The Breakdown First Five - Monday, October 28, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. New Satoshi Statue

A new statue of Satoshi has emerged in Lugano, Switzerland. And then disappeared. The impressive new statue is visible only from certain angles, melting into the picturesque surrounds of Lake Lugano. The artist Valentina Picozzi aka Satoshigallery said it took 21 months to create. The statue was unveiled as part of the Plan B conference.

4. Base Outranks Tron

Coinbase layer 2 Base was the leading blockchain for stablecoin transactions on Saturday, outranking Ethereum mainnet and Tron for the first time. The platform has been steadily gaining market share over the past 2 months as merchant friendly features are rolled out. Meanwhile USDC transactions are outranking Tether so far this month. The battle for the stablecoin industry is heating up. 

3. US Government Recovers

The US Government has recovered 88% of the $20M in crypto that was hacked at the end of last week. Within 24 hours the hacker returned the funds, excluding a small amount that was laundered through sketchy crypto exchanges. A good result for the government, who would have faced serious questions about private key security. Still, the return begs the question of how the situation was resolved so quickly and quietly. 

2. Microstrategy Surges

Microstrategy hit a new high with a 10% surge on Friday. The company is now outperforming every company in the S&P 500 over the past 5 years and has stronger returns than Microsoft since 1999 with a staggering 1500% gain. Earnings are due on Wednesday which will end the blackout period and open the door to another massive round of fundraising and BTC purchases. 

1. Tether FUD 

A new round of Tether FUD from the Wall Street Journal snuffed out Bitcoin’s momentum. They claimed criminal charges and sanctions are being considered, the first time referencing specifics about a criminal investigation. CEO Paolo Ardoino said the WSJ is “regurgitating old noise” and he would know if the company was being investigated. Bitcoin puked 4% on the news and has sluggishly recovered over the weekend. Most believe this is just another round of baseless FUD.