PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($22,730): +7% / +37%
- ETH ($1,638): +4% / +37%
- SOL ($24.66): +8% / +153%
- UNI ($6.89): +3% / +34%
- MATIC ($1.01): +1% / +34%
MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($1.0B): +5% / +32%
- BTC Dominance: 42%
- ETH Dominance: 19%
- Tether ($67B): +1% / +1%
- USDC ($44B): -1% / -2%
NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Bitcoin passed $23,000 this week, its highest point since August. Link. Link.
- More bitcoin is currently bridged to Layer 1 network Avalanche than is currently held in Lightning Network, bitcoin’s native layer 2 solution. Avalanche holds 5,700 BTC ($120 million) compared to 4,929 BTC ($100 million) on the Lightning Network. Link.
- The US government seized $700 million in assets held by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, including 55 million Robinhood shares worth about $525 million. Link. Link. Link.
- FTX bankruptcy lawyers have identified roughly $5.5 billion of liquid assets that may be recoverable at the now defunct exchange – $1.7 billion in cash and $3.5 billion in crypto assets. Link. Press Release.
- Crypto lender Nexo has agreed to pay $45 million in fines to the SEC and state regulators over its Earn Interest Product (EIP). Link.
- The SEC brought charges against Gemini and Genesis for violations of securities laws related to the Gemini’s Earn product, which offered customers interest on deposited digital assets. Tyler Winklevoss, a founder of Gemini, publicly called out the SEC for blindsiding the exchange with the lawsuit as they had been in talks about the program for over a year. Link. Gensler Tweet. Winklevoss Tweet.
- Crypto prime broker Genesis Global filed for bankruptcy and claimed $5.1 billion in liabilities, just days after the SEC filed charges against the company. Genesis, a subsidiary of DCG, has been struggling after suffering a $1.2 billion loss to crypto hedge fund 3AC. Link. Link. Bankruptcy proceeds are expected to begin Jan 23. Link.
- Crypto-focused media company CoinDesk is exploring options for a partial or full sale as its parent company DCG is facing troubles. CoinDesk has reportedly received unsolicited offers north of $200 million. The company generated more than $50 million in revenue last year from ads and events. Link.
- Yuga Labs released "Sewer Passes", NFTs that give holders access to a new game called Dookey Dash. The Sewer Pass smart contract was programmed to block certain addresses, including marketplaces like LooksRare who are not enforcing creator royalties. The game will be available to play until February 8th. Link. Link.
- FTX’s new CEO is exploring options to restart the defunct exchange as he works to return money to the company’s customers and creditors. Link. Link. Link.
- 114 countries representing more than 95% of the world’s GDP are exploring digital currencies. Countries like China, India, Nigeria, and the Bahamas have already rolled out programs while other countries like Sweden and Japan are preparing for possible rollouts. Fed chair Jerome Powell has indicated a US central bank digital currency would require direction from Congress. Link. Link.
- Crypto-related enforcement actions from the SEC are up 50% compared to 2021. The SEC brought 30 enforcement actions against crypto companies in 2022 – 73% included allegations of unregistered security offerings and 50% also alleged fraud. Link.
- JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he was skeptical the total supply of bitcoin would be limited to 21 million tokens. Link.
- Staking-as-a-service provider Lido has $7.8 billion of total value locked (TVL), making it the largest DeFi app by TVL. Link.
- The upcoming ethereum upgrade in March could prove beneficial for Coinbase according to JP Morgan. The Shanghai Fork would allow users to withdraw staked ethereum from the network. Link.
- Robinhood released its crypto wallet to 1 million waitlisted users. Robinhood Wallet is a mobile app that allows users to swap and transfer crypto using Polygon. Link.
- Decentralized exchange aggregator 1Inch is releasing a multi-coin hardware wallet later this year. The wallet supports multiple seed phrases and transparent transaction signing. Link.
- The DoJ arrested the founder of the Russian crypto exchange Bitzlato for allegedly processing over $700 million of illicit funds. Link.
- Binance is facing scrutiny over operational practices related to bUSD, its synthetic stablecoin that is pegged to a basket of stablecoins including USDC and USDT. The exchange says bUSD is fully collateralized and backed 1:1, but irregular wallet movements and a lack of transparency from the exchange have called this into question. Link.
- Coinbase will cease operating in Japan starting Feb 16. Link.
- $56 million SHIB was sent to over 12,000 new crypto wallets this past week, making it the digital asset of choice for new users entering crypto. Link.
- ConsenSys, developer of MetaMask and Infura, laid off 97 people or roughly 11% of its staff. Link. Blog Post.
- Crypto bank Silvergate reported a net loss of $1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022. Link. Statement.
- Crypto tax software provider TaxBit is acquiring accounting startup Tactic. TaxBit will incorporate Tactic’s accounting tech into its existing enterprise offering. Link.
- Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, founders of defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), are raising $25M for a new exchange focused on bankruptcy claims of crypto companies. Link. Link.
- MetaMask users can now participate in ethereum staking via Lido or Rocket Pool directly from the MetaMask wallet. Link.
- Crypto custodian Fireblocks is partnering with insurance company Coincover to strengthen its backup and disaster recovery for crypto private keys. Link.
- Multichain web3 wallet Cypher raised a $4.3 million seed round led by startup accelerator Y Combinator. Link.
- Ethereum infrastructure service Flashbots is reportedly raising up to $50 million at a billion-dollar valuation. Link.
- Peter Thiel's Founders Fund reportedly generated $1.8 billion from selling off the vast majority of its crypto holdings in March 2022, before the broader market selloff. Two-thirds of its crypto investment was in bitcoin. Link. Link.
- National Geographic’s first NFT launch met with public backlash and minting issues related to its technical partner, Snowcrash. Link.
- China’s central bank digital currency is testing smart contract functionality. Food and lifestyle app Meituan is using smart contracts to offer on-chain daily prizes to mobile app users. Link.
- NFT marketplace Blur delays the launch of its native BLUR token to Feb 15. Link. Tweet.
- The SEC filed charges against DeFi trader Avraham Eisenberg over his draining of $116 million from Solana-based decentralized exchange Mango Markets. The SEC alleges MNGO, Mango Markets’ governance token, is a security. Link.
- Brett Harrison, ex-president of FTX US, raised $5 million for a crypto institutional trading platform called Architect. Link. Link.
- Binance’s banking partner Signature Bank said it would no longer process on/off-ramp transactions smaller than $100,000 for exchange customers. Link.