Forbes - The $50,000 question 🤔

CryptoCodex


	Good Tuesday morning. This is Billy Bambrough, getting you up to speed with the latest from crypto-land. 🚨🚨 Don't miss: What (or who) is driving the crypto market in 2021 and beyond? Sign up now for Forbes’ free Crypto Codex Live webcast on October 14 at 2:00pm EDT and get ahead of the market


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24-hour crypto market snapshot

$50,010

$3,444

$168.89

$0.2372

On the cusp 🤏


	Cryptocurrency prices have climbed over the last 24 hours, with bitcoin breaking above $50,000 for the first time since early September. The surge of around 5%, taking bitcoin to highs of $50,300 before it fell back, was an unconvincing foray over the psychological level and may yet prove to be fleeting. Most other major cryptocurrencies are following bitcoin higher but remain subdued. Ethereum is up around 3% on this time yesterday, while solana is trending downwards. The meme-based dogecoin is leading the crypto top ten higher with a 9% rally over the last 24 hours. Among smaller cryptocurrencies, Axie Infinity's AXS token hit a record high yesterday before falling back after the NFT-based game developer announced a huge new funding round and plans to distribute tokens to early adopters. Elsewhere, OMG, the native token of the ethereum-scaling OMG network, has soared to highs not seen since early 2018—up almost 150% since early September. Now read this: Bank of America says crypto "too large to ignore"

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Circle's SEC subpoena ⭕


	Filing in the blanks: Circle Financial, the company behind the $32 billion USDC stablecoin, has revealed it's under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC). Circle said in a regulatory filing that it received an SEC subpoena in July, it was first reported by Coindesk. In July Circle "received an investigative subpoena from the SEC enforcement division requesting documents and information regarding certain of our holdings, customer programs, and operations. We are cooperating fully with their investigation," the filing said. SPAC attack: Circle first revealed the investigation in August, buried in its plans to go public in a SPAC deal with Concord Acquisition, valuing the company at $4.5 billion. Yield to pressure: The subpoena, which went largely unnoticed when it was first disclosed in August, arrived shortly after Circle began onboarding corporate USDC holders into its first high-interest yield product, Circle Yield, Coindesk's Danny Nelson pointed out. At the time, Circle had just paid the SEC around $10 million to settle charges that its one-time subsidiary, Poloniex, was operating as an unregistered digital asset exchange. Circling the wagons: Last month, SEC chair Gary Gensler said he wanted to bring the crypto market "into the public policy framework" while Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire along with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstong have both called for more clarity around digital-asset regulation. Coinbase is also a backer of USDC. Loan sharks: In September, Coinbase announced it was shelving its plans to launch a Lend feature designed to let customers earn interest on certain cryptocurrencies after the exchange received legal warnings about the feature from the SEC. Good to know: Fed prepares to launch review of possible central bank digital currency

To infinity... 🚀



	The website homepage of blockchain-based, NFT-trading game Axie Infinity Axie Infinity

♾️ Axie Infinity, a hugely popular blockchain-based, play-to-earn game that lets players collect and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has achieved a valuation of $3 billion following a $150 million funding round, according to reports.

🤝 Influential venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, which has recently added to its crypto team, is leading the round, it was first reported by tech industry news site The Information, citing two unnamed sources "with direct knowledge of the deal."

📈 Axie Infinity, now three years old, saw interest explode this summer with the games popularity soaring in Brazil, the Philippines, Venezuela and Vietnam, it was reported by Coindesk. Axie Infinity's AXS token hit a record high yesterday after it recently announced that it would distribute over $60 million worth of tokens to its early adopters, as well as launch staking capabilities.

🤑 The NFT market grew to a staggering $10.7 billion through the third quarter of the year, up a blistering eight-fold compared with the previous quarter, according to market tracker DappRadar and reported by Reuters.

Now read this: The Metaverse Is Heating Up

To PAC or not to PAC?


	🙅 Crypto exchange FTX has denied a story that it's planning to create a D.C.-based political action committee (PAC), led by its founder and chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). 🗣️ "FTX has no plans to establish any PAC or super PAC nor are we looking to hire any director," the derivatives-focused exchange said in a statement to Coindesk following a story appearing in Decrypt that cited two anonymous sources at the company. SBF also personally denied the story, tweeting he has "no idea" where the PAC-related rumors are coming from." 💪 The crypto lobby has grown this year along with the surge in the value of the crypto market with the likes of Coin Center and the Crypto Council for Innovation flexing their developing muscles in response to a proposed tightening of crypto tax reporting requirements. Now watch this: A somewhat awkward meeting between the prime minister of the Bahamas and SBF on his arrival to open the FTX Bahamas HQ

	Billy Bambrough
	Forbes Senior Contributor

I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business. I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.

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