Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• Filecoin’s native token FIL spiked 24% to around $6.44 on Monday.
• The launch of the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), expected on 14 March, has the community buzzing.
• FVM brings smart contracts and network programmability to the Filecoin network.

Filecoin, a decentralised storage network that allows users to access efficient blockchain-based file storage at low, is hours away from a major network upgrade. The excitement around the new features that come with the upgrade, alongside broader market exuberance, has helped push the value of the native FIL token higher.

Filecoin price today

FIL was trading around $6.36 at 2:00 pm ET on Monday, up more than 24% in the past 24 hours. According to data from TradingView, the cryptocurrency’s price had touched an intraday high of $6.44 on major crypto exchange Coinbase.

Per the market data from CoinGecko, the file storage platform’s native token has jumped more than 32% over the past month.

The broader cryptocurrency market has rallied hard in the past 24 hours, with massive buying pressure on Monday as the markets reacted to news of the US government working to backstop failed banks. 

As CoinJournal reported, the sentiment flip saw Bitcoin add over $4,000 in 24 hours as bulls rallied to prices above $24,000. Most altcoins also soared, with the total cryptocurrency market cap rising nearly 15% to over $1.16 trillion.

But for Filecoin, as noted above, the upside momentum also included buyside pressure catalysed by an upcoming network upgrade.  In February, the Filecoin developer team announced that the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) would go live in March.

The price of FIL tokens jumped more than 26% on the day after the Filecoin news reached the market. Just like then, the latest price surge comes as the developer team confirmed that FVM would go live on Tuesday, 14 March 2023. 

This is because the upgrade is set to introduce smart contracts, allowing for the creation and deployment of decentralised applications (dApps) on Filecoin. The FVM upgrade also unlocks features such as collateral lending and liquid staking.

“Basically – if you regard the Filecoin storage network as a massive decentralized data warehouse whose state is being constantly proven to the public, you can think of the FVM as a programmable controller for it,” the Filecoin team noted last week.

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• Bitcoin breaks above $24,000 as positive sentiment pushes BTC higher.
• Analysts say BTC remains in “danger zone” unless bulls break and hold $25k.
• IntoTheBlock analysts suggest the next major target could be $30,000.

Bitcoin broke above the $24,000 level, soaring a massive $4,000 candle in just over 24-hours to leave bulls targeting a new breakout above $25,000.

In our Bitcoin price prediction article this morning, we highlighted an analysis by popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital. In it, the analyst simply pointed to Bitcoin price having invalidated a double top formation when it rallied from under $20,000 to a weekly close above $21,770.

According to the analyst’s technical outlook for BTC, a break higher was likely given the retest of range lows on the daily chart.

While he suggested a continued range consolidation, he pointed to the potential for bulls to break higher. That came sooner as BTC forced its way above $24,000 amid a spectacular bounce for cryptocurrencies after last week’s sharp declines. But can Bitcoin maintain this upside momentum? Here are what some analysts are saying:

Bitcoin price spikes above $24K – analysts share technical outlook

At current prices, Bitcoin is about $500 “from challenging the macro downtrend,” Rekt Capital has noted. If this happens, BTC could be poised for a huge breakout – possibly with a new macro uptrend in the picture on the monthly chart.

“BTC Monthly RSI looks like it has successfully retested the 2015 & 2018 Bear Market Bottom area as new support,” he added in another tweet.

According to the analyst, Bitcoin still needs to break the macro downtrend line at $25k for a technical breakout in March. Maintaining the positive outlook could see BTC break the macro downtrend in April with breakout price point around $23,400.

The Macro Downtrend #BTC breakout price for the month of March is ~$25000

But in April, the $BTC Macro Downtrend breakout price will be ~$23400

If BTC keeps this up heading into April, it will register a technical breakout just by maintaining the highs#Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/9VWI54oql4

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) March 13, 2023

Like Rekt Capital, crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa suggests bulls aren’t completely out of the woods yet. For him, the price needs to break above and hold support at $25,000. If not, BTC remains in “a danger zone.”

