Macro Market

  • Weekly jobless claims data came in lower than expected, with new claims for unemployment benefits falling to 222K (225K expected). Retail sales also posted their biggest increase in 8 months, up 1.3% mom in October. As a result, expectations of Fed tightening rose, with the market pricing in terminal rates of 5 to 5.25%. The yield curve inversion (recession indicator) deepened as the February-October Treasury spread fell to a multi-decade low of -0.67%.

 

Cryptocurrency Market

L1

  • Sui Network is a new Layer 1 public chain developed by former Meta engineers, and this week announced the launch of Testnet Wave 1. The testnet will be the first instance of Sui Network working with non-Mysten Labs operators, and the first wave of testing will run for 2-3 weeks. Be sure to read Binance Research's research report on Sui and Move language.

 

DeFi

  • In an urgent response to warnings that security may be compromised, Solana developers may fork Serum. Considering the reliance of many protocols on Serum for liquidity and liquidation, supporters hope to replace Serum with a community-led open source fork.

 

Stablecoins

  • Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, announced that eligible businesses that partner with Circle can now accept Apple Pay. This allows crypto-native merchants to interact with non-crypto-native customers and allows traditional businesses to experience the benefits of USDC settlement.

 

NFT

  • Despite a turbulent week in the crypto space, the NFT space witnessed a notable acquisition. Yuga Labs announced the acquisition of WENEW Labs and its flagship NFT series 10KTF. Yuga Labs also hinted at a potential metaverse integration between 10KTF and Otherside. This will be a development worth watching.

  • Ahead of this weekend’s World Cup, Binance is partnering with Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo to launch its first NFT collection. The NFTs will feature iconic scenes from Ronaldo’s life and will have unique benefits associated with each rarity (e.g. personal messages, autographed merchandise, etc.)

  • Nike announced the launch of the Web3 ecosystem platform Dot Swoosh, with the domain name Swoosh.nike. Allowing users to create and trade their own digital collectibles. Dot Swoosh is currently in the testing phase and will release its first series next year.

other

  • The phrase “Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins” has gained more attention recently. Following recent market events, more investors are looking for self-custody of their assets. Earlier this week, Glassnode tweeted that outflows from Bitcoin exchanges have reached an all-time high of 106,000 BTC per month. Additionally, sales of cold wallets (e.g. Ledger, Trezor) have reportedly surged, further supporting the argument that user demand for self-custody is rising.

  • Recent market events have led to dire liquidity conditions. In response, Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) announced plans to launch an industry recovery fund to help projects that are “otherwise strong but in a liquidity crisis.” Additionally, OKX separately announced plans to launch a $100 million market recovery fund to support “high-quality projects.”

  • TradFi continues to explore blockchain technology. The New York Fed and banking giants such as Citi and Wells Fargo have begun a 12-week digital dollar pilot program to "explore the feasibility of an interoperable digital currency platform" whereby commercial banks issue tokens representing customer deposits and settle through simulated central bank reserves on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger.

🔎Binance Research latest English research report:

  • Move - The next step in smart contract programming

  • Evaluating the actual benefits of DeFi protocols

  • Navigating Cryptocurrency: A Map of the Industry

Other multilingual reports:

  • Aptos and Sui - the blockchain duo that have attracted much attention

  • Q3 State of Cryptocurrency Report - Market Pulse