JD.com implements its own blockchain to issue free NFTs to attendees of its annual JD Discovery conference.
Chinese online retail giant JD.com is diving into the nonfungible token, or NFT, industry by introducing a special NFT series for its annual JD Discovery conference.

Using its proprietary blockchain platform, JD.com will be distributing commemorative NFT certificates to attendees of the JDD 2021 event in Beijing, the Chinese news agency Sina Finance reported on Wednesday.

Specifically, JD.com will issue one NFT for free to anyone who signs up for the JDD 2021 conference between Monday and Nov. 22 through the WeChat mini program on the event’s official website.
Source: Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com drops NFT series on its own blockchain

Billionaire Peter Thiel shared concerns that investing in Bitcoin is already a “known secret.”
As Bitcoin (BTC) marked a new all-time high above $67,000, PayPal co-founder and billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel said he should have bought more Bitcoin.

Thiel spoke of cryptocurrencies, central banks and artificial intelligence (AI) during an interview in Miami hosted by policy think tank Lincoln Network, Bloomberg reported Oct. 20.

“You’re supposed to just buy Bitcoin,” Thiel said, adding: “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.”
Source: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel says he ‘underinvested’ in Bitcoin

The crypto asset's market capitalization overtook the Russian ruble in February after a major announcement from car manufacturer Tesla. After hitting a new all-time high price approaching $67,000 earlier on Wednesday, the market capitalization of Bitcoin briefly surpassed the total market cap of the Swiss franc.

According to data from Fiatmarketcap, Bitcoin’s market cap was more than $1.263 trillion when the price of the crypto asset reached an all-time high of roughly $67,000 earlier on Wednesday. This briefly exceeded the value of the circulating supply of the Swiss franc at 1,158,489,000,000 CHF, or roughly $1.26 trillion. AssetDash also lists the total Bitcoin (BTC) market cap within $500 billion of Amazon.
Source: Bitcoin briefly flippens Swiss franc after rally to new ATH

Institutional asset managers have been slower to embrace cryptocurrencies than retail traders, but their adoption is growing rapidly.
Fixed-income manager PIMCO is planning to increase its exposure to digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) after dabbling in the asset class through crypto-linked securities, offering the latest evidence that major institutions are starting to embrace the emerging asset class.

In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn confirmed that PIMCO already has exposure to “crypto-linked securities” through various hedge fund portfolios.
Source: BREAKING: $2.2T asset manager PIMCO plans to buy more crypto

Bitcoin’s breakout to $67,000 also sent the total crypto market capitalization to a new all-time high and is a signal that altcoins could soon embark on a new uptrend. Bitcoin (BTC) surged to a new all-time high today, hitting close to $67,000. Ether (ETH) also broke above its immediate resistance and has started its march toward the all-time high. This pushed the total market capitalization of the crypto sector to a new all-time high above $2.64 trillion.

The successful debut of the ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (BITO) acted as the trigger to boost sentiment in the crypto space. The ProShares’ ETF trading volume on the first day of the launch exceeded $1 billion, making it the second-most successful ETF debut based on the trading volume on day one.
Source: Price analysis 10/20: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, XRP, SOL, DOT, DOGE, LUNA, UNI

She cited an investigation into tax ramifications as one of Ark Invest’s reasons for withholding for now. Ark Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood did not invest in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy Exchange Traded Fund, or ETF, on opening day, according to Business Insider.

Wood said about the ETF’s debut:

“No, we did not [invest]. We’re looking at this very carefully […] there are some tax ramifications we’d like to understand more having to do with contango versus more normal backwardation.”
Source: Ark Invest founder Cathie Wood passed on buying the first Bitcoin Futures ETF

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ has been dubbed the OG NFT and now PleasrDAO has turned the title deed to the work into a real NFT. PleasrDAO has revealed itself to be the new owners of Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind, unreleased album ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’.

The 74 members of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) now share collective ownership of the album. The group purchased the sole copy of the album from the US federal government for $4 million at the end of July this year, collected it in September and moved it to a vault at an undisclosed location in New York. The DAO has minted the ownership deed as an NFT with the help of crypto savvy attorney Peter Scoolidge.
Source: PleasrDAO adds $4M 'OG NFT’ Wu-Tang Clan album to its collection

The ProShares Bitcoin ETF has beaten an 18-year-old record for the fastest fund to a billion-dollar AUM. Since the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF started trading this week, it has become the fastest fund ever to reach $1 billion in assets under management (AUM).

The highly anticipated launch of the first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund in the United States, BITO, has resulted in a number of milestone achievements.

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that the fund was the quickest ever to reach a ten-figure AUM after just two days of trading. BITO easily surpassed the previous record holder, a gold-based fund with the ticker GLD, which took three days to hit the billion-dollar mark in 2004.
Source: Bitcoin futures ETF hits $1B AUM in a record-breaking two days