Monat: März 2023

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Bitcoin breaks below $20K amid crypto bloodbath: Here’s what happened

  • Bitcoin price fell below $20,000 after its biggest dump since November 2022.
  • The top crypto asset by market cap dumped amid broader selloff for cryptocurrencies, largely fueled by negative news.
  • Among other news, the New York Attorney General has sued KuCoin over offering of unregistered securities, with Ethereum named as one of the securities.

Bitcoin price has dropped nearly 10% in the past 24 hours amid negative cryptocurrency news that could yet catalyse further losses.

As the Bitcoin price chart below shows, the value of the leading cryptocurrency by market fell to lows of $19,569 on cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. 

Bitcoin price fell below $20,000 to hit $19,569 on Bitstamp. Source: TradingView

This after a selloff that began late Thursday extended into Friday morning, with the dump pushing BTC below the psychological support zone of $20,000 for the first time since early January. Bitcoin has also seen its biggest price dump since November 2022 during the FTX dump.

Why Bitcoin and crypto crashed today

As CoinJournal reported early Friday, today’s selling pressure for cryptocurrencies comes after the New York Attorney General sued the crypto exchange Kucoin alleging it sold unregistered securities. The negative news was compounded by the fact that the lawsuit identified Ethereum as one of the securities.

The market’s reaction saw Ethereum price plunge to lows of $1,375 and was down 9.8% at the time of writing.

Overall selloff pressure also follows news that crypto bank Silvergate was winding down. The company’s shares plummeted nearly 50% in the aftermath, with fears of even more damage amid a Silicon Valley “bank run.”

Another headline news likely to have fueled fresh downside for crypto was reports that the US was targeting a new tax on Bitcoin mining. Huobi Token’s flash crash and a security breach on Hedera also added to the broader market bloodbath.

Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher highlighted this confluence of negative triggers, noting that stocks and cryptocurrencies have shed over $2 trillion in market cap over the past 24 hours. 

The post Bitcoin breaks below $20K amid crypto bloodbath: Here’s what happened appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Ark Invest adds $20.5M Coinbase shares: COIN share price down 7%

  • Ark Invest purchased 301,347 Coinbase shares on Thursday.
  • Ark had purchased more Coinbase shares on Wednesday.
  • In February Ark purchased $30 million worth of Coinbase shares.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has remained bullish on Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) stock despite the stock dropping by more than 10% since the beginning of March. On March 10, 2023, Coinbase shares were going for $64.67 compared to today’s price of $58.09.

According to its latest trade filing, Ark Invest on Thursday added 301,437 Coinbase shares to its Ark Innovation ETF and 52,525 Coinbase shares to Ark Next Generation Internet. The total value of shares purchased by Ark on Thursday amounted to $20.5 million.

Ark Invest also added 265,000 Robinhood shares (worth about $2.5 million), which were solely added to the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF.

Ark invests in Coinbase amid the crypto meltdown

While many are sceptical about crypto-related firms amid the current crypto market meltdown, Cathie Wood seems quite optimistic about Coinbase, which could be seen as a vote of confidence on the crypto exchange.

While several cryptocurrency exchanges are facing accusations by various regulatory authorities in the United States, Coinbase has continued to receive some considerable edge. For example, the US government recently reportedly moved BTC worth $217 million to Coinbase. The collapse of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate, the shockwaves caused by crypto VCs-friendly Silicon Valley Bank selling assets and stock to raise funds, and the risk of prolonged interest rate increases in the US have driven down market sentiment this week.

In February Ark purchased Coinbase shares worth more than $30 million adding to another $3.2 million worth of Coinbase shares purchased in December.

The post Ark Invest adds $20.5M Coinbase shares: COIN share price down 7% appeared first on CoinJournal.

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HT, Huobi’s native token, price crashed by 90% on Thursday: here’s why

  • $2 million HT tokens were sold on Huobi prior to the crash.
  • HT price momentarily dropped from $4.6 to $0.31.
  • Tron’s founder Justin Sun is the largest holder of HT tokens.

HT, the native token of Huobi Exchange, crashed by over 90% on Thursday dropping to $0.31 from $4.6 in just 10 minutes.

Although the price has since recovered, the token was trading at $3.81, 21% down in the past 24 hours at press time.

Huobi price Chart: Source CoinMarketCap

 

What caused the brief HT price drop?

According to transaction data from Kaiko’s research analyst, Riyad Carey, more than $2 million HT tokens were sold on Huobi in the minutes leading to the HT crash. Justin Sun was also reported to have moved $60 million in USDT from Huobi to Aave.

Interestingly, Tron’s founder Justin Sun is the largest holder of HT tokens and serves as an advisor to the Huobi crypto exchange.

In the same period when HT price dropped by 90%, Tron’s token, TRX price dropped by 12% from $0.057 to $0.066.

Commenting on the spontaneous price plunge Justin Sun said:

“Few users triggering a cascade of forced liquidations in the spot and HT contract markets… We will continue to improve the liquidity depth of main cryptocurrencies and HT token, strengthen leverage risk warnings and liquidity capabilities.”

Sun also dismissed the price drop as a normal market occurrence and assured the Huobi community that Huobi operations are safe. He also said that he will create a $100 million liquidity fund for those impacted by the leveraged liquidation. He actually confirmed via Twitter that he has transferred $100 million in USDC stablecoin to Huobi.

The post HT, Huobi’s native token, price crashed by 90% on Thursday: here’s why appeared first on CoinJournal.

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New York State Attorney General files a lawsuit KuCoin

  • The NY state AG was able to buy and sell crypto on KuCoin.
  • KuCoin is however not registered in New York.
  • This is the AG’s eighth lawsuit against shadowy cryptocurrency platforms.

Letitia James, the New York state Attorney General, has announced that she has filed a lawsuit against KuCoin for issuing crypto services in New York without registration.

James says that she was able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange despite the fact that it has not been registered in New York as a securities broker or dealer.

Violating securities law

In the suit filed on March 9 at the Supreme Court of the State of New York County, James also alleges that KuCoin violated securities law by selling and offering to sell and purchase and purchasing cryptocurrencies that are securities and commodities to New Yorkers without first seeking registration.

In addition, the lawsuit also alleges that KuCoin error by selling its KuCoin Earn product. The AG has labelled this product as a security that has not been registered.

There are also allegations that KuCoin misrepresented itself since it hasn’t registered itself as one to be allowed to function as one.

James cites Ethereum as security in the lawsuit

The New York AG’s suit also states that under the state and federal authority, LUNA, UST and ETH are categorized as commodities under the state’s Martin Act and that KuCoin filed to register as a commodities broker.

It is the first time the AG has referred to Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) as a security although there have been similar allegations by people in other regulatory authorities in the US.

KuCoin’s native token KCS drops 5.7%

The price of KCS, the native token of KuCoin, has plunged 5.78% partly buoyed by the recent developments.

KuCoin is ranked the fifth largest cryptocurrency exchange if found guilty could be liable to a fine as was the case with Kraken, one of the leading US-based cryptocurrency exchanges, which was fined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for offering unregulated crypto investment products.

The post New York State Attorney General files a lawsuit KuCoin appeared first on CoinJournal.