Trump Denies Knowing CZ Amidst Pardon Speculation
On November 3, during an interview with CBS News, President Trump was asked why he pardoned CZ, the founder of Binance. Trump responded, "I don’t know who he is."
However, the pardon may involve complex political and business dynamics. Despite Trump’s public denial of any connection with CZ or “pay-to-play” schemes, multiple sources suggest Binance executives had previously engaged in discussions with the U.S. Treasury about regulatory easing and had business interactions with Trump family enterprises. This implies that the pardon might not be an isolated incident but rather part of a long-standing interplay between crypto industry interests and political influence.
Sky Protocol Enhances Token Value Support with Increased Buyback Limit
On January 3, Sky Protocol (formerly MakerDAO) passed its latest executive vote, introducing two major updates:
- •Staking rewards will shift from the SKY → USDS model to a SKY → SKY model, requiring stakers to manually migrate.
- •The daily buyback limit for SKY has been raised to 300,000 USDS.
The expanded buyback, combined with the injection of 500 million SKY into the treasury for future rewards, signals an effort to reinforce the protocol’s internal value loop. By purchasing tokens directly from the market, Sky creates deflationary pressure, while the replenished treasury ensures long-term sustainability for incentive payouts. This mechanism mirrors traditional corporate practices of stock buybacks and equity-based incentives — designed to manage market capitalization and enhance per-token value.
DEX Spot Trading Volume Reaches Record Highs
According to DefiLlama data, total DEX trading volume surged to a record $613.3 billion in October, up from nearly $500 billion in September. Uniswap led with $170.9 billion, followed by PancakeSwap with $101.9 billion, both showing substantial month-on-month growth.
While Uniswap and PancakeSwap continue to dominate the DEX landscape, subtle structural shifts are emerging. For instance, PancakeSwap briefly surpassed Uniswap in May 2025, driven by short-term incentives such as BNB Chain ecosystem airdrops and trading competitions. Meanwhile, Solana-based Raydium has occasionally entered the top three, reflecting an ongoing evolution toward a multi-chain liquidity environment.