Crypto trading/market thread

[#48Fan]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Din' take long for the Gummint to own crypto, did it. They din' even break a sweat.

Junk dimes. Krugerrands. <-- All you need for small, medium, big trades.

You mailing those?

 

[Unca Walt]

I'll mail ya a receipt. Embossed.

 

[searcher]

From the link:

Avraham Eisenberg, the crypto investor whose “highly profitable trading strategy” drained DeFi trading platform Mango Markets of crypto worth $110 million, was arrested Monday in Puerto Rico, court documents said.

The self-described game theorist admitted his role in draining Mango Markets’ treasury shortly after the incident in mid-October, and may now be the first U.S. resident to face charges for his role in manipulating a decentralized finance (DeFi) trading platform.

Eisenberg faces charges of commodities fraud and commodities manipulation, according to a filing unsealed Tuesday. The charges could see punishments ranging from fines to prison time.

Mango Markets Exploiter Eisenberg Arrested in Puerto Rico

Avraham Eisenberg, the crypto investor whose “highly profitable trading strategy” drained DeFi trading platform Mango Markets of crypto worth $110 million, was arrested Monday in Puerto Rico, court documents said.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[searcher]

Among six proposals to regulate cryptocurrency, one is superior

 

[Unca Walt]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Good answer, IMO.

 

[pmbug]

WEF says cryptos will revolutionize the global financial system as U.S. regulators highlight the risks

(Kitco News) - The World Economic Forum (WEF) has become the latest global organization to comment on the struggles of the crypto industry in 2022, likening the steep downturn in the market to an “ice age” rather than the popular “crypto winter” term used by proponents.

This has led to a broad loss of confidence, economic value, and the collapse of numerous firms and projects, the WEF noted, which has possibly brought an end to the era of crypto speculation and will give way to a “Cambrian explosion for responsible, always-on internet finance.”

The international non-governmental and lobbying organization suggested that 2023 could mark a turning point for the nascent asset class and lead to the entrance of larger players who will bring a greater level of stability to the ecosystem.

“Just as it took the dot-com bubble bursting in the early 2000s to hand over the future of the internet to more durable companies, business models and use cases, perhaps 2022 marks a handover of crypto technology and blockchain infrastructure to steadier hands,” the WEF said.

Despite the setbacks of 2022, the exploration of integrating cryptography and blockchain with the financial sector continues unabated while the technology remains generalizable to all industries and coordinating activities.

This is evidenced by the about-face policy decisions by JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S., which has gone from forbidding its traders from purchasing Bitcoin to launching its own JPMorgan Coin and providing financial services to some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Arguably, just as boards and executive teams reluctantly owned their cybersecurity and digital transformation mandates, the embrace of crypto technology is equally inevitable, even if the term feels like a bad word,” the WEF said. “For all its faults, this technology remains a protagonist in the global financial world.”
...

WEF says cryptos will revolutionize the global financial system as U.S. regulators highlight the risks

The World Economic Forum (WEF) says cryptos could see a turnaround in 2023 as larger players embrace the technology’s ability to transform the global financial system.

www.kitco.com

The WEF comments were posted by Dante Disparte who is listed as: Chief Strategy Officer; Head, Global Policy, Circle Internet Financial

 

[searcher]

From the link:

Cleveland man Gary Harmon, 31, pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and obstruction of justice on Friday for stealing 712 bitcoins from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The bitcoins had been seized by law enforcement from Harmon’s older brother, Larry Harmon – the CEO of darknet crypto mixing service Helix – after his 2020 arrest.

Brother of Criminal Bitcoin Mixing CEO Pleads Guilty to Stealing 712 Bitcoins From IRS

 

[pmbug]

... stealing ... from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ...

 

[Unca Walt]

Stealing from the IRS.

Hard to get my mind around it to be something other than worthy of some sort of praise.

 

[pmbug]

...
“Coinbase’s premium brand, position as an onshore/regulated entity, scale, and healthy balance sheet should enable it to weather the industrywide fallout from FTX’s collapse, but the immediate impact is decidedly negative with trading volumes facing incremental pressure,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a note on Monday.

The analysts started coverage of Coinbase COIN, +16.46% at hold Monday, with a price target of $35. Shares of Coinbase rallied 15.7%, and were last trading at 38.46.

“We expect COIN to regain a portion of its share losses from the past 2+ years, but still see a steep climb to Street estimates in FY25, which we believe embed a bitcoin recovery to ~$25k,” they continued.
...

