Strengthens
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, Maker was the best performer for the week, up 30%.
- Goldman Sachs’ digital assets team signaled it is open to bolstering its workforce and flagged the potential for blockchain technology to improve the functioning of markets such as private equity, a Bloomberg article explains.
- Crypto investors are scooping up call options betting on a Bitcoin rebound to $30,000, even as momentum in the digital asset market, Bloomberg reports. Open Bitcoin options increased in February to $9 billion. The last time it was at this level, the coin had traded around $45,000, while it is currently hovering around $23,700 and seeing the biggest 14-day rate of change in its history, the article continues.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was Conflux, down 24%.
- Bitcoin’s two-month rally contains a warning for investors if history is any guide, Bloomberg reports. The February jump in the largest digital token has withered to around 2% compared to the 39% seen in January. When Bitcoin has climbed over two months in a row, but with smaller gains in
- The Superior Court of the District of Columbia denied a motion by MicroStrategy to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he failed to pay income taxes despite living in the District for more than a decade. In addition, the court rejected a claim from Washington DC alleging that Saylor and MicroStrategy conspired to violate the district’s False Claims Act, writes Bloomberg.
Possibilities
- The creators behind Bored Ape Yacht Club are launching their first collection of Bitcoin NFTs. Yuga Labs plans to auction off a collection of 300 generative chips on the Bitcoin blockchain called TwelveFold in what could be the kind of event Bitcoin purists say will slow down the network, Bloomberg writes.
- Jack Dorsey’s digital payments company Block Inc. said it will use its own Bitcoin reserves to provide liquidity to Bitcoin’s Lighting Network, a protocol intended to make transactions on the blockchain more efficient, writes Bloomberg.
- A crypto hedge fund overseeing $400 million is looking to Swiss banks to help plug the gap created by the dissolution of a key payments network run by ailing US lender Silvergate Capital, Bloomberg reports.
Threats
- The SEC has proposed a custody rule to include digital assets and could make it harder for crypto platforms to hold customer funds, Bloomberg reports. The proposal as written would make it nearly impossible for some crypto platforms (those not considered qualified custodians) to accept and hold customers’ digital assets, the article continues.
- Founders of BlockFi Inc. should be held liable for digital assets lost while in BlockFi investment accounts, a class action lawsuit says. Founders Zac Prince and Flori Marquez allegedly made misleading statements about how the platform worked, falsely assuring investors that their cryptocurrency would not be transferred to BlockFi, writes Bloomberg.
- Silvergate Capital fell 58%, the biggest drop in history, as crypto players leave the crypto bank, according to an article published by Bloomberg.
