Global CRYPTO News

2023-04-23 15:56:29 ​​Bitcoin price crawls 2.5% off lows as weekly chart risks 'bearish engulfing'

A "horrendous bearish engulfing" risks defining the weekly close, but all may not be lost, Bitcoin price analysts insist.

$26,600 becomes popular BTC price target

Up around 2.5% from the lows set the day prior, the pair remained on traders’ radar as a potential short opportunity into the weekly close.

“$26,600 is my target in my short position right now, and being the weekend it may take a bit longer to get there,” Crypto Tony confirmed to Twitter followers on the day.

“It is the most logical target and we also have bids popped up down there too now, so i am expecting a reaction once tested.”

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto T/Twitter
That target would mark a new bottom for Bitcoin, which lost 10% over the week to turn April performance negative overall.

Analyst Mark Cullen eyed the potential for BTC/USD to approach the April 21 CME futures closing price of $27,310 before the weekly close.

“Lots of bids sitting at 26.5k, but not sure they get tapped just yet,” he added in accompanying commentary, offering a similar logical target to Crypto Tony.


BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Mark Cullen/Twitter
A further Twitter post noted increased spot market selling on largest exchange Binance, this potentially adding downside pressure in an otherwise less liquid weekend trading environment. Open / Comment

2023-04-14 21:56:18 ​​FTX Trading Considers Restarting Failed Crypto Exchange With Creditor Money

Bloomberg reported FTX is considering using money marked to repay customers to restart the exchange. According to Sullivan & Cromwell lawyer, Andrew G. Dietderich, the project would require a significant amount of cash. However, the company is still in the early stages of deciding whether to bring back the exchange, which allowed customers to trade digital assets before FTX collapsed. They could also try to raise money to fund a restart or drop the entire concept.

Dietderich also mentioned in court that the original FTX trading app was a “facade” that was more like a video game than a professional, properly functioning exchange. Funds needed to restart the exchange could come from third parties willing to invest in the project, or FTX could use some of the $7.3 billion worth of cash, crypto, and other assets it has so far collected. However, that money is being held until FTX wins final court approval for a creditor payout plan, which is unlikely until next year, as Dietderich mentioned. FTX Trading Ltd. is talking with the official committee of unsecured creditors about restarting the exchange, and the company was in court seeking more time to prepare a creditor payout plan. Open / Comment

2023-03-30 17:56:45 ​​Bitcoin spikes above $29K as ‘fakeout’ fuels BTC price strength doubts

BTC price action snatches at $30,000, but Bitcoin market participants dismiss it as a “deviation” at range highs.

Bitcoin set new nine-month highs overnight on March 30 as traders continued to stay cautious.

“Deviation” takes BTC’s price closer to $30,000
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD spiking to $29,170 on Bitstamp.
A rejection entered almost immediately, sending the pair back to its starting point and causing already suspicious market participants to call a “fakeout.”

“Nothing has changed- yea we got a nice little pop above the highs but this was expected,” popular trader Credible Crypto wrote in part of a Twitter reaction, calling the move a “deviation.”

Fellow trader Crypto Chase likewise applied the “deviation” tag, calling for $29,000 to hold in order to consider long positions.

A slightly more optimistic Crypto Tony nonetheless hoped that the short-term range high could still be flipped to new support.

“Bear markets naturally have a lot more FUD and Bitcoin has certainly taken a big load of it over the last year or so. But still we are holding nicely and going for $30,000. I am excited for the bull run to come, whether it’s tomorrow or next year,” he added. Open / Comment

2023-03-27 20:09:32 ​​ARB Token Airdrop Ranks Arbitrum 37th In The Top Cryptocurrencies

Arbitrum’s native governance token, ARB, has recently made waves in the crypto world. After the token airdrop, ARB has become 37th among the top cryptocurrencies, with a market valuation of $1.50 billion. The current circulating supply of ARB sits at a staggering 1,275,000,000, with the Arbitrum Foundation’s DAO Treasury holding roughly 3.52 million ARB.

