From theblock by James Hunt
Quick Take
- The highly-anticipated Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 Monad has begun rolling out its testnet as part of a phased release, a source told The Block.
- Analysts at Bernstein have outlined the key upcoming catalysts that could propel bitcoin’s price to their cycle target of $200,000 in 2025.
- Netherlands-based Quantoz Payments has launched MiCA-compliant stablecoins USDQ and EURQ, pegged to the dollar and euro, on the Ethereum blockchain.
- The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
I hope you had a good weekend, folks. In today's Daily, Monad begins rolling out its testnet, Bernstein outlines the upcoming catalysts for bitcoin to reach $200,000, Tether-backed firm Quantoz launches MiCA-compliant stablecoins and more.
Meanwhile, options trading on spot bitcoin ETFs could go live this week after the OCC says it's "preparing for clearance."
Let's get started.
Monad begins rolling out testnet
The highly-anticipated Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 Monad has begun rolling out its testnet as part of a phased release, a source told The Block.
- The news follows the launch of Monad's devnet in March, having reached 10,000 transactions per second in internal testing.
- Monad claims to have optimized the way Ethereum works to provide greater throughput with a one-second block time, using a pipelined architecture for more efficient processing.
- Monad is also EVM bytecode-compatible, making it simple for Ethereum developers to port their existing decentralized applications to the blockchain.
- However, Monad's approach may be more challenging for node operators, with hardware requirements around twice as large compared to the Ethereum blockchain.
- The network's token, expected to be called MON, will be used to pay for transactions to be included within blocks, known as a carriage cost, and for transactions to be executed, according to Monad's technical documentation.
- Founded by former Jump Trading developers, Monad Labs raised $225 million in April, led by Paradigm, with Electric Capital and Coinbase Ventures among other participants.
- The Block reached out to Monad for comment.
Bernstein outlines key catalysts for bitcoin to reach $200,000
Analysts at research and brokerage firm Bernstein have outlined the key upcoming catalysts that could propel bitcoin's price to their cycle target of $200,000 in 2025.
- "We are entering a stage, where we expect intrigue will turn to pain for the bitcoin bears," analysts led by Gautam Chhugani said in a Monday note to clients. "Bitcoin BTC +0.41% to $100K seems around the corner and our $200K bitcoin target [by the end of] 2025 now looks not as delusional."
- Trump's crypto-friendly appointments, including potential picks for Treasury Secretary and SEC Chair, could help drive positive regulatory momentum for the industry, they said.
- Progress toward a national bitcoin stockpile, as Trump pledged during the election campaign, is another key catalyst, signaling the seeds of a sovereign adoption phase for bitcoin.
- The analysts also highlighted the current average bitcoin ETF net inflow rate of $1.7 billion per week and MicroStrategy's plans to raise $42 billion for further bitcoin acquisitions over the next three years as sources of substantial demand.
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Netherlands-based Quantoz Payments has launched MiCA-compliant stablecoins USDQ and EURQ, pegged to the dollar and euro, on the Ethereum blockchain.
- Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, has yet to receive a license for its stablecoin USDT under MiCA.
- The lack of clarity around USDT might provide one reason why Tether invested an undisclosed sum, alongside Kraken and web3 venture capital firm Fabric Ventures, in Quantoz.
- USDQ and EURQ, which the issuer claims are fully backed by fiat and "highly liquid financial instruments," will debut on Bitfinex and Kraken on Nov. 21, with Quantoz holding 2% of the tokens under MiCA rules.
- Quantoz aims to compete with Circle's EURC and other euro-stablecoin issuers before the EU regulations take full effect at the end of December.
MicroStrategy acquires another $4.6 billion worth of bitcoin
MicroStrategy acquired another 51,780 BTC between Nov. 11 and Nov. 17 for approximately $4.6 billion at an average price of $86,627.
- The business intelligence firm now holds 331,200 BTC, worth around $30 billion, bought at an average price of $49,874, bought for a total cost of around $16.5 billion, co-founder Michael Saylor said.
- The latest set of acquisitions is the largest in dollar terms to date, funded through the sale of nearly 13.6 million shares as part of its larger $42 billion capital raise plans for future bitcoin purchases, according to an 8-K filing with the SEC on Monday.
- Meanwhile, bitcoin miner MARA plans to offer $700 million in convertible senior notes to fund existing note repurchases as well as additional BTC acquisitions.
- Japanese investment firm Metaplanet also announced the issuance of one-year ordinary bonds totaling 1.75 billion yen ($11.3 million) on Monday to purchase additional bitcoin.
Goldman Sachs to spinout digital assets business within 12-18 months
Goldman Sachs is in talks to spin out its digital assets platform into a new company within 12-18 months, enabling large financial firms to create, trade and settle assets via blockchain, subject to regulatory approvals, Bloomberg reported.
- Electronic trading platform Tradeweb Markets will work with Goldman Sachs to bring additional commercial use cases to the new company, according to the outlet.
- Goldman Sachs launched its crypto desk in 2021 and its digital assets platform in 2022, and says it has seen increased interest from hedge fund clients in crypto-related products this year.
In the next 24 hours
- Eurozone CPI inflation figures are released at 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Est. MoM 0.3%; Core 0.2%. Est. YoY 2.0%; Core 2.7%.
- Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak at 5 a.m.
- The Madeira Blockchain Conference and Indonesia Blockchain Week conclude.
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