Your Weekly Crypto Updates #10 ??

?? Bitcoin Price Reaches $21000?

Bitcoin was little changed on Tuesday after rising for 13 straight days — during which it added more than 25% to trade above $21,000 — approaching its longest span of gains since November 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It’s still a far cry from the $68,990 record high bitcoin notched in Nov. 2021. But it has given market players cause for some optimism.

Larger purchasers of digital coins known as “whales” may be leading the latest rally in bitcoin, according to Kaiko.

The crypto data firm said in a series of tweets Monday that trade sizes had climbed from an average of $700 on Jan. 8 to $1,100 today on the crypto exchange Binance, indicating renewed confidence in the market by whales.

Sceptics of digital currencies say this makes the market prone to manipulation by a select few investors with large piles of tokens. The wealthiest 97 bitcoin wallet addresses account for 14.15% of the total supply, according to fintech firm River Financial.

?? Gemini and Genesis Sued Over Lending Program

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Genesis Trading and Gemini for a lending program that left participants unable to withdraw their assets. SEC chair, Gary Gensler, explained the decision by saying, ‘Doing so best protects investors. It promotes trust in markets. It’s not optional. It’s the law.’

According to the SEC, Genesis loaned Gemini users’ crypto and sent a portion of the profits back to Gemini, which then deducted an agent fee, sometimes over 4%, and returned the remaining profit to its users.

Genesis should have registered that product as a securities offering, SEC officials said in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

Genesis’ institutional borrowers included Three Arrows Capital and Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research, both now bankrupt.

?? India's Central Bank Governor Calls For An Outright Ban on Cryptocurrency

On 13 Jan 2023, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, expressed his opinion on the increasing demand for cryptocurrencies in the country and its drawbacks at the Business Today Banking and Economy Summit.

While talking about the position of crypto in the Indian economy, Das said, " crypto should be banned, given its no underlying value in the market. Just like every asset, every financial product comes with some underlying value.

Hence the value of crypto is totally based on the make-believe factor." At the event, Das continued to say, "Crypto is a form of gambling without any underlying value and is nothing but a 100 percent speculation world."

According to recent reports, it's been revealed that the RBI has an antagonistic sentiment toward crypto and considers it an entity that can cause “financial instability”. Das stressed the central bank's view of banning Bitcoin and Ethereum in the wake of their growing demand.

?? Binance Registers in Sweden

The world’s largest exchange, Binance, has been registered as a financial institution in Sweden. The registration allows Binance to launch a Swedish website and market itself directly to Swedish consumers.

Binance said in a statement shared on Thursday by its CEO on Twitter that with the latest registration, Swedish residents can legally access services, including crypto trading and withdrawing and depositing euros on the exchange.

Richard Teng, Binance’s Head of Europe and MENA, said, ‘Binance continues to demonstrate its commitment to work closely with regulatory agencies to uphold global standards.’

?? Bitcoin?Surpasses?Mastercard?and?Meta?Market Value

In a historic moment,?Bitcoin?has surpassed the valuation of both Meta (Facebook) and Mastercard, becoming one of the most valuable digital assets in the world.

This is a significant milestone for the Bitcoin community, as it demonstrates that crypto is becoming an increasingly accepted form of payment and investment while highlighting its potential to grow even further.

?? Miss World El Salvador Contestant Dresses in Bitcoin

El Salvador’s Miss Universe contestant surprised viewers by featuring Bitcoin as part of her national costume.

The costume displayed various symbols representative of the Central American nation while featuring a cryptocurrency, which became legal tender in September 2021.

The pageant’s commentator responded by saying, “You don’t need a sash to walk around dressed as cash.”

?? Global Cryptocurrency Market Cap Reclaims $1 Trillion

The global?cryptocurrency market?is currently experiencing buying pressure after weeks of sustained selling. The market’s momentum has been triggered by gains in assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), which is targeting new highs after?days of consistent resurgence.?

In particular, by press time on January 12 2023, the global crypto market controlled a capitalization of $910.56 billion. The value represents an inflow of about $22.27 billion within 24 hours, according to data by?CoinGecko.

Nonetheless, before reaching for the champagne, spare a thought for the previous crypto market cap's all-time high. It tipped the?$3 trillion mark in quarter four of 2021, meaning $2 trillion has been lost.?

The crypto market cap reached the same value as?Apple’s stock in April 2021?before surpassing $3 trillion. However,?Apple is currently valued at $2.4 trillion, while crypto sits at $1 trillion. Consequently, there are some ways to go for crypto to match one of the world’s biggest, and certainly among the most well-known, companies.

?? Crypto Firm?Genesis?Plans to File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?

Amidst an ongoing battle with the SEC, Bloomberg has reported that cryptocurrency firm Genesis is reportedly planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.?

The firm has been embroiled in conflict with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was charged by the regulation firm last week for the selling of unregistered securities.

The Genesis and Gemini battle has been a dominant headline thus far in 2023 and crescendoed with last week’s charges.?

Now, it appears as though Genesis is forced to seek Chapter 11 protection following the events of the past month.

This is another bad news to the crypto space, especially for those who have funds in Genesis.?

?? Crypto Layoffs Continue

Layoffs in the crypto industry continue as Crypto.com has announced a 20% cut in its workforce. CEO Kris Marszalek told employees that the exchange’s ambitious growth was unable to withstand the fallout of the FTX collapse.

Meanwhile, Coinbase also continues to let people go, this time dismissing 950 of its employees in an effort to optimize operational expenses.

?? Hong Kong Reaffirms Commitment to Crypto

Hong Kong’s Finance Secretary reaffirmed the state’s commitment to crypto at a Web3 summit in Cyberport. Paul Chan highlighted Hong Kong’s rigorous standards, stating that as certain crypto exchanges collapsed one after another, Hong Kong became a quality standing point for digital asset corporates.

