The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for July 20, 2023.
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Bitcoin spot ETFs could increase BTC demand to the tune of $30 billion, according to a report by NYDIG. The crypto trading firm estimates that there are $27.6 billion in spot-like products, compared with $210 billion invested in funds for gold, to which bitcoin is often compared. “Bitcoin is about 3.6x more volatile than gold, meaning that on a volatility equivalent basis, investors would require 3.6x less bitcoin than gold on a dollar basis to get as much risk exposure. Still, that would result in nearly $30B of incremental demand for a bitcoin ETF,” NYDIG writes. The possibility of a spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S. looks far more likely since BlackRock submitted an application to list one with a “surveillance-sharing” agreement, which the SEC sees as necessary to prevent market manipulation.
El Salvador’s junk-rated bonds due 2027 have seen a substantial upward trend in the last six months amid bitcoin’s rally, defying some analysts’ expectations. The Central American country, which made BTC legal tender in 2021, had its debt rating downgraded by Fitch last September with a prediction of a debt default in January. In fact, the junk-rated bonds are up 62% since the start of 2023 and are trading at 72 cents on the dollar. Bitcoin rose 79% in the same period. El Salvador’s bonds have, however, even outperformed the Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (PCY), one of the largest holders of the country’s debt, according to Factset.
Kuwait’s financial regulator has banned crypto payments, investment and mining as a means to combat money laundering. The prohibitions are aimed at coming into compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) global recommendations for crypto assets, according to the regulator. “Securities regulated by the Central Bank of Kuwait and other securities and financial instruments regulated by the Capital Markets Authority are excluded from this prohibition,” the regulator said in a circular. FATF compliance does require guardrails against money laundering, but the international watchdog says it has not asked any countries to ban crypto, it told CoinDesk in May.
Some argue it would weaken crypto’s payments use case or form a bridge to a digital dollar.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s controversial instant payments service, FedNow, went live Thursday with 35 banks and credit unions participating, the central bank announced.
Early adopters include JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, with 16 other institutions supporting processing of payments that the Fed argues will offer just-in-time access to paychecks and invoices.
“The Federal Reserve built the FedNow Service to help make everyday payments over the coming years faster and more convenient,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a statement.
Officials including Powell have previously said the real-time payment network is needed to avoid having to depend on private sector alternatives, like the now abandoned stablecoin Diem (previously named Libra) by Marc Zuckerberg’s Meta (previously Facebook) while some have seen it as a step towards a central bank digital currency.
FTX users have until Sept. 29 to file their bankruptcy claims.
Several users of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX are being targeted by a potential phishing attack after being sent a “reset password” request from the exchange’s official customer support email.
The email, which has been reviewed and verified by CoinDesk, was sent by support@ftx.com – the official email address before the exchange collapsed in November.
The password reset link routes to the FTX claims portal that allows users to submit bankruptcy claims for assets they held on the platform before its demise.
Mossab Hussein, co-founder of cybersecurity firm Spidersilk, said the surprising emails can be attributed to one of two options: “It’s either FTX itself sending those emails [to notify them of the claims portal] and giving people a scare. Or, someone has “a list” of emails and is bruteforce resetting their credentials via the portal.”
If a hacker gained access to user’s personal email addresses, they could feasibly gain access to a claimant’s account and divert funds to their personal wallet.
FTX spokespersons didn’t respond to request for comment immediately.
On Monday, many FTX users received an email from Kroll, the restructuring administrators of FTX, explaining that the deadline for claims is set for September 29, 2023.
FTX owes roughly $8.1 billion to customers after it imploded in a pool of leverage and illiquid tokens last November in an event that ravaged the wider crypto market.
The embattled Harbour Trade credit pool minted $1.5 million of DAI stablecoin secured with loans to a consumer electronics firm, which defaulted on $2.1 million of debt.
DAI stablecoin issuer MakerDAO’s community has decided to halt lending to a tokenized credit pool on the Centrifuge protocol after accruing $2.1 million of loan defaults.
In a governance vote that concluded Thursday at 12 p.m. (ET), voters unanimously favored stopping additional lending to the embattled credit pool, managed by fintech firm Harbor Trade. Maker is led by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), where those who hold MKR tokens can participate in governance decisions.
“While Harbor Trade has verbally committed to cease additional draws and voluntarily wind down the vault, community members have expressed concern about the existing 7 million Debt Ceiling and the risk of potentially increasing exposure to this vault,” a MakerDAO governance post said.
Maker’s $4.5 billion stablecoin DAI is backed by debt positions overcollateralized by cryptocurrencies, and increasingly, tokenized versions of loans and bonds, to earn a yield.
