Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley published a report on Tuesday arguing that Bitcoin (BTC)’s upcoming halving event in six months may be the dawn of a new bull market.
With reference to Bitcoin’s “four seasons,” the bank claimed that “crypto winter” may already be over.
Crypto Winter Is Over
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management defines cryptocurrency “winter” as a period of the “four-year cryptocurrency cycle” that begins after Bitcoin taps an all-time high and investors begin to sell their assets and scare off new investments. It usually lasts about 13 months before the next price trough.
This period follows the crypto Spring when Bitcoin slowly recovers from its trough, but investor interest remains low.
“Based on current data, signs indicate that crypto winter may be
Articles by Andrew Throuvalas
Binance.US Now Has an Unexpected Ally in its Fight Against the SEC
21 hours agoBinance.US has garnered support from a major crypto lobbyist group in warding off an ongoing lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a new amicus brief, the US Chamber of Digital Commerce argued that the agency’s claims against the exchange are misplaced, and that its actions are turning crypto businesses away from its borders.
Regulation By Enforcement
In the Thursday filing, the lobbyists echoed previous criticisms from industry leaders that the SEC is creating a hostile environment for crypto businesses through “regulation by enforcement.”
“The trillion-dollar blockchain economy—is conspicuously avoiding the United States, finding the regulatory environment too opaque and too hostile to conduct business here,” the advocacy group wrote.
The SEC
BlackRock Says Bitcoin Market Is Unregulated, Lacks Transparency In New ETF Filing
3 days agoInvestment management giant BlackRock filed an amended version of its spot Bitcoin ETF S-1 application form on Wednesday, following numerous updated filings from rival firms.
The updated filing includes five additional pages of text warning of additional risks the fund’s investors may face, including risks related to Bitcoin itself.
Bitcoin Lacks Transparency, Says BlackRock
In the filing dated October 18, BlackRock modified a risk disclosure related to how its share prices can be impacted by chaotic events in the crypto industry at large. While previously addressing how fraud and security failures around major Bitcoin exchanges could affect the fund, BlackRock expanded its warning to include Bitcoin itself, whose market is “unregulated” and “lacks transparency.”
“Due to
Over 100 US Lawmakers Petition Biden To Combat Crypto-Funded Terrorism
4 days agoThe Biden administration is being called upon by over 100 lawmakers in the United States to clarify its efforts at combatting global terrorist financing using cryptocurrencies.
The bipartisan letter follows reports that Hamas, the Islamist organization that launched attacks on Israeli civilians earlier this month, used crypto to raise millions of dollars over the past two years.
Terrorism and Crypto
Citing the Wall Street Journal, lawmakers alleged that between August 2021 and June 2023, both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) raised over $130 million in crypto, of which $12 million was sent to the Islamist militant group Hezbollah this year.
“Given the clear and present danger posed by the financing of these and other militant organizations, we ask the
The SEC is Finally Engaging With Bitcoin ETF Applicants: Cathie Wood
4 days agoAfter years of delaying and stonewalling a highly anticipated spot Bitcoin ETF, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is starting to have more productive conversations about the product with hopeful applicants.
One such hopeful is Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, who said on Monday that her company has noticed a positive “change in behavior” from the regulator.
Warming Up to a Bitcoin ETF
During an interview with CNBC on Monday, Wood noted that Ark disclosed its response last week to a previous line of questions from the SEC, which sought clarifications on what risks a spot ETF could pose to investors, and measures Ark would take to address some of them.
In collaboration with 21Shares, Ark is one of twelve investment managers racing to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the
Hackers Drain Fantom Foundation Wallets For $7 Million
5 days agoThe Fantom Foundation has been drained of hundreds of millions of dollars from its crypto wallets by a phishing scammer, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.
Fantom is a smart contract and Dapp platform focused on enhanced speed, making transactions more efficient than other layer-one blockchains like Ethereum. Tuesday’s hack affects only the Fantom Foundation – not the blockchain itself.
Fantom Loses $7 Million
The foundation, which oversees development for the Fantom blockchain, lost at least $470,000 on Fantom and another $187,000 on Ethereum. According to CertiK, stolen funds have now been consolidated into a wallet holding roughly 4,500 ETH, worth approximately $7 million.
“Estimated loss is ~$7m across multiple wallets,” said CertiK.
On-chain data shows that
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Calls Bitcoin Pump A “Flight to Quality”
5 days agoLarry Fink – CEO of $10 trillion investment management giant BlackRock – says crypto is a “flight to safety” asset class, comparable it to the likes of gold and US Treasuries.
