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Libra, the Facebook-linked stablecoin targeted continuously by lawmakers, might get off the ground as early as January 2021, albeit in a more limited format than the original multi-currency basket envisioned.

According to a report by the Financial Times on Friday, the Libra stablecoin project might launch a single dollar-pegged stablecoin next year, according to “three people involved in the initiative.”

The global stablecoin project was initially proposed to be pegged to a basket composed of multiple fiat currencies, but was walked back by project leaders in April as a result of regulatory pressure from lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad.

Related: In India, a Clash of Digital Innovation and Internet Censorship

The project’s leaders announced Libra could launch as a series of stablecoins, each pegged to a fiat currency, rather than one multi-currency basket during that revamp.

Now, Libra’s “global stablecoin” will simply launch as a single coin backed 1:1 by the U.S. dollar, according to the FT, pending approval from the Swiss financial regulator FINMA.

The other currencies within the basket and the composite may still be rolled out at a later time.The dollar-pegged coin could launch as soon as January, according to FT, which did not name its sources.

Facebook unveiled the Libra project in June 2019, announcing its vision for the global stablecoin.

Related: German Finance Minister Says He Does Not Support Private Cryptos: Report

It immediately faced regulatory backlash from lawmakers worldwide, who cited concerns about Libra’s potential to threaten financial stability or enable money laundering.

The social media giant helped form the Libra Association, a governing council for the project, later that year. It now has 27 members.

While its limited form, as a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar might placate policymakers, the project still faces a significant uphill battle as regulators seek to clamp down on the digital payments industry and hold senders and receivers to account for their transactions.

Spokespeople for the Libra Association did not immediately return a request for comment.

See also: Libra Association Taps Saumya Bhavsar as General Counsel for Payments Subsidiary

• Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years
• From PayPal to Libra: Big Tech Has Forced Central Banks to Wake Up to CBDCs, Says Benoit Coeure

Get ready to spend some bitcoin – and not just because of the great Black Friday deals. 

This year, shoppers can spend or earn bitcoin on discounted deals from all over the world: the Bitcoin Black Friday event is back with over 300 merchants and nonprofits, more than 330 deals, and a chance to win 1 bitcoin (BTC, -0.94%), still currently worth around $17,000. 

“It’s the way to draw attention from your average buyer around the world…We’re trying to attract the same people who are looking for deals to do the same thing with bitcoin,” John Riggins, head of international operations at BTC Inc and organizer of Bitcoin Black Friday, told CoinDesk. 

Related: Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle

Read more: What Is Bitcoin?

A number of crypto firms are also offering special discounts on products and services available to users everywhere. 

Riggins and some participating merchants told CoinDesk that tech upgrades have improved transactional use of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Combined with the recent bitcoin price run and the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies across the world, this could make Black Friday 2020 the one to beat. 

“Some of these deals are available to people around the world only in bitcoin. If they’re in Vietnam and want to make a purchase from Newegg Australia, or if they’re in a country that faces extra scrutiny and can’t use their credit card or bank account to buy things online, they can still use bitcoin and take advantage of these deals,” Riggins said. 

Related: 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish

The event will feature deals from hardware manufacturers like Trezor, Foundation Devices and Nodl. 

Secure wallet provider Ledger is offering 40% discounts through Nov. 30 on Nano S and Nano X wallets, Benoit Pellevoizin, VP of marketing at Ledger told CoinDesk. 

Pellevoizin added the Nano S has a small storage capacity (two to three coins), ideal for backup, while the Nano X has a bigger stretch capacity and is Bluetooth-connected so you can use it on the go. 

Shoppers can also browse through deals from online retailers for electronics (like Newegg) as well as food and home goods (shopping.io).  

Part of this year’s Bitcoin Black Friday promotion includes Fold’s bitcoin-backed debit card, where users will get the chance to win 1 bitcoin if they sign up for and refer others to the card’s waitlist. 

Bitcoin Black Friday was founded in 2012 as a grassroots initiative with a few dozen participating vendors by crypto enthusiast Jon Holmquist. In 2013, the event featured 600 businesses but momentum has slowed somewhat since. According to Riggins, although the event continued to a lesser degree, 2016 was the last year it was bitcoin-focused and had “effort put behind it” until now. 

Technical advancements in Bitcoin since 2017, including scaling and Lightning Network solutions, combined with better payment processors with upgraded functionality, makes this a special year for Bitcoin Black Friday, Riggins said. 

Read more: What is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network?

For instance, Atlanta-based payments platform BitPay is offering a number of discounted products, some lasting through December. BitPay’s VP of marketing, Merrick Theobald, believes that crypto payments have proven to be a safe and convenient way to shop online for both the business and consumer.

“This year, even more so than past years, we have seen an increase in people choosing to shop online, especially for the holidays,”  Theobald told CoinDesk via an email. 

Ian Balina, CEO of AI-driven cryptocurrency research platform Token Metrics, noted that his company has had its best month so far on YouTube, with more people watching explainers and other content around crypto, thanks to bitcoin’s price going up. 

“The interest level in bitcoin and crypto is high, much higher even for us than it was in August during the DeFi interest,” Balina said.

Token Metrics, itself, is celebrating its first anniversary this week with a special Black Friday deal, offering 40% off all of their subscriptions plans from Nov. 27 to Nov. 30. 

Pellevoizin also agreed 2020 is far different from bitcoin’s previous price run in 2017. 

“I think the current crisis and the fact that for six months you had a lot of newcomers entering the space makes this year’s Black Friday special,” Pellevoizin said. 

