The return of a social media legend has sparked a frenzy in the cryptocurrency world, with memecoins referencing him surging in value.

What Happened: Keith Gill, better known online as “Roaring Kitty,” was a key figure in the 2021 meme stock rally, targeting companies like GameStop GME with his online activity.

After a long hiatus, Gill’s return to social media sent shockwaves through the financial world, with a new cryptocurrency named after Roaring Kitty (ROAR) seeing a staggering 1400% increase according to CoinGecko data.

This particular coin, despite having no affiliation with the company, capitalized on the hype surrounding Gill’s return.

Gill’s return wasn’t just felt in the world of traditional finance.

The meme coin market, known for its volatility and ties to social media trends, responded with a surge in memecoins referencing both Gill and GameStop.

These meme coins, easily created and traded, can experience massive price fluctuations due to their small size and limited availability.

One such memecoin, simply called GME/USD is currently valued at $0.010.

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Why It Matters: The demand for meme coins has been steadily rising since late February, as investors flush with cash from established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether look for new opportunities.

This trend mirrors the events of early 2021, when meme coins like Dogecoin DOGE/USD skyrocketed in value after endorsements from celebrities like Elon Musk.

The enthusiasm over Roaring Kitty was palpable on social media, with Twitter user Mike Schmidt commenting, “Imagine fading a Roaring Kitty coin on the biggest shitter chain during a cat szn with the GME legend back as the main character. Man this is fuckin hilarious.”

Similarly, the official wallstreetbets Twitter account shared, “My life savings is in the hands of a man that calls himself Roaring Kitty and I could not be more comfortable .”

Crypto enthusiasts and traders are keenly observing these developments.

According to Gaut, Roaring Kitty gained nearly 200,000 followers shortly after his post, suggesting a strong market reaction.

This sentiment was echoed by Size Chad, who linked the event to increased trading volumes on Robinhood, noting their partnership with Arbitrum.

Furthermore, Crypto Tea highlighted the broader implications of such movements, tweeting, “Roaring kitty posts a meme and $1 billion gets liquidated. Future of finance.”

These events demonstrate the growing intersection between cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets, driven largely by community engagement and speculation.

What’s Next: As the community gears up for the Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19, these developments will likely be a hot topic.

The event will delve into how digital assets are reshaping finance, influenced by social media and community-driven investment trends. Discussions will also cover the regulatory landscape that is struggling to keep pace with these rapid changes, ensuring a comprehensive dialogue on the future of finance in the era of meme stocks and cryptocurrencies.

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed two laws regulating cryptocurrency mining in Arkansas, following months of outcry from lawmakers and their constituents.

Much of the push for mining regulation comes from a woman named Gladys Anderson. She lives next to a crypto mine in Bono, a neighborhood near Greenbrier. It’s a rural farming community, where residents say they woke up one day to hear a constant shrieking and humming sound coming from the mine.

Anderson lives closest to it, just a few hundred feet away. Her story has since gone national; speaking on CBS News, she called the noise “torture.”

The criticisms of these machines, which generate cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, fall into three buckets; they’re too loud, they’re bad for the environment, and they have foreign ownership ties that make a lot of people uncomfortable.

The Arkansas Legislature’s fiscal session, which formally adjourned last Thursday, was designed by law to focus only on budget matters. But, this year, lawmakers made an exception for this one issue.

One of the bills was championed by Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers, who explained his support for the legislation this way.

“Once they’re up and operating under existing ordinances/laws that they don’t just get arbitrarily or capriciously banned,” he said.

In the 2023 legislative session, Bryant sponsored a bill which later became Act 851. The law almost entirely deregulated the mines, prohibiting local governments from putting restrictions on them. Since then, there has been an influx of crypto mines in Arkansas and, with them, controversy about the noise and operations. Bryant says he doesn’t want to repeal that law.

“Repeal really wasn’t the option. What was the option was to create a state framework like we did with auto racing in the ’90s, with auto and gas compressors in the 2000s, to have some state oversight on this industry in order to control it when counties don’t want to step up and do it themselves,” he said.

Bryant says he just wants to give counties the power to regulate the mines, as well as the state if counties choose not to. He says he’s met with leaders in the crypto industry, and doesn’t think the practice is inherently bad. He wants to crack down on “one or two bad actors.”