In an interview with Fox Business, Fink dismissed the idea that Bitcoin (BTC)’s rally on Monday was merely due to a false rumor about his fund’s spot ETF application being approved by regulators.
“This rally is way beyond the rumor,” he said. “I think the rally today is about a flight to quality with all the issues around the Israeli war now.”
Fink added that he believes more people are running toward quality assets in general, including treasuries, gold, or crypto. “I believe that crypto will play that type of role as a flight to quality,” he said.
In June, Fink said Bitcoin was comparable to
FTX Executive Details Sam Bankman Fried’s “Excessive” Spending On Celebrity Deals
5 days agoNishad Singh – FTX’s former director of engineering – revealed more details about the crypto exchange’s profligate spending during his testimony at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Monday.
Singh pled guilty to both money laundering and campaign finance violations, breaking down his involvement in the company’s over $100 million in donations to political candidates.
Excessive and Flashy Spending
As explained by Singh, the executive came to know Bankman-Fried through his younger brother, Dave, with whom he was close friends. He began working at Alameda Research in 2017, when Sam Bankman-Fried and his partner, Gary Wang, were still formally leading the trading desk.
Singh said his impression of Sam grew sour over time. “I’ve been intimidated,” he explained. “Sam is a
Fake BlackRock ETF News Caused This Crypto Whale To Lose Big
6 days agoOn-chain data shows that a wealthy crypto investor lost $49,000 on a bad trade following false reports about BlackRock receiving approval on its Bitcoin ETF application.
As noted by analysts from Lookonchain on Monday, an anonymous whale traded $613,201 in USDC for 20.5 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) using 1Inch shortly after the initial report dropped.
At first, Bitcoin’s price had cracked above $29,000 in light of the news. However, after sources at Blackrock confirmed the news was fake, Bitcoin’s price quickly fell back to $28,000.
Ten minutes after his purchase, the whale immediately sold all of his BTC back into dollars, but only received $563,970 USDC in return. That amounts to a $49,000 loss in just ten minutes.
Data from Glassnode shows that price volatility around the
Ex BlockFi CEO Discusses Loans to Alameda in SBF Trial
9 days agoZac Prince – former CEO of collapsed crypto lending firm BlockFi – took the stand during Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial in New York City on Friday.
The CEO discussed the size of his loans to the exchange’s sister trading desk, Alameda Research, and what exactly he knew about the state of their balance sheet as one of its major creditors.
How BlockFi Went Bust
Per testimony summarized by Inner City Press, Prince said BlockFi lent out “five to ten billion dollars” overall, of which $50 million initially went to Alameda. Between May 2021 and May 2022, he said that amount increased from $50 million to $1.1 billion.
After that, disaster struck: the LUNA ecosystem imploded, Three Arrows Capital defaulted to the company, and rival firms Celsius and Voyager froze their platforms. This
Lido Finance Slashed For $30,000 On Ethereum After Staking Malfunction
10 days agoLeading liquid staking protocol Lido Finance revealed on Wednesday that 20 Ethereum validators related to one of its infrastructure partners had been slashed of their ETH holdings.
The company said its penalties already amount to 20.04 ETH, currently worth $30,900.
What is “Slashing?”
In an update over Twitter, Lido said that the problematic validators – connected to the “enterprise-grade” Ethereum node provider Launcnodes – have already been taken offline.
The following day, Lido claimed to have identified the ”root cause” of the slashing, for which a “post mortem” will be published in the coming days. “Small details” are still being investigated.
“The Lido DAO has a cover fund of ~6,200 stETH to help mitigate the slashing impact, but it does not trigger automatically,”
Caroline Ellison Says FTX Bribed The Chinese Government With $100 Million
11 days agoFormer Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison offered more details about various financial crimes she committed at FTX with her ex-boyfriend, Sam Bankman-Fried while testifying in court on Wednesday.
Besides stealing FTX customers’ money, Ellison said FTX bribed the Chinese government with $100 million to unlock a much larger pool of frozen assets.
FTX’s Bribes
According to a summary provided by Inner City Press on Wednesday, Alameda resorted to bribery after alternative methods to recover funds had failed.
“We tried to hire a lawyer there. It didn’t work,” Ellison said. “We used other people’s accounts. Ryan Salame told me. But it didn’t work either.”