With bitcoin’s price recently approaching all-time highs, investors may be more inclined to buy and hold the asset for future gains. But BitPay’s Theobald doesn’t believe that will get in the way of big Thanksgiving spending this week. 

“Historically, when the price of bitcoin goes up, consumers feel good and seek ways to spend these newfound gains…Many hodlers have a target amount in mind and when crypto reaches a certain price point, they sell,” Theobald said. 

Going a step further, Riggins suggested that devoted hodlers can always spend their bitcoin on discounted goods and services, and buy it back later. 

Read more: 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish

 “We think it’s the time to kind of start promoting bitcoin’s payments use case again. Hodling bitcoin is still important, but to support a circular economy, we need both sides going,” Riggins said. 

He added that some companies, like Strike, will let users pay for purchases this Black Friday without actually selling any of their own bitcoin or incurring any capital gains taxes.

Users can pay with Strike’s bitcoin, which they can access through bitcoin and Lightning QR codes using the fiat in their bank accounts, Jack Mallers, founder of Strike told CoinDesk via an email. 

In 2019, Americans spent a whopping $7.4 billion online on Black Friday. By offering deals to shoppers from around the world, crypto could potentially turn the nation’s dedicated day for consumerism into a worldwide phenomenon. 

“The best gift is a crypto gift because crypto is the future of money,” Balina said.

Most deals on Bitcoin Black Friday will go live on Nov. 27 through Cyber Monday.

• OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals
• Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off Since March

Bitcoin suffered a price crash earlier on Thursday, having missed record highs by a narrow margin earlier this week.

The top cryptocurrency by market value fell from over $19,300 to $16,327 during the early European trading hours and was last seen trading near $17,200, representing a 10% drop on a 24-hour basis, according to CoinDesk 20 data.

The sudden fall caught many traders off-guard, given the cryptocurrency was trading just 2% short of its record high of $19,783 on Wednesday.

Related: Yes, You Can Spend Your Bitcoin This Black Friday

So, what’s behind the $3,000 decline? Here are three of the primary factors responsible for the price drop:

“Bitcoin has fallen victim to a large unwinding of leverage trades in derivatives listed across major exchanges,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk.

Nearly $2 billion-worth of derivative positions have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Of that, more than $1.6 billion-worth has been closed in the past 12 hours, according to data source Bybit.

The unwinding of leverage trades had been expected, as the cost of holding long positions in the perpetual futures market, also known as the funding rate, had risen sharply to a multi-month high of 0.098% in the past few days – a sign of overleveraging, or overheating, in the market. The funding rate is decided and paid every eight hours.

Related: Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges

Also read: Bitcoin Faces Volatility Rise as Futures Market Shows Signs of Overheating

With the price drop, the funding rate has fallen back to 0.011%, according to data source Glassnode. In effect, excess leverage has been crowded out.

Bitcoin’s rally from $10,000 to $19,400 seen over the past seven weeks looked overstretched on the technical charts.

The momentum was so strong that the cryptocurrency consistently traded above its 10-day moving average (MA) throughout the ascent, despite an overbought reading on the 14-day relative strength index (RSI).

Assets seldom see a 90-degree rally, as speculators tend to book profits at regular intervals, pushing prices down to their short-term moving averages. The cryptocurrency has seen several pullbacks of 20% or more during the previous bull markets.

The price drop seen today has taken the cryptocurrency well below its 10-day average and allowed the RSI to realign in a more bull friendly-manner. “It’s a healthy pullback,” Stack Funds’ Dibb said.

According to chart analysts, price rallies with regular pullbacks are more sustainable than the near-90 degree ascents.

Some traders had positioned for the pullback by buying put options, or bearish bets, as noted by Deribit Insights.

According to trader and analyst Alex Kruger, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s tweet thread about the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets weakened the bullish move, allowing a price pullback.

“This [regulatory concerns], against a backdrop of euphoria and unsustainable high leverage among longs led to the largest 24-hour drop since March,” Kruger told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat.

“However, if what Armstrong talked about comes to be, it would be extremely bearish. As of now, I see that as highly unlikely (in the short-term),” Kruger said.

The downward move may also have been amplified by prominent cryptocurrency exchange OKEX’s announcement it would resume withdrawals.

“Most of the frozen bitcoin [on OKEx] had traded up around 70%, so there were a lot of unrealized profits locked up there,” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said in a statement provided to CoinDesk. “Once these coins were free to move, it’s likely many traders sold them for dollars and stablecoins to realize those gains, adding greater momentum to the selling.”

Bitcoin had already fallen to around $17,600 when the exchange lifted the suspension at 08:00 UTC today, and fell to $16,350 in the following hour. OKEx suspended withdrawals on Oct. 16 when bitcoin traded near $11,500.

Also read: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

The path of least resistance for bitcoin remains on the higher side. “The latest price drop is a noise against the larger bullish trend,” Kruger said.

Indeed, bullish macro factors such as increased institutional participation, record money printing by central banks, and the search for yield remain intact despite the price drop.

Holding sentiment remains strong on Thursday, with the number of coins held on cryptocurrency exchanges at 2,384,913, the lowest level since Aug. 2018, according to data source Glassnode.

The data suggests investors view the current drop as a bull market pullback and remain confident about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The metric has declined by over 17% this year, meaning there’s been a liquidity drop in the market.

Lastly, today’s price plunge has cleared out the excessive leverage, as noted above. With the cost of holding long positions normalized, bitcoin can now chart a more sustained rally to record highs.

