The Daily covers significant developments in the financial and cryptocurrency sectors. In today's edition, we discuss a possible SEC leadership change with a Robinhood executive, Bitcoin's recovery momentum during 'Uptober', and an Ethereum proposal aimed at enhancing transaction throughput.
Robinhood's Chief Legal Officer, Dan Gallagher, is reportedly a top contender to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election. Gallagher, who served as a Republican SEC commissioner from 2011 to 2015, has criticized the agency's stance on regulating digital assets. His potential appointment comes after Robinhood Crypto received a Wells Notice from the SEC, indicating possible forthcoming charges.
Gallagher expressed his honor at being mentioned as a candidate for SEC Chairman, emphasizing his commitment to market access and financial innovation in the U.S.
According to analysts at QCP Capital, Bitcoin's 'Uptober' narrative is gaining traction again, driven by favorable U.S. employment data. Historically, October has been a strong month for Bitcoin, with an average gain of nearly 30% in eight of the past nine years. Analysts remain optimistic about the month, citing a strong correlation between Bitcoin and equities.
A new Ethereum proposal, known as EIP-7781, aims to reduce the blockchain's slot time from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, potentially increasing transaction throughput by 33%. This initiative is designed to enhance the performance of Layer 2 rollups without imposing additional resource demands on the network.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $182,000 worth of ether to the biotech charity Kanro, stemming from billions of Moo Deng memecoin tokens he received. Buterin advocated for memecoins to have a positive impact and reiterated that any tokens sent to him would be directed towards charitable causes.
Donald Trump is currently leading Kamala Harris by 8.3% on the decentralized predictions platform Polymarket, indicating a 53.8% chance of winning the U.S. presidential election. This prediction contrasts with the latest national polling averages, which show Harris leading Trump by 49% to 47%.
In the next 24 hours, U.S. FOMC member Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by Fed Governor Philip Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. Merge Madrid is also set to commence in Spain.
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