Instead, the exchange conspired with two Chinese individuals with insider connections to the Chinese government. One of the
Standard Charted Says Ethereum Could Reach $8,000 By 2026
11 days agoResearchers at Standard Chartered Bank recently claimed that Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, could rise to 500% of its current price by the year 2026.
The bank’s bullish prediction follows a similarly optimistic forecast for Bitcoin (BTC), which it claimed could reach $120,000 before 2025.
Why ETH Could Skyrocket
Per a research report published by the bank on Wednesday, Ethereum’s dominance compared to other smart contract platforms combined with upcoming technical upgrades is likely to drive value to its native gas token.
“We think Ethereum’s established dominance in smart contract platforms, along with emerging uses in gaming and tokenization, has the potential to push ETH to the $8,000 level by end-2026 (a 5x multiple from the current price
Here’s What SBF’s Ex-Girlfriend Said In Court About the FTX Fraud
11 days agoFormer Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison took the stand on Tuesday to testify to the alleged crypto fraud led by her and her ex-boyfriend, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ellison claimed that Alameda took over $10 billion FTX customer to pay off its loans, all at Bankman-Fried’s order.
Caroline Ellison Speaks
As summarized by Inner City Press on Tuesday, Ellison confessed immediately that she committed fraud alongside Bankman-Fried and others. “He directed me to commit these crimes,” she said.
“Alameda took several billions of dollars from FTX customers and used it for investments,” she continued. “He set up the systems and told us to take the money.”
When asked how much money Alameda had taken, Ellison said it was “in the ballpark of $10 billion,” and “ultimately around $14
New Research Paper “BitVM” Could Bring Ethereum Programs to Bitcoin
12 days agoRobert Linus – project lead at Bitcoin development group ZeroSync – has proposed a new system allowing developers to “compute anything on Bitcoin,” giving it functionality more similar to its neighboring crypto network Ethereum.
Unlike other proposals to expand Bitcoin’s capabilities, “BitVM” does not require any changes to Bitcoin’s code that could cause the network and community to contentiously rift apart.
What is BitVM?
According to the project’s whitepaper published on Monday, BitVM is a “computing paradigm to express Turing complete Bitcoin contracts.”
Rather than executing complex computations on the blockchain itself, the system suggests that they merely be “verified” on Bitcoin, with computation done off-chain. Linus likened the system to optimistic rollups – an
FTX Hijacked Customer Funds As Early As 2019, Says Co-Founder
15 days agoFTX co-founder Gary Wang revealed more details of Alameda Research’s corrupt relationship with his exchange during Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Friday.
During his testimony, Wang claimed that the function required for Alameda to steal client funds had been baked into FTX’s computer systems back in 2019.
Alameda’s Special Privileges
As summarized by Inner City Press over Twitter, Gary Wang said Alameda was granted three special privileges at FTX compared to other customers.
One was the “allow negative” feature, allowing Alameda to trade with more funds than it actually had in its account. As Wang had previously testified, Alameda could withdraw unlimited funds from FTX.
This feature was later exploited to withdraw $8 billion worth of fiat and crypto beyond what the
Bitcoin Will Surge to $750,000 By 2026, Predicts Arthur Hayes
17 days agoBitMEX co-founder and macro-analyst Arthur Hayes recently predicted that Bitcoin’s price will soar between $750,000 and $1,000,000 per coin within roughly 3 years.
His prediction, which is far more bullish than that of most analysts, rests on a macroeconomic thesis that all financial assets are due for an unprecedented boom.
The Biggest Bull Market Ever
In an interview with Impact Theory published on Tuesday, Hayes claimed that Bitcoin will continue to trade sideways near $25,000 to $30,000 this year, before rising beyond its previous all-time high of $69,000 by the end of 2024.
Next year’s gains will be fueled by a growing economy that renders real-interest rates negative, incentivizing investors to continue looking for yield in more risky areas of the economy, such as
Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Blame His Ex-Girlfriend and CZ For FTX’s Collapse
18 days agoWith jury selection finished, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF)’s trial is officially underway, with prosecutors and defense lawyers delivering their opening statements on Wednesday.
During his remarks, SBF’s lawyer Mark Cohen asserted that the former exchange tycoon “didn’t defraud anyone,” instead pointing the finger at Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for causing a “run on the bank at FTX.”
SBF Was “Just A Math Nerd”
As summarized by Inner City Press on Wednesday, Cohen maintained that SBF acted in “good faith” and “did not steal from anyone,” believing any loans made from FTX to its sister hedge fund Alameda Research were “permitted.”