Crypto Broker’s Heusser expects the cryptocurrency to consolidate in the range of $17,500 to $19,000 in the short-term before resuming its uptrend.

“Bitcoin is yet to peak,” said Siddharth Menon, co-founder and COO of Mumbai-based WazirX exchange. “I’m also seeing a lot of pro traders take positions in bitcoin. These are healthy positions because they are not going all-in, but adding funds when it goes up or down.”

Also read: Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks

• OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals
• Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off Since March

Coinbase is experiencing another outage of its website and mobile apps, a reoccurrence of a problem that seems to plague the leading cryptocurrency exchange whenever bitcoin’s price and volume spike.

This comes on the heels of issues yesterday that affected Coinbase and a large swath of the internet when cloud provider AWS experienced outages. As other sites are also still reporting issues, it’s possible Coinbase’s problems are still being caused by the AWS troubles.

Coinbase has suffered a number of outages during busy trading periods this year including most recently on Nov. 16. The most recent outage comes as bitcoin (BTC) is down 11.54% to $17,120 at press time.

Related: Coinbase Preemptively Rebuts Unpublished New York Times Expose

UPDATE: 11/26/20 15:06 UTC: Updated with reasons for outage.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information is available.

• Coinbase Ditches US Customer Tax Form That Set Off False Alarms at IRS
• Coinbase Will Suspend All Margin Trading Tomorrow, Citing CFTC Guidance
• Coinbase Has Raked in $14B in New Institutional Assets Since April

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has publicly shared an internal letter pushing back at an as-yet unpublished article in the New York Times that, it says, will allege Black employees had “negative experiences” while with the firm.

The letter, posted on the company’s blog Thursday, states that NYT journalist Nathaniel Popper has been interviewing current and former staff over recent weeks and will “allege that a number of Black employees and contractors referenced in the story filed complaints with the company.”

Coinbase writes:

Related: Coinbase Goes Down Again as Bitcoin Price Action, Volatility Heat Up Again

“In reality, only three of these people filed complaints during their time at Coinbase. All of those complaints were thoroughly investigated, one through an internal investigation and two by separate third-party investigators, all of whom found no evidence of wrongdoing and concluded the claims were unsubstantiated.”

The letter, which was not signed but references the first person in places, appears to be an effort to take the sting out of the report by controlling the narrative before it’s even started. “We provided several written, on-the-record statements to The Times. We have no control over whether and how The Times uses those statements (in whole or in part) in the story,” Coinbase says.

The letter goes on to say that, despite the firm’s “best efforts” to provide relevant information to Popper, Coinbase expects “the story will paint an inaccurate picture that lacks complete information and context.”

“Finally, let me be absolutely clear on these points: We are committed to maintaining an environment that is safe, supportive and welcoming to employees of all backgrounds,” the unnamed writer (possibly CEO Brian Armstrong) says. “We do not accept intolerant behavior. And we are committed to the refreshed Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity strategy we rolled out earlier this quarter.”

Related: Coinbase Ditches US Customer Tax Form That Set Off False Alarms at IRS

The New York Times will publish the article in print on Sunday and possibly before that in online versions, according to the post.

The anticipated article and the firm’s preemptive response are now building to be the second major PR blow for Coinbase this year, after a controversial blog post from Armstrong in the summer set out that he would effectively bar most political activism in its workplace and focus on the “mission.”

The missive apparently came about after internal protests were sparked when the CEO would not publicly back the “Black Lives Matter” movement, but would state that “black lives matter.” He later compromised in a tweet.

At least 60 people took the opportunity to leave in September, including several executives, after Coinbase offered severance packages to staff unhappy with the new stance.

See also: Coinbase Offers Severance Package to Employees Unsatisfied With ‘Apolitical’ Mission

• Coinbase Will Suspend All Margin Trading Tomorrow, Citing CFTC Guidance
• Coinbase Has Raked in $14B in New Institutional Assets Since April

The British universities of Oxford and Cambridge, famed for their annual boat race, are bringing their traditional rivalry into the crypto arena.

• Students from both universities will take part in an algorithmic trading competition hosted by investor analytics firm APEX:E3.
• Fifteen teams of competitors must use the API from APEX:E3 to build algorithms and make spot market trades of cryptocurrencies on the CoinbasePro and FTX exchanges.
• Coinbase, FTX, SIX Digital Exchange, LMAX Digital and ConsenSys Mesh are all partnering to assist the competition, according to the announcement on Wednesday.
• Teams will be gauged by return on investment, trading strategy and algorithm design by a panel of industry judges.
• Professor Mike Wooldridge, Head of Department of Computer Science at University of Oxford, said the competition “provides not only an excellent opportunity for our students, but also potential new avenues for collaborative research.”
• The Oxford and Cambridge teams were signed up on Nov. 16, with the crypto-trading competition to be concluded in December.
• The winning team will keep its seed capital and any returns they make, said APEX:E3.

See also: How to Answer Your Family’s Bitcoin Questions This Thanksgiving

• UK Police Find no Crime in Alleged $3M Crypto ‘Staking’ Scam
• Ripple Eyeing Move to London Over XRP-Friendly Stance, CEO Says
• Isle of Man Regulator Says Bitcoin, Ether Not Considered Securities in New Guidance
• Blockchain Goes to College

Mikhail Mishustin, the Russian prime minister, raised the subject of cryptocurrencies and the need to protect users during the government session on Thursday, according to a transcript.

