC

Italy Inflation Rate YoY Flash NOV

Actual: 11.8%; Consensus: 11.3%; Previous: 11.8%

Inflation Rate MoM Prel NOV

Actual: 0.5%; Consensus: 0.2%; Previous: 3.4%

- In NOV, consumer prices in Italy rose to 11.8%, the same as in the previous month and above market expectations of 11.3 percent, preliminary figures showed.

- A slowdown in prices of non-regulated energy products (69.9% vs 79.4% in October); unprocessed food (11.3% vs 12.9%) and services related to transport (6.8% vs 7.2%) was offset by higher cost of regulated energy products (56.1% vs 51.6%in October); processed food including alcohol (14.4% vs 13.3%); non-energy industrial goods (5% vs 4.6%); and services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (5.5% vs 5.2%).

- Core inflation, excluding energy and unprocessed food, was 5.7% (up from 5.3% in the previous month) and inflation excluding energy was 6.1% (up from +5.9% in October). On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.5 percent, after a 3.4 percent rise in October.

⭐️ 12:00 UTC

India Q3 GDP YoY

Actual: 6.3%; Consensus: 6.2%; Previous: 13.5%

- In Q3, the Indian economy expanded 6.3%, slightly higher than forecasts of 6.2%, but well below a 13.5% growth in Q2, as distortions caused by COVID lockdowns faded, high prices and rising interest rates weighed on demand and slowing global demand started to impact exports.

- Private spending slowed sharply (9.7% vs 25.9%), investment growth halved (10.4% vs 20.1%), and both exports (11.5% vs 14.7%) and imports (25.4% vs 37.2%) rose at a slower pace. Meanwhile, stocks declined faster (-19.4% vs -17.4%) and public expenditure shrank (-4.4% vs 1.3%).

- On the other hand, government spending increased more than 40% as the government stepped up expenditure on infrastructure. On the production side, trade, hotels, transport, and communication recorded the biggest increase (14.7%), followed by financial, real estate (7.2%), construction (6.6%), public administration (6.5%), utilities (5.6%) and farm (4.6%). On the other hand, both manufacturing (-4.3%) and mining (-2.8%) contracted.

13:15 UTC

US ADP Employment Change NOV

Actual: 127K; Consensus: 200K; Previous: 239K

- In NOV, private businesses in the US created 127K jobs, the least since January of 2021, and well below market forecasts of 200K.

- The slowdown was led by the manufacturing sector (-100K jobs) and interest rate-sensitive sectors like construction (-2K), professional/business services (-77K); financial activities (-34K); and information (-25K). The goods sector shed 86K jobs.

- On the other hand, consumer-facing segments were bright spots. The services-providing sector created 213K jobs, led by leisure/hospitality (224K); trade/transportation/utilities (62K); education/health (55K). Meanwhile, annual pay was up 7.6%.

- According to ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson, "The data suggest that Fed tightening is having an impact on job creation and pay gains. In addition, companies are no longer in hyper-replacement mode. Fewer people are quitting and the post-pandemic recovery is stabilizing."

⭐️ 13:30 UTC

US Q3 GDP QoQ 2nd Estimate

Actual: 2.9%; Consensus: 2.7%; Previous: -0.6%

- In the 2nd estimate for Q3 GDP on a quarterly basis, the US economy grew an annualized 2.9%, beating an initial estimate of 2.6%, and slightly surpassing forecasts of 2.7%, reflecting upward revisions to consumer and business spending and net trade.

- The biggest positive contribution came from net trade (2.93 pp vs 2.77 pp in the advance estimate), as imports sank more (-7.3% vs -6.9%) while exports rose more (15.3% vs 14.4%). At the same time, consumer spending rose more than anticipated (1.7% vs 1.4%), as growth in health care and "other" services partially offset a decrease in spending on goods, namely motor vehicles and food and beverages.

- Also, nonresidential investment jumped at a faster 5.1% (vs 3.7%), boosted by equipment and intellectual property. On the other hand, residential investment sank more (-26.8% vs -26.4%) and the drag from private inventories was also revised higher (-0.97 pp vs -0.7 pp).

⭐️ 15:00 UTC

US JOLTs Job Openings OCT

Actual: 10.334M; Consensus: 10.3M; Previous: 10.717M

- In OCT, the number of job openings in the United States dropped by 353,000 to 10.3 million in October of 2022, roughly in line with market expectations, and suggesting demand for workers started moderating amid a softer economic outlook and higher interest rates.

- Job openings decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-101,000); nondurable goods manufacturing (-95,000); and federal government (-61,000). The number of job openings increased in other services (+76,000) and in finance and insurance (+70,000).

