Crypto weekly is co-authored by @serdave
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($37,506): +1% / +127%
- ETH ($2,069): +4% / +73%
- SOL ($57.74): -6% / +492%
- UNI ($6.18): +20% / +20%
- MATIC ($0.76): -10% / +1%
MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($1.5T): +1% / +78%
- BTC Dominance: 49%
- ETH Dominance: 17%
- Tether ($89B): +1% / +34%
- USDC ($25B): +1% / -45%
NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- Crypto exchange Binance pled guilty to violating US anti-money laundering rules and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. Binance founder CZ also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $50 million in addition to stepping down as chief executive of the company. The agreement settles investigations with the Justice Department, Treasury Department, and CFTC; a lawsuit with the SEC remains ongoing. Link. Link. Link. CZ Tweet.
- Mt. Gox announced it will start repaying creditors this year. It was the largest bitcoin exchange until 2014, when it was hacked for 80,000 BTC and declared bankruptcy. Link.
- The discount on Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) fell to below 10% for the first time since July 2021 on renewed optimism the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF in the US, including the potential conversion of GBTC. The SEC met with Grayscale and BlackRock to about their spot bitcoin ETF filings earlier this week. Link. Link. Link. Link.
- Blur founder Tieshun Roquerre (aka Pacman) announced the launch of a new L2 called Blast, which promises users yield by staking their ETH and stablecoins on platforms like Lido and MakerDAO. Despite criticism, including from lead investor Paradigm, that the network isn’t secure and the go to market strategy resembles a ponzi scheme, the L2 already has over $400 million TVL. Link. Link. Dan Robinson Tweet.
- Argentinian’s elected pro-bitcoin Javier Milei as its next president. Milei’s populist platform includes eliminating the central bank and dollarizing the Argentinian economy. Link. Link. Link.
- Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius will transition to a bitcoin mining company as part of its bankruptcy plan, a shift from earlier plans that focused on both mining and staking. The change came after the SEC gave feedback “on certain aspects of the plan.” Link.
- Coindesk is being acquired by Bullish, the crypto exchange headed by former NYSE president Tom Farley, in an all-cash deal. Bullish is also one of three suitors in the running to acquire FTX and restart the exchange. Link.
- The SEC is suing crypto exchange Kraken for securities-law violations, similar to its suits against Coinbase and Binance. Link.
- Sam Altman’s role as chairman and co-founder of Tools for Humanity, the creator of WorldCoin, remains unchanged amidst changes to the management structure of OpenAI, where Altman was reinstated as CEO after being fired days earlier. Link.
- Tether froze around $225 million worth of USDT stored in self-custodied wallets linked to an international human trafficking group in Southeast Asia. Link.
- Singapore announced new regulations aimed at curbing retail speculation of crypto, including barring individuals from leveraged trading and any incentives from exchanges and apps to encourage new retail traders. Link.
- The Philippines raised $271 million through its first-ever tokenized Treasury bonds, as the country continues its experiments with the use of a central bank digital currency. Link.