Acknowledging the growing interest in this “relatively new tool,” Mishustin said the government plans to lead the cryptocurrency market’s development in a “civilized direction” so users can better can protect their “rights and interests.” This would make it more difficult for fraudulent “shadow schemes” to operate, he said.

The prime minister explained that Russia’s tax code will be amended to designate crypto assets as property, meaning owners will be able to seek relief in court if they should fall victim to any illegal activity. 

Related: Russian Hospitalized After Bitcoin Mining Farm Sets Apartment on Fire

The country’s Ministry of Finance has already suggested a range of additions to the tax code, including the obligation to report crypto holdings starting from a certain threshold, as well as legal consequences for those who don’t. 

Mishustin was appointed the head of the Russian government this spring, after leading the country’s federal tax agency for 10 years.

So far, Russia does not have a detailed regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but President Vladimir Putin signed one of two bills into law in the summer that regulates the issuance of digital securities and mentions cryptocurrency as a type of taxable property.

See also: Russian Ministry Moves to Soften Requirements for Crypto Tax Reporting

• South Korea May Delay Implementation of 20% Crypto Tax Till 2022
• Lithuania Makes Millions in First Sale of Seized Cryptocurrency
• Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams

Sygnum, a digital asset finance firm with a Swiss banking license, has launched what it says is a blockchain-based alternative to listing shares on a stock exchange.

On Thursday, the company announced an “end-to-end tokenization solution,” comprising of both a primary market issuance platform called Desygnate, and SygnEx, a secondary market trading venue.

The solution will provide issuers a way to raise capital, grow liquidity, transfer ownership and manage corporate actions, Sygnum said. It will also bring investors access to tokenized assets, with targeted markets being venture capital, “mid cap” companies, real estate, and art and collectibles.

Related: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

With distributed-ledger technology underlying the solution, Sygnum claims instant settlement around the clock and seven days a week, as well as reduced counterparty risks with the platform powered by its own Swiss franc-linked stablecoin, Digital CHF (DCHF).

“With Desygnate and SygnEx, we bring a blockchain-powered business solution to market which opens up a world of new opportunities for capital market participants to do business”, said Mathias Imbach, CEO-designate of Sygnum Group, in the announcement.

A number of companies are already using, or will soon start to use, the tokenization solution, according to Sygnum. It lists asset manager Azimut Group, property investment firm ImmoZins, real-estate token provider CrowdliToken, electric vehicle company BAK Motors and wine investment firm Fine Wine Capital AG.

As an alternative to traditional capital markets, Sygnum said it can help companies raise funding while avoiding high costs and extensive listing requirements.

Related: Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks

“Switzerland’s estimated 600,000 SMEs, and the 45,000 new companies founded each year, can now attract a broader network of investors and raise capital by issuing security tokens, which can be securely traded on SygnEx,” the company said..

Also read: Gazprombank Switzerland Executes First Bitcoin Trades, Announces Payments Initiative

• Bitcoin Options Market Suggests Investors Preparing for All-Time High
• Bitcoin Breaks $19K, New All-Time High Seems Imminent

Update (11:10 UTC, Nov. 27 2020): OKEx saw a total outflow of 24,631 bitcoin on Thursday, according to CryptoQuant, the largest amount since the March markets crash.

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx recorded a major bitcoin outflow just minutes after it lifted a five-week-long withdrawal suspension at 08:00 UTC Thursday.

About 2,822 BTC was moved from OKEx in block number 658,728 mined at 08:12 UTC. That’s the biggest single-block outflow since May 2019, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Related: Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle

Of the 2,822 coins withdrawn, 456 were transferred to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and more than 400 were moved to other exchanges. Meanwhile, 54 accounts or addresses took direct custody of some coins.

OKEx halted withdrawals indefinitely on Oct. 16 after one of the exchange’s key holders went “out of touch” with the exchange because they were held by authorities to “assist an investigation.”

Some analysts have associated bitcoin’s recent meteoric rise to 35-month highs above $19,000 with a supply shortage due in part to OKEx’s suspension of crypto withdrawals. That’s because the price rally began after OKEx’s decision, dated Oct. 16.

However, many market observers do not see a strong reason to link the latest price rally with OKEx’s issues. “The ‘perfect’ timing of OKEx’s suspension and the price rally could be purely coincidental,” Ryan Watkins, bitcoin analyst at Messari, told CoinDesk.

Related: Yes, You Can Spend Your Bitcoin This Black Friday

Bitcoin plunged nearly $3,000 on Thursday, shortly before OKEx was due to restart withdrawals. It’s also not clear if the two events may be linked.

Also read: OKEx’s Withdrawal Suspension Isn’t Behind Bitcoin’s Rally: Analysts

• 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish
• Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx recorded a major bitcoin outflow just minutes after it lifted a five-week-long withdrawal suspension at 08:00 UTC Thursday.

About 2,822 BTC was moved from OKEx in block number 658,728 mined at 08:12 UTC. That’s the biggest single-block outflow since May 2019, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Of the 2,822 coins withdrawn, 456 were transferred to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and more than 400 were moved to other exchanges. Meanwhile, 54 accounts or addresses took direct custody of some coins.

Related: Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges

OKEx halted withdrawals indefinitely on Oct. 16 after one of the exchange’s key holders went “out of touch” with the exchange because they were held by authorities to “assist an investigation.”

Some analysts have associated bitcoin’s recent meteoric rise to 35-month highs above $19,000 with a supply shortage due in part to OKEx’s suspension of crypto withdrawals. That’s because the price rally began after OKEx’s decision, dated Oct. 16.