Coinbase stock leaps more than 15% as analysts say it can benefit from FTX's demise

Jefferies analysts on Monday said they believed Coinbase Global Inc. would ultimately be spared from the fallout of FTX's collapse

www.marketwatch.com

 

[spinalcracker]

looks like the El Salvador Volcano Bonds are one step closer to become a reality

no dates that i could find as to when they will be made available to the public

El Salvador Passes Law Paving the Way for 'Volcano Bond'​

The digital asset bill in the Legislative Assembly obtained 62 votes in favor and 16 against.​

El Salvador Passes Law Paving the Way for 'Volcano Bond'

The digital asset bill in the Legislative Assembly obtained 62 votes in favor and 16 against.

www.coindesk.com

Miss El Salvador

 

[pmbug]

The BIS is scared. Crypto is a legit threat to the current financial/monetary order.

Ban, contain, regulate or innovate - BIS report on how to deal with cryptocurrencies

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has published a new report outlining the risks present in the crypto ecosystem and the solutions to address them.

www.kitco.com

 

[Voodoo]

The BIS is scared. Crypto is a legit threat to the current financial/monetary order.

Ban, contain, regulate or innovate - BIS report on how to deal with cryptocurrencies

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has published a new report outlining the risks present in the crypto ecosystem and the solutions to address them.

www.kitco.com

The government can NOT compete with the private market creations. They seem to think the CDBC's will be their savior.... But they will just be another crypto to the average Joe and a VASTLY inferior one at that. So why on Earth would someone choose a CDBC over all of the new creations in the marketplace?

 

[pmbug]

... So why on Earth would someone choose a CDBC over all of the new creations in the marketplace?

Legal tender laws. The same reason folks aren't using physical gold and silver instead of FRNs right now.

 

[pmbug]

...
Last week, at a crypto conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland, CNBC spoke to industry insiders who painted a picture of 2023 as year of caution. Bitcoin

is expected to trade within a range, be sensitive to the macroeconomic situation such as interest rate rises and continue to be volatile. A new bull run is unlikely in 2023.

However, experts are looking to next year and beyond with optimism.
...
Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares, said bitcoin is likely to be rangebound trading at the lower end between $15,000 and $20,000 and on the upper end between $25,000 to $30,000.

She said a lot of the "forced selling" that happened in 2022 as a result of collapses in the market is now over, but there isn't much new money coming into bitcoin.

"I don't think there's a lot of forced selling remaining, which is optimistic," Demirors told CNBC Friday. "But again, I think the upside is quite limited, because we also don't see a lot of new inflows coming in."
...
In CNBC's interviews, several industry participants spoke about historical bitcoin cycles, which happen roughly every four years. Typically, bitcoin will hit an all time high, then have a massive correction. There will be a bad year and then a year of mild recovery.

Then "halving" will happen. This is when miners, who run specialized machines to effectively validate transactions on the bitcoin networks, see their rewards for mining cut in half. Miners get bitcoin as a reward for validating transactions. The halving, which happens every four years, effectively slows down the supply of bitcoin onto the market. There will ever only be 21 million bitcoin in circulation.

Halving usually precedes a bull run. The next halving event takes place in 2024.

Scaramucci called 2023 a "recovery year" for bitcoin and predicted it could trade at $50,000 to $100,000 in two to three years.
...

Scaramucci sees bitcoin at $50,000 to $100,000 in 2-3 years as market hopes for bull run

Investors expect 2023 to be a year of caution for cryptocurrencies, before a potential bull run that could begin in 2024.

www.cnbc.com

 

[searcher]

As crypto hackers and thieves make off with billions, there's another kind of fraud lurking in the industry.

 

[searcher]

From the link:

Cyberthieves stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaign committee of U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), and the FBI is investigating, according to a federal document reviewed by Raw Story.

Cyberthieves jacked a U.S. senator's campaign and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars

 

[searcher]

Genesis Files for Bankruptcy, Has $150 Million In the Bank - Decrypt

The firm says it weathered "extraordinary challenges," including the default of Three Arrows Capital and the bankruptcy of FTX in 2022.

decrypt.co

Feds seize almost $700 million of FTX assets in Sam Bankman-Fried criminal case

Federal prosecutors seized nearly $700 million in cash and assets connected to Sam Bankman-Fried, primarily in the form of Robinhood shares.

www.cnbc.com

 

[searcher]

Made the front page of today's local paper.

North Carolina crypto mine drives residents away over 'insane' noise, electric grid concerns​

Story by Bailee Hill • 2h ago

One rural North Carolina town is bearing the brunt of a cryptocurrency mine, sending some residents packing over concerns about the deafening noise and impact on the electric grid.

