The latest moves in crypto markets, in context By Lyllah Ledesma, CoinDesk reporter Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Welcome to Friday! Here's what's happening in crypto today: |
- Genesis' crypto lending businesses file for bankruptcy protection.
- Gemini's Cameron Winklevoss threatens to sue DCG's Barry Silbert.
- Bitcoin and ether rose slightly following the Genesis news.
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Want our 5 p.m. ET market update? |
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CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): 1,001 +1.6%
Bitcoin (BTC): $21,068 +1.6%
Ether (ETC): $1,556 +2.2%
S&P 500 futures: 3,920.00 +0.1%
FTSE 100: 7,759.62 +0.2%
Treasury Yield 10 Years: 3.4% +0.0 |
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Genesis Global Holdco LLC, the parent company of troubled cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday after being pummeled by two of 2022's biggest industry collapses, those of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and exchange FTX. In its filing, Genesis Global Capital, the partner firm of Gemini's defunct interest-bearing Earn program, estimated it has more than 100,000 creditors and between $1 billion and $10 billion in liabilities, as well as assets. Genesis owes over $3.5 billion to its top 50 creditors, including crypto exchange Gemini, trading giant Cumberland, investment firm Mirana, MoonAlpha Finance and VanEck's New Finance Income Fund. Genesis and CoinDesk are both owned by Digital Currency Group, or DCG. |
Genesis Trading, modified by CoinDesk |
Gemini CEO Cameron Winklevoss threatened to sue DCG CEO Barry Silbert over the repayment of a $900 million loan in a tweet published just minutes after Genesis filed for Chapter 11. The tweet comes after Winklevoss waged a Twitter war against DCG to recover the loan amid his exchange's own struggles. Winklevoss called Genesis' bankruptcy a "crucial step" toward recovering Gemini users' assets. But, he still intends to sue Silbert and Genesis' parent company, DCG, unless Silbert makes a "fair offer" to DCG's creditors. Bitcoin rose 1% to around $21,000 over the past 24 hours after the Genesis bankruptcy news hit the wires. Ether rose 2% to $1,545, CoinDesk data shows. Traders weren't surprised by bitcoin's and ether's resilience following the news. "The market appeared to expect the Genesis bankruptcy filing for the last 48 hours as the GBTC discount suddenly widened again. With Genesis filing for bankruptcy, this removes a negative overhang from the market, and crypto investors can finally focus on fundamentals," Markus Thielen, head of strategy and research at crypto-services provider Matrixport, said, referring to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a fund that tracks the price of bitcoin. Grayscale is owned by DCG. |
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Market Insight: SOL's on a Roll |
SOL, the native currency of the Solana blockchain, has doubled its price since mid-December to hover at around $21, reaching as high as $24 earlier this week, roughly where it stood before investors started fretting over its entanglement to beleaguered crypto exchange FTX and FTX's sister company Alameda Research. Over the past week alone, SOL has risen 22%, and it is up 114% this year. The surge started after a favorable tweet by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who expressed "hope" that the Solana community "gets its fair chance to thrive," shortly after SOL had plunged to a record low of $8.19. Buterin's comment headed off damage from reports that the token was the second-largest holding of Alameda, the trading arm of FTX whose unruly balance sheet sparked FTX's descent into bankruptcy protection, although SOL had already declined significantly prior to the FTX revelation. |
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- The chart shows bitcoin has historically moved in four-year cycles centered around mining reward halving.
- Cycles comprised a 12-month-long bear market that ended 15-17 months ahead of the halving, paving the way for a three-year uptrend.
- Bitcoin's fourth halving is due early next year.
- "The conditions are ripe for a breakthrough in 2023 that could catalyze a new bull market. We are excited by the growth of layer 2 solutions, the development of ZK-rollups and privacy solutions, and many other emergent capabilities of crypto," Bitwise's analysts led by Chief Investment Officer Matthew Hougan wrote in a review of the fourth quarter.
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Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments. |
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