“[If] they would have complied or been better neighbors a year ago, this wouldn’t have really be a conversation,” he said. “Because crypto mines have been operating in our state for over a decade.”

The first new law allows the mines to operate if they comply with noise ordinances. They have to be 2,000 feet from a residence and can’t be controlled by a “prohibited foreign party-controlled business.” The second new law subjects mines which break the rules to civil penalties.

One of the few lawmakers to vote against the bills was Rep. Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock. He doesn’t like the part of the bill that bans foreign ownership of the mines. There is some evidence tying crypto mining in general to the Chinese government.

Collins says this could be a slippery slope.

“We need to be very careful when we say that somebody can’t do something, or doesn’t have the right to either own property or exercise the right to make a living based on being in a category,” he said.

Collins asked Bryant, who sponsored one of the bills, about this during a committee meeting.

“Effectively, if you’ve got somebody from, say, Venezuela, and they are trying to move to America and they are trying to become a citizen and they are functioning within the confines of the law, completely innocent, no issue. They are not allowed to make an investment.”

Bryant didn’t share his concerns.

“If you come here and you open a facility here that uses our natural resources, that has potential cyber security threats to our grid and other entities, and you are connected to said grid, where do your loyalties lie and what will they be asking of you?”

Collins said he wanted to see better evidence than what he heard in Byrant’s answer. He also says the laws don’t actually address one of the biggest issues; they don’t turn down the noise.

“[The] only thing that a crypto mine operator has to do is apply noise reduction techniques,” Collins said. “They can be very ineffectual.”

One of the laws lists examples of things such as liquid cooling which could be used to keep the mines quiet. But, it doesn’t force the mine’s owners to turn the sound down. Bryant says he is enforcing an industry standard.

“A lot of my colleagues didn’t want the government to control the noise,” he said. “Some thought if you live in a county and the county does not want to pass any ordinances that require, as a whole, the community to mitigate their noise, why are we telling a business to do something that we are not telling everybody to do?”

Gladys Anderson, who lives next to the Bono crypto mine, said she doesn’t trust what Bryant says about the law. But, she says she is trying to remain positive about it.

Faulkner County passed an ordinance capping noise at 60 decibels, a level both Anderson and Little Rock Public Radio have measured the mines exceeding. She is joining with other residents in her community to sue over the noise. Bryant says, because of the new laws, she now has options.

“They’ve got 90 days to comply. I think it will solve the issue. If not, the state will have jurisdiction once the rules are promulgated, or the community of the surrounding neighbors will have standing in court to make sure they follow one of those noise mitigating procedures.”

An attorney representing owners of the Bono cryptocurrency mine did not respond to Little Rock Public Radio’s request for comment.

Leading cryptocurrencies remained range-bound over the weekend, with bears continuing to provide tough resistance to the market’s drive for sustained gains.

What Happened: Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, meandered in the $61,000 zone, after witnessing a sharp correction from $63,000 last Friday. The apex crypto finished last week with losses of more than 4%. 

The sideways movement was reflected in the speculative interest for the coin, as Open Interest (OI) in Bitcoin futures saw a tepid 0.32% increase in the 24-hour period.

About $56 million in positions was wiped out in the last 24 hours, with nearly equal amounts of longs and shorts liquidated.

Ethereum and king of memecoins, Dogecoin, had a more difficult time, shedding 6% and 12% over the week.

The Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index flashed “Greed” ahead of a new trading week, suggesting that investor sentiment remained unchanged from the last week.

Top Gainers (24 Hour)

The global cryptocurrency market cap stands at $2.27 trillion, expanding marginally by 0.6% over the past 24 hours.

Like the crypto market, stock market futures traded sideways on Sunday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures fell 12 points, or 0.03%, as of 9 p.m. EDT.  Futures tied to the S&P 500 dipped 0.02%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures added 0.03%.

Investors await the key April’s consumer price index data on Wednesday for cues regarding the Federal Reserve’s next moves. In addition, the market will look for insights from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson’s speeches due this week.

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Analyst Notes: Noted cryptocurrency analyst and trader, Ali Martinez flagged the importance of $64,290 as a support level for Bitcoin. 

“If Bitcoin can reclaim $64,290 as support, it is likely to rise towards $76,610,” Martinez forecasted. “However, if it fails to surpass $64,290, BTC might retest support at $51,970.”