Oct. 13–17, the virtual asset market plunged after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled an additional 100% tariff against China. However, experts said there is still room for a rebound as the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at the possibility of ending quantitative tightening (QT).
At 3 p.m. on the 17th, bitcoin was traded at $108,496 per coin. It was down 2.38% from 24 hours earlier and 10.86% from a week earlier. It traded at $120,000 on the 10th, but it plunged as U.S.-China trade tensions resurfaced.
Around the same time, ethereum was $3,899, down 10.8% from a week earlier. In the altcoin market, Bittensor (TAO) rose 8.84% and Morpho (MORPHO) rose 6.45%, showing strength, but most failed to escape weakness.
With President Trump's declaration of retaliatory tariffs on China, a record liquidation event totaling 2.68 trillion won unfolded in the virtual asset market. Although a slight rebound was observed as the mood of reconciliation between the United States and China formed and the Fed announced the end of quantitative tightening, prices still have not recovered to prior levels.
Shin Yeong-seo, a Xangle researcher, said, "Investor sentiment has been significantly dampened by escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and large-scale liquidations, and overall buying has decreased," while adding, "Positive upward momentum such as the Fed's QT end announcement remains, so it is necessary to closely monitor market conditions in connection with future changes in the macroeconomic environment."
◇ Binance completes Gopax acquisition… Major shake-up signaled
Binance, the world's largest virtual asset exchange, finalized its acquisition of domestic exchange Gopax on the 15th and succeeded in entering the Korean market. Binance secured 67.45% equity in Gopax to obtain official status as the largest shareholder. Binance filed for an executive change in Feb. 2023, and approval finally came two years later. After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently withdrew its lawsuit against Binance, Korean financial authorities are seen to have accepted the executive change.
The virtual asset industry expects Binance, which has entered the Korean market, to break the duopoly of Upbit and Bithumb. Binance has 290 million users worldwide. Its formidable liquidity is set to flow into the domestic market.
Binance is also expected to accelerate its business expansion in Korea with the official acquisition of Gopax as a catalyst. Binance CEO Richard Teng said, "With the Gopax acquisition completed, we will build various cooperation models in the Korean market." However, securing real-name account issuance under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information and partnerships with major commercial banks are cited as key tasks ahead.
◇ BlackRock CEO: "Tokenization of all assets starts now"
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is preparing for a "tokenization era" in which traditional financial assets are turned into tokens, a type of cryptocurrency, for transaction. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in an interview with the press after an earnings release on the 14th (local time), "The financial industry has entered the early stage of asset tokenization," adding, "BlackRock will play a bigger role in tokenization and asset digitization."
He defined asset tokenization as "next-generation financial infrastructure that will revolutionize global access to capital," and said BlackRock would simultaneously drive the real-world adoption and institutionalization of the digital asset market through BUIDL, BlackRock's tokenized money market fund (MMF). The assets under management of BlackRock's spot bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) have surpassed $93 billion and $17 billion, respectively.
Tokenization makes it possible to embed the legal rights to an asset in a token, a type of cryptocurrency, so it can be transacted. Assets subject to tokenization range widely beyond traditional financial products such as stocks and bonds to real estate and artworks. It does not require complex contractual procedures, and anyone can invest easily. CEO Fink said in a shareholder letter in March, "Tokenization is democracy."
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It provides essential on-chain data-based operational solutions and trust-based community-building services for companies and foundations adopting Web3. It operates the crypto data intelligence platform Xangle, and the Xangle research team creates content to show trends in the virtual asset investment industry based on global virtual asset information and data.