The Hong Kong Monetary said two overseas crypto firms have misrepresented themselves as banks, which may “constitute a contravention of the Banking Ordinance.”The HKMA, however, did not disclose the names of the two firms.

Donald Trump has nominated the former presidential candidate and pro-bitcoin ex-Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.Trump’s top team includes an array of crypto advocates such as VP-elect JD Vance, Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-leads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

South Korea’s financial watchdog reportedly discovered that Upbit approved hundreds of thousands of accounts without proper ID verification.Upbit, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea, processed more than $48.2 billion in crypto transactions in October.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $400.67 million in outflows on Thursday, ending a six-day streak of positive flows.Ark’s and Bitwise’s ETFs both saw their largest single-day outflows since inception.

Jay Clayton, who was the chair of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020 under Trump’s previous administration, was nominated on Thursday.During his time at the SEC, Clayton brought the infamous case against Ripple. 

Prosecutors recommended reducing Lichtenstein’s sentence due to his cooperation in his investigation and other crypto-related probes.Lichtenstein’s wife and co-conspirator Heather “Razzlekahn” Morgan’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 18.

The attorney generals asked the court to declare that a “digital asset transaction is not an investment contract.” The complaint names the SEC, SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the agency’s commissioners as defendants.

VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel said bitcoin’s rally could continue well into 2025. Bitcoin’s bullish momentum following Trump’s presidential nomination resembles its rally following the 2020 election seating Democrat Joe Biden, he said.

Portal’s second fund is reportedly oversubscribed and includes backers like a16z’s Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen.The VC firm zeroes in on ground-level opportunities, emphasizing writing a startup’s “first check.”

In prepared remarks on Thursday at the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler reflected on his time leading the agency’s team. Republicans retained control of the U.S. House on Wednesday, having secured a majority of 218 members, paving the way for crypto-friendly lawmakers to lead the Financial Services Committee and efforts for digital asset-related bills.U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs have surpassed $500 billion in cumulative trading volume — less than a year after their January debut.The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

The proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act is cosponsored by Republicans Reps. Mike Cabell and Aaron Kaufer.The bill would allow Pennsylvania’s state treasurer to invest in bitcoin, digital assets and allow for investing in exchange-traded products.

Last week saw 181,000 new tokens appearing on DEXs, with a major driver of activity being memecoin launches.The following is an excerpt from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.

Stablecoin issuer Tether announced it has launched a real-world asset tokenization platform called Hadron, which it says will allow users to tokenize “anything.”Tether specifically mentions the tokenizing of stocks, bonds, stablecoins and loyalty points.

Doodles artwork will appear on 100 million McCafe Holiday Cups across United States-based restaurants starting on Nov. 18.Buying a McCafe beverage through the McDonald’s app also gives users a code redeemable for a digital pack of collectible McDonald’s x Doodles branded items.

Franklin Templeton has expanded its FOBXX tokenized government securities fund to Ethereum, further diversifying its blockchain presence alongside networks like Aptos and Stellar.Tokenized government securities now have a total AUM of $2.329 billion, with Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX and BlackRock’s BUIDL fund leading the market share, according to Dune Analytics.