It’s worth noting that the top ten addresses hold 94% of the ARB in circulation, while there are 247,700 unique ARB holders, which may raise concerns among some investors. However, it’s not uncommon for small individuals or organizations to hold a significant portion of a cryptocurrency’s supply. In fact, many cryptocurrencies have a similar distribution pattern, with the top holders controlling a large percentage of the supply. Exchanges like Bybit, Kucoin, Mexc Global, and Bitget have been identified as holding significant amounts of ARB. This may indicate that these exchanges are bullish on the token. Open / Comment

2023-03-27 20:06:47 ​​Lido Gets 6 Institutions, Including Paradigm Trust With Diamond Hands

Lido, with the recent disadvantage created by the US authorities, has caused the price of LDO to plummet despite the strong movements of the crypto market. However, in general, there are still big investors who believe in it. In a tweet posted by on-chain analyst BitcoinEmber on Twitter, we can clearly see the metrics he collects. It’s surprising that leading Lido institutions like Paradigm and DGC are still diamond hands.

Institutions that have never sold LDOs include Paradigm, Certus One, The LAO, Digital Currency Group, Dragonfly Capital, and DeFiance Capital. In addition, the institutions that have cleared LDOs from their investment portfolio are Terraform Labs, Aave founder Stani Kulechov, and ParaFi Capital. But, reports are spreading that the SEC has given a Wells notice to Lido decentralized bet and all DeFi and DEX initiatives, according to the person who has a voice on cryptocurrencies David Hoffman. Because of the public’s anxiety about this news, the LDO price decreased by more than 10% at the time. Open / Comment

2023-03-21 23:10:25 ​​Bitcoin options reach highest point since 2021 amid banking crisis

Bitcoin option volumes reached their highest point since October 2021 when the price of bitcoin reach a high of over $60,000 amid a crisis in banking. The market is "pricing in looser monetary conditions," said Anand Gomes, co-founder at Paradigm, an institutional liquidity provider, because "the Fed can't hike rates anymore."

The volume of bitcoin options trading was $7.94 billion this week, according to data from The Block, as traditional financial markets are seeing significant volatility. According to Laura Vidiella, vice president at LedgerPrime, the reason has more to do with volatility. "High volatility and high trading volume are generally very correlated especially for liquid assets," she said, which is why Paradigm had record volumes this week, doing over $1 billion in a single day. Another reason for the rally, Vidiella said, is that investors are buying bitcoin as a way to get their funds out of banks with a high risk of failure. Open / Comment

2023-03-19 20:39:26 ​​Binance Completes New STG Token Swap With Original STG Token

According to the official announcement of Binance, the exchange has now completed the new STG generation of the Stargate Finance (STG) blockchain and AVAX Chain, Arbitrum One, BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), Ethereum (ERC20), Fantom, and Polygon about the original STG token. In addition, Binance will reuse STG as the trading code of the original STG token.

In addition, the STGOLD deposit is now open, and withdrawal of STGOLD tokens will no longer be supported. Crypto exchanges’ decision to remove support for new STG tokens follows a decision by the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Stargate on Tuesday to stifle plans to mint new tokens, according to a recent community suggestion. Reportedly, Stargate Finance’s original STG token is back in support after StargateDAO canceled its plans to reissue STG following a dispute with FTX liquidators. StargateDAO initially voted to re-issue all STG tokens by March 15 after discovering security risks due to “illegal transfers of STG from compromised Alameda wallets”. Open / Comment

2023-03-18 21:17:22 ​​Bitcoin market cap grows 60% in 2023 as top Wall Street banks lose $100B

Bitcoin has decoupled from stocks and continues to rise 10 years after the Cyprus banking crisis coincided with a BTC price boom.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin has added $194 billion in 2023. Its 66% year-to-date (YTD) growth vastly outperforms top Wall Street bank stocks, particularly as fears of a global banking crisis are rising.

