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FBI Seizes $260,000 in NFTs and Cryptocurrencies After Tip-Off By Twitter User
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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has confiscated over $260,000 worth of NFTs and cryptocurrency after a tip-off by pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT.
According to a forfeiture document published by the agency on February 4, the FBI has seized several assets from Chase Senecal, a resident of Brunswick, Maine, including 86.5678 ETH ($116,433) and two NFTs: Bored Ape Yacht Club #9658 ($95,495) and Doodle #3114 ($9,361). The agency also seized an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Watch valued at $41,000.
ZachXBT, a self-described crypto sleuth, made the seizure possible after conducting a thorough investigation of Chase Senecal, also known as HZ online. “After months and months of tracking their group it’s nice to know one of the main perpetrators (Chase Senecal) for NFT/crypto phishing attacks has been identified,” they said in a September 1 tweet.
The crypto sleuth traced transactions relating to numerous NFT hacks and revealed that the account used to pay for the watch was linked to the hacks. The FBI seemingly took note of his findings and seized the items weeks later on October 24, 2022.
According to a summary of the investigation, Cam (SIM swapper) sold Twitter panel access to Senecal in June last year, who used it to gain access to Twitter accounts and scam NFT holders. Senecal then used the stolen funds to purchase the AP watch which led him to get caught. The address HZ paid for the watch is tied to many Discord server attacks.
The FBI’s notice provided little additional information about the incident other than the fact that all of the estates were captured on October 24. Moreover, it is uncertain what the true extent of judicial cases against Senecal is.
Notably, the FBI has not officially credited ZachXBT for his investigation of the hacks, but the crypto sleuth said in a recent Twitter thread that his investigation led to the asset arrest. He said:
“I am very happy to share the FBI seized crypto, BAYC 9658, AP watch, and Doodle 3114 from the phishing scammer known as Horror (HZ) aka Chase Senecal as a result of my thread.”
ZachXBT had previously claimed that Senecal was part of a multi-million dollar crypto scheme that has compromised more than 600 Discord servers and more than 12 Twitter accounts. Some of the accounts affected by Senecal’s hacks belong to the NFT project JRNY Club and the animator DeeKay Kwon.
As reported, the FBI was also involved in the arrest of Anatoly Legkodymov, the Russian founder of Hong Kong-registered crypto exchange Bitzlato, who has been charged with processing $700 million in illicit funds.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/silvergate-bank-stock-plunges-after-report-of-doj-investigation-into-ties-with-ftx-and-alameda/
Silvergate Bank Stock Plunges After Report of DOJ Investigation into Ties with FTX and Alameda
Image Source: Silvergate
Silvergate shares have seen a sharp drop in pre-market trading following the news that US officials have launched a probe into the crypto bank’s dealings with fallen crypto giants FTX and Alameda Research.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the US Department of Justice is looking into Silvergate’s relationship with now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its trading arm Alameda Research, which includes examining the bank’s hosting of accounts tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s businesses.
The crypto-friendly bank hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing and the inquiry, which is in its early phases, could end without charges being brought, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Following the news, Silvergate shares took a nosedive, plunging by as much as 10% in the pre-market trading. Notably, the company’s shares lost roughly 88% of their value in 2022 amid the broader crypto market downturn that saw around $2 trillion wiped out of the market.
The investigation, which started a few weeks ago, is reportedly centered around one key question: “What did banks and intermediaries working with Bankman-Fried’s firms know about what US officials have called a years-long scheme to defraud investors and customers?”
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, has been charged with eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to misuse customer funds. The disgraced crypto boss pleaded not guilty to all charges last month.
Silvergate was among the lenders hit hardest by the fall of FTX in November last year. As reported, Silvergate suffered a bank run following the collapse of FTX and had to sell $5.2 billion of debt securities it was holding on its balance sheet at a significant loss to cover around $8.1 billion in user withdrawals.
As a result, it incurred a $718 million loss, which reportedly exceeds the bank’s total profits since 2013. Furthermore, Silvergate had only $3.8 billion of deposits at the end of 2022, compared to $11.9 billion in 2021.
It is worth noting that Silvergate has received at least $3.6 billion in loans from the Federal Home Loan Banks, a system originally designed to support housing finance and community investment. This could be an indication of the growing relationship between crypto-exposed banks and TradFi companies.
Some market participants have warned that lending to crypto-exposed banks could lead to the crypto contagion spreading to traditional finance companies too. “This is why I’ve been warning of the dangers of allowing crypto to become intertwined with the banking system,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said last month.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/bitcoin-shrugs-off-fed-rate-hike-to-hit-six-month-high/
Bitcoin Shrugs Off Fed Rate Hike to Hit Six-Month High
After a streak of volatility over the past few days, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) briefly reclaimed the 24,000 mark on Wednesday night, rising to levels last seen mid-August last year.
Despite a drop to $23,800 by press time, the largest cryptocurrency is up 3.6% over the day and as much as 42% over the last 30 days, data from CoinGecko shows.
The latest price action comes in the wake of the Fed’s decision to increase interest rates by 25 basis points from 4.5% to 4.75%. It also follows the bullish performance in January, when Bitcoin gained almost 40% in value—the best result since 2013, according to Bitcoinmonthlyreturn.com.
Another interest hike shows that the policymakers—despite the economy’s steady growth—are still concerned about inflation, however, as CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill told Decrypt, “the markets aren’t buying it.”