As alleged by prosecutors, Bankman-Fried had secretly arranged for customers’ fiat and crypto deposits to his exchange could be
Here’s When Former Celsius CEO Mashinsky Is Officially Headed To Trial
19 days agoAlex Mashinsky – former boss of defunct crypto lending firm Celsius – is scheduled to begin his criminal fraud trial on September 17, 2024.
US District Judge John Koeltl confirmed the news during a hearing on Tuesday, adding that there will be three pretrial conferences in March, July, and September.
In the meantime, Mashinsky will remain free on $40 million bail, while still subject to electronic monitoring and major restrictions on expenditures over $10,000.
Mashinsky is beleaguered with a range of fraud and conspiracy charges related to his high-risk lending firm, one of which includes securities fraud. Prosecutors include the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Speaking before the judge on Tuesday, Mashinsky’s defense
After Bitcoin: Grayscale Files to Convert Another Major Trust into ETF
20 days agoGrayscale, the company behind the world’s largest crypto funds, has now moved to convert its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) into a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF.
Since the announcement, shares for ETHE have shot up 2.71% on the day.
Grayscale’s Pivot to Ethereum
Per a press release shared by Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnhenshein, the conversion to an ETF would mark the “final stage” of the Ethereum Trust’s planned lifecycle since launching in March 2019.
“At Grayscale, our unwavering commitment is to offer investors transparent and regulated access to crypto through product structures that are familiar,” said Sonnhenshein in a statement.
An ETF – or “exchange-traded fund” – is a stock index that tracks the price of an underlying asset or basket of assets, such as cryptocurrency. A
How Ethereum Can Appeal to Institutional Investors: Fidelity
22 days agoEthereum (ETH) may now present advantages to institutional investors over Bitcoin (BTC), according to Fidelity’s Director of Research, Chris Kuiper.
During an interview with the Bankless podcast on Wednesday, Kuiper argued that legacy finance is “getting past the Bitcoin point” in terms of its understanding of crypto at large, opening its minds to other digital assets.
Institutions Moving Beyond Bitcoin
According to Kuiper, one of the key factors boosting Ethereum’s attractiveness to investors is its maturation as a protocol.
“It has set itself apart from Bitcoin even more,” said Kuiper. “The switch to proof of stake and all of these things coming up… it’s making its differentiated use case, and that helps with the diversification narrative with institutional investors as
Coinbase (COIN) Pops 6% Following Perpetual Futures Greenlight for Retail
24 days agoCrypto trading platform Coinbase has received regulatory approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to bring perpetual futures trading to retail customers outside of the United States.
Following Thursday’s announcement, COIN shares popped 6.81% on the day.
Perpetual Futures Comes to Retail
In the company’s announcement on Thursday, Coinbase framed its offering as part of its “Go Broad, Go Deep” strategy – an effort to partner with global regulators who are working to enact clear rules for the crypto industry.
“Our perpetual futures contracts have been built within rigorous compliance standards on Coinbase International Exchange and have already seen over $5.5 billion in notional trading volume from institutions as of Q2,” Coinbase stated.
Perpetual futures are
HTX Loses $7.9 Million To Hackers, Justin Sun Responds
27 days agoSeychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange HTX (formerly Huobi) has lost $7.9 million worth of ETH to a hacker, on-chain data shows.
The exchange has already identified the culprit and is ordering a return of funds with the threat of legal action.
As noted by blockchain security firm Peckshield, exactly 4999 ETH ($7,866,926.30) left Huobi’s wallet on Sunday at roughly 10:00 am UTC.
Tron founder and Huobi advisor Justin Sun confirmed on Monday that the outbound transfer was indeed a hack, listing the hacker’s addresses here and here.
Sun noted that all losses have been fully covered by the exchange already and that all related issues have already been resolved.
The billionaire added that HTX holds $3 billion worth of assets for clients in total, and its losses to the hacker
Why Anthony Scarmucci Is Bullish on Bitcoin Despite Bear Market
29 days agoThough Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade well below its 2021 November 2021 highs, Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and former White House communications chief, remains steadfastly bullish on the asset.
Speaking at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York, Scaramucci expressed confidence that the worst of the bear market is now behind us.
Why Bitcoin Goes Up From Here: Scaramucci
During a fireside chat titled “Why I’m still bullish,” Scaramucci encouraged bitcoin holders not to sell.
“You [young people] will be mainstreaming Bitcoin the way my generation mainstreamed the internet,” he said, pointing to the crowd. “The next 10 to 20 years are remarkably bullish [for bitcoin].”
