Frank Holmes
Crypto SWOT: Bitcoin waivers after a jump in bond yields dented demand for riskier investments
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Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Trust Wallet, rising 17.91%.
- Banks will have to disclose cryptocurrency holdings under new plans floated Thursday, as international regulators partly blamed banking collapses on the sudden popularity of crypto, writes Bloomberg.
- Coinbase Global received a full license to operate as a digital payment token service provider in Singapore. Coinbase will take a “cautious” approach to growth and seek to have sustained a viable business both globally and in individual markets, writes Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Frax Share, down 10.68%.
- Blockchain data company Chainalysis implemented another round of layoffs, the latest job cuts to hit the crypto sector. The company had about 900 staff after layoffs earlier in 2023, according to Bloomberg, that it said affected less than 5% of workers.
- Sam Bankman-Fried “lied to the world” as he built his cryptocurrency empire at FTX, telling only his friends and girlfriend the truth about what was happening, prosecutors said on the first day of a historic fraud trial. Nathan Rehn, an assistant U.S. attorney, painted a picture of the 31-year-old as a calculated criminal who used investor deposits at FTX as a personal bank account before the company collapsed a year ago, writes Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- Bitcoin retreated from a six-week peak after a jump in bond yields dented demand for riskier investments. Bitcoin shed as much as 2% on Tuesday before paring some of the drop to trade at about $27,400 in New York, writes Bloomberg.
- Binance’s spot market share fell for a seventh consecutive month as a dearth in volatility and lingering regulatory woes weighed on the largest cryptocurrency exchange, reports Bloomberg.
- Tim Grant, the former head of crypto investor Galaxy Digital Holdings’ European business, is to spearhead a new investment and operating firm backing companies in areas including digital assets, fintech, and institutional capital markets, writes Bloomberg.
Threats
- All 15,000 ether (ETH) sitting in a wallet associated with last year’s $600 million attack on FTX’s wallets have now moved through privacy tools and bridges. About $26 million worth of ETH sat in a single wallet until earlier this weekend, when a first tranche of 2,500 ETH ($4 million) began moving, ultimately ending up at the Thorchain bridge, the Railgun privacy wallet, or intermediary addresses, writes Bloomberg.
- The criminal trial of former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky has been scheduled for September 17, 2024. Mashinsky was charged in July with securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to manipulate the value of the Celsius token, writes Bloomberg.
- The DOU targeted several Chinese businesses and their employees Tuesday in the latest round of charges tied to productions and trafficking of fentanyl. Alongside the criminal case, the U.S. OFAC also sanctioned the list of Chinese nationals, identifying 16 associated crypto wallets, writes Bloomberg.
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