The Harbor Trade credit pool minted some $1.5 million of DAI stablecoins from MakerDAO and secured them with loans made to a consumer electronics firm. The borrower firm failed to pay down $2.1 million of debt matured in April.
Harbor Trade is “actively engaged in the workout process” and forecasts “a meaningful or full recovery,” according to MakerDAO, but the procedure could take six months or more.
Bitcoin investors have been unmoved by recent macroeconomic data. Muted reactions suggest that they’ve already priced in much of what has occurred
Initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending July 15, declined to 228,000, 9,000 lower than the prior week, and below expectations for 242,000. The second, consecutive weekly decline reflects a persistently strong labor market and
It also marks the mild reaction to significant macroeconomic events over the past 10 days.
BTC prices moved less than 2% after last week’s Consumer Price Index, Non-Farm Payrolls and Quarterly GDP growth.
The knee-jerk narrative for cryptocurrencies for today’s release is that tight labor markets prolong any chance that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will halt interest rate increases. This would likely limit crypto prices.
The real-time crypto market reaction suggests that crypto investors have already included this into their investment calculus. So while a lid appears to be on bitcoin prices, its appears to be a light one, applying minimal downward pressure
BTC prices fell 0.22% during the 8 AM ET hour, following the data release. Ether by comparison sank 0.25%. Both declines occurred on lower than average volume, illustrating the muted impact of what has become a recurring theme for U.S. labor markets.
The 4-week average of jobless claims declined for the third consecutive week. If the FOMC is looking for weaker job growth before pivoting to a lower interest rate environment, this news would not support such a move.
Further exacerbating tight labor markets is higher median earnings for wage and salaried workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, second quarter median earnings for full- time wage and salary workers was 5.7% higher than a year prior, compared to a current 4% increase in Consumer Prices.
While inflation has been steadily declining, labor markets and overall earnings’ strength would likely cause prices to rise, were the FOMC to forego a rate hike. Market expectations for a 25 basis point (bps) increase on July 26 are now 99.8%, up from 98% a day prior.
Crypto investors seem unfazed with bitcoin levels almost identical to where they stood 30 days ago. The same holds true for Ether, as both assets have been trading near their respective 20-day moving averages.
Momentum for both is neutral as well. Their respective Relative Strength Index (RSI) figures sit near 50, signaling neither bullish nor bearish sentiment.
The exchange is requiring Coinbase Borrow customers with outstanding loan balances to pay them back by November 20.
Coinbase Borrow, a program that allowed customers to receive fiat loans of up to $1 million against as much as 30% of their bitcoin (BTC) holdings, will be shutting down over the coming months as the company focuses its resources on products that “customers care about most,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk Thursday.
Customers who hold loans through the program will have until November 20, 2023 to pay back any outstanding loan balances.
“We have notified impacted loan holders and are taking extra measures to ensure a smooth transition for them, including providing a four-month loan repayment period and access to prioritized customer support through Coinbase One,” according to a statement sent to CoinDesk. Coinbase One is a monthly subscription product with multiple benefits for traders.
Coinbase announced in May that it was no longer allowing Coinbase Borrow customers to take out new loans as part of a regular process of re-evaluating its products.
The California-based exchange has been under increased scrutiny by U.S. regulators, specifically the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for its operations in the U.S., and has been doubling down on its businesses elsewhere.
A spokesperson told CoinDesk back in May that the shutdown of Coinbase Borrow was simply due to reduced demand.
The bill aims to set out clear rules for the digital assets ecosystem.
U.S. House Republicans introduced a new digital assets oversight bill on Thursday that aims to establish a regulatory framework to protect investors in the crypto sector.
“Today’s introduction of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act marks a significant milestone in the House Committees on Agriculture and Financial Services efforts to establish a much-needed regulatory framework that protects consumers and investors and fosters American leadership in the digital asset space,” said Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) in a statement.
The bill, first drafted in early June, aims to lay down a regulatory path for crypto exchanges to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and would enable them to trade digital securities, commodities and stablecoins all in one place.
“The crypto industry wants clarity and our collaborative bill gives both the CFTC and SEC a seat at the table. Our bill establishes clear principles to ensure financial security and certainty as digital asset developers continue to innovate,” said Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) in the statement.
The U.S. DOJ also wants to ban the disgraced FTX founder and all parties involved in the case from making any out of court statements in the future.
ABD Adalet Bakanlığı (DOJ), eski FTX CEO’su Sam Bankman-Fried’i Caroline Ellison’ın özel günlüğünü New York Times’a sızdırmakla suçladı.
