The spectre of FTX looms large over crypto - Crypto Investor's Weekly 14.11-20.11

The spectre of FTX looms large over crypto?? ?

Plus: Crypto Summit 2023 – Tickets available now?

By the end of one of the most explosive years ever, the cryptocurrency industry has learned that when a company as big as FTX goes under, the announcement is just the beginning. Earlier this year, the Terra/Luna collapse opened up a $4 billion black hole of contagion. No one is sure how big the impact from FTX will be, but it’s likely that the shockwaves from this event will be felt for some time all over the industry.?

At times like these, it’s hard to see the silver lining. But for every collapse or implosion of a formerly trusted company there’s the opportunity for better regulation, better education and better protection for investors. At SMART VALOR, we’ve always been pushing for stricter regulation in as many jurisdictions as possible and we believe that good governance in this respect will become a competitive advantage.?In case you missed it, here's an in-depth statement from our co-founder Olga Feldmeier on the happenings around FTX.?

It’s clearly a time of huge change for the industry and that calls for action from the best minds in the business. We need leaders, innovators and builders to come together and bring trust back to crypto. That’s why we’re bringing back, Crypto Summit, Europe’s premier conference, in January with a two-day format in Zurich and Davos. Wrapped around the World Economic Forum week, Crypto Summit will host leaders from around the world as they share the most revolutionary ideas about digital assets.??

?Switzerland’s Premier Crypto Conference, CryptoSummit.ch, returns in 2023 in Zurich & Davos?

Wrapped around the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), CryptoSummit.ch welcomes crypto enthusiasts and institutional investors from all over the world to discuss the latest topics in crypto and blockchain. The theme of the event is “Regaining trust in crypto and advancing technology”.?

All info on Crypto Summit 2023??

Chart of the week?

?Source: Macrobond?

Things happen so fast in crypto that it’s sometimes hard to appreciate the true scale of what is going on. Whether it’s the latest funding rounds, exchanges volumes or the size of a company going bust. ?

This graph is an interesting comparison of the collapse of three different companies: FTX, Lehman and Enron. The last two are already by-words for financial mismanagement, it looks like Sam Bankman-Fried's ruined empire FTX could be the next. ?

But that’s not the only similarity between the two. FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, led Enron through its own bankruptcy nearly 20 years ago. Here’s what he had to say once he took over at FTX: ?

“Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information.”?

If that’s not a compelling argument for tighter regulation on exchanges and better protection for crypto investors, we don’t know what is!??

This week’s crypto prices?

?Crypto markets are famously volatile so it’s probably no surprise that the news of FTX’s epic implosion is having an effect on prices. Bulls have been struggling mightily throughout the last quarter to help break Bitcoin out of its sideways range but bears won on 9 November?when support broke. If prices stay in the low $17,000s, we could see a further drop to within the $15,000 range which is good news for investors looking for Bitcoin at bargain prices. Bulls won’t go down without a fight and will try to push prices back up to that all-important $20,000 peg.??

Ether also continued its downward price pattern, with efforts by bulls to push up prices failing in recent days and weeks. Despite this, aggressive dip buying on 10 November helped to bring in support. If the bears’ sell pressure continues, we could see a drop back down to $1000.??

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Tweet of the week??

Source: Twitter??

Since FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just under a week ago, all eyes have been on the man behind it all, Sam Bankman-Fried. Everyone wants to know where he is, what he’s doing and what he thinks about everything that’s happened.??

Anyone looking for a straight answer isn’t going to be happy. Bankman-Fried has since been spotted online playing League of Legends, allegedly in a supermarket in the Bahamas, as well as popping up in interviews where he tries to put across how he feels about FTX’s epic demise. To say he has been coming across badly is an understatement.???

Bankman-Fried's unorthodox approach to crisis management is perhaps best summed up by his cryptic series of tweets that started on November 14th. The founder posted one letter per tweet as analysts struggled to work out the meaning behind his posts that eventually spelled out “what happened”. It wasn’t just journalists and Twitter users trying to comprehend Bankman-Fried's social media tactics though. According to a screenshot posted on Twitter, FTX employees voiced their anger that Bankman-Fried appeared to be trolling.??

Even though he followed up his strange tweet thread with a fairly bland statement, screenshots of his direct messages with journalists about his actions continue to bewilder investors, colleagues and industry analysts. Is this part of some plan? Has he been hacked? Or is Bankman-Fried simply shooting from the hip until the law closes in???

Only time will tell.???

Crypto news??

New York Fed and leading banks start digital dollar pilot?

Leading global banks kicked off a 12-week pilot together with the New York Federal Reserve. The so-called regulated liability network will serve as a ground for participants to experiment with wholesale digital asset transaction and settlements.?

Full article: The Block??

Bitcoin, Ethereum and stocks rebound as inflation shows signs of turning?

Bitcoin and Ethereum jumped Tuesday along with stocks on positive news about inflation. The small recovery comes as U.S. stocks were buoyed by fresh data from the Labor Department's Producer Price Index report on Tuesday showing a decline in the cost of goods excluding food and energy.?

Full article: DeCrypt?

Nifty news: Nike unveils NFT platform, Steve Jobs’ sandals sell for $200K and more??

Footwear and apparel giant Nike has unveiled its latest foray into the nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse space with the launch of .Swoosh marketplace. An NFT of the Birkenstock sandals worn by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has sold for over $200,000.?

Full article: Cointelegraph??

Bahamas court appoints PwC partners liquidators in FTX collapse?

The Supreme Court of the Bahamas approved partners from PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, as provisional liquidators to oversee the assets of crypto exchange FTX.?

Full article: BNN Bloomberg?

Ahead of Fifa 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo launches first NFT collection?

Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has entered the crypto world by launching his first NFT collection with Binance. The collection of the captain of the Portuguese National Football team is to be available from 18 November.?

Full article: The Economic Times?

The industry is still reeling from the impact of FTX’s collapse. All eyes will be on what happens to Bankman-Fried and the legal saga that is already underway will probably have a heavy influence on the direction of cryptocurrency in future. Now is the time for companies that have the right security measures in place to take the lead. ?

We are proud to have advocated for tighter regulation of exchanges from the beginning and continue to work with regulators to create a competitive yet safe environment for all investors.? ?