However, many market observers do not see a strong reason to link the latest price rally with OKEx’s issues. “The ‘perfect’ timing of OKEx’s suspension and the price rally could be purely coincidental,” Ryan Watkins, bitcoin analyst at Messari, told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin plunged nearly $3,000 on Thursday, shortly before OKEx was due to restart withdrawals. It’s also not clear if the two events may be linked.

Related: OKEx Resumes Withdrawals 5 Weeks After Freeze

Also read: OKEx’s Withdrawal Suspension Isn’t Behind Bitcoin’s Rally: Analysts

• Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Momentum at $19.4K; Ethereum Fees Increasing

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx recorded a major bitcoin outflow just minutes after it lifted a five-week-long withdrawal suspension at 08:00 UTC Thursday.

About 2,822 bitcoins were moved from OKEx in block number 658,728 mined at 08:12 UTC. That’s the biggest single-block outflow since May 2019, according to blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Of the 2,822 coins withdrawn, 456 were transferred to cryptocurrency exchange Binance and more than 400 were moved to other exchanges. Meanwhile, 54 accounts or addresses took direct custody of some coins.

Related: Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges

OKEx halted withdrawals indefinitely on Oct. 16 after one of the exchange’s key holders went “out of touch” with the exchange because they were held by authorities to “assist an investigation.”

Some analysts have associated bitcoin’s recent meteoric rise to 35-month highs above $19,000 with a supply shortage in part due to OKEx’s suspension of crypto withdrawals. That’s because the price rally began after OKEX’s decision dated Oct. 16.

However, many market observers do not see a strong reason to link the latest price rally with OKEx’s issues. “The “perfect” timing of OKEx’s suspension and the price rally could be purely coincidental,” Ryan Watkins, bitcoin analyst at Messari, told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin plunged nearly $3,000 on Thursday, soon before OKEx was due to restart withdrawals. It’s also not clear if the two events may be linked.

Related: OKEx Resumes Withdrawals 5 Weeks After Freeze

Also read: OKEx’s Withdrawal Suspension Isn’t Behind Bitcoin’s Rally: Analysts

• Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 in Sharpest Sell-Off for 12 Weeks
• Despite New Incentives to Stay, Some of OKEx’s Chinese Users Are Determined to Leave

Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has reopened withdrawals five weeks after an abrupt suspension.

In a short blog post on Thursday, the exchange announced that it was lifting the freeze at 08:00 UTC and pointed users to a compensation and loyalty program in an attempt to appease disgruntled users.

As reported by CoinDesk on Wednesday, OKEx had been preparing its platform functionality ahead of the reopening by testing its withdrawal system, as 0.02 BTC was moved out from an OKEx wallet.

Related: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow for 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

On Oct. 16, OKEx had been forced to suspend all account withdrawals when an unnamed holder of the keys to the cryptocurrency assets was detained by police to apparently assist an investigation.

A report in the Chinese newspaper Caixin said the key holder was the founder of OKCoin and CEO of OK Group Mingxing “Star” Xu, based on sources “close” to the company.

However, OKEx representatives have denied any connection between the two when asked by CoinDesk.

See also: Despite New Incentives to Stay, Some of OKEx’s Chinese Users Are Determined to Leave

• Despite New Incentives to Stay, Some of OKEx’s Chinese Users Are Determined to Leave
• Some Are Calling All-Time Highs for Bitcoin. Here’s Why CoinDesk Hasn’t Yet
• OKEx to Resume Withdrawals Before Nov. 27, Offers New Compensation Programs

[UPDATED Nov. 26, 2020, 09:00 UTC] Bitcoin has fallen almost $3,000 from levels close to all-time highs.

At around 2:15 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) began to tumble significantly as its value dropped below a previous area of support at around $18,474.

Spot volume across major exchanges also rose sharply as bitcoin’s 24-hour range fell to between $19,474 and $16,514 – its sharpest decline since the wider markets crash in March, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Today’s fall marks an over 12% drop over 24 hours.

Related: Yes, You Can Spend Your Bitcoin This Black Friday

Bitcoin was last seen trading up slightly at $17,040.

“I think this is a correction before we break $20,000,” said Ki Young Ju, CEO at analytics firm CryptoQuant. “Other long-term on-chain indicators like BTC and stablecoin reserve say the potential buying pressure still prevails so far.”

While the reason for the drop isn’t entirely clear, the sell-off move comes at a time when Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his concerns on Wednesday night over the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets.

It also came soon before an expected flood of bitcoin onto the market that had been frozen on the OKEx exchange due to an absent key holder. OKEx restarted withdrawals at 08:00 UTC, well after the main portion of Thursday’s drop.

Related: 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish

The plunge liquidated $950 million worth of positions across major exchanges, as noted by derivatives data provider Bybt.

“The latest BTC price drop is the first of many tests for new money on whether they have the vision and stomach to truly invest in BTC  and the future of digital finance, or if they’ll simply repeat 2018 and wash out of the market,” said Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment and trading firm Kenetic.

Most other notable cryptocurrencies also fell, with Chainlink and Cardano suffering the worst drops across the board, losing 18.9% and 16.7%.

See also: Coinbase CEO: Trump Administration May ‘Rush Out’ Burdensome Crypto Wallet Rules

Updated (Nov. 26, 2020, 09:30 UTC) to include information regarding OKEx withdrawals.

Updated (15:12 UTC, Nov. 26 2020): Corrected headline and sentence that said the drop was the largest in 12 weeks. The 12% drop is the largest since March.

• Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges
• OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

[UPDATED Nov. 26, 2020, 09:00 UTC] Bitcoin has fallen almost $3,000 from levels close to all-time highs.

At around 2:15 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) began to tumble significantly as its value dropped below a previous area of support at around $18,474.

Spot volume across major exchanges also rose sharply as bitcoin’s 24-hour range fell to between $19,474 and $16,514 – its sharpest decline in 12 weeks, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Today’s fall marks an over 12% drop over 24 hours.

Related: Swiss Digital Asset Bank Sygnum Launches Blockchain Alternative to Stock Exchanges

Bitcoin was last seen trading up slightly at $17,040.

“I think this is a correction before we break $20,000,” said Ki Young Ju, CEO at analytics firm CryptoQuant. “Other long-term on-chain indicators like BTC and stablecoin reserve say the potential buying pressure still prevails so far.”

While the reason for the drop isn’t entirely clear, the sell-off move comes at a time when Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his concerns on Wednesday night over the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets.

It also came soon before an expected flood of bitcoin onto the market that had been frozen on the OKEx exchange due to an absent key holder. OKEx restarted withdrawals at 08:00 UTC, well after the main portion of Thursday’s drop.

Related: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

The plunge liquidated $950 million worth of positions across major exchanges, as noted by derivatives data provider Bybt.

“The latest BTC price drop is the first of many tests for new money on whether they have the vision and stomach to truly invest in BTC  and the future of digital finance, or if they’ll simply repeat 2018 and wash out of the market,” said Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment and trading firm Kenetic.

Most other notable cryptocurrencies also fell, with Chainlink and Cardano suffering the worst drops across the board, losing 18.9% and 16.7%.

See also: Coinbase CEO: Trump Administration May ‘Rush Out’ Burdensome Crypto Wallet Rules

Updated [Nov. 26, 2020, 09:30 UTC] to include information regarding OKEx withdrawals.

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• The Most Bullish Bitcoin Arguments for Your Thanksgiving Table

[UPDATED] Bitcoin has fallen almost $3,000 from levels close to all-time highs.

At around 2:15 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) began to tumble significantly as its value dropped below a previous area of support at around $18,474.

Spot volume across major exchanges also rose sharply as bitcoin’s 24-hour range fell to between $19,474 and $16,514 – its sharpest decline in 12 weeks, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Today’s fall marks an over 12% drop over 24 hours.

Related: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow for 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals

Bitcoin was last seen trading up slightly at $17,040.

“I think this is a correction before we break $20,000,” said Ki Young Ju, CEO at analytics firm CryptoQuant. “Other long-term on-chain indicators like BTC and stablecoin reserve say the potential buying pressure still prevails so far.”

While the reason for the drop isn’t entirely clear, the sell-off move comes at a time when Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his concerns on Wednesday night over the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets.

It also came soon before an expected flood of bitcoin onto the market that had been frozen on the OKEx exchange due to an absent key holder. OKEx restarted withdrawals at 08:00 UTC, well after the main portion of Thursday’s drop.

Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Momentum at $19.4K; Ethereum Fees Increasing

The plunge liquidated $950 million worth of positions across major exchanges, as noted by derivatives data provider Bybt.

“The latest BTC price drop is the first of many tests for new money on whether they have the vision and stomach to truly invest in BTC  and the future of digital finance, or if they’ll simply repeat 2018 and wash out of the market,” said Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment and trading firm Kenetic.

Most other notable cryptocurrencies also fell with Chainlink and Cardano suffering the worst drops across the board, losing 18.9% and 16.7%.

See also: Coinbase CEO: Trump Administration May ‘Rush Out’ Burdensome Crypto Wallet Rules

• The Most Bullish Bitcoin Arguments for Your Thanksgiving Table
• Some Are Calling All-Time Highs for Bitcoin. Here’s Why CoinDesk Hasn’t Yet

Bitcoin fell more than $1000 dollars before rebounding, in the leading cryptocurrency’s sharpest decline in almost three weeks.

At around 2:15 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) began to tumble significantly as its value dropped below a previous area of support at around $18,474.

Spot volume across major exchanges also rose sharply as bitcoin’s 24-hour range fell to between $19,474 and $17,284 – its sharpest decline in since Nov. 7, according to CoinDesk 20 data.

Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Momentum at $19.4K; Ethereum Fees Increasing

“I think this is a correction before we break $20,000,” said Ki Young Ju, CEO at analytics firm CryptoQuant. “Other long-term on-chain indicators like BTC and stablecoin reserve say the potential buying pressure still prevails so far.”

Bitcoin has since regained some lost ground and is currently changing hands for around $17,772.

While the reason for the drop isn’t entirely clear, the sell-off move comes at a time when Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his concerns on Wednesday night over the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets.

The plunge liquidated $950 million worth of positions across major exchanges, as noted by derivatives data provider Bybt.

Related: The Most Bullish Bitcoin Arguments for Your Thanksgiving Table

“The latest BTC price drop is the first of many tests for new money on whether they have the vision and stomach to truly invest in BTC  and the future of digital finance, or if they’ll simply repeat 2018 and wash out of the market,” said Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner at Hong Kong-based blockchain investment and trading firm Kenetic.

Most other notable cryptocurrencies also fell with Chainlink (LINK) and Cardano (ADA) suffering the worst drops across the board, losing 18.9% and 16.7%.