He added that Hong Kong has a robust regulatory framework for crypto that matches international standards.

?? Crypto Lender Nexo Raided in Bulgaria

Crypto lender Nexo’s offices were raided by Bulgarian police. Authorities are investigating the London-based firm on suspicion of money laundering, tax crimes, and unlicensed banking activities.

In operation involving over 300 police officers, prosecutors and national agents, the Bulgarian investigation comes after regulators in eight US states issued cease-and-desist orders against Nexo, alleging that the company was offering interest-earning accounts without registering the investment products as securities.

?? National Australia Bank launches Stablecoin fully backed by Australian dollars

The National Australia Bank (NAB), one of the four biggest Australian banks, has created a stablecoin called AUDN, which it aims to launch in the middle of 2023, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) report.

The purpose of AUDN would be to allow its customers to settle transactions on blockchain technology in real-time using Australian dollars, NAB said.?

AUDN could also be used for several other purposes, including "carbon credit trading, overseas money transfers and repurchase agreements," NAB’s Chief Innovation officer Howard Silby told AFR.

The stablecoin will launch on the Ethereum and Algorand blockchain, a smart contract platform similar to Ethereum.

Sam Bankman-Fried - The Disastrous Collapse of FTX ??

?? Well, Well, Well...

There is no understating of just how massive the FTX scandal is. The implosion of one of the largest crypto exchange platforms on the planet was the final note of one of the industry’s most difficult years. Yet, it appears as though the controversy gets grander with every passing day.

As FTX is in the midst of its chapter 11 bankruptcy hearings, attorney for the platform Andrew Dietderich has reported game-changing news. Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly ordered the creation of a $65 billion “secret backdoor line of credit” for hedge fund Alameda Research. Moreover,?The New York Post?has reported that Gary Wang engineered the secret funding channel for his co-founder.

“Mr Wang created this backdoor by inserting a single number in millions of lines of code for the exchange, creating. aline of credit from FTX to Alameda, to which customers did not consent,” Dietderich stated. Adding, “And we know the size of that line of credit. It was $65 billion.”

Furthermore, Dietderich noted that the “backdoor was a secret way for Alameda to borrow from customers on the exchange without permission.” The development certainly corroborates the original accusations against Bankman-Fried and doesn’t do well for his published blog post this week. Whereas he proclaimed his innocence and sighted wrongdoing within eh accounting of FTX.

?? Wait, there are more?

Following the court filing that shows FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) wants access to FTX’s $460 million in Robinhood shares, Delaware bankruptcy court documents show tens of millions were spent by the FTX team in 2022 on living accommodations, hotels, food, and flights. '

Moreover, SBF’s quantitative trading firm allegedly owes more than $55,000 to Jimmy Buffett’s beach resort, Margaritaville, after Alameda and FTX executives occupied 20 suites for a few months last year.

?? Spilling the ?

Former FTX US president Brett Harrison accused FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) of “gaslighting and manipulation” in a Twitter?thread?on Jan. 14. Harrison left FTX.US in September 2022, two months before SBF’s crypto empire collapsed.

Sharing his experience during the 17 months running FTX US, Harrison said that SBF resorted to cutting him off from critical decisions about the US division of FTX when things soured between the two.

SBF asked his former colleague Harrison to join FTX US “casually over text” in late March 2021. Harrison joined the firm in May and worked “largely independently” of SBF for the first few months.

But things changed as Harrison noticed that SBF made impactful decisions about FTX US “without warning” despite being “rarely engaged” in the FTX.US business. As a result, by October 2021, “pronounced cracks” developed between Harrison and SBF, the former wrote.

?? FTX Recovers Over $5B in Assets

A bankruptcy attorney revealed that FTX has managed to locate over $5 billion worth of assets, including cash, crypto, and other liquid assets. The announcement substantially raises the total that FTX claims it holds after claiming it held just over $1 billion in December. The total amount FTX owes its creditors, however, is still unclear, as it could be anywhere between $1-$10Bn.

That's all for this week's?Your Weekly Crypto Updates???

As always, please Do Your Own Research (DYOR), and follow me for more crypto news and updates. I will see you again next week!

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Crypto 101 with Tian Beng ??

?? What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows for peer-to-peer transactions without the need for a central authority or intermediary. Transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, which is maintained by a network of users called miners.

Bitcoins can be bought and sold on various online exchanges and can also be used to purchase goods and services. The total supply of bitcoins is limited to 21 million, which is expected to be reached around the year 2140.

?? Why is Bitcoin Valuable?

Bitcoin is valuable for a few reasons:

1. It is decentralized, meaning that it is not controlled by any government or institution. This makes it appealing to people who are sceptical of traditional financial systems and want to have more control over their own money.
2. The total supply of bitcoins is limited to 21 million, which is expected to be reached around the year 2140. This scarcity, combined with increasing demand, can lead to an increase in the price of bitcoin.
3. Bitcoin's blockchain technology is seen as a valuable innovation that can be applied to other industries, which also contributes to its value.

?? Why Do More People Care About Bitcoin?

More and more people are interested in Bitcoin for a few reasons.

1. It has been growing in popularity and mainstream acceptance as a form of digital currency. As more businesses and merchants begin to accept it as a form of payment, more people are becoming aware of it and want to learn more about it.
2. The price of Bitcoin has been known to be very volatile, and as it continues to increase in value, more people want to invest in it as a way to potentially make money.
3. Bitcoin offers a level of security and anonymity that traditional bank transactions don't.
4. People are also attracted to the idea of a decentralized currency that is not controlled by any government or institution. This gives them a sense of control over their own money (Be Your Own Bank).

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