ApeCoin (APE) Doubles in Price After ApeChain's Mainnet Pilot

ApeCoin (APE) Doubles in Price After ApeChain's Mainnet Pilot

ApeCoin (APE) surged over 100% in the past week, hitting a six-month high of $1.73, with a 24-hour volume nearing $2 billion, the seventh-highest of the day. The rise followed the launch of ApeChain, an Arbitrum Orbit Layer 3 network by the ApeCoin DAO. The much-anticipated mainnet now features a meme coin launchpad, a leverage trading simulator, and various other games.

The launch follows an earlier DAO vote selecting Arbitrum’s tech over alternatives like Polygon, aligning the network with Ethereum scaling solutions. Yuga Labs’ Chief Product Officer emphasized the goal of creating delightful experiences and tools for users. Key apps like Ape Express and Top Trader, as well as upcoming games from Yuga Labs and D20 Labs, have already gone live on the network.

Thousands of users have already bridged to ApeChain as seen by the onchain data which indicated that transactions jumped from 87,967 on October 19, to 890,425 on the next day, per Apescan.

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VanEck Solana ETN Now Offers Staking Rewards in Europe

VanEck Europe’s Solana ETN, listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, has begun offering staking rewards to investors across the European Union. The $74 million product, rebranded as the VanEck Solana ETN, will now accrue and reinvest Solana staking rewards daily, benefiting investors by increasing their SOL holdings per share.

VanEck will charge a 25% fee on the staking rewards, similar to its Ethereum ETN. Staking rewards for US-based crypto ETFs remain unapproved by the SEC, as shown by VanEck’s decision to exclude staking from its US-based Solana ETF. Solana is the third-largest blockchain in terms of inflows this year, following Bitcoin and Ethereum, attracting $58 million in investment.

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ECB and Minneapolis Fed Suggest Bitcoin Ban or Tax

On October 12, the European Central Bank (ECB) released a controversial paper claiming that older Bitcoin holders are profiting at the expense of newer entrants. The ECB suggested that Bitcoin should be regulated or even banned outright to prevent further price increases, framing the cryptocurrency as a tool of wealth redistribution.

Yesterday, the Minneapolis Fed echoed similar sentiments in a recent working paper, arguing that Bitcoin introduces a “balanced budget trap” for governments seeking to maintain permanent deficits. The Fed recommended either banning or taxing Bitcoin to ensure government-issued debt remains the only risk-free security, drawing criticism from Bitcoin advocates for this extreme stance.

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Ripple Founder Donates $10M More in XRP to Kamala Harris

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has donated another $10 million worth of XRP to support Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The donation, confirmed by Ripple and reported by The New York Times, brings Larsen’s total contributions to Harris-aligned PACs to $20 million, following an earlier $1 million donation in August.

Larsen’s contribution comes as Ripple continues its ongoing legal battles with the SEC, and ahead of next month’s US election. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted his support for Larsen’s political involvement, adding that Ripple will engage with both parties to promote pro-crypto policies, while Trump remains the more crypto-friendly candidate in the race.

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Data of the Day

Bitcoin’s hashrate hit an all-time high of 703 exahashes per second (EH/s), marking a 6% increase in the past week. This surge coincides with mining profitability jumping to a two-month high, driven by a combination of rising transaction fees and a Bitcoin price rally to $69,000.

Publicly traded Bitcoin miners have increased their hashrate share to 28.9% of the network, with top firms like CleanSpark and Riot Platforms leading the charge. The spike in profitability comes just ahead of a 4% difficulty adjustment scheduled for October 23, reflecting the increasing computational power and competition among miners.

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More Breaking News

• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong endorsed Republican Senate candidates John Deaton and David McCormick, citing their pro-crypto stances.
• Global crypto funds saw $2.2 billion in inflows last week, driven by optimism over a potential Republican US election win, according to CoinShares.
• Japan's Democratic Party for the People proposed reducing the tax on crypto gains from 55% to 20% in their policy statement for the upcoming election.
• CoinSwitch co-founder accused rival exchange WazirX of transferring $75 million in user funds to Bybit and KuCoin after a July 2024 cyberattack.
• MetaMask and Space ID announced an integration to simplify crypto transactions, allowing users to replace public wallet addresses with customizable domains.
• Dogecoin pumped on Elon Musk's 'D.O.G.E.' Tweet with the token being the biggest gainer among the top 40 coins this week.

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