Moreover, Bitcoin has decoupled from United States stocks for the first time in a year, with its price rising about 65% versus S&P 500’s 2.5% gains and Nasdaq’s 15% decline in 2023.

Wall Street banks lose $100B in 2023
The six largest U.S. banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs — have lost nearly $100 billion in market valuation since the year’s start, according to data gathered by CompaniesMarketCap.com.

Bank of America’s stock is the worst performer among the Wall Street banking players, with a nearly 17% YTD drop in valuation. Goldman Sachs trails with an almost 12% YTD decrease, followed by Wells Fargo (9.74%), JPMorgan Chase (6.59%), Citi (3.62%) and Morgan Stanley (0.84%).

U.S. bank valuations have slid amid the ongoing U.S. regional banking collapse. That includes the announcement last week that Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank, was closing its doors, followed by regulators' subsequent takeover of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank.

The crisis further expanded with the near-collapse of First Republic Bank, which was saved at the last moment through a $30 billion combined injection by Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup — among others. Open / Comment

2023-03-17 21:23:22 ​​The TrustWallet Extension now supports Solana dApps!

«Use the Trust Wallet Extension to buy unique Solana NFTs, stake your Solana tokens for rewards, and swap tokens seamlessly on the Solana network. This fantastic addition complements our mobile app, which has already been supporting Solana dApps, providing you with a more complete and versatile Trust Wallet Wallet experience across both mobile and browser platforms.» Open / Comment

2023-03-16 22:21:06 ​​1 year after $11M LUNC bets: Do Kwon wanted, funds paid, hedge stuck on FTX

Terra Luna former co-founder Do Kwon, who lost $11 million in two bets, is currently wanted by Interpol and is reportedly hiding in Serbia.

About one year ago, on March 14, 2022, cryptocurrency trader GiganticRebirth (GCR) invited the co-founder and then-CEO of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, to bet $10 million that in a year the price of Terra Luna (LUNC) would be lower than its then-price of $92.4 per token.

The blockchain executive accepted the offer, the second in the series. The day before, cryptocurrency trader Algod offered a $1 million bet that LUNC would be lower than $88 per token on March 13, 2023, which Kwon also accepted. This resulted in two bets worth $11 million and a prize money pool of $22 million.

That $22 million was held in escrow by blockchain personality Cobie on his Ethereum address. Cobie claimed at the time that a hot wallet was given to participants “on my mobile phone while i was in the middle of africa, when i woke up there was $22m deposited.”

“i didn’t want 22m on a mobile tent while I was living in a tent amongst lions lmao.”
As told by Cobie, the blockchain personality paid out the bets shortly after the $40 billion LUNC and accompanying algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD (USTC) ecosystem imploded, with LUNC trading at fractional decimal values close to zero. However, Cobie also stated in December 2022:

“I actually paid out the bet shortly after Luna went to 0, and then bought enough Luna to hedge in case it somehow went back to $88. But I lost my hedge (custodied in FTX) so if Luna goes to $88 in the next 3 months I am fucked”

As the bet was active until mid-March of 2023, Cobie was required to hold collateral despite LUNC’s collapse, as the funds were paid out early, and conditions could differ at settlement. At the time of publication, LUNC was trading at $0.000124 per token.

Last November, cryptocurrency exchange FTX — then the third largest in the world by volume — filed for bankruptcy over allegations of misappropriating users’ funds and left the deposits of over 1 million creditors frozen. On April 4, 2022, Cobie transferred the prize money and principal, worth $22 million in stablecoins, to winners GCR and Algod via FTX. The subsequent flow of funds is unclear.

On Sept. 26, 2022, Interpol issued a red notice arrest warrant for Do Kwon at the request of South Korean prosecutors over accusations of fraud relating to Terra Luna’s collapse. The former blockchain executive is reportedly hiding in Serbia, which does not have an extradition agreement with South Korea. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice reportedly began probing Terra Luna’s collapse on March 14, 2023. One month before that, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Terraform Labs and former CEO Do Kwon with “defrauding investors in crypto schemes.” Open / Comment