Suçlama, NYT’nin Ellison’ın özel düşüncelerini içeren bir makale yayınlamasının ardından DOJ’un davadaki tanıklar ve diğer taraflar tarafından yapılan tüm mahkeme dışı ifadelerin yasaklanmasını istemesine yol açtı.
ABD Avukatları, “Sanığın eylemleri -Caroline Ellison’ın kişisel yazılarını bir New York Times muhabiriyle paylaşması-” müstakbel tanıkların ifadesi veya güvenilirliği” ile ilgili materyali yaymanın, varsayımsal olarak adil bir yargılama ve adaletin usulüne uygun idaresi için önemli bir olasılık veya önyargı içerdiğine dair Kural 23.1’in temel endişesini ima ediyor” diye yazdı.
Rule 23.1(a) forbids lawyers and their agents from releasing non-public information about a case if it is likely to interfere with a fair trial.
The attorneys argue that an order restricting extrajudicial statements is necessary due to the intense media attention this case has received and the defendant’s attempt to manipulate media coverage to his advantage.
They also say that the defendant’s actions may taint the jury pool and constitute harassment of Ellison. They are also concerned that this would deter other potential trial witnesses from testifying due to fear of public humiliation and personal discrediting.
This request comes as FTX’s interim leadership has filed a separate civil case against Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and other executives seeking to recover cash and reverse transactions that are collectively worth over $1 billion.
Davadaki iddialar arasında Bankman-Fried’in 10 milyon dolarlık FTX.US fonunu kişisel hesabına yönlendirdiği, kardeşi Gabriel’in ada ülkesi Nauru’yu vakıf fonlarıyla satın almayı planladığı ve karma şirket-müşteri fonları kullanılarak siyasi olarak 100 milyon doların üzerinde bağış yapıldığı yer alıyor.
Davaya göre Ellison, büyük bir FTX nakit krizi sırasında kendisine 22,5 milyon dolarlık bir ikramiye verdi.
The Wormhole Gateway is designed to make it easier for developers and users to on-ramp liquidity into the Cosmos ecosystem.
Wormhole Vakfı, Cuma sabahı Cosmos ekosisteminde yeni bir köprü başlatıldı ve bu köprü, likidite ile 20’den fazla farklı blok zincirindeki kullanıcılar herhangi bir Cosmos uygulama zincirine bağlanan ilk köprü oldu.
Bir Wormhole blog gönderisine göre ağ kaynakları köprüsü, geliştiricilerin ve kullanıcıların “Cosmos ekosistemini büyütmek için likiditeyi” artırmak amacıyla herhangi bir Cosmos zincirine token yüklemesini yorumlamak için tasarlanması.
Wormhole, Cosmos tabanlı bir blockchain olan Injective ile entegre olarak 2022’de Cosmos ekosistemine genişlerken, bu lansman tüm uygulama zincirleri ağını yansıtıyor.
Web sitelerine göre, Wormhole’un çeşitli köprülerinde kilitli toplam değer 378 milyon doların üzerinde.
The long-awaited Nasdaq-style national bourse for crypto has been operational since July 17, according to an official announcement from Thursday.
Ülkenin emtia düzenleyicisinden Perşembe günü yapılan bir duyuruya göre, Endonezya borsası ve dijital varlıklar için takas odası, birden fazla gecikmenin ardından nihayet faaliyete geçti.
Hükümet başlangıçta 2021’in sonuna kadar operasyonlara başlamayı planlamıştı, ancak en son Şubat ayında olmak üzere sonraki gecikmeler fırlatmanın ertelenmesine neden oldu. Duyuruya göre, kripto için uzun zamandır beklenen Nasdaq tarzı borsa 17 Temmuz’dan beri faaliyette.
“The establishment of exchanges, clearing houses and managers of crypto asset storage is proof that the government is present in an effort to create a fair and fair crypto asset trading ecosystem to guarantee legal certainty and prioritize protection for the public as customers,” Didid Noordiatmoko, head of the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti), said in a statement to the press.
Bappebti will work with the country’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), the central bank and the Ministry of Finance in running the platform, CoinDesk Indonesia reported. According to Noordiatmoko, the crypto exchange is designed to help the local industry run smoothly and mitigate crypto-related risks.
Endonezya, hükümetin yerel ekonomiye ve ülkenin küresel riskine fayda sağlamak için sektörü büyütmeye ilgi göstermesiyle kripto varlıklarını hızlı bir şekilde benimseyen bir ülke olarak ortaya çıktı.
