Monat: März 2023

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Silvergate shares tumble after company says it’s shutting down crypto bank

  • Silvergate shares fell sharply after news the crypto-friendly bank would be winding down operations.
  • The company says it will issue full repayments of all customer deposits.
  • Silvergate has been in trouble since late 2022 following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

Silvergate Capital shares have plummeted nearly 50% after the company announced it would be winding down its crypto bank.

The company’s stock had closed in the red on Wednesday, falling by more than 30% shortly after the news as investors reacted to the news. As of 7:50 am ET on Thursday, shares of the troubled crypto-friendly bank were 48.8% down ahead of markets open. 

Crypto prices also fell as the news added to the negative sentiment across the market.

Silvergate to wind down crypto bank

In a press announcement published late Wednesday, Silvergate said it would be shutting down the Silvergate Bank and liquidating its assets.

“In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of Bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the Bank is the best path forward. The Bank’s wind down and liquidation plan includes full repayment of all deposits. The Company is also considering how best to resolve claims and preserve the residual value of its assets, including its proprietary technology and tax assets,” the firm wrote.

Silvergate Bank had increasingly hit troubled waters following the collapse of its main customer FTX last November.

The company revealed a $1 billion loss earlier this year, and a significant decline in customer numbers. In recent weeks, the crypto bank has found itself at the center of investigations from US regulators amid mounting financial challenges.

Silvergate’s exit from the crypto scent leaves Signature Bank, a New York-based banking providers with over $114 billion in assets as the main crypto-friendly bank.

The post Silvergate shares tumble after company says it’s shutting down crypto bank appeared first on CoinJournal.

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BIT price recoils as BitDAO prepares for a $95M token unlock

BIT price continued its bearish run on Thursday as focus shifted to the upcoming token unlock. BitDAO’s coin retreated to a low of $0.5073, which was about 21% below the highest level this year. It has also pulled back as the enthusiasm of Mantle’s launch fades.

BitDAO token unlock

One of the biggest cryptocurrency news will be the upcoming token unlocks in the ecosystem. Data compiled by TokenUnlocks shows that there will be tokens worth $95 million that will be unlocked in the next five days. This is an important development considering that token unlocks tend to be bearish for a cryptocurrency. 

The idea behind this is simple since when you increase the amount of tokens in circulation, you tend to dilute existing holders. This dilution is so severe such that dYdX decided to postpone a major unlock event that would have put pressure on the token.

Data shows that the number of BIT tokens that are still locked is falling. 31% of all tokens or 7 1.52 billion are still locked while 7 billion of them are unlocked. According to its schedule, the current batch of tokens will finish being unlocked in September 2024.

For starters, BitDAO is a decentralized platform that makes it possible for people to build dApps. It is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that has over $2.4 billion in assets. It then uses these assets to provide funding to promising developers.

Most of these funds are in the form of BitDAO followed by Ethereum, USD Coin, and Tether. A small amount of the funds are in FTX Token (FTT). 

BIT price has also declined as the hype surrounding Mantle wanes. Mantle is a new layer-2 network that was launched last month. It has similar features to other layer-2 networks like Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism.

BIT price prediction

The 4H chart shows that the BIT price has been in a strong bearish trend in the past few weeks. It has crashed below the lower side of the ascending channel shown in black. At the same time, the pair has dropped below the 50-day and 25-day moving averages. The MACD remains below the neutral level. 

Therefore, BitDAO price will likely continue falling as sellers target the next key support level at $0.45. A move above the resistance at $0.5280 will invalidate the bearish view.

How to invest in BitDAO

As BIT is such a new asset, it’s yet to be listed on major exchanges. You can still purchase BIT using a DEX (decentralised exchange) though, which just means there are a few extra steps. To buy BIT right now, follow these steps:

1. Buy ETH on a regulated exchange or broker, like eToro ›

We suggest eToro because it’s one of the world’s leading multi-asset trading platforms, an exchange and wallet all-in-one with some of the lowest fees in the industry. It’s also beginner-friendly, and has more payment methods available to users than any other available service.

2. Send your ETH to a compatible wallet like Trust Wallet or MetaMask

You’ll need to create your wallet, grab your address, and send your coins there.

3. Connect your wallet to the 1Inch DEX

Head to 1Inch, and ‚connect‘ your wallet to it.

4. You can now swap your ETH for BIT

Now that you’re connected, you’ll be able to swap for 100s of coins including BIT.

The post BIT price recoils as BitDAO prepares for a $95M token unlock appeared first on CoinJournal.

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“Blood in the streets?” On-chain metric suggests it’s time to buy

  • The MVRV metric suggests most altcoins are underbought and present a buying opportunity.
  • A new leg down could however push some of the tokens into a danger zone.
  • Crypto prices have decline alongside weaknesses stocks.

The total cryptocurrency market cap is down 1.7% at the time of writing as the broader crypto market battles yet another bout of heavy losses.

Bitcoin price fell below $21,700 again while Ethereum traded to lows of $1,530 on Thursday, with the leading crypto assets continuing the weakness we highlighted on 8 March. 

