The Daily: Solana hits new all-time high, XRP surges after Gensler announces SEC departure and more

It's Friday! In today's newsletter, Solana hits a new all-time high, XRP surges to a three-year peak, Ethereum futures open interest rises to record levels and more. 

Meanwhile, Robinhood executive Dan Gallagher rules out leading the SEC as the crypto industry reacts to Chair Gary Gensler's departure.

Let's get started.

Solana hits new all-time high

Solana surged 11% on Thursday to reach a new all-time high above $263 by the end of the day amid a broader market rally fueled by Donald Trump's election victory, sparking optimism about a more crypto-friendly U.S. administration.

• The cryptocurrency recorded its previous all-time high of around $260 on Nov. 6, 2021, according to CoinGecko, which aggregates cryptocurrency price data from multiple exchanges.
• The milestone was reached after reports that the SEC was now "engaging" with issuers' S-1 applications for spot Solana ETFs in the U.S.
• Equity exchange Cboe BZX later filed four 19b-4 applications — the next step in the ETF approval process — for proposals from VanEck, 21Shares, Bitwise and Canary Capital on Thursday afternoon.
• Solana rose to prominence in 2021 as a cheaper and faster alternative Layer 1 blockchain to Ethereum but plummeted as low as $8 toward the end of 2022 following a brutal bear market and the subsequent collapse of FTX.
• SOL is just the third top ten cryptocurrency by market cap to have reached new all-time highs this cycle after BTC in March and BNB in June.
• "As Ethereum grapples with rising fees and competition from Layer 2 solutions, Solana has emerged as a compelling alternative, drawing in users and reinforcing its market dominance," BTCMarkets analyst Rachael Lucas told The Block.

XRP surges to three-year peak as Gensler announces SEC departure

XRP has had one of the strongest crypto rallies over the past 24 hours, surging 32% to around $1.47 — reaching its highest price since May 2021 .

• The rally coincided with SEC Chair Gary Gensler's announcement of his departure from the agency on Thursday, frontrunning President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promise to fire him on day one.
• Ripple and the SEC have been in a long-standing legal battle that started in 2020. The firm is accused of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, which the agency views as an unregistered security.
• XRP is up 69% over the past week and 185% during the last month but remains around 55% below its all-time high of $3.30.

Ethereum futures open interest rises to record $20 billion

Ethereum futures open interest jumped 12% to a fresh high of $20.8 billion on Friday, signaling short-term bullish momentum in the derivatives market, according to analysts at CryptoQuant.

• Positive funding rates and record leverage ratios reflect increased risk-taking as traders bet on rising ether prices, the analysts said.
• However, they warned that elevated leverage and the dominance of long positions could increase the risk of a long squeeze.
• Meanwhile, Ethereum's onchain trading volume has surged 85% in November, driven by renewed market confidence, with ether gaining 9% over the past week.

US spot bitcoin ETFs top $30 billion in cumulative inflows as BTC nears $100,000

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have surpassed $30 billion in cumulative net inflows — just 10 months since their January launch.

• The bitcoin ETFs generated over $1 billion in net inflows on Thursday alone, led by BlackRock's IBIT with $608 million, followed by the $301 million added to Fidelity's FBTC.
• The figure comes after bitcoin's continued post-U.S. election rally toward $100,000, which took the funds' combined assets under management over the $100 billion mark on Wednesday.
• In contrast, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs witnessed $9 million in net outflows on Thursday, extending their negative streak to six days, with cumulative net inflows since their July launch at just $26 million.

Charles Schwab plans crypto spot trading upon regulatory changes

Financial services giant Charles Schwab plans to expand beyond its current crypto ETF and futures offerings with direct spot trading for clients as soon as regulatory conditions allow — something that could be more likely once pro-crypto President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

• "We will get into spot crypto when the regulatory environment changes, and we do anticipate that it will change, and we're getting ready for that eventuality,” Schwab president Rick Wurster said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio on Thursday.
• Wurster, who becomes the firm's CEO on Jan. 1, told Bloomberg that he personally does not plan on buying crypto anytime soon but supports the firm's clients in purchasing crypto assets.
• "Crypto has certainly caught many's attention, and they've made a lot of money doing it," he said. "I have not bought crypto, and now I feel silly."

Looking ahead to next week

• The latest U.S. FOMC meeting minutes are released on Tuesday. U.S. jobless claims, GDP and PCE data follow on Wednesday.
• U.S. markets close all day on Thursday and early on Friday for Thanksgiving.
• The Australian Crypto Convention kicks off in Sydney.

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