Bitcoin crosses $93k, meme coin mania, Washington goes DOGE, FTX sues Binance | Weekly Recap

In today’s edition of the weekly recap: Bitcoin crossed the $93,000 mark; meme coins saw massive rallies; Washington embraced the Department of Government Efficiency; FTX sued Binance; speculations around Gensler’s resignation; Polymarket under probe.

Bitcoin crossed $93,000

• Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) maintained its upward push. The crypto firstborn continued to surpass multiple psychological levels, eventually breaching the $93,000 mark on Nov. 13 following the U.S. CPI report. 

• Following the spike to the all-time high above $93,000, Bitcoin’s market cap surged above the $1.83 trillion mark, allowing the asset to overtake Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned petroleum firm, in valuation.

• Despite the pullback that ensued, Bitcoin held above the $90,000 mark, consolidating. Amid the range-bound, MicroStrategy Chairman and Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor predicted an imminent rally to $100,000. 

Meme coin mania?

• While the market rally cooled, some meme coins saw rapid spikes. Particularly, Dogecoin (DOGE), the original meme coin, recorded an impressive run to reclaim the $60 billion market cap as prices touched $0.43. 

• Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) rose to above $1.6 on Nov. 13 and hit a new all-time high of $2.47 a day later, entering the top 100 list of largest crypto assets. Dogwifhat (WIF) spiked 37% in 24 hours following a Coinbase listing announcement.

• Also, Robinhood and Coinbase confirmed plans to list Pepe (PEPE) on Nov. 13, sparking a massive 42% rally in the frog-themed meme coin’s price. PEPE hit a new ATH of $0.00002597 the next day.

• Investors who had previously sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk over claims of Dogecoin price manipulation eventually withdrew their appeal. 

Washington embraces DOGE

• Besides the broader market’s bullish atmosphere, political events in the U.S. also contributed to Dogecoin’s rally last week. 

• On Nov. 13, President-elect Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency. The agency, headed by Musk and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to cut at least $2 trillion in federal spending.

FTX sues Binance

• Bankrupt exchange FTX filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao.

• Information from the filing suggested that the FTX estate is looking to reclaim $1.76 billion that was allegedly fraudulent purchased by Zhao and other Binance executives from Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO. 

Gensler’s anticipated resignation 

• Last week, SEC Chair Gary Gensler charged the cryptocurrency industry to uphold federal laws in a memo that many industry leaders believe hinted at his possible resignation.

• Trump promised to fire Gensler on his first day in office. 

• Meanwhile, 18 Republican attorneys generals filed a lawsuit against the securities agency and its Chairperson last week, alleging that its actions in the crypto industry constituted “unconstitutional overreach”.

Polymarket under probe

• Following the U.S. presidential election and the massive volume of bets recorded by the betting platform Polymarket, the U.S. DoJ initiated an investigation into the platform.

• As part of the probe, the FBI raided the home of Shayne Coplan, Polymarket’s CEO. The federal agents seized Coplan’s mobile device but didn’t give a reason for the raid. 
  
• U.S. election betting is legal in certain scenarios, but not open to U.S. users per order of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Polymarket’s user base largely operates through cryptocurrency, which allows for easy anonymity. 

Global regulatory push

• Last week, global regulatory developments emerged. Amid Trump’s pro-crypto promises, sources suggested British authorities were looking to enact stablecoin and staking legislations in the U.K. by December.

• Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition urged Congress to create a definite regulatory structure for cryptocurrencies in the country.
  
• As the forthcoming Trump administration hints at the introduction of a national Bitcoin reserve, the state of Pennsylvania already presented a bill to create such a reserve. If the bill passes, it will allow the government to invest in BTC.