Block reaches an in-principle agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding an anti-money laundering investigation, with an expected net payment of $764 million.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim Yo-jong, a department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, released a statement once again denying North Korea’s involvement in the Binance crypto asset theft case. She said dialogue with the U.S. remains one option for achieving peace, but is not a necessary condition for upholding North Korea’s national interests. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Oct. 31 attributed the $6.3 billion Binance crypto asset heist to North Korea, labeling the related cyber activity as “TraderTraitor”. Kim Yo-jong had previously rejected that attribution, calling it a “serious political provocation”; in her latest statement, she described the accusation as just the “tip of the iceberg” of Washington’s hostile policy toward Pyongyang. She also noted that the U.S. abandoning its hostile policy toward North Korea is a prerequisite for resolving the issue, otherwise the DPRK has no reason to negotiate with the U.S. She warned Pyongyang will respond, but did not specify concrete measures.

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, forecasts Bitcoin is still on track to hit $90,000 by year-end, but may first pull back to the mid-to-high end of the $70,000 range before that. He anticipates the Federal Reserve will implement one more rate hike in December before becoming more cautious about further increases, a move that could support Bitcoin’s rebound ahead of year-end. Thielen notes that the participation of Wall Street traders and profit-taking by large holders are reshaping Bitcoin’s price trend. Institutional traders selling call options after price rallies have made it harder to replicate the double-digit consecutive gains seen in earlier years. He forecasts Bitcoin is more likely to rally sharply following the release of key economic data or Fed policy decisions, then enter a consolidation phase while waiting for the next macro catalyst. On the ETF demand front, Thielen estimates based on 13F filings that market makers account for up to half of the roughly $60 billion in net inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs he analyzed. These institutions hold ETF shares to hedge options trades, not necessarily to bet on Bitcoin’s upside. Still, he believes institutional investors and some sovereign wealth funds could enter the space in the future. Thielen also forecasts Bitcoin will outperform Ethereum. He argues that a large portion of value generated by Ethereum network activity flows to Layer 2s, and lower transaction fees may also reduce ETH burn volumes. Citing Hyperliquid’s model of using trading fees to buy back and burn HYPE as an example, he says Ethereum needs to create a more direct link between network usage and economic returns for ETH holders.

Dongcha Beating AI News Flash: AI voice company ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski said he aims to be IPO-ready by 2028, though a final listing date has not been set. In September this year, ElevenLabs raised its valuation to $22 billion via a secondary share sale to employees, doubling from the $11 billion valuation at its February funding round. The $300 million deal proceeds are primarily for employee liquidity. ElevenLabs first gained fame for AI dubbing and voice cloning, and is now pivoting to enterprise voice agents that help businesses automate customer service, appointments, insurance renewals and other operations. Enterprise clients currently contribute 55% of the company’s revenue, and its voice agents handle over 15 million conversations weekly, three times the volume recorded in February this year. In September, ElevenLabs also disclosed an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of around $600 million, translating to a valuation of approximately 37 times ARR. The same month, the firm hired former Adyen CFO Ethan Tandowsky, who was involved in the payments provider’s IPO, to oversee its finance operations.

James Wynn(@JamesWynnReal) is back after getting liquidated 5 days ago! He's opened a 40x short on 1.256 $BTC ($96K). Liquidation price: $78,227.92.

According to CNN, several Republican figures participating in U.S. House of Representatives elections have voiced concern over the released preliminary results, fearing the Democratic Party could claim a major landslide victory tonight. As key Senate and gubernatorial election results remain undecided, a Georgia Republican official stated that multiple GOP campaign teams worry voter turnout in the state will be insufficient to defeat Democrats. In Texas, multiple Republican officials warned that if GOP voter turnout is low today, it could prove a very challenging night for the party that has dominated Texas politics for more than 30 years.

Latest data from prediction market platform Predict.fun shows the probability that the Democratic Party wins both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections has risen to 92%. The second most likely outcome, at 9%, is the Republican Party retaining control of the Senate while the Democrats take the House. The probability of Republicans holding both chambers stands at 1%, as does the scenario where Democrats take the Senate and Republicans keep the House. As of 7 p.m. ET on November 3, U.S. midterm election voting was ongoing, while polling stations in Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Indiana have all closed, ending voting in those states. Additionally, voting in some U.S. House districts in Florida has concluded, with polls in the rest of the state set to close at 8 p.m. ET the same day. As polling stations across states close one after another, vote counting in relevant districts will begin gradually.