Altcoins join Bitcoin jump
It’s not just Bitcoin that’s enjoying a bullish uptick amid the latest decision from the Federal Reserve.
Ethereum (ETH), the market’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is up 6.2%, trading hands at $1,670, per CoinGecko.
Six months into its proof-of-stake (PoS) era, Ethereum is now preparing for its much-anticipated Shanghai upgrade, which will allow users to withdraw staked ETH. The testnet for the upgrade, dubbed Zhejiang, went live on Wednesday to simulate the process.
Elsewhere in the market, the Polygon (MATIC) is the biggest winner of the day with a 13% increase in value, which took the price of the token to a three-month high of $1.23.
Other top performers include Binance Coin (BNB), which is up 7.5% on the day, and Cardano (ADA), which spiked 5.6% over the span.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/us-senators-demand-answers-from-silvergate-capital-corp-over-ftxs-misuse-of-customer-funds/
US Senators Demand Answers from Silvergate Capital Corp Over FTX's Misuse of Customer Funds
Source: AdobeStock / Timon
US senators have turned their focus to Silvergate Capital Corp. yet again, saying that the company’s responses to a previous inquiry over its ties to the fallen FTX exchange were “evasive and incomplete.”
According to Bloomberg, senators from both sides of the aisle are demanding to know whether the parent company of crypto-focused Silvergate Bank knew about FTX’s misuse of customer funds.
The questions were sent in a letter to Silvergate’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Lane on Monday by, among others, Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republicans Roger Marshall and John Kennedy. The senators argued that,
“The firm in December had declined to fully answer related questions, citing restrictions on disclosing “confidential supervisory information”,” Bloomberg wrote.
The senators reportedly argued in the letter that,
“This is simply not an acceptable rationale. […] Both Congress and the public need and deserve the information necessary to understand Silvergate’s role in FTX’s fraudulent collapse, particularly given the fact that Silvergate turned to the Federal Home Loan Bank as its lender of last resort in 2022.”
In early January, Silvergate said that it held $4.3 billion in short-term Federal Home Loan Bank advances and that it had some $4.6 billion cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2022 – which were put towards preventing a run on deposits following FTX’s collapse.
The senators gave Silvergate until February 13 to respond to its inquiries, including:
answering if it knew that FTX was directing customers to wire funds to Alameda’s account at Silvergate; answering if it flagged any transactions as being suspicious;providing requested details on the firm’s due-diligence practices, the results of reviews conducted by the Federal Reserve and independent auditors,providing details on how it plans to use the proceeds from its Federal Home Loan Bank loan.
Following the senators’ December letter, the bank claimed that FTX’s parent company Alameda Research opened an account in 2018 prior – before FTX was founded, said Bloomberg, and that it was reviewing transactions involving accounts associated with FTX and Alameda.
However, the senators stated on Monday that, in its earlier response, the firm failed to include vital information that Congress needed in order to:
assess the extent to which Silvergate is responsible for the improper transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda, determine any compliance failures by the bank or auditors that could have enabled the alleged fraud.
Following this latest letter, a Silvergate representative claimed that the company has “a comprehensive compliance and risk management program” and that it did “significant due diligence” on both FTX and Alameda.
Earlier in January, as reported, US federal authorities confiscated approximately $700 million worth of assets belonging to the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, including three accounts at Silvergate Bank that held US dollars.
US Prosecutors have charged the former CEO with eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to all charges.
____
Learn more: – Is The Federal Home Loans Bank System Carrying Out a Stealth Rescue of the 2 Biggest Crypto Banks?- Silvergate Loses $1 Billion But Stock is Up Because Numbers Show it is Not Going Bust Anytime Soon
– Silvergate Bank Suffers Run on Deposits as $8.1 Billion is Withdrawn – Will it Go Bust?- Silvergate in Trouble: Crypto Bank Cuts Staff by 40% Amid a 68% Decline in Crypto Deposits
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/ftx-sister-firm-alameda-hits-bankrupt-voyager-digital-with-446m-lawsuit/
FTX Sister Firm Alameda Hits Bankrupt Voyager Digital With $446M Lawsuit
Trading firm Alameda Research has filed a new lawsuit seeking to recover about $445.8 million from the bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and CEO of FTX, also co-founded the trading firm in 2017. A day before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, it emerged that the crypto exchange had lent customer funds to help prop up Alameda Research.
The latest lawsuit, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on January 30 by FTX lawyers filing on behalf of Alameda, relates to loans Voyager made to Alameda before the crypto broker’s bankruptcy in July 2022.
Voyager demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to Alameda, which, according to the filing, were fully repaid before FTX, along with Alameda filed for its own bankruptcy, in November.
“The collapse of Alameda and its affiliates amid allegations that Alameda was secretly borrowing billions of FTX-exchange assets is widely known,” the filing reads. “Largely lost in the (justified) attention paid to the alleged misconduct of Alameda and its now-indicted former leadership has been the role played by Voyager and other cryptocurrency ‘lenders’ who funded Alameda and fueled that alleged misconduct, either knowingly or recklessly.”
The court document went on to say that the bankrupt crypto lender’s business model “was that of a feeder fund.”
“It solicited retail investors and invested their money with little or no due diligence in cryptocurrency investment funds like Alameda and Three Arrows Capital. To that end, Voyager lent Alameda hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency in 2021 and 2022,” reads the filing.