His remarks remained consistent with his statements to Bloomberg in March,
Tether Announces Strategic Investment Into European AI Firm
September 21, 2023Stablecoin giant Tether has announced a strategic investment in German-listed Bitcoin miner Northern Data Group (ETR: NB2), which the former says will be “the biggest independent AI Player in Europe.”
The investment follows previous attempts from Tether to expand beyond fintech, and continues a growing trend of crypto firms diversifying into artificial intelligence.
Tether’s Big AI Play
Per Tether’s statement on Thursday, the company said that Northern Data’s commitment to “resilient data storage and high-performance computing” aligns with the stablecoin issuer’s “forward-looking” goals. Its initiatives with the firm will leverage several technologies including AI, and peer-to-peer communication, among other things.
“We are excited about this investment into Northern Data
PayPal’s PYUSD Stablecoin Launches On Venmo
September 20, 2023After announcing its new payment stablecoin last month, PayPal revealed on Wednesday that Paypal USD (PYUSD) is now available to Venmo users for transacting with peers.
Initially available to “select users,” access will expand to all Venmo users in the coming weeks, according to the company’s announcement.
Venmo, a mobile payments app owned by PayPal, will allow users to buy and send PYUSD to other Venmo users and PayPal wallets.
PayPal touts free stablecoin transfers between PayPal and Venmo users, marking a first for wallet interoperability at scale.
“Individuals using compatible external wallets, and merchants accepting payments in PYUSD, will also be able to receive transfers from Venmo users,” added the firm. “Blockchain network fees apply.”
PYUSD is an
Read More »Bitcoin Trades Flat After Fed Maintains Interest Rate Level At FOMC
September 20, 2023The Federal Reserve announced no change to its policy interest rate following its Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday.
Likewise, Bitcoin’s price showed little change after the announcement, down just 0.17% on the day.
Per the Fed’s announcement, the central bank “decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent.”
The statement noted that while job gains have slowed, they remain elevated. Unemployment is also still low, while inflation remains above target.
The decision was largely predicted by markets and signals a potential peak for the Fed’s rapid rate hiking regime that began early last year.
In a Monday interview, BlackRock’s Marilyn Watson predicted that the Fed’s target rate will likely remain flat until
BlackRock and Others Predict Fed’s Next Move: What it Means For Bitcoin
September 19, 2023Asset management giant BlackRock expects the Federal Reserve to keep its policy interest rate flat at its next Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday.
The prediction is in line with market expectations and is suspected by analysts to offer Bitcoin (BTC) a meaningful short-term price boost.
BlackRock’s Fed Forecast
According to Marilyn Watson – BlackRock’s head of Global Fundamental Income Strategy – the central bank’s federal funds target rate will remain roughly the same until the end of the year – going through its September, November, and December meetings.
However, Watson also expects the Fed’s target rate to remain elevated until mid-2024 before a series of modest cuts bring it down 1% from its current level by the end of next year.
“In terms of
CZ Says Departed Binance.US CEO Just Needed A Break
September 15, 2023Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) published a tweet re-encouraging followers to “ignore FUD” – this time surrounding rotating management at his exchange’s U.S. subsidiary, Binance.US.
The statement follows three executive departures from the exchange this week, mimicking earlier, similar behavior from top brass at the international exchange.
In his tweet, CZ noted speculation regarding recent management changes at Binance.US, one of which included the exit of CEO Brian Shroder earlier this week.
“Brian Shroder is taking a deserved break after accomplishing what he set out to do when he joined two years ago,” wrote CZ. “We are grateful for his contributions.”
Shroder’s position is now replaced by Norman Reed, a former member of the SEC and New York Federal Reserve. CZ
Read More »Bybit Likely to Exit U.K. Following New Regulations
September 14, 2023With new marketing regulations set to take effect in the United Kingdom next month, crypto exchange Bybit doesn’t expect to be able to continue operating within the country.
The exchange’s CEO, Ben Zhou, claims that any crypto firm within U.K. borders may be held accountable for solicitation simply for using the English language.
Troubles With New Marketing Rules
As reported by The Block, Zhou said regulation is becoming “more strict,” and that the exchange will likely have to “retreat in many countries” – the U.K. being one of them.
The nation’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) contacted Bybit, alongside rival exchanges like Binance and OKX to verify how such firms will deal with its new law, which restricts how crypto firms are allowed to service U.K. citizens.
Until