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- > President Trump to meet with Coinbase CEO following XRP rumour
- > Options trading coming to Bitcoin ETFs
- > Bitcoin flips silver to become world’s 7th largest asset
- > Chances of a Solana ETF by the end of 2025 “overwhelmingly high”
- > PNUT meme coin goes nuts after narrative captures the hearts of millions
President Trump to meet with Coinbase CEO following XRP rumour
Donald Trump is collaborating with industry leaders, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, to shape his financial regulatory team for the next four years.
Following his election victory earlier in November, President-elect Donald Trump has begun crafting his administration for the next four years.
Some of his picks have been as-expected – and following through on his promise, Trump installed Elon Musk as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But there still remains the question: Who will take over from Gary Gensler as Chair of the SEC once he moves on?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has turned to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong for advice.
Earlier in the year, Armstrong endorsed current SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, however, she has privately stated she has no interest in the role.
The news comes after a rumour spread across crypto social media that Trump had also met with XRP Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse to discuss policy.
The rumour, paired with some strong fundamentals, sent XRP soaring above US $1 for the first time in years.
Not everybody was pleased with the supposed meeting though, with some in the community accusing Garlinghouse of using the opportunity to promote XRP.
Options trading coming to Bitcoin ETFs
Investors will be able to buy options contracts for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, as soon as this week.
The pro-crypto news keeps flooding in.
The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States sent the market into overdrive, pushing several coins to new all-time highs. Part of the push came from institutional investors, as Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs experienced record inflows in the aftermath.
Already gaining significant attention recently, it seems additional flexibility is heading for Bitcoin ETFs – and sooner rather than later.
Alsion Hennessy, the Head of Exchange-Traded Product Listings at Nasdaq, said that the world’s biggest spot Bitcoin ETF – BlackRock’s IBIT – may introduce options trading as soon as this week.
“Getting these options listed on IBIT into the market I think will be very exciting for investors because that’s really what we have heard from them.” — Alsion Hennessy, Head of Exchange-Traded Product Listings at Nasdaq
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, mirrored the sentiment. Balchunas has long been a bullish proponent of crypto ETFs with a history of correct predictions regarding the asset class.
“This group of ETFs did not need this. They are successful on their own merit. But this is a pretty big tailwind to an already juggernaut situation.” — Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg
Options contracts allow investors the right – not the obligation – to buy or sell a product, such as a Bitcoin ETF at a specific price within a pre-determined timeframe.
This opens a swathe of potential trading opportunities for institutional investors and will likely lead to increased overall market volume – which will only serve to improve Bitcoin’s legitimacy in the eyes of the world.
Bitcoin flips silver to become world’s 7th largest asset
As BTC climbed to yet another all-time high, its market cap eclipsed that of both silver and Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco.
Silver is often described as a “poor man’s gold.”
Well, the history books are going to have to re-write this saying to “poor man’s Bitcoin.”
The precious metal has long been considered a timeless hedge against inflation – how many post-apocalyptic narratives have been written where the primary currency is gold or silver?
But for the first time ever, Bitcoin has usurped silver on the global asset rankings list. The cryptocurrency now boasts a market cap of AU $1.8T – overtaking silver which languishes behind at AU $1.76T.
Silver wasn’t the only asset to smell Bitcoin’s burning rubber, with the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco also trailing BTC.
The past month of frenzied trading now places Bitcoin as the 7th-largest asset by market cap in the world – with Alphabet (Google) next on the cryptocurrency’s agenda.
The final frontier, Gold, might be a bridge too far for Bitcoin for the time being, with the precious metal’s market cap almost 10x larger than BTC’s at the time of writing.
However, the popularity of the respective assets is slowly flipping. According to crypto exchange Bitfinex, the immense volume poured into Bitcoin ETFs has them on track to overtake gold ETFs by the end of 2025.
“Given the current average daily inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, they are now on track to surpass the AUM of gold ETFs within the next two months.”
It mightn’t be long before the next Mad Max film has everyone paying for goods and services with Bitcoin.
Chances of a Solana ETF by the end of 2025 “overwhelmingly high”
Improved tolerance for crypto products and innovation by the SEC will likely see a swathe of new digital asset instruments hit the market.
When it rains, it pours.
The success of spot crypto ETFs has taken a backseat to a rampaging market following Donald Trump’s election victory – but the asset class is still smashing records.
We already know the profound impact spot crypto funds can have on individual coins. It allows a range of institutional investors access to a digital asset without needing to worry about custody, while adding a sense of legitimacy to the project.
Many in the community have touted Solana as the likely next cab off the rank, but news seemed to quieten as the US election came and went.
However, the noise is starting to ramp up again, with asset managers VanEck increasingly bullish on the prospects of a Solana ETF.
The thought process is based on Donald Trump installing a new government administration with greater support for the digital currency sector, in particular, the replacement of current SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
“We would expect the SEC to approve more crypto products than they have in the past four years…I think the odds are overwhelmingly high that there will be a Solana ETF trading by the end of next year.” — Matthew Sigel, VanEck Head of Digital Asset Research
For the impatient, the end of 2025 may seem a little far away.
But this did nothing to dissuade bullish investors, who sent Solana’s token flying up 12% on the back of the news.
It’s worth noting that VanEck has a vested interest on the topic, being the first US institution to file for an official spot Solana ETF earlier in the year.
However, given the current optimism surrounding the digital asset market, it’s hard to argue with VanEck.
PNUT meme coin goes nuts after narrative captures the hearts of millions
The social media sensation Peanut the Squirrel has been immortalised as a cryptocurrency project following the animal’s sad passing.
Okay, I hope you have your tissues ready.
The sob story starts seven years ago, when an orphaned squirrel was rescued by New York resident Mark Longo.
Noticing the animal was injured, Longo rehabilitated the squirrel – which he called Peanut – at his own home over the course of several months. But after it became clear Peanut had fully recovered, it was time to part ways, with Longo letting the squirrel run free.
Yet, within a few days, there was a surprise visitor at Longo’s doorstep – Peanut returned.
Over the next half-decade, Peanut and Longo built an unbreakable bond, with the pair’s antics becoming extremely popular on social media.
But “wild” squirrels have a risk of harbouring rabies, which can spread to humans and has a near 100% fatality rate.
So, when Longo’s neighbours caught wind of Peanut’s existence, the pair were reported to New York authorities, who confiscated the pet.
To make matters worse, there’s only one way for environmental departments to test for rabies – and it unfortunately involves euthanising the poor animal.
And so, the story of Peanut the Squirrel ended there…or did it?
As the news of Peanut’s sad passing spread throughout social media, the crypto community took it upon itself to immortalise the squirrel by doing what it does best: memeing.
Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) shot up the crypto rankings in a fury, with investors paying their respect to the popular pet.
In a matter of weeks, PNUT had cemented itself in the top 100 digital assets by market cap on the back of 1,000%+ gains.
Now, the coin is trading at US $1.71 and is by far the best-performing meme coin over the past seven days.
Crypto social media (deservedly) gets a bit of a bad rap – but when they come together, they can really achieve good things.
Long live Peanut the Squirrel.
Ben Knight