Alameda claims all loans to Voyager repaid
As detailed in the document, Alameda paid Voyager almost $249 million in September and approximately $194 million in October. Additionally, the trading firm made a $3.2 million interest payment in August.
FTX lawyers now assert that these funds are recoverable “on an administrative priority basis pursuant to sections 503 and 507 of the Bankruptcy Code” and can be used to repay the exchange’s creditors.
FTX.US, the American division of FTX, was expected to acquire Voyager after winning the $1.46 billion bid to buy the digital asset manager out of bankruptcy in September last year.
Adding more complication to the case, Alameda was also one of Voyager’s shareholders.
The news of Alameda’s lawsuit against Voyager comes after the troubled crypto broker was earlier this month granted initial court approval to sell some of its assets to Binance.US in a proposed deal worth roughly $1 billion.
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White House Unveils Plan to Tackle Cryptocurrency Risks, Calls for Increased Enforcement
Source: AdobeStock / Joe Gough
The White House has published a roadmap asking authorities to increase enforcement and ramp up efforts to regulate the crypto sector.
In an official blog on Friday, the Biden Administration detailed its plans to address potential risks from cryptocurrencies in a roadmap that calls for authorities to “ramp up enforcement where appropriate” and Congress “to step up its efforts” to regulate the industry.
The post starts by citing some major failures within the crypto sector last year, including the implosion of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin UST that prompted a wave of insolvencies. It also noted the collapse of FTX, once the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, which delivered billions in losses to users.
“Thankfully, turmoil in the cryptocurrency markets has had little negative impact on the broader financial system to date,” the post read, adding that the Biden Administration is focused on mitigating the risks of cryptocurrencies and making sure they do not undermine financial stability.
“At President Biden’s direction, we have spent the past year identifying the risks of cryptocurrencies and acting to mitigate them using the authorities that the Executive Branch has.”
The post added that “experts across the administration have laid out the first-ever framework for developing digital assets in a safe, responsible way while addressing the risks they pose.”
It noted some of the biggest risk factors, including lack of applicable regulations, misleading statements, failure to make adequate disclosures, and poor cybersecurity measures “that enabled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to steal over a billion dollars to fund its aggressive missile program.”
Furthermore, the administration called on agencies to use their executive power and “ramp up enforcement where appropriate and issue new guidance where needed.” Specifically, the government asked Congress to increase efforts to regulate the crypto market.
“Congress should expand regulators’ powers to prevent misuses of customers’ assets—which hurt investors and distort prices—and to mitigate conflicts of interest.”
The administration noted that Congress should not allow mainstream institutions like pension funds to dabble into cryptocurrency markets as this would deepen the ties between cryptocurrencies and the broader financial system and increase systemic risks, calling it “a grave mistake” to pass laws that deepen the ties.
Authored by White House advisors Brian Deese, Arati Prabhakar, Cecilia Rouse, and Jake Sullivan, the paper concluded that the Biden Administration supports responsible technological innovations that make financial services cheaper, faster, safer, and more accessible while taking into account potential risks.
“To put the right safeguards in place, we will keep driving forward the digital-assets framework we’ve developed, while working with Congress to achieve these goals,” the paper said.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/ftx-execs-maxed-out-donations-to-rep-george-santos/
FTX Execs Maxed Out Donations to Rep. George Santos
Multiple top ex-employees of collapsed crypto exchange FTX maxed out donations to alleged scammer George Santos (R-NY) during his successful 2022 campaign for Congress, FEC filings have revealed.
Ryan Salame, FTX’s co-CEO, Claire Watanabe, a former FTX senior executive, and Ramnik Arora, the company’s ex-head of product, all donated the maximum possible amount to Santos’ campaign permitted under federal law during the summer of 2022. SFGATE first reported the news.
The donations to Santos don’t appear particularly irregular for Salame, a prolific political donor who shelled out millions to congressional candidates of both major political parties during the 2022 election cycle. But Watanabe and Arora were both far more targeted in their financial support of politicians.
Besides Santos, the two ex-FTX employees only donated to failed House candidates Michelle Bond (Salame’s girlfriend and a vocal crypto proponent), and Carrick Flynn, a so-called effective altruist favored by disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried was a leader in the effective altruism movement, which claimed to use rational strategies to maximize the positive impact of philanthropy on as many people as possible, until his arrest last month for eight criminal charges, including fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and campaign finance violations. Among the many allegations Bankman-Fried now faces, authorities believe he used embezzled customer funds to fuel his political ambitions in D.C.
Meanwhile, Watanabe donated to one other candidate in the 2022 cycle—Karoline Leavitt, the failed far-right, anti-regulation Republican House candidate and former Trump White House aide.
It makes sense why Watanabe and Arora, as senior FTX executives, would donate to particularly pro-crypto, anti-regulation, or effective altruist congressional candidates. But why they would dole out maximum contributions to Santos is less clear.
Santos never made the issues of crypto, effective altruism, or financial regulation central to his congressional campaign. A relatively obscure candidate, the Long Island politician has since come to dominate national attention after a deluge of claims made by him on the campaign trail have since been revealed to be entirely false.
Santos told voters he graduated from Baruch College, where he was a volleyball star, before getting his M.B.A. at NYU; neither university has any record of him ever attending. He says he then worked at Goldman Sachs and CitiGroup; both companies have never heard of him.
