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Bitcoin fell below $82,000 yesterday as oil climbed and AI stocks slid, while bitcoin ETFs took in more than $1 billion in three days. Meta and Tesla are spending more, a16z is widening its crypto fund beyond crypto, and Ethereum and Bitcoin developers are changing how fast their networks settle and get fixed. In Sweden, Goobit plans a savings platform for bitcoin, gold and interest.

Some stories in Kaupr Daily:

💎 Meta's AI spending pushes its free cash flow negative

💎 Tesla's profit falls 43% as it bets on robots and robotaxis

💎 Fireblocks denies talks to sell to Visa

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We launched Onchain Finance on 15 October, in two tracks that alternate every Thursday.

Onchain Invest covers tokenised assets, wealth and markets.

Onchain Money covers the future of money and payments for businesses and consumers. Its first issue, out yesterday, looks at how everyone is building a version of money, from Sweden's digital krona to bank stablecoins and the digital euro.

👉 Read the first Onchain Money → · Read the launch issue →

Bitcoin fell below $82,000 on Thursday, down more than 3% in a day, as rising tension in the Middle East and a mixed reception for tech earnings pushed all three major US stock indexes lower. About $400 million in crypto positions were liquidated, according to CoinGlass, and Brent crude climbed above $112 a barrel.

Why it matters: Calmer Treasury markets and improving high-yield credit could support bitcoin, says Fundstrat's Sean Farrell, as "heightened uncertainty in rates can constrain leverage".

Source: Bitcoin falls below $82,000 as investors retreat from risk assets — Yahoo Finance

Brent crude rose to its highest level in five months, while Nvidia, Lam Research and CoreWeave fell and pulled the Nasdaq down 1.5%. In Asia, Korea's Kospi dropped 3.5%, and China's CSI 300 entered a bear market. The US 10-year Treasury yield stands at 5.03%, up from 3.97% before the Iran war.

Why it matters: Markets still expect the Fed to raise rates in December, with core inflation data due the day after its 28 October meeting.

Source: Oil climbs above $111 as AI stocks slide, dragging the S&P 500 and global markets with them — Decrypt

US spot bitcoin ETFs took in about $1.07 billion over three trading days, turning October's net outflows into a gain of around $460 million for the month. Monday's $526.7 million, all into BlackRock's fund, was the best day since September. Ether ETFs remain about $1.07 billion down for October.

Why it matters: The money flowed in as bitcoin's price fell, and traders on Myriad now see a 35% chance of bitcoin dropping to $77,500 before the month ends.

Source: Bitcoin ETFs erase October losses with $1 billion in three days — Decrypt

Meta's revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion in the third quarter, beating forecasts, while capital spending reached $34.9 billion and free cash flow turned negative. Operating income fell 37%, mainly because of a $10 billion settlement with US states over youth safety. More than 10 million people have set up its AI assistant Muse.

Why it matters: "It's going to be very important to get the math on all of this to work out," Mark Zuckerberg said of the cost of running AI.

Source: Meta Q3 earnings: Zuckerberg, capex and Muse — Fortune

Tesla's net income fell 43% to $787 million in the third quarter, with revenue flat at $28 billion, while research spending and capital expenditure rose sharply. Production of its Optimus humanoid robot has started in Fremont, and Tesla aims to deliver its first Cybercab robotaxis to customers by the end of the year.

Why it matters: Tesla has missed earlier Optimus targets, and Elon Musk says reaching 20,000 robots a week will take at least a year.

Source: Tesla's Profit Drops as Musk Bets on Robots and Driverless Cabs — Decrypt

Andreessen Horowitz is renaming its crypto fund a16z Frontier and widening it to AI, autonomous machines, biology and other long-horizon technologies. Chris Dixon will lead it with Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and two partners. The firm, an early backer of Coinbase, Solana and Uniswap, says it will keep investing in crypto.

Why it matters: Dixon argues that companies should be defined "by what they do rather than by the technologies they use".

Source: a16z Drops Crypto From Fund Name, Widens Bets to AI and Frontier Tech — Decrypt

Axios reported that Visa is in late-stage talks to buy crypto infrastructure firm Fireblocks for about $2.5 billion, far below the $8 billion valuation from its 2022 funding round. Fireblocks rejected the report: "This is news to us, and not true at present time." Coinbase, also named as a possible buyer, has denied involvement.

Why it matters: Speculation about a sale had circulated for three to four weeks before the Axios report, according to CoinDesk.

Source: Fireblocks Denies Visa Acquisition Talks — Fintech News Singapore

Ethereum researchers led by Ben Edgington have proposed cutting the time before a transaction is final from about 16 minutes to roughly four. Services that move crypto between blockchains would need to tie up less money while waiting for settlement, which could lower costs. The design is unfinished and has no activation date.

Why it matters: "Many aspects remain TBD," Edgington wrote, with voting timings and parts of the security analysis still unresolved.

Source: Ethereum's four-minute settlement plan could lower the cost of moving crypto — CoinDesk

Bitcoin Core will now fix vulnerabilities that can be found with minimal effort, such as with a simple AI prompt, as soon as possible across all maintained versions, and publish advisories at the same time. Other bugs keep their disclosure schedules based on severity. Developer Antoine Poinsot announced the change.

Why it matters: "The embargo period achieves little but it delays the availability of a fixed release," Poinsot says.

Source: Bitcoin Core changes security policy as AI makes bugs easier to find — Cointelegraph

Swedish Goobit, which has run the bitcoin exchange BTCX since 2011, plans to launch Futureproof, with three ready-made portfolios of bitcoin, gold and interest-bearing assets and a beta in the fourth quarter. It is raising about SEK 25 million in a rights issue. Finland's MiCA-licensed Kvarn Capital will handle trading and custody.

Why it matters: Goobit's own MiCA application was rejected in July and is under appeal, but the company says the launch does not depend on the outcome.

Source: Goobit bygger vidare på BTCX med lanseringen av Futureproof — Tradevenue (Source: press release)

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Morten Myrstad
Founder & Editor