Bitcoin does it again

Earlier today, it happened again. Sixteen-year-old Bitcoin, the first-ever and largest cryptocurrency, set yet another a new record high. The new mark, reached just after 10 a.m. (EST), per CoinGecko, is $94,658.68.

Everybody's curious to know whether the $100K mark might actually come at any moment. Put another way, the handy sentiment index is flashing 90/100, or "extreme greed."

Reflecting the frenzied state of affairs, newly available options on IBIT, BlackRock's BTC ETF, recorded nearly $1.9 billion in notional exposure on their first day of trading. Bloomberg analysts call it an unprecedented debut. Some 354,000 contracts were traded, Bloomberg said. Of those, 289,000 were calls (bets on BTC's price rising) and 65,000 were puts (bets in the other direction). "These options were almost certainly part of the move to the new all-time highs today,” Bloomberg said yesterday after BTC set its now previous record high of $94,040.

According to Decrypt, Grayscale Investments plans to roll out options trading on its spot BTC ETFs, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and the Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC). 

"Market participants widely expect [availability of BTC options] to draw more institutional interest," CoinDesk said.

It's sure been a November to remember. The crypto market started the day catching its breathe. From a $94K peak on Tuesday, Bitcoin as of 7 a.m. (EST) had shed 0.3%. But then BTC began climbing anew toward $95K.

Across the Top 100, at least as of early this morning, we saw only a few double-digit (percentage-wise) 24-hour losers, including Popcat (POPCAT) and Kaspa (KAS).

But what's this, a Peanut the Squirrel knock-off, PNUTS, down 85% after only just making its debut? It's true but sad. But not that sad. PNUTS still has a market cap near $48M. It's six cents. Somewhere in the ranks of the Top 800 coins it right now dwells. The actual Peanut the Squirrel memecoin (PNUT) is nearly $1.60 after losing 5% in the past day. PNUT is the 73rd-largest coin with a market cap of nearly $1.6B.

The actual Peanut the squirrel earlier this month was seized from a homeowner who was targeted by New York State conservation authorities seeking to enforce laws prohibiting unlawfully keeping wild animals, and then the squirrel was later euthanized, prompting a backlash that birthed a memecoin juggernaut through which the furry grey critter lives on.

A securities lawyer, Teresa Goody Guillén, is among the candidates under consideration to head the SEC, CoinDesk reports. Guillén is a partner at BakerHostetler and co-leads the firm's blockchain practice. Like a lot of securities lawyers, she used to work for the SEC before going up against it. Crypto companies are privately advocating for her, CoinDesk said.

Current SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, viewed by the industry as a heavy-handed adversary who refereed via high-profile enforcement actions, is reportedly planning to step down prior to Trump's inauguration two months from now.

Other names in the ring to replace Gensler include: Paul Atkins, former SEC commissioner; Brian Brooks, a former acting Comptroller of the Currency and a member of Hedera's board; Dan Gallagher, chief legal officer at Robinhood; and Robert Stebbins, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

One potential candidate, current commissioner Mark Uyeda, yesterday declined to comment on rumors that he might be tapped as acting or permanent chair. Uyeda's non-denial denial came while he was speaking at a Bloomberg event, per a Fortune story posted on Yahoo Finance.

Brad Bondi at the law firm of Paul Hastings, and who has worked on cases for firms connected with Trump (and Elon Musk), is also under consideration, Unchained said. "Bondi represented the SPAC which merged with Truth Social this summer, tying him to Trump’s business interests," Unchained pointed out.

Bondi would be the first choice of pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, who just unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat in Massachusetts. One reason for this vote of confidence, per CoinGape, is Bondi's experience working on DeFi-related cases, underscoring a recognition of the SEC's jurisdictional limitations.

Brooks merely being part of the SEC chair conversation appeared have to helped jolt HBAR's spot price on Tuesday. HBAR surged to 15 cents as reports surfaced that Brooks' odds were rising. But the native asset of Hedera, the tech-consortium-run network, has since shed 12% in 24 hours.