In the cumulative week, the main cryptocurrency has already gained more than 20%; FTX US unit chief brings charges against Sam Bankman-Fried
The cryptocurrency market is on the brakes on Monday (16) after rallying over the weekend amid bets on increasing liquidity, while global stock indices run aimlessly on a US day off.
After breaking the $21,000 mark at dawn, bitcoin (BTC) has been stable for the past 24 hours, around the $20,762 level. In fact, BTC is still up 1.1%, quoted at R$107,364, according to Bitcoin Gateway Index (IPB).
Ethereum (ETH) is gaining 1.3% to trade at $1,540, according to data from Coingecko.
The largest cryptocurrencies operate with volatility, including BNB (+0.6%), XRP (+0.6%), Cardano (+2.1%), Dogecoin (+0.7%), Polygon (+3, 1%), Solana (+ 3.3%), Polkadot (-0.3%), Shiba Inu (+5%), and Avalanche (+2.3%).
Bitcoin today
Despite the volatility on Monday, Bitcoin’s cumulative rise in the week exceeded 21%, while Ethereum gained nearly 20% in the period, according to CoinGecko.
Bloomberg data shows that the largest cryptocurrency is already up 28% this month, its best performance since a 31% surge in January 2020 before the pandemic. Meanwhile, bitcoin mining difficulty jumped 10%, the largest increase since October.
With the recent boom, the total market capitalization of digital assets once again exceeded $1 trillion for the first time since last November, when the FTX empire imploded.
The rise of so-called risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies and stocks, is driven by the prospect of ending monetary tightening in the United States, which could inject more liquidity into the global market and boost investments.
Some analysts warn that buying pressure, or “short squeezes,” may be behind the current move and that there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding crypto assets, but fear of exclusion, so-called “FOMO,” Noel Acheson said in her newsletter. Crypto Is Macro Now,” quoted in a Bloomberg analysis, “fear of survival de fora” should play a role in how markets develop from now on.
In an email to CoinDesk, Mark Connors, head of research at 3iQ, a Canadian digital asset manager, is betting on continued gains: “We see the current rally in digital assets as a market reversal rather than a ‘bearish’ rally,” he said, referring to a down cycle.
World Economic Forum
However, other experts urge caution, as the US central bank has already warned that interest rates will remain high for some time and economists do not rule out a recession in the world’s largest economy, however mild.
Such doubts should dominate discussions at the World Economic Forum, which begins today in Davos, Switzerland, and will be held again in the European winter for the first time in three years.
With topics such as the energy crisis and inflation in mind, global billionaires will gather for a conference marked by the absence of Russian oligarchs amid the war in Ukraine. The Chinese are still concerned about reining in Covid and FTX, who were among the forum’s partners. .
Investigations at FTX
And speaking of FTX, the US Department of Justice warned In a document stating that the hiring of the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell (S&C) by the new exchange management could present a conflict of interest. Ryne Miller, FTX’s chief legal officer, previously worked at S&C in New York for eight years. The filings and the law firm may find itself in the “conflicting position” of investigating itself and its former employee.
Media groups such as Bloomberg, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal and CoinDesk teamed up to obtain the right to know who signed the $250 million Sam Bankman-Fried bond, in addition to the parents of the FTX founder. In an application sent to the court responsible for the lawsuit against the SBF, the groups argued that the matter was in the public interest.
Brett Harrison, former president of FTX US, the US arm of the grouptook to Twitter to reveal the details of what it was like working with Bankman-Fried, saying that the relationship had reached a point of “complete decline,” which led him to quit what he called his “dream job.”
Harrison claims that SBF had an emotionally volatile behaviour, avoiding conflict and rejecting criticism, which left him out of important decisions. In addition, Harrison would have requested the separation and independence of FTX US’s executive, legal and development teams, but Bankman-Fried did not agree, according to the filing. 1200 words.
Harrison left FTX US to start an encryption software company He is said to be seeking $100 million in financing, according to Bloomberg. Anthony Scaramucci said he’s investing in the project with his own money, according to an email sent to the news agency. Prior to FTX’s bankruptcy, FTX Ventures, the venture capital unit of the group, announced the purchase of a 30% stake in Skybridge Capital, from Scaramucci, which intends to buy back the tranche.
Other advantages of cryptocurrency
Justin Sun, Founder of Tron Blockchain, Ready to Spend $1 Billion With his own money in buying assets from Digital Currency Group (DCG), which controls crypto credit platform Genesis, the executive told Reuters. Genesis froze customer withdrawals in November and is seeking to avoid filing for bankruptcy. The company owes more than $3 billion to creditors, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Crypto broker Gemini was one of those affected by the suspension of withdrawals, which for that reason also had to block refunds in its passive income earning program, which is maintained in partnership with Genesis. The Block reports that Gemini and its founders, twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, are now the target of a new lawsuit seeking class action status.
The lawsuit was filed by Joshua Berdugo, who invested $13,000 in the Earn program and accused the twins of committing customer fraud. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) filed a civil lawsuit against Gemini and Genesis last week.
Bradesco has completed its first test token operation of financial origin. The transaction – which converted a financial asset into a digital token -, jointly executed with Bolsa OTC Brasil, consisted of the issuance of a Bank Note (CCB) in the amount of R$10 million. It was also the first financial market token transaction regulated by a central bank, according to a statement from the bank. Bradesco acted as the originator and distributor of the notes.
Traditional banks are increasingly plunging into the digital world. Société Générale has borrowed $7 million worth of MakerDAO stablecoins. The French bank used a mortgage as collateral to advance the loan within a DAI stable credit vault, according to The Block.
BNY Mellon CEO Robin Vince remains resolute in his betting on crypto assetsCaution though. During a balance sheet conference call, the CEO mentioned that digital assets are a “long-term” strategy and that ignoring this space would be like favoring paper over computers.
Non-fungible token (NFT) set Azuki launched the virtual city of Helumiya, which includes a game store, arcade, gym, and even a romance quiz called “Love Island”. The virtual city was launched last week to celebrate Azuki’s one-year anniversary, and the project’s sales volume increased by 86% on the day of the announcement, according to NFT data tracker CryptoSlam. “Hilumia is an interactive virtual city that has been shaped by the community and will expand over time,” the company told The Block.
US federal judge ruling That’s Willie Arono and Greg Solano, the founders of Yuga Labs — the $4 billion company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT kit — are set to testify in the company’s trademark infringement lawsuit against artist Ryder Ripps. The decision marks the latest escalation in a long saga involving one of the major players in the cryptocurrency space. In early 2022, Ripps said NFTs belonging to the Boring Monkey Yacht Club contained disguised — yet deliberate — images containing racist and Nazi messages.