This Week in coins Illustration By Mitchell Preffer For Decrypt.
Cryptocurrency markets saw a surge in volatility this week, as major coins experienced double-digit gains in the midst of banking chaos.
Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, required a $54 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank to stabilize liquidity. UBS, another domestic rival, made an emergency deal of more than $3 billion to purchase the bank.
The news of banking uncertainty pushed investors towards riskier banking alternatives such as cryptocurrency. Bitcoin (BTC) surged from $20,000 to an all-time high this week, currently trading at $27,537. Ethereum’s growth was similarly impressive, rising from roughly $1,400 to $1,740, according to CoinGecko.
Several figures in the crypto industry highlighted the collapse of crypto-friendly banks like Silvergate, Signature and Silicon Valley Bank in order to rehash Bitcoin’s potential role as a “safe-haven” asset.
The Magic Eden NFT marketplace on Solana saw additional support this week, allowing users to mint high-functionality non-fungible assets without having to use Ethereum or Solana smart contracts. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) copies on the network also proliferated.
Other notable price movements this week included XRP, which rose 21%, and Litecoin (LTC), which increased 6.4% to $91. Only three of the top 30 cryptocurrencies suffered significant losses this week.
DeSantis Leads Attack on CBDCs
This week several prominent figures in the US, primarily Republicans, pushed back against the notion of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issued by the Federal Reserve.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was the first, announcing a ban on CBDCs in the state on Monday. He described the measure as a way of preventing “Big Brother’s Digital Dollar” and its potential use as a form of surveillance and control.
Ohio Representative Warren Davidson joined the chorus on Tuesday, calling CBDCs an “Orwellian payments system” and shared a letter to his colleagues urging them to reject the CBDC.
Senator Ted Cruz from Texas followed suit on Wednesday, proposing his own legislative pushback against the notion of a Fed cryptocurrency.
The White House released its annual economic report on Wednesday, which voiced a skeptical stance on crypto, calling it “highly volatile and subject to fraud.”
Finally, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Wells Notice to Coinbase on Wednesday, alleging that the exchange’s staking product was an unregistered security.