- Over the month the number of hires and total separations changed little at 6.0 million and 5.7 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.0 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.4 million) changed little.

⭐️ 18:30 UTC

Fed Chair Powell Speech

The Federal Reserve may scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes already in December, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday in a speech at the Brookings Institution.

"It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting."

Still, Powell added that the "terminal rate," is likely to be "somewhat higher" than the 4.6% indicated by the September projections.

The Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 75bps to 3.75%-4% during its November 2022 meeting, marking a sixth consecutive rate hike and the fourth straight three-quarter point increase, pushing borrowing costs to a new high since 2008.

💡 Today's Markets at 00:53 UTC

BTC -0.13%; Ether -0.48%.

Asia: Japan +1.19%; Hong Kong +2.16**%**; China +0.05%; India +0.75%.

Europe: London -0.09%; Paris +1.04%; Frankfurt +0.29%.

Index Futures: Dow -0.04%; S&P -0.09%; Nasdaq -0.11%.

US Two-year Treasury down 15bps at 4.320%.

US Ten-year Treasury down 12bps at 3.618%.

UK Ten-year Government up 4bps at 3.115%.

**US Dollar Index -**0.77% at 105.62.

FX in 24hrs: GBP: +1.22%; EUR: +1.04%; JPY: -1.37%; CNY: -0.96%.

Gold +0.61%; Brent Crude +4.75%.

🗓 Catalysts this week

• Thursday: China Caixin PMI, US Income & Spending, US ISM PMI, Japan Consumer Confidence, Eurozone Unemployment Rate, Italy Unemployment Rate, Brazil GDP
• Friday: US Non-Farm Payroll & Unemployment Rate, Germany Balance of Trade, Canada Unemployment Rate

🏦 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. 01 - Dec. 4 Session.

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. 01 00:43 UTC Update:

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $17,148, or +1.82% in a 24hr period.

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. 01 - Dec. 4 Session.

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: 1,010 (Weekly High from Dec. 28, 2020 - Jan. 04, 2021)

Dec. 01 00:49 UTC Update:

ETH was trading at $1,287, or +1.02% in a 24hr period.

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: Yellen says most activity in the crypto space is unrelated to financial innovation

On Nov. 30, U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies. She said there’s a need to keep an open mind to financial innovation from the crypto sector, but most activities in the space right now are currently unrelated to financial innovation and need to be adequately regulated for better development.

At the same time, Yellen also wants to ensure that crypto assets have adequate customer protection and that the turmoil in the crypto market has not yet reached the banking sector. As for the FTX incident, Yellen said she had never met the former CEO of FTX and was surprised by the collapse of the former exchange, calling it "the Lehman moment of cryptocurrencies."

In addition, Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown called on the U.S. Treasury Department to enact crypto legislation after the FTX collapse, saying regulators lacked a comprehensive understanding of crypto activities.

Do you think innovation in the crypto industry is speculative and pseudo-innovative? Can regulators step in to make the crypto industry better?

👁 Happenings of The Week (Nov. 25 - Dec. 01):

📣 Notables

🔹 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. 01

🔹 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.

🔹 FrankieOne, a digital asset fraud detection platform, closed a Series A funding round of approximately $30 million with participation from Binance Labs and others. FrankieOne reportedly links banks, fintech, cryptocurrency and gaming companies to hundreds of data sources and works with 170 financial institutions worldwide, providing an API to access identity and fraud prevention providers around the world.

🔹 Pearpop Closes $18 Million Series A Funding Round, led by Avalanche's Blizzard Fund and others. Two new products under the Pearpop umbrella are Ovation, a brand engagement service, and Passport, a blockchain cross-platform engagement service that helps brands better understand creators' reach and audience engagement.

🔹 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.

🔹 Finery Markets closes $5.5 million seed round led by G1 Ventures and others. Founded in 2019, Finery Markets is a multi-dealer electronic marketplace and crypto market trading solution provider for institutional participants. Finery Markets enables over 70 businesses using digital assets to access a deep pool of liquidity from the world's leading liquidity provider. The platform features provide clients with price news, trading transparency, settlement flexibility, market and counterparty risk control, and reporting tools.

🔹 DAO management tool Catapult closes $5M seed round led by Blockchain Capital. Catapult was co-founded by Rav Singh Sandhu and Greg Wilsenach in 2021 to provide powerful tools for DAO operators and community managers. The tools platform has just completed a closed alpha phase with Index Coop and Aragon DAO. It is now expanding its platform to Popcorn DAO, Bankless DAO and other groups in organizations.

🔹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.

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

🔹 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.

Author: Gate.io Researcher Peter L. & Byron B.
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute