Michael Selig said he supported having a “cop on the beat” for digital asset markets and answered questions about how he would handle regulation as the sole CFTC commissioner. Michael Selig, who serves as chief counsel for the crypto task force at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, faced questions from lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee for his nomination to be the next chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. On Wednesday, Selig appeared before the committee and addressed questions and concerns from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle regarding his potential conflicts of interest, policy views and experience as the next CFTC chair, succeeding Caroline Pham. In his opening statement, Selig said he had advised a wide range of market participants, including digital asset companies, and warned against the agency taking a regulation-by-enforcement approach, stating that it would drive companies offshore. Read more
A bearish signal from Bitcoin’s SuperTrend indicator projected a major decline, which could be reinforced by the Crypto Fear and Greed index registering “extreme fear.” Key takeaways: Bitcoin’s Supertrend indicator sent a “sell” signal that has led to a 77% price drop in the past. The crypto sentiment index in “extreme fear” suggests there is more pain ahead for Bitcoin investors. Read more
At the beginning of November, the odds of a December rate cut were 67% among traders, but they have since cratered alongside investor sentiment. The odds of an interest rate cut at the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting have plunged to 33% as “extreme fear” grips the crypto market and the price of Bitcoin (BTC) dips below $89,000. Investors placed the odds of a December rate cut at about 67% during the first week of November, with the odds dropping below 50% on Thursday, according to data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Traders on prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket forecast the odds of a December rate cut at about 70% and 67%, respectively. While higher than CME, traders in general appear more hesitant about rate cuts due to persistent fears about inflation, according to The Kobeissi Letter. Read more
Federally chartered Anchorage Digital Bank is integrating Mezo’s BitcoinFi tools into its custody platform, giving institutions a compliant path to borrow against BTC. Mezo, a Bitcoin-native DeFi platform for BTC-backed borrowing and yield, has partnered with Anchorage Digital to bring low-cost stablecoin loans and short-term veBTC rewards to institutional clients. The move gives public companies and digital asset treasuries a compliant on-ramp into Bitcoin-native finance. Through Anchorage’s Porto wallet, institutions can borrow against their Bitcoin (BTC) at a fixed 1% rate using Mezo’s Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, MUSD, according to Wednesday’s announcement. Read more
The DeFi Education Fund estimated that decentralized finance technology could potentially save people up to $30 billion annually by reducing remittance costs. The DeFi Education Fund, an advocacy organization focused on decentralized finance, has proposed utilizing the technology to reduce costs, aiming to address poverty in the United States and globally. In a Wednesday blog post, the group said DeFi infrastructure could potentially save unbanked and underbanked people around the world about $30 billion annually through reducing remittance costs. The organization cited examples of workers sending funds home and paying fees to do so, which could be reduced “by up to 80%” with DeFi. “The poverty premium [the expenses incurred by low-income households that wealthier individuals are often able to access at a lower cost] persists because the current, layered, antiquated financial infrastructure makes it expensive to serve low-income customers profitably,” said the DeFi Education Fund, adding: Read more