“BTC: Some high time frame resistance areas, I view this current area as a danger zone. 1W 200 EMA + S/R level that price couldn’t break over a few weeks. If we flip $25k soundly, I think we blitz to 30kish areas.”

$BTC: Some high time frame resistance areas, I view this current area as a danger zone. 1W 200 EMA + S/R level that price couldn’t break over a few weeks. If we flip $25k soundly, I think we blitz to 30kish areas. #Bitcoin #BTC pic.twitter.com/dpcRWPf0M1

— Altcoin Sherpa (@AltcoinSherpa) March 13, 2023

According to IntoTheBlock, Bitcoin faced a significant hurdle in the $22,650- $23,325 region after bulls’ strong bounce in the $19,000 area. This supply zone coincided with a zone where 1.14million addresses had acquired BTC, with the average price around $23,022.

But after the swift bounce above this level, on-chain data suggests the next major target is $30,000.

It looks like everyone took this as a challenge. $BTC ran past $23k and all eyes are slowly focussing on $30k https://t.co/CnwF5p8pDW

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) March 13, 2023

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• USDC has re-pegged to $0.99 after crashing to lows of $0.88 last week.
• Circle, the company that issues the stablecoin, has announced the $3.3 billion risk on USDC reserves has been removed.
• The firm also noted it had no USDC reserves exposure with Signature Bank.

The USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin is nearly fully re-pegged following last week’s massive de-pegging to under $0.90.

Data from CoinGecko showed that USDC had repegged nearly 4% in the past 24 hours, with the stablecoin above $0.99 as of 7.20 am ET on Monday. As tweet below from CoinGecko indicates, USDC has indeed held impressively above $0.99 since late Sunday.

$USDC is now at $0.993 following a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and FDIC that all depositors in Silicon Valley Bank will be made whole and have access to their funds on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Y7GsTS6W3Z

— CoinGecko (@coingecko) March 13, 2023

The upbeat mood stemming from the USDC news has also permeated the broader crypto market, with Bitcoin price breaking above $22,000 and Ethereum reclaiming the $1,600 price level.

On Monday morning, Circle announced it was set to have its $3.3 billion USDC reserves that had been stuck at the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) back. The development follows the move by the US Treasury and US prudential regulators’ swift action towards making depositors at SVB and the now shuttered crypto-friendly bank Signature Bank, whole.

Alfonso Peccatielo, founder & CEO of The Macro Compass, highlighted the Fed’s move and plans to “backstop other liquidity issues.”

This is how the Fed intends to backstop other liquidity issues: a new facility called Bank Funding Term Program

The idea is to provide banks with an alternative to liquidate their bond holdings when in need of raising liquidity to meet deposit outflows

Two important points:

3/ pic.twitter.com/XJaFU1YQYk

— Alf (@MacroAlf) March 12, 2023

Circle says also announces “no exposure” to collapsed Signature Bank

According to Circle, the $3.3 billion at SVB accounted for about 8% of the entire USDC cash reserve backing. These money will be available when banks open (on Monday, 13 March 2023). Circle has cash reserves amounting to approximately $9.7 billion (23% of reserves) at the BNY Mellon.

Commenting on the US government’s move, Circle co-founder & CEO Jeremy Allaire, said in a press release:

“We are heartened to see the U.S. government and financial regulators take crucial steps to mitigate risks extending from the banking system. We’ve long advocated for full-reserve digital currency banking that insulates our base layer of internet money and payment systems from fractional reserve banking risk.”

Also notably, Circle has also reiterated that it had no cash reserves exposure at the closed Signature Bank. The company has also announced customers can now access automated USDC minting and redemption via its new banking partner Cross River Bank, maintaining USDC is redeemable 1:1 with the US dollar.

The post USDC bounces to $0.99 as Circle’s $3.3B reserve risk is removed appeared first on CoinJournal.

Key takeaways

• Crypto-friendly bank Signature Bank has been shut down by New York Banking authorities. 

