Senate Ag Committee Releases Crypto Market Discussion Bill, Winklevoss-backed Leap Therapeutics Launches Zcash Treasury, & Ledger Weighs IPO

Takeaways

• A bipartisan discussion bill released by the US Senate Agriculture Committee grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authority to oversee spot trading of digital commodities: The proposal, which defined “digital commodities” broadly, still requires the agency to work collaboratively with the SEC to regulate digital assets. With the House of Representatives voting late Wednesday to re-open the government, legislators are now expected to return to working on crypto legislation through year-end.
• Winklevoss Capital backs Zcash treasury for Leap Therapeutics: The company announced this week it will change its name to Cypherpunk Technologies and launch a Zcash-focused digital asset strategy with proceeds from a $58.8 million private placement led by Winklevoss Capital.
• JPMorgan has officially rolled out its USD-denominated deposit token, JPM Coin (JPMD): The token offers near-instant settlement and major payment firms including Mastercard have begun carrying out test transactions.
• Spot Solana ETFs recorded 10 consecutive days of net inflows, after drawing $200 million in their first week: Since the debut of the first US SOL ETF on October 28, the two funds have amassed roughly $342 million in total net inflows, though the start of the week posted comparatively small gains.
• Strategy purchased an additional 487 BTC for just under $50 million at an average price of $102,557 per coin: The company’s holdings have now reached a total of 641,692 BTC, representing more than 3% of bitcoin’s 21 million supply.
• Hardware wallet company Ledger is weighing a New York IPO or private fundraising round next year: Ledger has recorded record demand for its hardware wallets and has recorded revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars this year so far.

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Senate Ag Committee Releases Discussion Bill Giving CFTC Broad Regulatory Powers

Chairman John Boozman said that the CFTC is the “right agency” to oversee spot trading of this kind and the discussion bill is an important step in finalizing the plans for comprehensive market structure legislation for digital assets.

The House of Representatives voted to re-open the government on Wednesday evening, allowing lawmakers to return to pushing the legislation forward after a months-long delay.

Building on the House-passed CLARITY Act, the bill defines “digital commodities” as fungible onchain assets which are transferred between people with no intermediary. If the bill was to proceed, crypto spot trading platforms would be required to register with the CFTC and abide by their regulatory requirements.

Market participants have highlighted that the bill as more an initial outline as opposed to concrete rules. However, some have raised concerns around its proposed handling of the DeFi sector. While individual developers would likely not be considered money-transmitters for making code-based crypto transfers, no such protections are planned for DeFi protocols. It is not yet clear when the draft will be finalized.

Winklevoss-backed Leap Therapeutics To Launch Zcash Treasury Strategy, Rebrand to Cypherpunk

The biotech company used $50 million from a private placement led by Winklevoss Capital to 203,775.27 ZEC at an average purchase price of $245.37 per ZEC. Additionally, Cypherpunk changed the company’s NASDAQ ticker symbol to “CYPH” on Thursday as part of the rebranding.

As part of the deal, Cypherpunk has appointed Khing Oei as chairman of the board and Will McEvoy as the company’s first chief investment officer. Christopher Mirabelli will step down as chairman.

“The recent weak performance of digital asset treasury companies stems from PIPEs dominated by short-term, mercenary capital,” Will McEvoy in a statement. “We’ve taken a different path by building a syndicate of value-aligned investors who believe in the long-term importance of Zcash and privacy for the United States and the world."

Zcash is a privacy-focused blockchain launched in 2016 with advanced cryptography protocols. The blockchain’s native token with the same name (ZEC) has pushed more than 1,200% higher over the past three months, pushing past $500.

JPMorgan Launches JPM Coin (JPMD) After Successful Pilot

The firm’s blockchain unit, Kinexys, has completed a proof-of-concept of the token which commenced in summer this year, and the JPMD launched with near-instant settlement. Its primary use case will be to facilitate tokenized bank deposits.

Major payments firms including Mastercard have already begun testing the token, looking to assess its viability as part of its operations. Unlike retail stablecoins, JPMD is closer to a tokenization tool, and has reportedly been built to suit the needs of existing banking infrastructure and to comply with existing regulation. The firm also expressed its plans to potentially explore a euro-denominated deposit token in the future.

JPMorgan is not the only major bank to explore the launch of blockchain-based deposit tokens, with BNY Mellon and HSBC also in the process of rolling out similar tokens. JPM now reports that its Kinexys blockchain network processes over $3 billion in volume every day and plans to expand its blockchain interoperability in the future.

Spot Solana ETFs Record 10 Consecutive Days of Net Inflows

Since the launch of the first spot Solana ETF on October 28, the two funds, Bitwise’s BSOL and Grayscale’s GSOL, have drawn more than $342 million, having pulled in $200 million in their first week alone.

The funds outperformed analyst predictions, with investors showing more confidence in Solana’s DeFi capabilities. Some have also suggested that continued demand for these funds could increase SOL scarcity, which could be beneficial for its price.

Despite the continued net inflow streak, net inflows on Monday were the smallest since launch, pulling in $6.78 million. That said, spot bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded similarly muted performance on the same day. Spot bitcoin ETFs posted just $1.15 million, while spot ether ETFs recorded $0 net flows.

Strategy Buys Additional 487 BTC, Lifting Total to 641,692 BTC

This latest batch of bitcoin was acquired for just under $50 million, and at an average price of $102,557 per coin. The company’s stockpile now represents a staggering 3% of the Bitcoin network’s 21 million BTC supply, and was acquired for an aggregate cost of roughly $47.5 billion.

At-the-market sales of perpetual preferred stock lines were again used to finance the acquisition, with the firm targeting $84 billion in raises through 2027 for further purchases. Notably however, the firm also recently doubled its raise targets to $715 million for its new euro-denominated perpetual preferred, STRE. Michael Saylor took to X to mark the bitcoin acquisition, posting “₿est Continue”.

Ledger Weighs New York Listing as Device Demand Fuels Record Year

The firm is also considered a potential private funding round, as it reports enormous demand for its hardware wallet product this year. No date has yet been announced, but the IPO or private funding round would likely take place next year. CEO Pascal Gauthier said that the company is also expanding its New York head count.

The company has described 2025 as its best ever year, recording revenues in the triple-digit millions of dollars, having most recently been valued at $1.5 billion in 2023. It has said it expects further demand for its wallet products during Black Friday during the holiday period. As the value of crypto thefts spiked during the first half of the year, increased demand could be stemming from a more security-conscious consumer base. Since its founding in 2014, Ledger has sold more than 7.5 million hardware wallets.

-Team Gemini