The Digital Assets Report 98
Summary
Despite market turmoil, we saw a rebound that could be a bull trap but highly driven by strong long term sentiment of current BTC and ETH holders.
- Goldman Sachs sees crypto investment opportunities after FTX fiasco.
- Silvergate is under market scrutiny and stocks are stress tested following FTX and Blockfi collapse.
- Bybit, Kraken, Crypto.com, 30% in average around 1100 employees for Kraken, 1000 for crypto.com.
- Genesis owe $900m to Gemini exchange which are customers funds mainly.
- Bitcoin become a legal tender for payments in Brazil.
- Apple setup a tax on IOS app using peer to peer transfers, coinbase desactived NFT feature on its app after Apple claiming 30% of ethereum gas fees for NFT transfer.
- Crypto companies stop their IPO initiatives. Circle will not move as initially planned via a SPAC deal with Concord Acquisition. Prime Blockchain Corp. and eToro have also terminated their similar venture.
- Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), "kindly" declined the CFTC chair woman invitation who stressed him later to join December 13th. Allison Alameda ex-CEO , a person who can shade lights on this affair, has been spotted in NYC last week-end while reported in HK. Speculation rise around prosecutors might preparing a case against Bankman-Fried.
- Ethereum foundation sold 100'000 ETH during the ATH in 2021.
- Jump trading seems to dump 2'000'000 ETH per 20k ETH block / week based on onchain analysis ( probable TWAP ), markets did react pretty well so far, 170k ETH were locked last month in the beacon chain ( ETH2.0 staking).
- BTC future volumes fall to lowest since 2 years, 3rd highest Bitcoin miner selling of all time after after 2011 and 2015.
- Exchanges proof of reserves show very little BTC, ETH and cash balance, while their global assets valuation is higher, revealing balances are mainly altcoins based (and subject to high volatility).
- Deputy PM Wong says Singapore has no aspirations to become a crypto hub and seeks to be a ‘responsible and innovative digital asset player’.
- ANKR being exploited, attacker minted over 4 billion dollars of wrapped BNB
To watch this week
Business
Goldman Sachs sees crypto investment opportunities after FTX fiasco: Reuters
Financial giant Goldman Sachs reportedly plans to spend “tens of millions of dollars” to buy or invest in crypto firms after FTX’s demise.
Silvergate CEO calls out ‘short sellers’ spreading misinformation
Silvergate’s CEO has called out “short sellers” and “other opportunists” who tried to make a quick profit by spreading misinformation and causing market uncertainty in light of recent events with FTX.
Bybit to Lay Off 30% of Staff Amid Crypto Winter
The exchange is trying to “refocus” amid a “deepening bear market,” its CEO said on Twitter.
Genesis Owes Gemini Earn Users $900M: Report - Decrypt
Gemini has yet to reopen withdrawals for users of its Earn service due to crypto market contagion from FTX.
Apple’s New Coinbase NFT Shakedown Would Literally Tax Ethereum Trades And Transfers On iOS
Coinbase tweeted this morning that Apple blocked the release of its latest crypto wallet app, asking for a cut of gas fees when people transfer NFTs to each other.
Brazil Approves Bill Regulating Use Of Bitcoin As Payment | Bitcoin Magazine - Bitcoin News, Articles and Expert Insights
Brazilian lawmakers have approved a complete regulatory framework for crypto, regulating the use of bitcoin as payment.
It appears that Jump are selling their 2,000,000 ETH bag now
— Arad (@aradtski) December 1, 2022
At the current rate of 20,000 ETH/week (automated; look at the timestamps), it will take them 2 years to get rid of it all pic.twitter.com/es7Bu8SVyk
Binance Pauses Withdrawals Amid $5M Ankr ‘Infinite Mint’ Hack - Decrypt
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that the exchange had paused withdrawals following an exploit on the crypto node project Ankr.
Markets
Technical analysis
Crypto Charts 90
Bitcoin Last time we showed the long term chart and said that ‘A move back above 18140 would now be the first indication a low is in place followed by a daily close above 19400’ If the bearish view is valid then a correction in 3 waves is close to
BlockFi bankruptcy following FTX collapse is spreading to miners who have borrowed against their mining material during bull market. Many miners have been hit by skyrocketing energy prices and the rise of the Bitcoin difficulty, miners above $0.6 TW/H cost might capitulate soon, forced to sell their machines and bitcoin reserves.
Regulations
"It is imperative that you [Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder] attend our hearing on the 13th, and we are willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later” - Maxine Waters
US House committee chair pushes back against SBF’s excuse to potentially delay testimony
House Financial Services Committee chair Maxine Waters said SBF’s numerous media interviews following FTX’s bankruptcy was proof that he had “sufficient” information to testify.
A loophole allowed FTX to secure its Aussie license without full checks: ASIC’s Longo
The loophole in question provides ASIC with no legal grounding to investigate corporations that purchase existing Australian Financial Services Licenses from others.
Singapore wants to be a hub for blockchain in finance, just not speculative crypto trading, MAS says
The city-state has shown its approval for blockchain technology and has embarked on various projects such as Project Ubin and Project Guardian.
Bank of America Says Regulation Is Key for Mainstream Adoption of Crypto
Despite the correction in cryptocurrency markets, the development of blockchain technology has accelerated, a report from the bank said.
Opinions
BlackRock CEO Says ‘Next Generation for Markets’ Is Tokenization - Decrypt
BlackRock joins a growing number of firms backing the tokenization of securities, despite the CEO’s wider crypto cynicism.
"I actually believe most of the companies are not going to be around."[...] the next generation for markets and next generation for securities will be tokenization of securities." - Lary Fink, Blackrock CEO.
FTX’s Collapse Was a Crime, Not an Accident
Sam Bankman-Fried is a con man and fraudster of historic proportions. But you might not learn that from the New York Times, CoinDesk’s Chief Insights Columnist David Z. Morris writes.
It's stolen customer money used in his hedge fund, plain and simple.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) December 3, 2022
Reading / Podcasts
How Reddit Became One of the World’s Biggest NFT Marketplaces in Just Four Months
How Reddit, the community-based social forum, became one of the hottest NFT markets.
How decentralized is DeFi, really?
How decentralized are DeFi protocols with a small group of leaders with admin keys, multi-sig wallets, and wealth-based voting policies?