Santiment data signals “time to buy altcoins”

According to analysts at market intelligence firm Santiment, the “heavy bleeding” witnessed across the crypto market this week has many altcoins flashing buy signals. Many of the altcoins suggest an underbought outlook as traders realize losses, the firm noted in a tweet posted early Thursday.

One indicator pointing to current price levels as opportune buying zones is the Market Value Realized Value (MVRV) ratio. While prices could still fall, Santiment suggests most altcoins are trending in an opportunity zone where prices are likely to rebound higher.

Notably though, the market could still see a new leg down, pushing some of the coins into the danger zone.

“If you have been awaiting the time to buy altcoins when there is blood in the streets, our MVRV model indicates that this time has arrived. Prices can of course still fall further, but this is the most crypto assets have been in opportunity zones since early January” Santiment tweeted.

As CoinJournal reported earlier this week, the downside followed more negative news around crypto bank Silvergate and this week’s economic commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

In particular, the Fed’s hawkish outlook has the market anxious and that was visible as stocks also fell on Wednesday.

The post “Blood in the streets?” On-chain metric suggests it’s time to buy appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Animoca Brands and Planet Hollywood announce members-only NFT club in LA

  • The new NFT club will be called Club 3.
  • The club will be launched by Animoca Brands in collaboration with Planet Hollywood Group and Meta Hollywood.
  • Club 3 will join the league of exclusive clubs like the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Hong Kong-based Digital entertainment firm Animoca Brands has announced plans for a new members-only NFT club in Los Angele in partnership with Planet Hollywood Group through a joint venture with Meta Hollywood. The move thrusts the longtime Las Vegas digital firm into Web3.

The new exclusive NFT club will be called CLUB 3 and members will hold CLUB 3 NFTs.

Exclusive NFT clubs

It is important to point out that exclusive clubs are now new to the cryptocurrency industry.

Yuga Labs, which recently launched its inaugural Bitcoin NFT auction, leads the space with the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) which was launched in April 2021 and has since become one of the most popular exclusive clubs in crypto.

CLUB 3 aims at replicating BAYC’s success in Hollywood and bridging the gap between real-world and virtual club memberships.

CLUB 3 membership

At the centre of the new CLUB 3 venture is ClubID, a new identity, Hollywood membership, and commerce platform scheduled to launch in beta in 2023. ClubID platform members will have access to amenities like community chat based on the membership type.

ClubID platform members and collectors will be required to mint a Club3 NFT to access the four tiers (Founding, Social, Global, and Corporate Memberships) of CLUB 3 membership. The one-time membership fee for a Founding membership is $7,500 and that of a social membership is $2,500.

According to the team behind the venture, CLUB 3 will also integrate web3 mechanics including community voting on promotions, perks and seasonal menus just in the case of a blockchain DAO.

Actual location of CLUB 3

Although Meta Hollywood has not revealed the details of the actual location of CLUB 3, it is confirmed that CLUB 3 will open at the iconic Sunset Boulevard later this year. The club will consist of a cocktail lounge, restaurant, karaoke rooms, bars, and meeting rooms.

After Hollywood, CLUB 3 intends to expand its reach around the globe with stations in New York, Miami, London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Tokyo.

The post Animoca Brands and Planet Hollywood announce members-only NFT club in LA appeared first on CoinJournal.

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​​Stablecoins and Ether are going to be commodities, says CFTC Chair

Key takeaways

  • CFTC chair Rostin Behnam believes that stablecoins and Ether are going to be commodities.

  • The CFTC has always maintained that Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies are commodities.

  • Behnam has called for a proper regulatory framework to cover the cryptocurrency market.

Stablecoins and Ether will be regarded as commodities

Rostin Behnam, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told the United States senate that Ether and stablecoins should be regarded as commodities.

He made this statement during a Senate Agricultural hearing on Wednesday, March 8th. When asked by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about the differing views held by the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the CFTC’s 2021 settlement with stablecoin issuer Tether, Behnam said the agency considers stablecoins to be commodities. He said;

“Notwithstanding a regulatory framework around stablecoins, they’re going to be commodities in my view. It was clear to our enforcement team and the commission that Tether, a stablecoin, was a commodity.”

The CFTC had maintained that some digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ether, are commodities. 

When asked what evidence the agency would use to win regulatory influence over Ether during the Senate hearing, the CFTC chair said it wouldn’t allow Ether futures products to be listed on CFTC exchanges if it didn’t believe that it was a commodity asset. He added that;

“We have litigation risk, we have agency credibility risk if we do something like that without serious legal defenses to support our argument that [the] asset is a commodity.”

A regulatory framework for crypto is still needed in the United States

Regulating cryptocurrency companies in the United States have been left to the SEC and CFTC. However, there is no clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency companies to operate in the United States.

The SEC has been very active in regulating cryptocurrency companies for what it believes are violations of securities laws.

Last month, the SEC charged Nishad Singh, a former lead engineer at cryptocurrency exchange FTX for defrauding investors of the now-collapsed crypto trading platform.

The regulatory agency is also investigating Robinhood over its cryptocurrency activities.

The post ​​Stablecoins and Ether are going to be commodities, says CFTC Chair appeared first on CoinJournal.