In brief
- The US Presidential debates saw markets rise and fall in quick succession.
- American legislators meanwhile pushed a blockchain bill through to its final reading.
- DeFi projects had a terrible day, with some projects dumping 30% in price.
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Donald Trump and Joe Biden went at it during their first presidential debate, as markets did their best to dodge the punches.
The two candidates spent 90 minutes insulting and interrupting one another, prompting Biden to say to the US president, “Will you shut up, man?”
During the debate, Dow Jones futures jumped more than 250 points before reversing lower. By the close of play, S&P, Dow and Nasdaq Futures markets were all in the red.
In the build-up to the debate, traders had been placing bets on a contested election. According to the VIX volatility index, most commonly referred to as the “fear gauge”, investors were bracing for a delayed outcome to the US election.
But, says a spokesperson from AAX, the world’s first digital asset exchange powered by the London Stock Exchange, things are expected to be resolved come Inauguration day, as reflected in the expiry date of the bets being placed.
America embraces crypto
While the Presidential candidates went toe-to-toe, US lawmakers quietly passed legislation designed to protect consumers from fraud using blockchain.
The Digital Taxonomy Act directs the Federal Trade Commission, a consumer protection agency, to train up staff and allocate resources to identify and guard against “deceptive acts or practices involving digital tokens.”
The Bill couldn’t come quick enough for some investors, as the KuCoin hacker moved $4.5 million of stolen XRP from last week’s heist worth close to $200 million.
DeFi hodlers are also down in the dumps. The top 100 most capitalized coins in DeFi, as ranked by metrics site CoinGecko, are almost all in the red over the last 24 hours.
Some of the biggest coins, including yearn.finance’s YFI, Chainlink (LINK), and UMA, slumped with YFI losing 20%, LINK 10%, and UMA nearly 10%.
Bitcoin, by comparison, is as stable as it gets right now, moving down by just 0.36%. Normally news of big hacks, like the $200 million KuCoin caper would send prices tumbling, but not so this time.
It’s no wonder institutional investors are choosing BTC over cash, according to a new report.
Money managers who traditionally preferred the cash equivalent when placing bets on the future price of the cryptocurrency, say they want crypto instead, according to a report from cryptocurrency derivatives exchange ZUBR.
Researchers remarked that futures trading volumes had surged past $4 trillion with companies like Bakkt enjoying a 25% increase in the amount of trading volume over the year.
Bitcoin a stable investment? Who would have thought it?
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