Global investors start Monday (9) with a greater appetite for risky assets, such as cryptocurrencies and stocks, despite the fact that the trading session on the Brazilian stock exchange should be volatile after the terrorist acts in Brasilia.
Finally, Bitcoin (BTC) is out of the doldrums, gaining 1.6% in the last 24 hours, at $17,209.64.
In fact, Bitcoin (BTC) advanced 1.75% to 91,219.59 Brazilian reals, according to the Bitcoin Gateway Index (IPB).
Ethereum (ETH) rose more strongly with a 3.8% gain to trade at $1,310.61, according to data from Coingecko. The developers of the second largest cryptocurrency hope to launch a public testnet by the end of February before the next update of the blockchain.
Among altcoins, Solana has gained 19% in 24 hours and is up nearly 65% in seven days. According to Decrypt Analysis, after the huge losses of the cryptocurrency with the collapse of FTX, the launch of the BONK token, the new fever in the Solana ecosystem, may have contributed to the gains.
But unexpected bugs continue to cause problems for the Solana ecosystem in 2023. The Solana Foundation’s blockchain explorer and nodes stopped working on Saturday (7) after problems with a software update.
Cardano (ADA) was also highlighted, with a gain of nearly 17%, although analysts are not pointing to a specific reason. In seven days, the coin has advanced by 31%.
Other altcoins are following suit and operating in positive territory, including BNB (+6.2%), XRP (+2.8%), Dogecoin (+4.7%), Polygon (+6.7%), Polkadot (+5.6%), Shiba Inu (+4.3%) and Avalanche (+4.8%).
Bitcoin today
Cryptocurrency tracks the performance of the stock market in the wake of the US employment report released on Friday. Although job openings were higher than expected, wages rose less than expected in December. A Wall Street giant is already feeling the brunt of the market downturn: Goldman Sachs could cut 3,200 jobs this week, one person told Bloomberg.
Another report showed a decline in the services sector in the country. Economists say such data could pave the way for an easing of monetary tightening in the US.
In this context, Bitcoin reached a three-week high on Sunday (8), according to CoinDesk, although analysts warn that the price charts of the largest cryptocurrency remain bearish.
In the midst of a cryptocurrency winter marked by bankruptcies of important companies, an improving scenario could lure investors back into the crypto market. For now, low trading volumes indicate an absence of institutional investors, said Matt Malley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. , for Bloomberg.
Investigations into Binance and Digital Currency Group
The skepticism of the giants in the sector explains part of this absence of institutional investors.
A Washington Post report revealed that US federal authorities are summoning hedge funds as part of an investigation into possible violations of anti-money laundering rules involving the operations of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
In subpoenas issued over the past several months, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle instructed investment firms to turn over records of their communications with Binance, according to two people.
In an interview with the newspaper, Patrick Hillman, Binance’s chief strategy officer, said the company talks with “almost every regulator in the world on a daily basis,” but declined to comment on the status of any US investigation.
Another group in the authorities’ sights is the Digital Currency Group (DCG), which owns crypto credit platform Genesis, Grayscale Investments, and news portal CoinDesk.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are looking into transfers between DCG and the cryptocurrency lending platform, sources tell Bloomberg. They are also investigating how investors are informed of these transactions.
FTX Crisis
Investigations into the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX continue. The SEC is seeking details about due diligence procedures for investors in the exchange, according to Reuters, which cited sources familiar with the investigation.
So far, the SEC has filed charges against three FTX executives, including founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who are accused of defrauding investors. The SBF, which is awaiting trial under house arrest, has requested that the ban on $450 million worth of shares in trading platform Robinhood be overturned, saying it needs money to defend it.
Perhaps more details will emerge about the collapse of the Bankman Fried empire. Brett Harrison, the former head of FTX US, the US arm of the group, said in a tweet that he would soon reveal details about what he knows about the company.
In an effort to mitigate client losses, a US “custodian” has opposed the sale of FTX Group’s assets proposed by the new management, according to Reuters, while a US website for clients who lost money with the brokerage is already online.
After several disputes, FTX’s new leadership appears to have made peace with those in charge of the investigation in the Bahamas, the company’s headquarters, to cooperate on behalf of the creditors.
Other advantages of cryptocurrency
The digital real should only be valid for large wholesale banking transactionsFabio Araujo, who is in charge of the real digital project of the central bank, said in an interview with Valor. The Brazilian model, however, does not mean that the average citizen will be excluded from the novelties that arrive with so-called programmable money, as the report highlights.
This October, Argentines will go to the polls to elect their next The President Among the candidates for the presidency is the Argentine economist and his vice president, Javier Mele, 52, who is running for the “Liberdad Avansa” party.
Seen as an alt-right profilerMilei punctuated its tracks by criticizing the country’s central bank and calling for financial freedom through the adoption of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
Mt.Gox adminAnd The exchange that suffered the largest Bitcoin hack in history, I reported on the changes in the deadline for each of the creditors to register their bank accounts and portfolios and receive the money owed. Both dates have been pushed back by two months. In total, the projections are that around 137,000 bitcoins, which have been blocked for eight years, will be returned to creditors.