Looking back at last week’s biggest news, including price analyses for BTC, ETH, and XRP.

Singapore-based exchange OKEx announced via its website on Thursday that it will be finally lifting its withdrawal freeze on or before Nov 27. News of the resumption came over a month after the exchange's founder Star Mingxing Xu – was held by authorities for questioning.

On Friday, BitMEX – another exchange that has been no stranger to the headlines – reminded its users that they have two more weeks to update their KYC info. BitMEX users who fail to do so by Dec 4 will not be able to continue trading, maintain positions or withdraw funds.

Meanwhile, attention this weekend turned to popular DeFi protocol, Pickle Finance, which was hacked on Saturday and drained of almost $20m in DAI.

Pickle exploded on the scene back in September as one of many food-themed DeFi projects. Crypto analyst Qiao Wang tweeted his disappointment at the attack, stating: “Pains me to see serious projects getting hacked. But that's just how economic experiments work. Overtime a few protocols will stand out and ossify. The market will learn its lessons and take care of itself.”

And finally, during the the weekend’s virtual G20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia, China’s President Xi Jinping told meeting attendees that they must 'discuss developing the standards and principles for central bank digital currencies with an open and accommodating attitude'.

Below is our weekly roundup of industry and coin specific news. If you’d like to get in touch with us about any of our products or services, we look forward to hearing from you. Just send us a note.

Brian Brooks: a crypto ally as top US bank regulator?

• The Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, has been nominated to head up the regulator for a 5 year term, in a move that could see a notable digital asset advocate appointed to the senior role.
• Formerly general counsel for Coinbase, Brooks was nominated for the role by Donald Trump, confirming Brooks in the role he has been acting in since May 2020.

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Deutsche Bank says investors increasingly prefer Bitcoin over gold as inflation hedge

• ZeroHedge reported last week that Deutsche Bank's investors are increasingly turning to Bitcoin instead of gold as an inflation protection asset.
• Another similar endorsement from BlackRock this week (which manages nearly $8 trillion in assets), is the latest sign of validation of Bitcoin from the mainstream financial world

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CME bitcoin futures cross $1 billion in open interest — a new all-time high

• CME Group's cash-settled Bitcoin futures have hit an all-time high open interest of $1bn.
• The spike in the open interest suggests that more money is flowing in the market, and traders expect a near-term rise in Bitcoin's volatility.

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Copper hires international government advisor and technology futurist David Shrier as Non-Executive Director

• Shrier will work closely with Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev and the rest of the senior leadership team to facilitate new business partnerships. He will act as both a consultant and enabler of Copper’s ambitious growth strategy to make cryptoassets a mainstream asset class for traditional investors.
• Shrier will relocate to London from the United States as he assumes his position as an advisor to Copper’s executive board and also takes up a new position as a Professor of Practice at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London.

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Latest Coin News

BTC

• Price Analysis: BTC stops within a whisker of $19,000, bearish signals piling up. 
• Galaxy Digital gets initial approval for new Bitcoin fund in Canada.
• SoftBank CEO sold his Bitcoin for heavy loss: it was ‘distracting’.

• Price Analysis: Ethereum soars 23% weekly to new 30-month high: is $600 incoming?
• A Dubai investment firm is staking $10 million worth of ETH to support the Eth2 launch.
• Grayscale Ethereum Trust becomes first publicly quoted ETH investment product.

• Price Analysis:  XRP up almost 60% weekly but still 90% below ATH.
• Ripple launches push to make XRP ledger integral part of central bank digital currency movement.
• Ripple CEO concerned China will win crypto.

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