On the campaign trail, Santos wove stories of his grandparents’ harrowing escape from Europe during the Holocaust, and his mother’s death in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Santos is not Jewish, and his grandparents were born in Brazil (he later told the New York Post that he never claimed to be Jewish, only “Jew-ish”); his mother was not in the United States on September 11, 2001.
Santos marketed himself during his congressional campaign as a self-made entrepreneur who now boasts a small fortune. Despite his apparent lack of a Wall Street career, he claimed in financial disclosure forms from his 2022 campaign to have made between $3.5 and $11 million in the last two years. In 2020, Santos did, in fact, work for Florida investment firm Harbor City Capital, which was soon after charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with running a $17 million Ponzi scheme.
The origin of hundreds of thousands of dollars used by Santos to fuel his campaign is still unknown. At least a portion of those campaign funds, it can now be confirmed, came from the upper echelons of FTX.
Santos has refused to resign from Congress, despite repeated calls to do so from local Republican organizations. In Washington, where he constitutes a crucial component of Republicans’ razor-thin four seat House majority, Republican House leaders have avoided making any calls for his resignation.
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Terra Luna Classic Price Prediction as $60 Million Trading Volume Comes In – Can LUNC Reach $1 in 2023?
Source: TradingView
The Terra Luna Classic price has dropped by 1.5% in the past 24 hours, sinking to $0.00017113 as the market as a whole dips by around 0.5%. Its fall comes as its 24-hour trading volume reads at just over $60 million, with the altcoin also down by 1.5% in a week but up by 1.5% in the last 14 days.
However, a trading volume of $60 million does actually represent a decline of over 80% since January 14, when 24-hour volume passed $380 million and when LUNC’s price climbed as high as $0.00019. As such, it seems that market interest in the altcoin may be waning, with the Terra Luna Classic community currently embroiled in infighting with regards to how to boost the coin’s growth.
Terra Luna Classic Price Prediction as $60 Million Trading Volume Comes In – Can LUNC Reach $1 in 2023?
LUNC’s chart confirms the suspicion that it’s in the midst of a downswing that hasn’t quite played out yet. In particular, its 30-day moving average (red) continues to sink below its 200-day average (blue), with the implication being that LUNC’s price won’t return to consistent growth until the 30-day has bottomed.
Source: TradingView
At the same time, LUNC’s relative strength index (purple) remains below 50. This is a recovery from where it was a few days ago, yet it signals that the altcoin still lacks the buying momentum necessary to carry it forwards.
At the moment, LUNC is suffering from community squabbling over how best to take forward Terra Luna Classic. Not only have validators and developers argued over how much LUNC to burn and how much to re-mint, but the past couple of days have seen a new proposal that demands the cessation of payments to developer Jacob Gadikian, apparently for “attacking and slandering validators on the Luna Classic Blockchain.”
Needless to say, this is not a good look. It creates the suspicion that the Terra Luna Classic community may not be united enough to coalesce around a decisive plan for restoring LUNC’s price, and it would potentially deter other developers from getting involving in the network, for fear of hassle and difficulty.
That said, there have been some positive developments in Terra Luna Classic land in recent days and weeks. These raise hopes that something effective can be done to boost the LUNC price.
Most recently, a proposal passed which updates the Terra Luna Classic blockchain so that whitelists can be added to its native on-chain tax burn. Binance had requested this so that it could be exempt from the on-chain burn, and so that it could restart on its regular burn of trading fees (something which had temporarily ceased until at least March).
As such, the burning of LUNC can get back on track, with some 38 billion LUNC burned to date (out of a total circulating supply of 6.87 trillion). This total is likely to rise more rapidly in the not-too distant future, particularly if other exchanges follow Binance’s lead in introducing their own LUNC burns.
At the same time, the Terra Luna Classic community is constantly coming up with proposals that will result in a higher burn count, including a proposal to enable users to voluntarily burn extra LUNC when withdrawing rewards.
In addition, there’s now a drive with the community to create interoperability between Terra Luna Classic and Cosmos, largely via an update to Terra’s implementation of Tendermint. If this goes ahead, it will help Terra Luna Classic attract more developers, more dapps, and more users, not to mention a higher price for LUNC.
Given all of this constant activity, there’s every chance that LUNC could witness significant gains this year. And for many within its community, $0.1 seems to be the big target that most people are setting their collective sights on.
If LUNC does reach $0.1, aided by an expanded burn program and improving market conditions, this would potentially create enough momentum for it rise even higher. Of course, given that it has a supply of around 6.87 trillion LUNC, it still has a very long way to go, but there’s little doubt nearly everyone within Terra Luna Classic circles is focused specifically on restoring the altcoin to such heights.
Buy Terra Luna Classic Now
Should I Buy Terra Luna Classic Now?
While LUNC may be due for a fall in the short-term, there are other altcoins in the market with promising prospects right now. As such, if you’re looking for other potentially high-return crypto projects in addition to LUNC, we’ve listed the top 15 cryptocurrencies for 2023, as analyzed by the CryptoNews Industry Talk team.
The list is updated weekly with new altcoins and ICO projects, so be sure to check back for new entries.
Disclaimer: The Industry Talk section features insights by crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of Cryptonews.com.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/dutch-central-bank-fines-coinbase-3-6m-for-non-compliance/
Dutch Central Bank Fines Coinbase $3.6M for Non-Compliance
The Dutch central bank has fined the European branch of crypto exchange Coinbase €3.3 million ($3.6 million) for failing to meet registration requirements before offering its services in the Netherlands.
