BITCOIN

[q6543]

I still say the market priced the recession in the 1st half of 2022 in real time… when we had 2 quarters of neg GDP back to back and the leaders told people it WASN’T a recession… when the S&P crashed by 27% and the nasdaq 37%

It’s a recession… that’s all you get… people are still too scarred from 2008

 

[Weather Man]

I still say the market priced the recession in the 1st half of 2022 in real time… when we had 2 quarters of neg GDP back to back and the leaders told people it WASN’T a recession… when the S&P crashed by 27% and the nasdaq 37%

It’s a recession… that’s all you get… people are still too scarred from 2008

Plenty of world events combined with a Biden admin to inspire caution.

 

[Weather Man]

When the elephants play, the ants beware.

Bitcoin's ascent said to be powered mostly by institutional investors​

BTC-USD -1.45%Feb. 03, 2023 8:52 AM ET11 Comments

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has surged 41.2% since the start of 2023 in a sizable rally that seems to be powered mostly by big-money investors, as smaller, less savvy retail investors pull back from the cryptocurrency market that they once dominated, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The token commenced the year at $16.66K compared with the $23.35K print as of early morning trading. But it's still down some 65% from its November 2021 all-time high given the downfall of the Terra (LUNC-USD) blockchain and subsequent high-profile implosions, including crypto lender Celsius Network (CEL-USD) and crypto exchange FTX (FTT-USD).
In the eyes of Edmond Goh, head of trading for crypto market maker B2C2, institutional investors (e.g., hedge funds) are becoming more active with crypto trading than individual retail investors, as reported by the Journal. He told the newspaper that last year his firm saw over 45% of client trading flows originate from retail versus 34% year-to-date.
Perhaps retail investors' waning participation in crypto can be attributed to increased lack of trust in the emerging space (following the alleged FTX fraud) in addition to a shortage in regulation. Earlier this week, legend investor Charlie Munger called for the U.S. government to ban crypto like China did in 2021, citing "wretched excess" as a result of a regulation gap.
Ilan Solot, co-head of digital assets at financial services platform Marex Solutions, told the WSJ that some large investors who had shorted bitcoin (BTC-USD) -- or wager on lower BTC prices -- were now covering those positions in a move that seemingly contributed to the token's rally.
See why Seeking Alpha contributor Mike Fay believes bitcoin (BTC-USD) "could be heading for another civil war."

 

[Weather Man]

Silvergate not looking healthy.

 

[Klaus]

 

[jvandy50]

Silvergate not looking healthy.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KilledbyKenne]

I'm confused why this thread is still getting updated. Isn't crypto dead yet?

 

[cobracide]

Soon my man, soon... Been hearing it since the inception.

 

[Weather Man]

Binance and Binance.US more intertwined than the crypto firms disclosed - report​

BNB-USD -1.02%Mar. 06, 2023 9:42 AM ET

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance (BNB-USD) (BUSD-USD), in an effort to prevent the threat of U.S. prosecution, created an American business -- known as Binance.US -- in 2019, but the two entities have been more intertwined than disclosures have revealed, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing messages, interviews, and documents from 2018 to 2020.
The companies have mixed staff and finances, the report said, and also shared an affiliated entity that traded cryptos.
While Binance mostly operated from China and Japan, one-fifth of its customers were located in the U.S., where regulatory scrutiny of offshore crypto-focused firms ramped up since the collapse of FTX (FTT-USD) late last year, the WSJ noted. The global Binance exchange does not have authority to operate in the U.S.
Furthermore, "Binance developers in China maintained the software code supporting Binance.US users’ digital wallets, potentially giving Binance access to U.S. customer data," the newspaper added.
Of note, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been probing Binance's ties to Binance.US since 2020, the report noted, citing subpoenas and people with knowledge on the matter. Reuters recently reported that Binance in 2021 moved $400M from Binance.US's account at crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital (SI) to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Last week, U.S. senators called on Binance to disclose its finances and raised doubts over its regulatory compliance.

