Strengths
- CoinMarketCap’s leading crypto asset of the week was Frax Share, with a 52.68% increase.
- Bitcoin is starting the year off on a high note, appearing to have shed its negative sentiment from 2020 and is on the verge of its longest winning streak in almost a decade. After rising for 13 consecutive days, the stock was flat and traded above $21,000, according to Bloomberg.
- The controversial FTT token from FTX saw a 40%+ boost following the appointment of John J. Ray as the new CEO of the defunct company. He is exploring the option of relaunching the crypto exchange, and customers may be able to retrieve their funds, as reported by Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- According to CoinMarketCap’s crypto tracker, the worst performing asset of the week was The Trust Wallet, dropping 3.46%.
- Silvergate Capital Corp. reported a $1B loss following a quarter marked by a sharp dip in deposits due to the FTX crash. The primary source of the losses was the asset sales the bank had to do as a result of the crypto exchange’s bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
- Bitcoin has fallen for the second time in two weeks, interrupting a series of gains that provided some respite for those who lost money in 2020. The price of a single coin decreased to as low as 4.2%, or $20,412, Wednesday, as reported by Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- HashKey Capital is creating one of the most important crypto investment groups, having raised $500 million from investors in Asia. This fund will be used to invest in blockchain technology that can be widely adopted, according to Bloomberg.
- Former FTX US President Brett Harrison has secured $5 million from investors to build a new crypto software startup. The software is designed to allow large institutional investors, like banks, to trade on both the centralized and decentralized crypto markets, as reported by Bloomberg.
- Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Cardano Blockchain, has stated he is considering buying crypto news service CoinDesk in order to turn it into a news and community site. CoinDesk has retained Lazard as a financial advisor to explore options, including a partial or full sale, Bloomberg reports.
Threats
- OSL, the digital asset platform backed by Fidelity International, has announced it will be cutting costs by a third due to the ongoing turmoil in the crypto markets. The cost-cutting decision was made due to “current market conditions,” as reported by Bloomberg.
- A Russian national has been charged with money laundering in connection with a crypto operation that enabled criminals to conceal proceeds from illegal gambling and drug trades worth $700 million. Anatoly Legkodymov, founder of Bitcoin exchange Bitzlato, was arrested in Miami on Tuesday, according to the US Department of Justice. The financial resources were key to the success of the Hydra dark web market, as noted by Bloomberg.
- Genesis Global Holdco, a crypto lender, has filed for bankruptcy due to the rapid fall of FTX. The company submitted a Chapter 11 petition in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, as reported by Bloomberg.
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