Ether set for $3.2K breakout, Coinbase exec urges SEC reform: Finance Redefined
2024-11-09

Donald Trump’s victory in the United States presidential election catalyzed a wave of investor appetite for risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies, setting up Ether for a short-term breakout above $3,200, according to market analysts.
The Republican victory is also sparking more optimism for clearer crypto regulations in the next four years, inspiring crypto thought leaders such as Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, to urge the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to improve its stance on the crypto industry for Trump’s second term.
Ether set for $3,200 breakout as ETH ETF inflows turn positive
Analysts are eying an Ether rally above $3,200, driven by a growing risk appetite after Trump’s election victory.
On Nov. 6, Trump was declared the winner of the election, securing his second term as US president. 
Inflows into spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) turned positive following the election results, with the ETFs seeing $52.3 million in net positive inflows on Nov. 6 and $79.7 million on Nov. 7, Farside Investors data shows.
The ETF inflows, along with a growing investor appetite boosted by the Republican victory, may help Ether’s price reach $3,200 in the short term, according to Bitfinex analysts.
The analysts told Cointelegraph:
Coinbase exec urges SEC reform after Trump’s election win
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, urged the SEC to change its approach toward crypto following Trump’s election as president for a second term.
Grewal expressed hope that the agency would adopt a regulatory framework that favors open dialogue and innovation over litigation, reflecting a sentiment among crypto advocates increasingly frustrated with the US regulator’s enforcement actions.
With Trump promising to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, an SEC shakeup could impact more than just the future of crypto in the US.
Galaxy Digital clocks biggest trading day of year on US Election Day: Report
Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency trading firm, clocked the biggest trading day of the year on Nov. 5 as Trump’s election victory sparked a surge of interest in crypto, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 7.
“[O]ur franchise was operating at full-bore — trading with counterparties both in the US and abroad, lending, the derivative desk,” Michael Novogratz, Galaxy’s CEO, reportedly told Bloomberg.
“It really felt like an affirmation of everything we’ve been working for,” Novogratz said.
Novogratz’s net worth surged about 15%, or by around $600 million, to $4.6 billion on Nov. 5, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Magic Labs, Polygon launch crosschain smart wallet for AggLayer
Magic Labs and Polygon Labs announced a crosschain smart wallet as protocols move to address liquidity fragmentation in the blockchain space. 
According to a Nov. 7 announcement, the companies launched the Newton testnet, a wallet solution for the crosschain settlement layer AggLayer. The solution promises to enable liquidity sharing across multiple blockchains, “like how HTML or HTTP introduced standards to create a seamless internet experience.”
Newton is built with Polygon CDK — or cloud development kit — and plans to offer chain-abstracted smart wallets, free tooling, access to global liquidity and crosschain launches from “a single command line.”
Liquidity fragmentation occurs when assets and trading volumes are spread across multiple platforms or blockchain networks, creating inefficiencies in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. This dispersion leads to higher trading costs and slower transaction speeds, complicating crosschain interactions and increasing costs for users.
Coinbase hit with $300 million token listing allegations by Sun, Cronje
Some of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges allegedly ask for hundreds of millions of dollars for new token listings.
According to Tron founder Justin Sun, Coinbase asked for $330 million in total fees to list Tron (TRX). Sun posted on X on Nov. 4 saying that while Binance did not charge any fees, Coinbase requested 500 million TRX tokens (valued at around $80 million) and a $250 million Bitcoin deposit to be held in Coinbase Custody.
While Sun’s comments may lack evidence, they came as a surprising development, considering that Coinbase claims to charge no fees for listing new cryptocurrencies.
“Asset listings on Coinbase are free,” Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in a Nov. 2 X post.
DeFi market overview
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.
Of the top 100, the Neiro (NEIRO) memecoin rose over 55% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by decentralized exchange Raydium’s (RAY) token, up over 48% during the past week.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.