Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Quant, rising 33.86%.
- The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has approved the crypto operations of Revolut, a key step for the British fintech's ambitions to expand in the space, reports Bloomberg. The registration comes after Revolut spent months relying on temporary permission to operate its crypto-asset business. The firm was among a dozen others that received an extension to get their applications or affairs in order after a March deadline passed, the article explains.
- Bitcoin is poised for a bit of a victory this quarter, reports Bloomberg, even if the scale may not seem much for an asset class where outsized gains were, until recently, the order of the day. Bitcoin is up 3.4% which could be a further sign that crypto prices may have stabilized following dramatic declines at the start of the year.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performing for the week was Chiliz, down 10.29%.
- "Unfortunately, crypto pricing has become correlated with risk assets, which I honestly don't think has to be true," Dan Morehead from Pantera Capital said. He hopes that crypto will decouple from the macro markets, but until the correlation remains at elevated levels, crypto traders are looking to see if Bitcoin will hit a new low for the year.
- Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks slumped on Thursday amid a broad-based selloff in risk assets which sent Bitcoin briefly sliding back below the $19,000 level. Crypto stocks that declined on Thursday include: Core Scientific -7.6%, Coinbase -7% and Riot Blockchain -5.6%. Wells Fargo analyst Jeff Cantwell initiated coverage on Coinbase with an underweight rating, saying it faces headwinds from rising competition, according to Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- Binance is seeking a license to operate in Japan, four years after retreating from the country as it didn't have a permit, according to people familiar with the matter. The nation's easing approach to crypto and substantial potential for user growth are the key reasons for Binance's renewed interest in the world's third-largest economy, writes Bloomberg.
- FTX US won the auction for the assets of bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital Ltd. The agreement is valued at about $1.4 billion comprising an "additional consideration" worth about $111 million and the $1.3 billion market value of all the cryptocurrency at the bankrupt platform, reports Bloomberg. Customers will be able to transfer to the FTX US platform after the conclusion of the bankruptcy process.
- There's a side of crypto that gets less attention: the segment of the community that is interested in the way the technology that powers crypto can decentralize decision making, make institutions more transparent and transform the way organizations are governed. That's the side that is far more interesting, writes Bloomberg.
Threats
- South Korea said Interpol requested law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, who faces charges related to the $60 billion wipeout of cryptocurrencies he created. Prosecutors in Seoul said Monday in a text message that the international police organization has issued a Red Notice for Kwon, the latest inglorious chapter of a $2 trillion rout in digital assets that exposed hugely risky practices, writes Bloomberg.
- Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana, sees a long road ahead when it comes to potential mainstream adoption of crypto, reports Bloomberg. Adoption "really happens" when a person "figures out how to generate a key and store it securely, and then sign transactions. That's a really slow process," Yakovenko said.
- A senior Singapore central bank official is repeatedly warning cryptocurrency firms that policymakers will clamp down hard on crypto players who fan speculation in the country. Sopnendu Mohnaty, chief fintech officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, reminded traders to be careful about how they lure customers, writes Bloomberg.