The regulator said Coinbase had been operating while unregistered between November 15, 2020, and August 24, 2022. Coinbase did eventually obtain the correct registration on September 22, 2022, but in the meantime, the DNB said the firm had enjoyed a competitive advantage by not paying supervisory fees.
Companies looking to provide crypto services in the Netherlands have to register with DNB under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act.
A Coinbase spokesperson told Decrypt that the company disagreed with the DNB’s fine, saying it was “based on the time it took for Coinbase to obtain our registration in the Netherlands and includes no criticism of our actual services,” adding that the exchange “should not be penalized for playing by the rules and engaging in this process.”
The penalty was increased from a base amount of $2.18 million due to the severity of the non-compliance, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said in a statement.
The fine was also increased due to Coinbase’s size as one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, as well as the number of customers it serves in the Netherlands. Per CoinGecko, Coinbase has hosted more than $2.3 billion in volume over the last day.
However, the total amount was then reduced by 5% in recognition that the company had always intended to complete registration.
The crypto exchange now has until March 2 to object to the fine. “While we respect DNB’s authority to enforce its regulations, we are carefully considering the objections and appeals process,” the spokesperson said.
The Dutch regulator issued an identical fine to Binance last summer for offering its services in the Netherlands without a license.
Coinbase stock (COIN) is down 1.48% and is trading hands at $52.76.
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This Bitcoin Chinese New Year Trade Has Been A winner for Last 8 Years
Image Source: Pixabay
Bitcoin has extended gains over the weekend ahead of celebrations for the Lunar New Year holiday and the Spring Festival throughout Southeast Asia, rallying to its highest level since August.
The flagship cryptocurrency surged to over $23,000 on Saturday, gaining as much as 10% at one point compared to the earlier day, data by CoinMarketCap shows. The coin has reached a local high of around $23,282, a level not seen in more than five months. As of now, Bitcoin is trading around $22,900, almost flat over the past day.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also registered significant gains, reaching a local high of around $1,674, a level not seen since September last year when its much-anticipated Merge upgrade went through. The total market cap has passed the $1 trillion mark.
The rally comes as Bitcoin has historically performed well at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday celebrated across much of Asia, often referred to as Chinese New Year. According to Markus Thielen, head of research at Matrixport, the Lunar New Year holiday is considered a good entry time for investors. He said:
“Buying Bitcoin at the end of the first day of Chinese New Year and selling it 10 trading days later would have returned +9%, on average, with all of the last eight years (2015-2022) showing positive returns. The beginning of the Chinese New Year has been an attractive entry timing for long positions.”
Bitcoin and Ethereum are up around 38% and 35% year-to-date. While a mix of factors might have impacted crypto’s impressive start this year, the market managed to gather momentum after new data released by the U.S. Department of Labor last week indicated a cooldown in inflation.
The annual inflation rate fell to 6.5% in December, compared to 7.1% in November. Lower inflation is usually viewed as bullish for risk assets like crypto as it puts pressure on the US Federal Reserve to slow down interest rate increases.
Meanwhile, crypto bulls expect the crypto market to continue its upward movement, Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, anticipates Bitcoin to reach between $35,000 to $44,000 this year, and Ethereum between $2,400 to $3,200. However, he has still warned investors to be wary of near-term risks. He said:
“Despite our view that the absolute lows for the majors are in, we still believe there are some near-term risks to remain cognizant of. These include additional fallout from DCG, one more swipe at risk assets at the next FOMC meeting, and the fact that despite the recent rally, we are still amidst what we would consider an on-chain bear market.”
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Nearly $700M Worth of Assets Linked to Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX Seized by US
United States prosecutors have seized nearly $700 million worth of assets either owned by collapsed crypto exchange FTX or tied to founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, authorities disclosed in a Friday court filing.
Federal authorities in the Southern District of New York have seized just over $698 million worth of assets linked to the disgraced crypto founder, according to the filing, which was first reported on by CNBC.
The bulk of the value comes from a stack of shares that Bankman-Fried purchased in Robinhood, the stock and crypto trading app, allegedly using stolen FTX customer funds.
The document submitted by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams details the holdings, with nearly 55.3 million shares of Robinhood stock seized on January 4. As of this writing, the shares are collectively worth about $526 million. They were held by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a shell company that Bankman-Fried created with FTX co-founder Gary Wang.
In a December affidavit, Bankman-Fried wrote that he and Wang formed the new company—using funds loaned by FTX sister company Alameda Research—to acquire shares in Robinhood Markets Inc. totaling $546.4 million. FTX customer funds were reportedly used to plug a trading hole in Alameda’s balance sheet last summer, ahead of the exchange’s eventual collapse.
Other funds seized on January 4 include $20.7 million held by Emergent at ED&F Man Capital Markets, Inc, and another $49.9 million at Farmington State Bank, held under FTX Digital Markets. Between January 11 and 19, authorities seized just over $100 million of FTX’s funds held in Silvergate Bank.
Today’s court filings also list three accounts held at rival cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its Binance US affiliate. However, the value of the assets in those accounts was not specified.
FTX and Alameda filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November following a liquidity crisis at FTX, with billions of dollars apparently missing from the once-popular crypto exchange. Bankman-Fried now faces various charges from the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) related to his actions at the companies.