See also: Coinbase CEO: Trump Administration May ‘Rush Out’ Burdensome Crypto Wallet Rules

• Some Are Calling All-Time Highs for Bitcoin. Here’s Why CoinDesk Hasn’t Yet
• How to Answer Your Family’s Bitcoin Questions This Thanksgiving

Brian Armstrong is worried the Trump Administration is about to send the cryptocurrency industry a parting gift.

The Coinbase CEO took to Twitter Wednesday night to blast the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to attempt to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets with an onerous set of data-collection requirements.

If the whispers are to be believed,  outgoing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is preparing to tamp down on one of the fundamental tenets of the cryptocurrency ethos: the ability of the individual to hold their crypto (unmolested) themselves.

Related: BitMEX Founder’s Charges Highlight Risks for DeFi

“This proposed regulation would, we think, require financial institutions like Coinbase to verify the recipient/owner of the self-hosted wallet, collecting identifying information on that party, before a withdrawal could be sent to that self-hosted wallet,” Armstrong tweeted.

If true, the regulation would represent a broadside against the U.S. cryptocurrency industry like few ever levied by the federal government. It would force corporations to know every counterparty to their users’ crypto transactions, keeping logs, tracking movements, and verifying identities even before a transfer could take place.

It would also bring to pass the worst-case scenario envisioned by industry players when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body, told its member countries to apply the so-called travel rule to crypto businesses last year. This long-standing rule requires financial institutions to collect information about the sender and receiver of a money transfer. But it was ambiguous what that would mean when someone sends bitcoin from, say, their Coinbase account to an address controlled by a private key on a sheet of paper kept in a sock drawer.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Related: CipherTrace Says Homeland Security Work Gave Rise to Monero-Tracking Patent Filings

Read more: Crypto ‘Gray’ Markets Could Be Unintended Consequence of FATF Travel Rule

And it would not just affect those who store their coins on a hardware device like Trezor or Ledger. Many crypto services use non-custodial wallets. Decentralized finance (DeFi) smart contracts. Software wallets, paper storage. All would need to prove their provenance to transact with regulated entities under the rumored rule.

Such a sweeping interpretation of FATF guidance has already been applied in Switzerland and the Netherlands. There, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) must prove the ownership of non-custodial crypto wallets ahead of transfer.

Armstrong said Wednesday that such a regulation “would be a terrible legacy and have long-standing negative impacts for the U.S.” 

“This additional friction would kill many of the emerging use cases for crypto. Crypto is not just money – it is digitizing every type of asset,” he said.

To date, regulation of decentralized cryptocurrency networks had been mostly limited to the on/off ramps between the networks and the traditional finance system, according to Jacob Farber, partner at blockchain law and consulting firm Ouroboros LLP.

This state of affairs left the industry “mostly unregulated” and private, such that it has been able to offer a real alternative to traditional finance, Farber said.

“Imposing a KYC [know-your-customer] requirement on transactions between on/off ramps and every wallet that transacts with them expands the reach of regulation over crypto exponentially,” Farber added. “More importantly, it changes what crypto can be, at least at scale.”

He called Armstrong’s concerns justified and said these potential regulations should be taken seriously by the cryptocurrency community.

Armstrong’s tweets appeared to break long-simmering industry fears over this kind of regulation into full public view. 

In recent days, multiple cryptocurrency lobbyists and advocacy groups have staged what in hindsight appears to have been a soft influence campaign to shape public opinion of non-custodial wallets.

Coin Center published a think piece on the “unintended consequences” of non-hosted wallet restrictions on Nov. 18. 

The Blockchain Association, which Coinbase abandoned this year, released a 50-page policymakers’ guide to self-hosted wallets around the same time.

“The Blockchain Association has long been aware that some regulators in the U.S. and overseas have concerns about self-hosted wallets,” Executive Director Kristin Smith told CoinDesk. “We are actively educating officials in both the executive branch and the legislative branch in order to address misconceptions about self-hosted wallets.”

Read more: Binance Blockade of Wasabi Wallet Could Point to a Crypto Crack-Up

• FATF Needs Entirely New Approach to Regulating Crypto, Says V20 Summit
• Dutch Crypto Exchange Adds Extra Verification Measures Citing ‘Disproportionate’ Central Bank Requirements

President-elect Joe Biden may name former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Gary Gensler to become Deputy Treasury Secretary, CNBC reported Wednesday.

Gensler, who is currently heading up Biden’s financial oversight transition team, would report to former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Biden’s reported nominee for the top spot at the Treasury Department. He is perhaps best known for his work developing derivatives rules in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis under former President Barack Obama, but has experience working in the Treasury Department, as an assistant secretary for financial markets in the late 1990s.

It’s unclear how federal regulators might approach the crypto space under a Biden administration. His picks for key administration positions so far include Yellen and Roger Ferguson as his National Economic Council director, according to CNBC. However, their top priority is likely to be addressing the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Related: In Her Own Words: Here’s What Janet Yellen Has Said About Bitcoin

Gensler brings a deep understanding of the cryptocurrency space, saying in 2018 that, “I’m an optimist, I want to see this technology succeed, it is in essence about the plumbing of the financial system and it’s a new technology that can really enhance the financial system.”

Others with significant familiarity with cryptocurrency on Biden’s transition team include MIT Professor Simon Johnson, Georgetown University law professor Chris Brummer, University of California – Irvine School of Law professor Mehrsa Baradaran and Columbia University law professor Lev Menand.

Each of these individuals has weighed in on the potential benefits or complications of using cryptocurrencies for various issues.

