Following Trump’s election victory, the crypto markets have been on fire.
Here is some of the top news this week!
BlackRock announced an expansion of its tokenized U.S. Treasury product, BUIDL, across multiple blockchains, including Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, and Polygon. If you watch The O Show, you know that I say to pay attention when BlackRock touches something in the crypto industry. I always say “follow the money”. Initially launched on Ethereum, BUIDL enables tokenized access to government bonds on-chain, attracting over $520 million in deposits in just 40 days. BlackRock’s BUIDL ecosystem offers on-chain yield, real-time dividend accrual, and seamless transfers. With its expanding reach, BUIDL has quickly become the largest tokenized U.S. Treasury product by AUM in the $2.3 billion market.
And then in a record-breaking achievement, BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has surged to $40 billion in assets within 212 days of its launch. This growth hit new highs earlier this week with the company purchasing $778 million worth of Bitcoin in a single day.
We also had some inflation data in the U.S. for October, which revealed a 2.6% annual increase, and this news further fuelled excitement in the crypto market. Bitcoin rallied on the news, pushing price past all-time highs. During the rise, whales were seizing the opportunity to buy the dips. In one example shared by blockchain analytics firm “Lookonchain,” 952 BTC, worth $83.7 million, was accumulated by six wallets following a price drop.
There has also been some huge news for Trump. We already know that he advocated for including BTC in the U.S. strategic reserve, pledged to protect Bitcoin, uphold self-custody rights, and introduce clear crypto regulations, including appointing a crypto advisory council and replacing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Well this week, it was reported that Trump personally holds BTC.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce recently raised concerns over the agency’s readiness for the anticipated regulatory shift under Trump’s administration. Given the extensive rulemaking process, she noted that crypto-friendly reforms could still be a lengthy undertaking, but a new SEC leadership might expedite the process.
Meanwhile, trading platform Robinhood has relisted Solana ($SOL), Cardano ($ADA), and XRP ($XRP), following their removal amid last year’s SEC lawsuits. The platform also listed the popular memecoin $PEPE, which surpassed a $10 billion market cap this week.