On October 16, the sentiment in the cryptocurrency market remains high, as of the time of writing,$Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ breaking above $67,000, trading at $67,119.05; $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$ returning to the high level of $2,600, trading at $2,612.59.

Key Focus

• Tesla has transferred its remaining approximately $0.77 billion worth of Bitcoin reserves to multiple new addresses.

According to TheBlock report, based on on-chain data tracked by the analysis firm Arkham Research, Elon Musk-operated electric vehicle giant Tesla has transferred approximately $0.77 billion worth of 11,509 Bitcoins to around seven new addresses. This seems to be the company's remaining entire Bitcoin reserves.

The company invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin in February 2021. Prior to the transfer of these tokens, Tesla conducted six test trades, marking the first interaction between Tesla and its bitcoin wallet since Tesla sold off most of its assets in 2022. It is currently unclear why the company transferred bitcoin after more than two years of inactivity, but some suspect it may be preparing to sell more bitcoin.

As of October 15th, Tesla is estimated to hold 9,720 bitcoins, worth approximately $0.65 billion, far below its peak of 43,000 bitcoins. However, Arkham believes that Tesla actually holds as much as 11,509 bitcoins across 68 addresses, valued around $0.77 billion at current prices. According to Bitcoin Treasuries estimates, Musk's SpaceX also holds an additional 8,285 bitcoins. The company will disclose its third-quarter financial performance after the market closes on October 23rd.

• Bitcoin Cash margin futures open interest hit a historical high of $25.5 billion.

According to CoinDesk report, the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin Cash margin futures has reached a historic high, currently around 384,000 BTC ($25.5 billion). This record surpasses the peak in November 2022 when Bitcoin approached $16,000, primarily driven by institutional investment activities on the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). CME futures account for 40% of open interest in cash margin futures. In contrast, the proportion of futures open interest based on cryptocurrency margins has hit a historical low, accounting for only 18.5% of total open interest. This indicates a gradual shift towards more stable cash margin futures in the market, reducing volatility risks, potentially laying the groundwork for a bull market in 2025.

• Standard Chartered Bank suggests that bitcoin may return to historical highs before the U.S. election.

Geoff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, stated that Bitcoin is showing strong upward momentum, potentially approaching the historical high of $73,800 before the U.S. election. Factors driving the rise in Bitcoin include steepening U.S. Treasury yield curves, inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, and an increase in the likelihood of Trump winning. Current data shows Trump's chances of winning are 56.3%, with a 39% probability of a Republican overall victory, creating favorable conditions for risk assets including Bitcoin. In addition, the open interest for call options at $80,000 in the Bitcoin options market has recently increased, indicating institutional investors are bullish on Bitcoin's medium-term upside potential.

• Arthur Hayes: has significantly reduced exposure to meme coins and is currently only holding SCF meme coins.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, stated in his latest article that due to geopolitical risks, preparations have been made for a significant devaluation of holdings. With the escalation of the Iran-Israel situation, substantial reductions have been made in meme coins previously purchased. The only meme coin currently held is SCF. Arthur also mentioned that there are no instructions yet for Akshat, Maelstrom's investment director, to slow down or stop deploying funds to presale token trades. For idle fiat currencies held by Maelstrom, they will be pledged on Ethena, earning substantial interest while waiting to buy various cryptocurrencies with lower liquidity at the right time.

• WLFI tokens supported by the Trump family may have been launched for sale, selling over 0.22 billion WLFI tokens within 20 minutes.

According to CoinDesk, the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token sale, backed by the Trump family, appears to have officially gone online. Data shows that the token sale started at 20:40 Beijing time, selling over 0.22 billion WLFI tokens within the first 20 minutes, attracting participation from over 1,700 independent wallets. A blockchain wallet associated with the token holds nearly $3 million worth of Ethereum (ETH), as well as less than $1 million worth of Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). WLFI will serve as the governance token on the platform, allowing users to participate in DeFi activities such as lending. The project aims to raise $0.3 billion, valuing it at $1.5 billion.

• Bernstein analyst: The reason for Bitcoin's strength is the increasing probability of Trump's election, and MicroStrategy is a leading indicator.

According to Bernstein analysts, the recent rise in bitcoin is highly correlated with the increase in Trump's chances of winning, and MicroStrategy's stock has become a leading indicator of potential upside breakthroughs. Bitcoin has risen by about 14% this month, breaking $65,000, while MicroStrategy's stock price outperforms bitcoin, with a gain of 191% this year. MicroStrategy has increased its holdings of bitcoin at low levels through its 'bitcoin strategy', holding over 252,000 BTC, making it the world's largest corporate holder of bitcoin. In addition, analysts point out that as bitcoin rises, investors are shifting from AI stocks to companies focused on bitcoin mining, expecting these companies to benefit in the bull market.

• John Lee Ka-chiu: Promote the application of artificial intelligence in innovative financial services such as central bank digital currency and virtual asset trading

John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, stated that the government will continue to promote the policy position and direction of using artificial intelligence in innovative financial services such as central bank digital currencies, mobile payments, virtual banks, virtual insurance, and virtual asset trading.

Measures include: 1. Promoting cross-border payments using central bank digital currencies, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is actively testing and exploring more technology solutions and scenarios related to cross-border trade settlement on various central bank digital currency cross-border networks, and increasing the participation of public and private institutions; 2. Improving regulation on virtual assets and trading, the Treasury Bureau will complete the second round of consultation on regulating over-the-counter trading of virtual assets and propose a virtual licensing system for virtual asset custodial service providers; 3. Promoting the tokenization of real-world assets and the digital currency ecosystem, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is advancing the Ensemble project.

Editor/rice