When $70B in Bitcoin paints a target on your back

GM. We’re the crypto juicer, taking market pulp and turning it into a cool, refreshing sip of news – zero seeds, all flavor.

🫣 Peter Todd, the guy an HBO documentary claimed could be Satoshi Nakamoto, says he’s now worried about his safety.

🗽 Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance exec held in Nigeria since February, has been released.

🗯 Michael Saylor faces backlash over his statement about Bitcoin custody.

🍊 News drops: Buenos Aires launches a new digital ID service using ZK proofs, Gary Gensler wishes Bitcoin a happy “sweet sixteen” + more

🍍 Market flavor today

Crypto Market Cap $2.33 Trillion -1.30% (24H)
Name	Price	24H %	7D %
Bitcoin BTC	$66,282.68	-1.26%	-2.13%
Ethereum ETH	$2,577.03	-1.99%	-2.08%
BNB BNB	$581.74	-2.23%	-2.78%
Solana SOL	$166.11	-0.94%	6.52%

The market’s as still as a pond today 🏝 The Fear and Greed Index is still lounging at 70, in “Greed” territory. Bitcoin? It’s doing its best impression of a zen master, hovering around $67K and contemplating the meaning of life.

But don’t let the calm waters fool you – there’s a riptide forming beneath the surface. Options traders are betting that Bitcoin will hit $80K by the end of November.

Now, cue Paul Tudor Jones, the investing legend himself. He’s predicting that the US public deficit is gonna outpace current budget projections, and yields on longer-term Treasurys are set to rise because “the US will ultimately try to inflate its way out.” Translation: the dollar might be headed for a bit of an identity crisis. His hedge against inflation? Buying commodities – including *drumroll* Bitcoin! 🎉

So, with the big players making their moves, the chessboard is set for an exciting end to the year. Keep those diamond hands strong and eyes on the prize – patience is key! 💎

🫣 You can’t run, but you can hide

Remember that HBO documentary we talked about, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery – the one claiming to unmask the real Satoshi Nakamoto? Spoiler alert: their suspect is Peter Todd, a guy who’s repeatedly denied being the creator of Bitcoin. Kinda funny… well, unless denial is part of his plan.

Anyways, the evidence that he’s Satoshi? Lowkey this:

And the thing is – because of this probably false claim, Todd feels like he’s in danger. He’s stepped back from the public eye, genuinely fearing for his safety.

Why? Think about it – grandmas get targeted by robbers when they have like $50 in their purses. Now imagine being rumored to hold Satoshi’s stash of 1.1M BTC, which is over $70 BILLION. The target’s even bigger than your m…assive heart. Phew, saved it.

In an interview with Wired, Todd said that there’s a reason Satoshi wanted to stay hidden, and we should keep it that way. He thought the documentary was about the history of Bitcoin and not a mission to expose its creator – had he known, he would’ve never taken part in it.

In response, the documentary’s creator, Cullen Hoback, brushed off Todd’s fears as overstated. Plus, he argues that because Satoshi holds so much power over the market, it’s important to reveal who he really is.

About those overstated dangers, it’s like… was he there? How does he truly know there’s no real threat? As for revealing Satoshi’s identity, well, most people think the film still didn’t crack the case, so the mystery remains unresolved… or does it? 😉

🗽 Free at last

We’ve got another update on a story we’ve previously covered, and it’s a big one.

Tigran Gambaryan, the Binance exec who got arrested in Nigeria over allegations against Binance (translation: not anything he personally did), has been finally released after spending eight months behind bars.

His time there? Definitely no vacay abroad. The guy’s been battling some serious health issues – from malaria to barely being able to walk. Word is, the charges against him were dropped so that he could get the proper medical treatment he desperately needed back home.

W for justice!

🍎 Newton’s Third Law in action

Michael Saylor, co-founder of Microstrategy, recently had a chat with financial markets journalist Madison Reid. And some bombshells he dropped… as Vitalik Buterin put it, batshit insane.

Saylor said that Bitcoin investors should trust “too big to fail” banks to keep their assets safe. Isn’t this kinda like telling a vegan to trust the biggest steakhouse in town?..

You know how Newton’s Third Law goes: for every action, there’s a reaction. Lemme tell ya, the crypto community didn’t disappoint on that “reaction” part:

– Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Casa, pointed out that centralizing coins into a few hands increases the systemic risk of loss and cuts Bitcoiners out of important governance activities;

– Buterin commented that Saylor’s idea feels like pushing for a “regulatory capture approach,” as lawmakers and law enforcement are cozy with those big financial institutions – which is not what crypto is about at all;

– Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift, also jumped in, saying that self-custody is the best defense against the inevitable centralization and corruption that comes with big institutions.

So, Saylor’s got the whole crypto industry throwing hands ’cause his idea goes against Bitcoin’s whole point: putting financial power back into the hands of the people. Sure, like Voorhees noted, not everyone needs to self-custody everything always – that’s not practical for every use case. But people should at least know how to do so and lean that way when they can.

📰 News drops

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires made history with a new digital ID service, QuarkID, that protects resident privacy using ZK proofs. It’s now part of the city’s miBA app, where locals can access municipal services and documents.

🎂 SEC chair Gary Gensler wished Bitcoin a happy “sweet sixteen” ahead of its white paper anniversary on October 31. And the gift? More of the same “regulation by enforcement” crackdown on crypto.

🥸 Meta’s experimenting with facial recognition tech to tackle deepfake celeb-bait scam ads on its platforms. The tool checks images in the ads against celebrities’ Facebook and Instagram profile pics to catch the fakes.

🪐 An on-chain investigation claims that North Korean hackers might’ve had a hand in developing part of Cosmos’ Liquid Staking Module (LSM). Now, Cosmos’ co-founder says they’re exploring ways to ditch LSM entirely.

☁️ This collab gives devs real-time access to blockchain data through Google Cloud’s Pub/Sub.

🍌 Juicy memes