• The Federal Reserve said the decision was made to protect the US economy and strengthen public confidence in the banking system.

• Signature Bank’s closure comes days after the collapse of the Silvergate Bank and the Silicon Valley Bank.

Another crypto-friendly bank has been closed down

The Federal Reserve announced on Sunday that the New York-based Signature Bank had been closed down by its state charter authority.

This latest cryptocurrency news means that Signature Bank is the third major bank to shut down operations within the space of a week. 

In a statement issued on March 12, the Federal Reserve said the decision to shut down Signature Bank was made with the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect the U.S. economy and strengthen public confidence in the banking system.

The United States apex bank added that they would backstop all depositors of Signature Bank. The Federal Reserve wrote;

“We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority. All depositors of this institution will be made whole. As with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, no losses will be borne by the taxpayer.

Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.”

The Federal Reserve pointed out that the move is designed to ensure that the United States continues to perform its vital roles of protecting deposits and providing access to credit to households and businesses in a manner that promotes strong and sustainable economic growth. 

The crypto market remains resilient 

The Fed said shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders would not be protected. 

Signature Bank’s shutdown makes it the third major bank to close operations within the space of a week. On March 9th, crypto-friendly bank Silvergate shut down its operations and voluntarily liquidated its assets. The bank said it made the decision in light of recent industry and regulatory developments.

Silicon Valley Bank, a major bank for some crypto and tech startups, also collapsed last week. However, the crypto market has remained resilient.

Bitcoin rose by nearly 10% on Sunday to trade above $22k after dropping below the $19k level last week. The total cryptocurrency market cap also stands above the $1 trillion level despite the ongoing FUD in the market.

The post New York banking authorities shut down crypto-friendly Signature Bank appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Circle said it failed to remove $3.3 billion from Silicon Valley Bank.
• SVB is under FDIC receivership following its collapse.
• USDC depegged following the news, falling 8% to hit lows of $0.91 on Saturday morning.

Circle, the blockchain payments company that issues the USDC stablecoin, has confirmed that $3.3 billion worth of USDC reserves are stuck at the troubled Silicon Valley Bank.

The latest cryptocurrency news around USDC comes after crypto markets sank on Thursday amid the collapse of SVB and Silvergate Bank.

USDC depegs as Circle confirms $3.3 billion SVB exposure

In a tweet late Friday, Circle noted that efforts to remove its balances from the bank had failed on Thursday, meaning $3.3 billion of the stablecoin’s cash reserves remain at the bank.

“Following the confirmation at the end of today that the wires initiated on Thursday to remove balances were not yet processed, $3.3 billion of the ~$40 billion of USDC reserves remain at SVB,” the firm noted.

In a follow up tweet as it confirmed the exposure to the collapsed bank, the firm noted:

“Like other customers and depositors who relied on SVB for banking services, Circle joins calls for continuity of this important bank in the U.S. economy and will follow guidance provided by state and Federal regulators.”

Circle had earlier disclosed that SVB was one of six banking partners that held roughly 25% of the cash reserves for USDC. That includes Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank that recently announced it was liquidating.

The full list of banks that held cash for Circle’s USDC are Bank of New York Mellon, Citizens Trust Bank, Customers Bank, New York Community Bank (a division of Flagstar Bank, N.A.), Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank.

Read more: https://t.co/xzeyqRgk8D

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) March 11, 2023

Even as sentiment veered south, Circle had noted that it continued to “operate normally,” hinting that it was waiting for clarity on the impact of SVB’s FDIC receivership on depositors before providing more details.

But with uncertainty rising, USDC lost its dollar peg, falling more than 8% to lows of $0.91 early Saturday.

“A black swan failure in US banking system”

Dante Disparte, the Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Global Policy at Circle, also commented on the unfolding events, noting that the company was “protecting USDC from a black swan failure in the US banking system.”

“[SVB] is a critical bank in the US economy and its failure – without a Federal rescue plan – will have broader implications for business, banking and entrepreneurs,” he added.

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