Murphy, N.C., resident Mike Lugiewicz joined "Fox & Friends First" Monday to discuss his concern surrounding the mine -- which sits about 500 ft. from his front door -- and why he has decided to relocate.

"The noise is insane and if you're on the mountaintop above the crypto mine, it's even worse," Lugiewicz told Carley Shimkus. "I don't know if there's much we can do about it right now, but what we're trying to do as a community is get it out to the public that if they see crypto mines coming up in their area, they need to do everything possible to ban them and not allow those to get on their grid."

More:

North Carolina crypto mine drives residents away over 'insane' noise, electric grid concerns

 

[Lancers32]

This doesn't look good. The trap is going to shut.

Swift Ends Cryptocurrency Access to Global Marketplace | Armstrong Economics

SWIFT will no longer process currency transactions from bank accounts to crypto exchange, with a value of fewer than 100,000 USD, effective February 1st, 2023. The move is designed to reduce the access of crypto investors which is a step toward what I have been warning that governments will NOT...

www.armstrongeconomics.com

 

[pmbug]

It looks like this is an issue with a specific bank. I didn't see where SWIFT announced a broad policy.

Binance SWIFT banking partner set to ban USD transfers below $100K

Binance has informed its retail users of a potential incoming service disruption that would halt on and off-ramp USD bank transfers for transactions less than $100,000. However, Binance confirmed that credit and debit card payments would still be processed.

cointelegraph.com

 

[pmbug]

... the Ethereum Shanghai update scheduled to be implemented sometime in March, ...
...
The main goal of the Shanghai update is to enable staking withdrawals, which have been disabled since the launch of the beacon chain in Dec. 2020.
...
During the 99th Consensus Layer (CL) call on Dec. 1, Ethereum developers decided that they intended to roll out Ethereum staking withdrawals with the upcoming Shanghai hard fork due to the fact that some stakers have had their tokens locked for two years. At that time, the upgrade also included the implementation of "EVM Object Format" (EOF), which is a collection of Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP) designed to upgrade the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and make future upgrades easier.

On Jan. 6, developers held another call where they agreed to exclude the planned implementation of EOF from the Shanghai upgrade over concerns that its complexity would delay the implementation of withdrawals.

At the time of writing, data from Beaconcha.in shows that there are 16,149,561 Ether worth approximately $26.19 billion deposited into the Ethereum staking contract and currently unable to be withdrawn. According to Wennerge.com, the Shanghai upgrade will take place on March 31.

Ethereum devs prepare for the Shanghai upgrade with the launch of a

Ethereum developers launch a “shadow fork” of the Shanghai upgrade as they prepare to enable the withdrawal of stake Ether at the end of March.

www.kitco.com

So if the Shanghai update is successful, there will likely be some short term pressure on ETH as folks liquidate ETH assets that have been locked for the last two years. However, I'm pretty sure that the price of ETH was way higher when folks locked their coins on ETH2, so I don't think there will be a lot of "profit taking". Longer term, I expect more investment into ETH staking as rewards can be realized, so it should be help drive more investment into ETH.

 

[searcher]

Interesting article.

How The History Of Bank Runs Helps Us Understand The FTX Fiasco And Other 2022 Crypto Exchange Failures

To wrap your head around last year’s wave of crypto exchange failures, it’s useful to reflect on the history of banking crises and bank runs. The history shows both how this FTX calamity happened and how decentralized finance (known as DeFi for short) differs from the current FTX situation.

www.forbes.com

 

[pmbug]

Making progress on the Shanghai update for the Etherium network:

Ethereum developers launch seven testnets in preparation for the Shanghai hard fork

Ethereum developers have launched the Zhejiang public testnet, which is designed to test Ether staking withdrawals ahead of the Shanghai hard fork.

www.kitco.com

 

[Goldhedge]

"Dad, can I borrow $10 worth of bitcoin?"​

"Borrow $11.62? ... What the hell do you need $7.45 of bitcoin for?"

 

[Goldhedge]

 

[pmbug]

Cardano will be rolling out a hard fork (major upgrade) to facilitate cross chain developments.

Cardano's Network Major Upgrade Nears, Here's What to Know

In the next 10 days, Cardano is scheduled to undergo a major upgrade. The mainnet hard fork is scheduled to occur Feb. 14, 2023, at 9:44:51 p.m. UTC. It will take place at the start of epoch 394, around absolute slot height 84844800 and estimated block height 8403208.Cardano builder IOG says it is…

www.tradingview.com

 

[pmbug]

Some tax issues with cryptos explored here:

Tax strategies allow crypto investors to offset losses

It’s important for crypto investors to understand how to help offset their losses and what to expect next.

cointelegraph.com