ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Aptos Labs co-founder Mo Shaikh announced his resignation as CEO, and co-founder Avery Ching will take over. Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain that emphasizes high scalability, security, and transaction speed, built on the Move programming language developed for Facebook's "Diem" project.In a lengthy post on social platform X, Shaikh reflected on Aptos's achievements over the past three years, including successfully raising $400 million in venture capital and building an ecosystem supported by thousands of developers. He thanked investors such as BlackRock, Google, Mastercard, and PayPal for their support and stated that he would continue to support the company's growth as a strategic advisor while reflecting on the future of blockchain and the financial system.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, Galaxy Research stated in a report on Monday that the non-fungible token (NFT) market is showing signs of recovery.The data cited in the report shows that for most of this year, NFT trading volume has been declining, but with the U.S. elections and the subsequent rebound in the cryptocurrency market, trading volume began to reverse in November. The weekly NFT trading volume in early November exceeded $100 million for the first time since May, reaching $172 million on December 2.Analyst Gabe Parker wrote, "This recovery is primarily driven by increased activity in NFT collectibles ranked in the top 25 by market capitalization, with participation from major markets like OpenSea, Blur, and Magic Eden also increasing. Among them, Blur and OpenSea accounted for 60% and 27% of total trading volume, respectively, in the past 30 days."

ChainCatcher news, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned on Monday, stating that Prime Minister Trudeau had asked her to give up the position and take on another cabinet role. In her letter to Trudeau, she said, "On Friday, you told me that you no longer wished for me to serve as your Minister of Finance and offered me another position. After careful consideration, I have concluded that the only honest and viable course for me is to resign from cabinet." (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, Luxor Technology Corporation has signed a $131.4 million agreement with Bitcoin mining manufacturer MicroBT, which includes a confirmed purchase of $93.2 million worth of Whatsminer ASIC Bitcoin miners, with an option to purchase an additional $38.2 million. These ASIC miners will utilize a combination of immersion, air cooling, and water cooling systems designed to improve efficiency.The announcement states that the agreement supports MicroBT's expansion in the United States, where the company has begun assembling miners domestically. Previously, Bitmain also launched a production line in the United States.

ChainCatcher news, according to data from Kaiko Research, the price of Ethereum (ETH) recently reached an annual high of $4000. Although it briefly outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) after the U.S. elections, ETH has yet to test its historical high of around $5000 from 2021.However, last weekend, the price of ETH stabilized around $4000, indicating that it may be poised to test a new price range. The rise in ETH prices coincides with a resurgence of market interest in ETH ETFs, which set a record for historical fund inflows last week. Institutional investors have shown a significant increase in interest in ETH and are optimistic about potential returns in 2025.Additionally, changes in the leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may further drive market demand, with ETH potentially being a significant beneficiary of this change.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, regulators in El Salvador and Argentina have signed an agreement to help both countries develop their cryptocurrency industries. Juan Carlos Reyes, the head of El Salvador's top cryptocurrency regulatory body and the National Digital Assets Commission (CNAD), stated that the agreement will help El Salvador expand its influence by establishing strategic partnerships.While the details of the deal remain unclear, Reyes indicated that the agreement aims to enable the two regulatory bodies to share knowledge and experience to promote cryptocurrency innovation.

ChainCatcher message, Bitfinex post analysis, last week, Bitcoin reached an all-time high, breaking the $100,000 mark for the first time, hitting a historic high of $104,000. This marks a 111% increase from Bitcoin's low of below $50,000 during the summer. However, after the rebound, there was a significant 14.84% pullback, including a rapid 10% drop within just eight minutes, which is the largest pullback from the current all-time high since the sell-off before the U.S. elections. This pullback triggered over $1.1 billion in liquidations, with $419 million in Bitcoin long positions, highlighting the level of leverage in the market.Despite the market's extreme volatility, signs of stabilization are emerging. The realized profit metric had peaked at $10.5 billion daily but has now dropped to $2.5 billion, easing selling pressure. The futures funding rate has also normalized, indicating a decrease in speculative leverage. Although ETF inflows slightly slowed over the weekend, they remain a key source of support against the backdrop of long-term holders continuing to take profits. As Bitcoin consolidates above $100,000, the medium-term outlook remains bullish, and with the normalization of funding rates and easing selling pressure, there is potential for further upside as long as ETF inflows continue to increase.Additionally, the Federal Reserve is assessing potential policy shifts that the new government may undertake, while the economy remains supported by a resilient labor market and stable consumer demand. However, the uneven recovery across various sectors suggests a need for cautious optimism.

ChainCatcher news, the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that at the 17th Global Forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF MCAA) was officially signed.The CARF MCAA is an institution established by the OECD in 2009, aimed at implementing standards for international tax transparency and the exchange of tax information. A total of 48 countries, including South Korea, Germany, Japan, and France, participated in this agreement. The signatory countries will exchange information on crypto-asset transactions based on the automatic information exchange framework for crypto-assets jointly developed by the OECD and the G20.According to the agreement, the exchange of information between countries will be implemented through separate negotiations among the signatory countries. The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to amend relevant domestic laws starting in 2027 to facilitate the exchange of information on crypto-asset transactions and promote individual agreements.A relevant official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Through this agreement, detailed information on crypto-asset transactions can be obtained, which will help enhance the transparency of the tax base related to crypto-asset income."

