Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Nears $100,000 as US Government Formation Continues

Bitcoin surged past $99,000, experts highlighted issues with mining bans in Russian regions, Donald Trump continued to form a crypto-friendly administration, and other events of the past week.

Bitcoin Reaches New ATH Above $99,000

On November 22, the price of the leading cryptocurrency rose above $99,000. However, the psychologically significant $100,000 mark was not breached.

Following a subsequent correction, the price retreated to around $96,000.

Major altcoins by market capitalization showed similar price movements. Some cryptocurrencies, however, exhibited much more impressive growth compared to the flagship. Cardano (ADA) gained about 31% over seven days, XRP rose by 21.5%, and Stellar (XLM) surged by 133%.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization exceeds $3.38 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index stands at 56.1%, while Ethereum’s is 11.7%.

Media Reports on Launch of Monad L1 Blockchain Testnet

On November 18, the deployment of the test network for the EVM-compatible L1 platform Monad began, as reported by The Block.

Crypto trader Jordan Fish, known by the pseudonym Cobie, reported a successful “quick” transaction. During internal testing in March, the network demonstrated a throughput of 10,000 TPS.

The project achieves higher transaction processing speed through its proprietary EVM with a high degree of process parallelization.

Thanks to compatibility with EVM bytecode, developers will find it easier to port their applications from Ethereum to Monad.

According to previously announced plans, the team intends to launch the Monad mainnet by the end of the year.

Experts Highlight Issues with Mining Ban in Russian Regions

The ban on legal cryptocurrency mining in Russian regions will increase the risk of some miners moving into illegal activities, according to several experts.

Sergey Sasim, Director of the Center for Research in Electric Power at HSE University, called the government’s proposed restrictions a “troubling signal.” In his view, this will lead to the emergence of a “disparate mass of unscrupulous market participants.”

He urged regulators to abandon the “prohibitive tone of communications” and establish more flexible interactions with legal miners to develop the industry.

Yuri Stankevich, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, warned that miners are economically motivated to continue operations even in the “gray” zone.

“As long as mining remains sufficiently profitable for most players, the race for profit will continue,” he explained.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the energy consumption of Russian miners reaches about 2.7 GW per year, accounting for 2% of the total consumption of the entire population.

Regions subject to the mining ban account for more than 70% of total miner consumption.

Meanwhile, according to ACRA specialists, the lowest tariffs for cryptocurrency miners are applied in the Irkutsk region, Khakassia, and Dagestan.

Trump Team Expands List of SEC Chair Candidates

According to numerous news reports, a list of candidates for the position of chairman of the SEC in the upcoming Donald Trump administration has been formed.

According to CoinDesk, another candidate is Teresa Goody Guillén, a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler.

Other candidates under consideration include:

• Robert Stebbins, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP;
• Dan Gallagher, chief legal officer at Robinhood;
• Brian Brooks, former acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency;
• former SEC commissioners Brad Bondi and Paul Atkins.

According to CNBC, Gallagher has already denied any desire to lead the agency.

Topics to Discuss with Friends

• Farewell, Gary Gensler! Who was and who became the almost former head of the SEC.
• Donald Trump expanded the number of cryptocurrency supporters in the future administration.
• An expert questioned the solution to the US national debt problem through a bitcoin reserve.
• In China, a “crypto pope” was fired after being accused of corruption.

Belarus Stimulates Mining with Launch of First Nuclear Power Plant

The launch of Belarus’s first nuclear power plant has enabled the development of incentivizing electricity tariffs and fostered the growth of mining, according to Belarus’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Denis Moroz.

He stated that companies engaged in cryptocurrency mining and large data centers receive discounts based on energy consumption volume.

“The tariffs are differentiated: the more a company consumes, the cheaper the electricity becomes for that company. We are seeing certain interest from various companies in these tariffs. Today, there are mining companies in the country that are engaged in cryptocurrency production,” the official said.

Study: DeFi Market Lacks Decentralization

Liquidity on decentralized exchanges is concentrated in the hands of a few large providers, reducing the degree of democratization of access to the DeFi market, according to analysts at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

They examined the 250 largest liquidity pools on Uniswap V3 and found that a small group of players holds about 80% of TVL and earns significantly more profit than retail participants. Adjusted for risk, the latter actually lose money.

“These [large] participants place orders that mimic traditional bid-ask spreads, allowing them to earn significantly more profit — both in absolute and relative terms — compared to their [retail] counterparts,” the experts emphasized.

According to the BIS report, factors that led to centralization in the traditional financial industry may be “inherited traits” of the financial system and thus inherent in DeFi as well.

Also on ForkLog:

• A user transferred $129 million to a phishing address, but it was simply returned.
• Justin Sun bought a banana for $6.24 million.
• The creator of a film about Satoshi Nakamoto disputed Peter Todd’s denials.
• Texas to draft a law on a strategic bitcoin reserve.

What Else to Read?

This week, ForkLog explored analogies in the news agenda for the crypto industry between 2016 and 2024 against the backdrop of Trump’s return to the White House.

The traditional digest compiled the week’s main events in the field of cybersecurity.