The FTX restructuring team, led by new company CEO John J. Ray III, said last week that it has separately recovered more than $5 billion worth of company assets between cryptocurrency, cash, and liquid investments in securities.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/heres-why-solana-price-may-pump-to-50/
Here's Why Solana Price May Pump to $50
Source: TradingView
The solana price is down by 1% today, having dropped to $21.03 in the past 24 hours. Its current level represents a 26% increase in a week and a 71% surge in the last 30 days, with the layer-one cryptocurrency compensating for some of the steep losses it incurred last year.
And with SOL benefitting from the launch of Solana-based meme token BONK, it’s likely that the altcoin will continue recovering as Solana attracts more traffic. However, because this process of recovery may take some time, traders are arguably better off turning to presale tokens for short-term gains, with move-to-earn crypto Fight Out one of the most promising among them.
Here’s Why Solana Price May Pump to $50
SOL’s indicators continue to show strong momentum, with its relative strength index (purple) remaining close to 70, despite having a dip a few days ago. At the same time, its 30-day moving average (red) is rising up towards its 200-day average (blue), suggesting that SOL may be in the middle of a breakout to a new longer term level.
Source: TradingView
SOL is arguably due a major rally, given that it had been so heavily oversold over the past few months. This overselling was partly the product of system outages that dampened confidence in Solana, and also partly the result of the FTX collapse, with the now-bankrupt exchange having been a major supporter of the layer-one blockchain.
However, with Solana rolling out a number of updates in the second half of 2022, it now seems that it’s on the path to recovery. This is highlighted by the fact that SOL’s price has risen by 70% in the past month, making it one of the best-performing major coins during this period.
As the tweet above shows, Solana boasts one of the busiest development communities in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As such, it’s likely to continue growing, attracting more protocols and dapps, and boosting its total value locked in to the levels witnessed a year ago.
It’s because of this that it’s credible to predict big rallies for SOL later in the year. It remains 92% below its all-time high of $259.96, a figure which suggests that a medium-term target of $50 is more than feasible.
SOL last stood at $50 back in May of last year. Assuming that the global economy continues to enjoy encouraging macroeconomic news (e.g. declining inflation), and assuming that the cryptocurrency market doesn’t suffer any other major collapses, SOL could return to this level by the middle of the year.
Buy Solana Now
Why Fight Out Move to Earn Crypto May Be More Profitable
Of course, the downside of this is that SOL holders will have to wait for the macroeconomic picture to improve substantially before they’ll witness significant gains. As such, traders looking for shorter term gains may prefer to look to alternatives, with presale tokens being possibly the best bet in what (arguably) remains a bear market.
For instance, Lucky Block (LBLOCK) saw an increase as high as 6,000% in February, compared to a sale price of $0.00015. To take another example, Tamadoge (TAMA) rose by as much as 1,800% compared to its presale price in October, when it was listed on OKX.
While these two coins have obviously finished their presales, there remain a variety of sales happening right now. One of the most promising, at least in terms of the fundamentals of the coin being sold, is Fight Out’s (FGHT), an ambitious move-to-earn platform that combines real-life workouts with Web3.
Based on Ethereum, Fight Out aims to improve on earlier M2E platforms such as STEPN. That is, it will track and reward a much wider variety of workouts, including boxing, weightlifting and yoga, while also offering a range of in-app and IRL courses at its own branded gyms.
The sale for its FGHT token — which will be used for subscriptions and to pay for workouts with trainers — has already raised over $3 million. At the moment, 1 FGHT is on sale for $0.0166, although this price is set to increase in the next stage of the sale.
The sale will end on March 31, with FGHT receiving its first exchange listings from April 5. Investors can participate in the sale by going to its official website and connecting their Connect Wallet or MetaMask wallets.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/dogecoin-bonk-and-shiba-inu-combine-for-25-billion-in-monthly-trading-volume/
Dogecoin, Bonk and Shiba Inu Combine for $25 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume
To say dog-themed cryptocurrencies are popular is a bit of an understatement—in terms of just how prevalent they’ve become ever since Tesla founder Elon Musk first tweeted about Dogecoin in 2019.
The now-owner of Twitter famously said, “Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency.” Years later, hundreds of dog-themed tokens are now vying for similar attention.
As one Reddit user recently pointed out, nearly all of the top 10 tokens under CoinGecko’s so-called meme section make some reference to man’s best friend, whether that’s coins like Dogelon Mars or Doge Killer.
Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2019
While Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are undoubtedly leaders in this category, the recent rise and fall of Solana-based Bonk Inu (BONK) has captivated many crypto traders, accompanied by a line of BONK NFTs and kicking off a surge in the price of Solana itself.
Even though BONK launched on Dec. 25, the three tokens—DOGE, SHIB, and BONK—have accounted for around $25.6 billion in trading volume over the past month, according to data from CoinGecko. By comparison, Bitcoin has accounted for $618.7 billion worth of trading volume.
For the time being, Dogecoin remains the top dog among a cadre of canine-themed coins, with $17.5 billion in trading volume over the past month compared to $7.2 billion for Shiba Inu and $885 million for BONK since launch.
It’s hard to say whether any meme token will ever come close to Dogecoin’s meteoric rise of reaching 73 cents, a price it achieved in May of 2021 just before Musk made an appearance on the comedic television show Saturday Night Live, where he called the coin a “hustle,” and Dogecoin then plummeted 20% in a single hour.
Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are currently down upwards of 86% from their all-time highs, and Bonk Inu is already 76% below its highest price of $0.00000487, set just 14 days ago.
Yet, many tokens out there seek to emulate Dogecoin by leaning heavily on the token’s name. There are at least 169 cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinGecko that include some variation of Doge in their name, and they have seen over $323 million in trading volume in the past month.
While it did not draw inspiration directly from the token’s name, Shiba Inu is an Ethereum-based riff on Dogecoin that launched in 2020, adopting the same dog breed as Dogecoin as the network’s mascot and moniker. This leads to Bonk Inu, itself a riff on Shiba Inu, but built on Solana, a network designed to compete with Ethereum.
One of the key differences between Bonk Inu and Shiba Inu compared to their Musk-touted predecessor is that the two newer tokens operate on existing proof-of-stake networks. But Dogecoin, like Bitcoin, is a proof-of-work cryptocurrency that is mined and operates on its own blockchain.
Shiba Inu also has its fair share of copycats, with 112 coins mentioning Shiba in their name, which saw over $224 million in trading volume over the past month.
Over the past day, Shiba Inu’s price had risen 6.1% to $0.00001137 as of this writing, following an announcement from the coin’s development team that a layer-2 upgrade would soon launch and implement a burn mechanism, among other improvements.
Even the creation of Bonk, which also recently announced a token burn, has spawned a handful of imposters so far, such as Dogebonk, Shibonk, and Catbonk. Five coins that contain Bonk in their name have totaled around $253 million in trading volume since the token launched, according to data from CoinGecko.
Many of these copycat coins are even more volatile than the meme tokens they’re based on or could be outright scams. On Tuesday, blockchain security firm PeckShiled alerted that a copy of BONK built on Ethereum sidechain Polygon had plunged nearly 97% out of the blue.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/skybridge-capital-is-predicting-bitcoin-gets-to-35k-this-year-but-is-that-hope-over-realism/
Skybridge Capital is Predicting Bitcoin Gets to $35k This Year But is That Hope Over Realism?
Image Source: CNBC
Global investment firm SkyBridge Capital is betting on Bitcoin reaching the $35,000 price level by the end of 2023 on the back of a sustained turnaround in the crypto market.
While admitting this view was “overly bullish,” SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said the recent crypto rally could further gather momentum with the upcoming Bitcoin “halving,” which happens every 4 years and cuts the number of new bitcoins released by half.
“If bitcoin could trade back to $35,000, SkyBridge is going to have an amazing year,” Scaramucci reportedly told the Reuters Global Markets Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Historically, Bitcoin halving has been followed by periods of higher prices as the event effectively slows down the supply of BTC onto the market. While it is not possible to exactly know when the next halving will occur, experts point to May 2024 as an anticipated date.
SkyBridge is among the few investment firms that have invested in cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others. The company also plans to invest in the structured credit market to drive 2023 returns after its losses in 2022.
“Structured credit, mortgage-backed securities, credit card debt, auto loans — that’s an attractive space again,” Scaramucci said. As of last September, his firm managed $2.2 billion, including $800 million in digital asset-related investments.
In another interview with CNBC, Scaramucci called 2023 a “recovery year” for Bitcoin and predicted the flagship cryptocurrency could reach $50,000 to $100,000 in two to three years. He said:
“You are taking on risk but you’re also believing in [bitcoin] adoption. So if we get the adoption right, and I believe we will, this could easily be a fifty to one hundred thousand dollar asset over the next two to three years.”
Over the weekend, major cryptocurrencies broke above key resistance levels and extended their rallies. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has passed the $21,000 price mark while Ethereum reached around $1,600. Both coins have gained around 20% over the past week.
While a mix of factors might have impacted the recent crypto rally, the crypto market managed to gather momentum after new data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor indicated a cooldown in inflation.
As expected, the annual inflation rate fell to 6.5% in December, compared to 7.1% in November. Month-over-month, inflation cooled by 0.1%, compared to the 0.1% increase last month. Core CPI, which does not take volatile food and energy prices into account, fell to 5.7% from 6% in November.
Lower inflation is usually viewed as bullish for risk assets like crypto as it puts pressure on the US Federal Reserve to slow down rate hikes.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/crypto-etfs-are-the-top-fund-performers-as-new-year-rally-strengthens/
Crypto ETFs Are the Top Fund Performers as New Year Rally Strengthens
Image Source: Pixabay
The crypto-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) market has seen a topside push in 2023 amid a surge in cryptocurrency prices.
So far this year, the 14 top-performing ETFs are all tied to digital assets, excluding leveraged products, out of about 2,000 funds tracked by Bloomberg, the media reported Friday, noting that crypto funds are dominating the $6.8 trillion ETF market.
The topside push by crypto funds comes as digital assets are off to a shining start this year. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has passed the $21,000 price mark over the past day after months of inactivity. Ethereum has also reached around $1,600. Both coins have gained around 10% over the past day.
Crypto ETFs have come to the spotlight this year after a lackluster performance last year. In 2022, cryptocurrency-linked funds were among the worst performers as the industry lost around $2 trillion worth of value amid the collapse of a number of high-level projects.
More specifically, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), a major Bitcoin mining fund with investment in 20 firms, including Argo Blockchain, Bitfarm and Intel, among other notable names, has gained around 70% year to date.