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Coinbase has signed a sponsorship agreement with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, becoming the official partner of the Los Angeles Clippers. This collaboration marks the beginning of a multi-year partnership that will provide fans with exclusive experiences, limited edition merchandise, and unique digital and physical collectibles. The financial details of this partnership have not been disclosed. Coinbase will offer new and existing users $5 worth of Bitcoin, as well as seasonal benefits for creating a Coinbase account. The Coinbase brand will be prominently featured on signage within the Intuit Dome venue, which is being used as the Clippers' home for the first time this year.

ChainCatcher news, according to DLNews, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has signed an $11 million settlement agreement regarding the Astral NFT and Galaxy token lawsuit, covering the plaintiffs' attorney fees as well as cash payments to NFT and token purchasers. The settlement agreement is currently pending approval from the judge.Previously, O'Neal was sued for promoting cryptocurrency, with a class action filed in federal court in Florida accusing O'Neal of promoting the unregistered Astral token in violation of securities laws.The lawsuit claims that O'Neal repeatedly promoted the Astrals NFT on his various social media accounts, but the value of the related tokens and NFTs subsequently experienced a "sharp decline."

ChainCatcher news, the prediction market Polymarket has released data indicating that the success probability of tomorrow's "chopsticks" robotic arm successfully recovering the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket has risen to 78%.SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded that this prediction roughly aligns with his estimates. He stated that with technological advancements, the success rate will eventually approach 100%, but it is still in the early stages.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, the cryptocurrency industry spent about $135 million to support over 50 candidates during the 2024 U.S. election cycle, including Democrats and Republicans, incumbents and challengers, frontrunners and long shots. But they now all have one thing in common: victory.In the elections on November 5, as of noon local time on Friday, all 48 candidates supported by the cryptocurrency industry's largest political action committee have declared victory. In the eight elections still counting votes, candidates backed by the political action committee are leading in all but three of the races.According to the consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen, its influence campaign far exceeds that of traditional corporate donors, such as Koch Industries and Chevron. Since the landmark Supreme Court decision in 2010 that lifted restrictions on corporate political spending, the industry ranks second only to the fossil fuel industry in terms of total amount deployed. Now, the industry is touting its massive election spending and its results as evidence that it has become an undeniable political force, gearing up for the next legislative session and the 2026 midterm elections.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitget market data, Arbitrum ecosystem tokens are experiencing a general rise.Among them:VELA has increased by 20.66% in the last 24 hours, currently priced at $0.044;RDNT has increased by 3.37% in the last 24 hours, currently priced at $0.042;GNS has increased by 2.42% in the last 24 hours, currently priced at $1.6;MAGIC has increased by 2.27% in the last 24 hours, currently priced at $0.32.

ChainCatcher news, Judy Dimon, the wife of well-known political donor and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon, campaigned in Michigan over the weekend, urging voters to support Kamala Harris's presidential run.Jamie Dimon himself has declined to publicly endorse any candidate and has promised to work with whoever is elected. Earlier this year, Trump posted a picture on his social media page claiming to have Jamie Dimon's support, but JPMorgan Chase quickly denied it. (Golden Ten)

ChainCatcher news, FLock.io announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Animoca Brands. Both parties plan to jointly develop AI models specifically designed for Animoca Brands, focusing on due diligence, investment, market making, and operational support. The FLock.io platform combines federated learning and blockchain technology, aiming to ensure data privacy through decentralized collaboration and promote collaborative training of AI models.FLock.io CFO Vincent stated that this collaboration will leverage FLock.io's privacy-preserving AI training infrastructure platform to develop four AI models in specific areas for Animoca Brands, while ensuring the localization of core data.

ChainCatcher news, the cryptocurrency mining company Bitfarms has signed a second hosting agreement with the American Stronghold Digital Mining to expand its operations at its facility in Pennsylvania. The initial terms of the agreement will expire on December 31, 2025, after which it will automatically renew annually. Additionally, Bitfarms will pay Stronghold 50% of the miner profits each month.Bitfarms CEO Ben Gagnon stated that the 20,000 miners on site will enhance efficiency and continue to improve the overall efficiency of the company. Previously, Bitmain signed the first hosting agreement with Stronghold in September, when it added an initial 10,000 miners to its Panther Creek facility in Pennsylvania. (Cointelegraph)

ChainCatcher news, KKR has signed a $50 billion strategic partnership with the American investment firm Energy Capital Partners (ECP). This collaboration will focus on accelerating the development of data centers, power generation, and transmission infrastructure to support the global expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing.Both parties will support large-scale model training, tuning, and inference across different regions, and will collaborate with industry participants such as utilities, power producers, and data center developers to expedite the development of large data center campuses for hyperscale enterprises.KKR will leverage its existing infrastructure, real estate strategies, and insurance accounts to fund the partnership; ECP will provide funding through existing and future infrastructure capital pools.