 

[Weather Man]

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Troubled crypto lender Babel Finance said to mull 'recovery coin' to pay back creditors​

HLI -1.32%Mar. 06, 2023 3:43 PM ET

Embattled cryptocurrency lender Babel Finance has proposed the issuance of a new stablecoin backed by crypto through a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, in a bid to repay its creditors after losing $766M last year, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Hong Kong-based firm in June 2022 was forced to suspend customer withdrawals and redemptions, citing "unusual liquidity pressure" at the time. The liquidity crunch then drove Babel to employ investment bank Houlihan Lokey (HLI) as it looked at restructuring.
Earlier, Babel filed a moratorium extension to the high court of Singapore to prohibit its creditors from making claims for up to six months in the hope that its restructuring plan comes to fruition by that deadline. Co-founder Wang Li allegedly was responsible for Babel's outsized losses in 2022, having lost $524M worth of bitcoin (BTC-USD), ethereum (ETH-USD) and other tokens owned by the company and its customers, Bloomberg noted, adding that $224M more was lost after lenders liquidated collateral after failing to meet a slew of margin calls.
In turn, Yang Zhou, co-founder and sole director of Babel, partnered with a number of former employees to build out a DeFi platform -- called Hope -- to mint so-called "Babel Recovery Coins," the people told Bloomberg.
The dollar-pegged stablecoin will initially use bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ether (ETH-USD) as collateral, according to the proposal.
During its financial crisis last summer, Babel was said to have lost $280M worth of bitcoin and ether while trading clients funds.

 

[Weather Man]

SEC takes aim at crypto hedge fund BKCoin for alleged $100M fraud​

Mar. 06, 2023 2:50 PM ET2 Comments

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an emergency action to freeze and appoint a receiver for the assets of cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund BKCoin Management and co-founder Kevin Kang, according to a complaint unsealed Monday.
The SEC's complaint accused Kang and his Miami-based fund of using a portion of the ~$100M it raised from at least 55 investors (from October 2018 through September 2022) to make "Ponzi-like payments and for personal use."
BKCoin and Kang promised investors that their money would be used mostly to trade crypto through separately managed accounts, said the SEC, which was granted emergency relief by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Instead, BKCoin and Kang commingled investor funds and used over $3.6M to make payments to other investors.
In addition, the SEC alleged that Kang misappropriated at least $371K in investor funds for his personal use. He "attempted to conceal the unauthorized use of investor money by providing altered documents with inflated bank account balances to the third-party administrator for certain of the funds."
BKCoin apparently also misrepresented to some investors that one of its funds had been audited by a "top four auditor," when in fact it never received an audit, the SEC said.
The complaint is seeking permanent injunctions against both BKCoin and Kang, in addition to disgorgement, prejudgement interest, and a civil penalty.
The securities regulator's scrutiny of the crypto space has been heating up in the months following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX (FTT-USD). Last month, the SEC sued Terraform Labs and Do Kwon for allegedly running a multibillion-dollar crypto fraud scheme.

 

[CompOrange04GT]

Weather on those copy and pastes again

 

[cobracide]

Little effort for no gain.

 

[Weather Man]

The Feds just saved crypto, for a little while.

Coinbase had $240M cash balance at Signature Bank, expects full recovery​

COIN -8.00%Mar. 12, 2023 7:24 PM ET42 Comments

• After New York state took possession of Signature Bank (SBNY) and transferred it to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) on Sunday said it had a cash balance of ~$240M at Signature Bank as of Friday.
• "As stated by the FDIC, we expect to fully recover these funds," the company said.
• Earlier on Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Department, FDIC, and Federal Reserve said SBNY's depositors will have access to all their funds with no expenses borne by taxpayers.

 

[Kornilov]

The Feds just saved crypto, for a little while.

Coinbase had $240M cash balance at Signature Bank, expects full recovery​

COIN -8.00%Mar. 12, 2023 7:24 PM ET42 Comments

• After New York state took possession of Signature Bank (SBNY) and transferred it to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) on Sunday said it had a cash balance of ~$240M at Signature Bank as of Friday.
• "As stated by the FDIC, we expect to fully recover these funds," the company said.
• Earlier on Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Department, FDIC, and Federal Reserve said SBNY's depositors will have access to all their funds with no expenses borne by taxpayers.

I dont think $240 million is a world ender for Coinbase.

 

[Rb0891]

I dont $240 million is a world ender for Coinbase.

Yes that is like a 5 minute run in the crypto world. Lmao.

 

[CompOrange04GT]

But guys

Weather did a copy paste

 

[robvas]

Up 15% today!

 

[CompOrange04GT]

Up 15% today!

Bs. Obviously your money is fake.

 

[Rb0891]

Bitcoin may not be a hedge against inflation, but it is certainly a hedge against whatever the hell is happening right now.