Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 29 – Oct. 4 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top Stories of The Week

Director who identified QAnon authors says HBO doc will expose Satoshi

Documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback and HBO recently announced the debut of their upcoming film Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, along with hinting that the true identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto may finally be revealed.

Cullen Hoback is perhaps best known for his HBO miniseries Q: Into the Storm, wherein he claims to have identified several of the authors of the QAnon conspiracy theory. 

In his latest endeavor, Hoback investigated the origins of Bitcoin in what appears to be an attempt to track down the true identity of the engineer known as Satoshi Nakamoto, who is credited with inventing Bitcoin and the underlying technology that makes it possible. 

“A few of you might have wondered why I disappeared. Well, I was tracking down someone else who disappeared. Curious who’s behind Bitcoin? MoneyElectric: The Bitcoin Mystery drops next Tuesday. It’s going to be a rollercoaster,” Hoback said in a post on X announcing the documentary.

Banks to join SWIFT digital asset trials in 2025

Banks in North America, Europe and Asia are preparing to participate in trials involving digital assets by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

SWIFT announced on Oct. 3 that it will begin digital asset trials on its network in 2025. The trials will involve experiments with transactions that include multiple digital currencies and assets.

The trials aim to explore how the banking network can provide financial institutions with unified access to “multiple digital asset classes and currencies.”

“Initial use cases will focus on payments, foreign exchange, securities and trade to enable multi-ledger delivery-versus-payment and payment-versus-payment transactions,” the announcement said.

US jobs report signals fewer rate cuts, still bullish for BTC: Grayscale

The strong United States September jobs report signals a possible slowdown in interest rate cuts but is still bullish for Bitcoin (BTC) as investors warm to riskier assets, Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, told Cointelegraph.

“Conversation about Fed rate cuts and debate about larger government deficits continue alongside solid economic growth, which should be net-positive for investors’ risk appetite and may reintroduce inflation risk in the medium-term,” Pandl said.

“Grayscale Research expects Bitcoin to benefit in this risk-positive environment,” he explained.  

The US economy gained approximately 254,000 jobs in September, far ahead of economists’ expectation of some 140,000 new jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Spot BTC prices moved to an intraday high of more than $62,300 on Oct. 4, following the stronger-than-expected jobs data.

Ripple and Mercado Bitcoin to launch crypto-enabled payments in Brazil

Blockchain payments network Ripple is collaborating with a major crypto exchange in Brazil to launch cross-border payments enabled by crypto.

Ripple has partnered with Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin exchange to enable local businesses to settle payments using Ripple’s “managed end-to-end payments solution,” the firm officially announced on Oct. 3.“

With the new payment tool, businesses in Brazil would be able to get “faster, cheaper, more efficient cross-border payments” across the globe 24/7 and settle payments in a matter of minutes, Ripple stated.

According to the announcement, the new product is not yet available to customers. Ripple expects that the first operation will involve institutional customers, exclusively from Mercado Bitcoin to Mercado Bitcoin Portugal.

The integration builds on Ripple’s new functionality that enables the firm to manage payments end-to-end on behalf of customers, which was introduced in 2023.

FTX bankruptcy estate auctioning Worldcoin tokens this week

The FTX estate is preparing to auction off approximately 22 million Worldcoin (WLD) tokens — valued at roughly $38 million — on Oct. 3, a source familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph.

Investor bids had to be submitted by Oct. 3, with a minimum bid of $2.5 million to qualify for the auction and the tokens could sell at a steep discount of up to 75%.

Cointelegraph also learned that the tokens are subject to a four-year unlocking period ending in 2028. 

Approximately 20,000 WLD tokens will unlock daily beginning on Dec. 1, 2024. The unlocking schedule will then slow to roughly 14,000 WLD tokens per day from July 2026 until it concludes in 2028.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $62,378, Ether (ETH) at $2,427 and XRP at $0.53. The total market cap is at $2.17 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are FTX Token (FTT) at 63.96%, Popcat (SOL) (POPCAT) at 27.15% and MANTRA (OM) at 12.44%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Notcoin (NOT) at 26.22%, Lido DAO (LDO) at 21.67% and Arweave (AR) at 20.52%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations — we do not allow criminals to abuse our platform or evade justice.”

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram

“For digital assets and currencies to succeed on a global scale, it’s critical that they can seamlessly coexist with traditional forms of money.”

Tom Zschach, chief innovation officer at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

“The end game to merge the offchain & onchain UX/UI by leveraging Base, CB advanced, & coinbase wallet makes me so optimistic on mass adoption.”

