Crypto prices and app downloads are up
The collapse this month of Silicon Valley Bank and other banks serving crypto clients felt like yet another example of bad news for a crypto industry that has seen more than its fair share over the past six months. But the banking crisis has come with a silver lining: According to data from Apptopia, crypto app downloads have jumped more than 15%, while banking app downloads have fallen around 5% over the same time.
This suggests a decline in trust in the banking sector, particularly among younger people who are more likely to use financial apps in the first place. This might give you pause about the health of the financial sector (or perhaps the health of the world in general), but it’s certainly good news for crypto companies that have seen months of waning interest in their services.
Meanwhile, the increase in app downloads has coincided with an increase in overall crypto prices. Bitcoin is currently trading above $28,000, which is up around 7% in the past week and almost double where it was trading at the start of the year. Most other cryptocurrencies have also experienced double-digit increases. This will provide a welcome boost in trading revenue for the likes of pure crypto companies like Coinbase and Binance, but also for Robinhood, PayPal and a growing list of other traditional firms now offering crypto trading.
If you’re not familiar, the economics of crypto platforms are pretty simple: Companies take a cut of each trade, either as a commission or through the buy-sell spread, and so higher prices mean higher profits. There is more money to be made in brokering a trade when Bitcoin is at $28,000 than when it is at $16,000.
All of this is still a far cry from the heady days of 2021 when Bitcoin pushed $60,000 and everyone and their dog was scrambling to get into crypto. But this latest development will bode well for quarterly earnings, giving crypto companies some breathing room as they try to find a financial path forward. Given the events of the last six months, they’ll be happy to take it.
Jeff John Roberts
[email protected]
@jeffjohnroberts
DECENTRALIZED NEWS
WorldCoin, the well-funded hardware project that encourages people to scan their irises in return for crypto, does so so it can prove “humanity” while preserving privacy. (Fortune)
FTX bankruptcy trustees are suing the company’s Bahamas affiliate in a bid to stop attempts to transfer the company’s assets to the island nation. (WSJ)
A crypto company is leading the way Supreme Court for the first time on Tuesday as Coin base seeks to overturn a California ruling that rejected its compulsory arbitration policy. (SCOTUS blog)
Hong Kongits attempt to position itself as a hub for the digital asset industry has led to interest from more than 80 companies and institutions. (Bloomberg)
GOP presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a legal ban CBDCs although it is unlikely that the state has the constitutional authority to do so. (Coindesk)
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