Key News Highlights
- HKMA Leads Asset Tokenization: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will spearhead asset tokenization efforts with the upcoming Ensemble project pilot.
- Standard Chartered CEO: Standard Chartered Bank's CEO believes all transactions will eventually be settled via blockchain.
- Balancer Exploit: Losses from the Balancer exploit have now reached $116.6 million.
- HumidiFi Leads Solana DEX Market: HumidiFi surpassed Meteora and Raydium in 30-day trading volume.
- Binance HODLer Airdrop Launch: Momentum (MMT) launched on Binance with spot trading on November 4.
- Bitcoin Spot ETFs: Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows of $799 million last week, led by BlackRock's IBIT with $403 million in net outflows.
- Retail Bitcoin Flows to Binance: Daily retail flows of Bitcoin into Binance have sharply decreased from 552 BTC to 92 BTC since 2023.
Regulatory and Macroeconomic Developments
Hong Kong Allows Order Book Sharing with Overseas Platforms
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular allowing licensed virtual asset trading platforms to share order books with qualified overseas platforms. Platforms must use Delivery versus Payment (DVP), intra-day settlement, and monitor limits on unsettled transactions, and establish a reserve fund in Hong Kong to cover settlement risks. Market surveillance is subject to unified oversight and must provide immediate transaction and client data to the SFC. Retail access requires full risk disclosure and prior client consent.
HK SFC Aims to Expand Scope of Licensed Platforms
The SFC aims to broaden the range of products and services available on licensed virtual asset trading platforms. The 12-month track record requirement for virtual assets offered to professional investors is being removed. Licensed stablecoins can now be offered to retail investors. Platforms can distribute digital asset-related products and tokenized securities. Custody of digital assets not traded on the platform can be done through associated entities, adhering to existing guidelines. Second-stage assessments for custody of tokenized securities may be waived on a case-by-case basis.
SPD Bank Starts Digital RMB-Related Hirings
SPD Bank is posting multiple digital RMB-related job postings in areas such as testing, development, and architecture design. The positions require three to eight years of experience, emphasizing financial system development and testing, distributed architecture capabilities, and understanding of digital currency protocols.
Expert Opinions
Vitalik Buterin: Self-Driving Should Be Open Source and Verifiable
Vitalik Buterin suggests that self-driving should be open source and verifiable, with accident value judgments potentially outsourced to third parties and insurance companies. He suggests that licensed algorithms be required on public roads, pointing to comma.ai's open-source project Openpilot.
Eddie Yue: HKMA to Lead Asset Tokenization
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, emphasized the "Fintech 2030" vision, aiming to position Hong Kong as an international FinTech hub. The HKMA will take a leading role in asset tokenization, including the issuance of tokenized government bonds and studying tokenization of Exchange Fund bills. The Ensemble project pilot will be launched to support real transactions.
Lu Lei: Digital RMB to Explore New Cross-Border Payment Models
Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, expressed the PBOC's focus on cross-border payment cooperation with Hong Kong. This includes expanding the RMB Cross-border Payment System (CIPS) in Hong Kong, enhancing cooperation on fast payment systems, and deepening cross-border QR code payment interoperability.
Standard Chartered CEO: All Transactions Will Eventually Be Settled Via Blockchain
Standard Chartered Bank's CEO believes all transactions will eventually be settled via blockchain, and all currencies will be digitized.
HSBC CEO: Tokenized Gold Product Seeing “Mass Adoption”
HSBC's tokenized gold product is seeing “mass adoption” among retail clients in Hong Kong and has become the third-largest such product globally.
Project Updates
GoPlus: All Fork Balancer DeFi Projects Affected by Balancer Vulnerability
GoPlus Chinese communities warned that all Fork Balancer DeFi projects are affected by the Balancer vulnerability, with multiple protocols already under attack. Users are advised to check the list of Balancer fork protocols on Defillama and immediately cease interaction.
Berachain: Taking Preventative Measures
The Berachain Foundation announced taking preventative measures to avoid potential damage to the Berachain ecosystem due to the Balancer vulnerability. HONEY minting and BEX pool/vault operations have been temporarily suspended.
Binance Hodler Airdrop Lists Momentum (MMT)
Binance Hodler Airdrop listed project 56 Momentum (MMT), a DeFi hub based on the Sui blockchain. Deposit channels for MMT will open on November 3, and trading will be listed on November 4.
OKX to List Hyperliquid (HYPE)
OKX will list Hyperliquid (HYPE) for spot trading, with deposits opening on November 3 and trading opening on November 3.
Binance Alpha and Futures to List Intuition (TRUST)
Binance Alpha will list Intuition (TRUST) on November 5, and TRUSTUSDT futures will be listed on November 5 with up to 50x leverage.
Binance to Delist KDAUSDT, AXSUSD and THETAUSD Futures This Week
Binance will delist KDAUSDT, AXSUSD and THETAUSD futures on November 6 and 7 respectively, with new order openings ceasing 30 minutes before delisting.
Key Data Metrics
Bitcoin Spot ETFs Saw Net Outflows of $799 Million Last Week
Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded net outflows of $799 million last week, led by BlackRock's IBIT.
Daily Retail Bitcoin Flows to Binance Have Decreased Sharply Since 2023
The 90-day moving average of daily retail Bitcoin flows into Binance has decreased from 552 BTC to 92 BTC since the start of 2023, indicating a shift in market dynamics.
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