The WGMI ETF was listed on the Nasdaq in February 2022 but didn’t invest directly in BTC. 80% of its net assets offer exposure through the securities of companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits from BTC mining. Valkyrie invests the rest of the 20% in companies holding “a significant portion of their net assets” in Bitcoin.
Furthermore, the VanEck Digital Assets Mining ETF (DAM) has surged roughly 56%, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The fund largely consisted of Bitcoin mining companies Riot, HIVE Blockchain Technologies, and Marathon Digital Holdings, among others.
Double-digit gains in the VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP), the Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH) and the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) help the funds rank among the five best-performing exchange-traded funds this year. Athanasios Psarofagis at Bloomberg Intelligence, said:
“There is a bit of a reversion to the mean happening to start the year — the worst-performing equity ETFs of 2022 are starting on the strongest foot in 2023, most notably crypto-linked ETFs. Investors who tax loss harvested in 2022 might be looking to get back in now.”
Crypto ETFs provide exposure to the crypto without the additional expenses of ownership. Therefore, these funds are considered as the next big step for the crypto industry that could drive mainstream adoption.
Launched in 2021, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF was the first Bitcoin ETF to be approved in the United States. However, this fund tracks Bitcoin prices through futures contracts traded on the CME marketplace in contrast to a spot Bitcoin ETF.
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New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/centralized-vs-decentralized-metaverses-whats-the-difference/
Centralized vs Decentralized Metaverses: What's the Difference?
In brief
Centralized metaverses don’t use blockchain protocols.
Crypto metaverses utilized blockchain technology to enable in-game currencies, NFTs, and governance token-based voting.
Crypto metaverses can vary in their degree of decentralization.
Crypto metaverses can be found on Ethereum, Polygon, Cardano, and numerous other blockchains.
Bitcoin’s design doesn’t make it a viable blockchain on which to build metaverse projects.
In order to compare the degree of decentralization within metaverses, it’s worth explaining what we mean by metaverse — and what decentralization means as it relates to metaverses and blockchain protocols. A metaverse is an expansive, immersive, and all-encompassing digital version of the analog (real) world. While the terms metaverse and video game often go hand in hand, the metaverse can be used for a variety of both entertainment- and work-focused activities.
People are hanging out with friends, attending metaverse-only concerts, and even using the metaverse to go on dates. These experiences are often enhanced through the use of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) to give you the visual sensation of being within these metaverse “worlds.” While a screen can suffice, most agree that AR/VR headsets allow you to get the most out of these experiences. Educational and career-related metaverse applications allow you to enhance virtual work meetings and digital classrooms — and can also be used to simulate scenarios for students, scientists, doctors, and pilots.
Decentralization requires a distributed network and a decentralized ownership structure.
While these other applications are worth noting, we’ll be focusing on breaking down metaverses as they relate to video games. Popular metaverse games include titles such as Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny 2, and World of Warcraft. These massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are considered metaverses or “proto-metaverses” — but they aren’t decentralized.
Decentralization requires two primary things; it requires a distributed network and a decentralized ownership structure. This means that no single entity can own a company, network, game, or other product if it is to be considered decentralized. And the more “owners” or stakeholders a metaverse has, the more decentralized it is. There is typically not a “yes/no” answer when it comes to classifying decentralization, it typically exists on a spectrum (think a 1-10 decentralization ranking).
As these aforementioned games are generally owned by solitary gaming companies, they lack this defining characteristic of decentralization. Looking at a different example, both Visa and Bitcoin are highly distributed payment networks. Yet, only Bitcoin is decentralized as the ownership or functioning of the network is distributed to over 10,000 full nodes and the associated crypto miners that support the Bitcoin blockchain.
You can remove thousands of these nodes and the Bitcoin network will continue to function. Visa is one company and the network can occasionally experience downtime due to its centralized network structure. In order for metaverses to evolve into decentralized variations they require the same technology that Bitcoin uses — the blockchain.
Crypto Metaverses Use the Blockchain
Crypto metaverses take the MMOGs mentioned above and expand what is possible by incorporating blockchain technology. While many of the first crypto metaverses were built on Ethereum, you can now find crypto metaverse ecosystems on Polygon, Cardano, and a variety of other blockchain protocols. Due to its design and focus as a cryptocurrency, there aren’t any metaverses built on the Bitcoin protocol.
By mixing blockchain with these massive online gaming worlds, these enhanced metaverses are becoming decentralized by enabling in-game currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and even the ability to control the metaverse itself through governance token-based voting. Decentraland and The Sandbox are examples of popular metaverse games that fit within this category.
Crypto metaverse games decentralize payments by facilitating the use of in-game currencies such as SAND and MANA (from The Sandbox and Decentraland, respectively). This allows you to purchase in-game assets such as upgraded weapons, vehicles, armor, and metaverse locations using the game’s proprietary cryptocurrency — as opposed to having to rely on a credit card or centralized payment app (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay).Further, these in-game assets are often represented as NFTs, which decentralizes ownership of these metaverse assets. In the proto-metaverses mentioned above, metaverse assets are generally controlled by the gaming company that created them. With crypto metaverses, you can buy, sell, and trade these in-game NFTs (and sometimes earn them through gameplay). You can purchase them via an in-game currency or another cryptocurrency (ETH, ADA) through an NFT marketplace. You can also trade both your in-game currencies and your NFTs for other cryptocurrencies as well.
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