Gensler did not return a previous request for comment.

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The number of billion-dollar spot volume days in the bitcoin market is increasing, pushing prices higher. Ethereum’s transaction fees are also increasing as general cryptocurrency interest fuels demand.

• Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $18,883 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 0.75% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $18,640-$19,474 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians.

Bitcoin closed in on the $19,500 price point Wednesday, hitting as high as $19,474, according to CoinDesk 20 data, before losing momentum, down to $18,883 as of press time.

“Following a meteoric rise over the past week, bitcoin appears to have consolidated at $19,000 even after briefly dropping below this important psychological milestone,” noted Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director for multi-asset brokerage eToro. “This is important because it shows there is support for bitcoin at this valuation for the first time in its history.”

Related: The Most Bullish Bitcoin Arguments for Your Thanksgiving Table

Read More: Bitcoin Options Market Suggests Investors Preparing for All-Time High

“Bitcoin maintains itself above $19,000 so we’re about a 2% move away from approaching the all-time highs last seen in 2017,” noted Elie Le Rest, partner at quant trading firm ExoAlpha. “Every day we’re seeing volumes increase across venues.” 

Helping to lead bitcoin’s price run is volume. In fact, Tuesday’s $1.8 billion in combined daily volume on five major USD/BTC spot exchanges (Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, ItBit and Kraken) is the second largest recorded in 2020, only superseded by March 13’s $1.9 billion level. As of press time, Wednesday’s volume for the five exchanges was approaching $1 billion.

“The last few weeks we’ve seen volumes rise aggressively and we don’t expect that to come off too much over the next few days,” noted Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales for crypto market maker DV Chain. “From a price perspective, we believe there is a lot of momentum in this risk-on market and cannot see it coming to a halt anytime soon given all the money being printed globally.”

Related: Some Are Calling All-Time Highs for Bitcoin. Here’s Why CoinDesk Hasn’t Yet

Indeed, the amount of M2 U.S. money stock jumped from $15 trillion in January to $19 trillion in November, a 26% increase of circulating money supply created this year in an effort to stave off coronavirus-inflicted economic problems.

And while many market observers talk about bitcoin’s proximity to an all-time price high, many are ignoring the impact ether has also had on the market. An impending upgrade of the network to Eth 2.0 plus an increase in decentralized finance, or DeFi, use cases seem to be fueling the ether fire. In 2020, bitcoin is up over 162% while ether has gained a whopping 343%.

“The recent Eth 2.0 contract milestone is driving a lot of positive sentiment around ether,” noted John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto custody provider Tritium.

Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down in Wednesday trading around $581 and slipping 4.1% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).

Read More: Coinbase Will Suspend All Margin Trading Citing CFTC Guidance

Transaction fees on the Ethereum network are rising. On Tuesday, average fees hit 0.00577876 ETH, the highest since Oct. 8.

The website Cryptofees.info, which collects data from Coin Metrics, puts Ethereum in the top spot for fees in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Over the past week, Ethereum has generated almost $3 million in average fees alone, and the network’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) Uniswap, SushiSwap and Curve are also in the top five in terms of average one-week fees.

Brian Mosoff, chief executive officer of investment firm Ether Capital, says this fee data is a sign of the Ethereum network’s user demand. “A quick look at cryptofees.info shows that Ethereum is by far the most used network, even more so than Bitcoin,” noted Mosoff. “Ethereum fees are rising as a result of the appreciation in the price of ETH and demand for usage of the network.”

Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):

• kyber network (KNC) + 9%
• omg network (OMG) + 7.4%
• stellar (XLM) + 4%

Notable losers:

• xrp (XRP) – 12.7%
• chainlink (LINK) – 7.4%
• litecoin (LTC) – 6.5%

Read More: US Intelligence Raises Concerns With SEC Over China Crypto Dominance

Equities:

• Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.51% as optimism regarding a coronavirus vaccine and U.S. political certainty heading into 2021 boosted the index.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day in the red 0.64% on news the British economy is expected to contract by 11% in 2020.
• In the United States the S&P fell 0.30% as lower volume ahead of the four-day Thanksgiving holiday plus worse-than-expected unemployment data pushed the index lower.

Commodities:

• Oil was up 2.1%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $45.74.
• Gold was flat, in the red 0.01% and at $1,806 as of press time.

Treasurys:

• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Wednesday dipping to 0.880 and in the red 0.37%.

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Galaxy Digital’s bitcoin funds raised $58.7 million in their first year, mostly from wealthy investors eager to benefit from the surging cryptocurrency.

As reported in two Form D filings, Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP raised $55.1 million while its smaller sibling, Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP, raised $3.6 million. Both funds launched last November when Mike Novogratz first trained his crypto investments firm’s sights on the bitcoin fund space.

The institutional fund in particular appears to capture high-rollers’ spiking interest in bitcoin. With a minimum investment of $250,000, the $55 million fund attracted 33 investors for an average allocation of $1.6 million.

Related: Pantera Raises Additional $5M for Its Bitcoin Fund, Bringing Total to $134M

That’s a little less than half of what Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP managed to raise overall. There, 56 investors pitched in at least $25,000 each for the full $3.6 million raise.

Funds have long appealed to investors who seek exposure to bitcoin’s price without having to deal with custody, trade or execution issues themselves. Pantera Capital launched one of the first such vehicles in 2013; it now has north of $135 million in sales.

A third entity, Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund, Ltd, reported raising $45 million from 13 investors Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if that fund, which had a $100,000 minimum investment, was directly related to Institutional LP.

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