Altcoin Psycho, pseudonymous crypto analyst

“On-chain data valuation metrics suggest Bitcoin could be targeting $85K-$100K in Q4 in the context of recovering demand and positive seasonality.“

CryptoQuant analysts

“Chasing narratives can get you rekt.”

Regan Bozman, co-founder of Lattice

“We expect Bitcoin to benefit from any equity retracement due to its nature as a risk-on asset amidst global monetary easing.”

QCP Capital, crypto asset trading firm

Prediction of The Week

XRP price falls 15% in 3 days — Will Ripple’s legal setback mark the bottom? 

XRP has declined by nearly 15% so far in October, with its losses driven primarily by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) renewed appeal in the Ripple lawsuit. 

However, for some analysts, XRP’s drop might be a buying opportunity rather than a cause for concern. More specifically, the historical price patterns and recent whale accumulation suggest XRP price could be poised for a massive rally in the coming months.

Pseudonymous analyst CryptoBull highlighted a striking resemblance between XRP’s current price behavior and its 2017 bull market trajectory.

At that time, XRP consolidated within a symmetrical triangle pattern before breaking out and rallying by 66,240% to a record high of $3.31. As of October 2024, the asset is nearing the apex of a similar triangle structure, as seen on its monthly chart. 

Such formations often precede strong directional moves, and if XRP follows the historical precedent, a breakout could lead to substantial gains.

In the case of symmetrical triangles, especially within an uptrend, breakouts tend to be bullish, with price gains matching the triangle’s height at its widest point.

For XRP, the apex of the current symmetrical triangle is around $0.52. Should the price break above the upper trendline from this level sometime around June 2025, the pattern’s potential upside target is near $23.40, representing a staggering increase of over 4,200% in the coming years.

FUD of The Week

Hackers got away with $440M in 28 exploits in Q3: Report

The third quarter saw the smallest losses from hacks that the industry has seen in the last three years, according to a report by cybersecurity company Hacken. About $460 million was stolen across 28 incidents. 

Still, the recovery rate was the lowest in recent years at only 5%. Hacken breaks down this data along with the broader state of Web3 security in Q3. It also discusses major types of attacks, the most affected project categories and strategies for mitigation. 

Exploits of access control mechanisms accounted for $316 million, or almost 70% of the total funds stolen in crypto hacks in Q3. The perpetrators of such attacks gain control over the keys that control smart contracts. Once in control of the keys, they can withdraw funds from the contract to their own wallets or upgrade the proxy contract implementation to activate the withdrawal function.

Vietnam police bust crypto scam ring linked to offshore actors

A provincial Vietnam police force arrested five individuals connected to an elaborate crypto scam network led by off-shore bad actors, according to local media reports.

On Oct. 4, police from Nghe An, a Vietnamese province bordering Laos and the Gulf of Tonkin, dismantled a Laos-based scam ring linked to fraudulent wire transfers. The scammers were led by off-shore individuals specializing in “pig butchering” — a long-term investment fraud scam in which the victim is coerced into making escalating contributions to the perpetrator — and crypto investment scams. 

The Nghe An police apprehended two Vietnamese suspects after investigating and confirming direct links to the crypto scams.

According to the report, one of the scammers visited Laos in September 2023 to join the gang of fraudsters. In February, they began creating Facebook accounts to trick victims into investment scams. 

Binance warns of crypto market risks from overvaluation, centralization

The cryptocurrency market faces significant risks due to overvaluation and the centralization of token ownership, according to a recent report from Binance.

The report warns that if these challenges are not addressed, these risks could undermine the long-term stability and integrity of the crypto industry.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson explained that as more participants enter the market, there is a “greater emphasis on valuation and responsible financial management.” They continued:

“Our report underscores the critical role of decentralized control and transparency in fund usage to foster long-term trust. Projects that adopt these principles are better positioned to gain market confidence and achieve sustainable growth.”

Top Magazine Stories of The Week

Anti-aging tycoon Bryan Johnson almost devoted his life to crypto

“There’s a reality where my entire life is crypto,” says the multimillionaire, who has instead devoted his life to pushing back the frontiers of longevity.

Suspicious arrest of crypto scam reporter, Japan’s pro-crypto PM: Asia Express

Cambodia arrests journalist who reported on multibillion-dollar crypto scams, South Korea and US team up to face North Korean cybercrime, and more.

Did Telegram’s Pavel Durov commit a crime? Crypto lawyers weigh in

The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov throws tech into uncharted waters. Our panel of crypto lawyers weighs in on the implications.

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Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.