Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “take decisive action to put an end to the regulatory gray area in which the crypto industry has operated.” He added that he plans to work with his colleagues in Congress in the coming weeks “to examine options for federal legislation.” Rep. Brad Sherman on Cryptocurrency Regulation Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), chairman of the subcommittee on Investor Protection and Capital Markets, released a statement regarding the implosion of cryptocurrency exchange FTX on Sunday. FTX’s “sudden collapse” has been “a dramatic demonstration of both the inherent risks of digital assets and the critical weaknesses in the industry that has grown up around them,” the lawmaker described. Noting that “We do not yet know the scope of financial harm caused to consumers and investors in the U.S. and around the world,” Sherman stressed: It is crucial that we develop a clear understanding of the chain of event...

A Citi analyst has warned of a serious risk of broader contagion to the crypto ecosystem stemming from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, noting that the contagion “can last for a significant amount of time.” He added that the crypto industry seems to have “no significant lender of last resort.” Citi’s Analyst Warns of Broader Contagion to Crypto Ecosystem Citi analyst Joseph Ayoub explained in an interview with CNBC Friday that the overall cryptocurrency market faces risks of contagion from the implosion of FTX. The troubled crypto exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday. The Citi analyst cautioned: I think there’s a serious risk of broader contagion to the ecosystem itself. However, he added: “It’s unlikely that contagion spreads toward broader financial markets, and that’s mainly because of the size of the crypto space, which is only around $830 billion in comparison to the $43 trillion U.S. equity market.” Ayoub further predicted that companies in the crypto sect...

Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, says recent blowups in the crypto space, including the FTX implosion, “have been banking blowups,” not crypto blowups. He also explained why he invests in crypto. Recent Blowups Aren’t Crypto Specific Mark Cuban explained on Twitter Saturday that the implosion of FTX is not a crypto blowup. Commenting on his Shark Tank co-star Kevin O’Leary discussing why the collapse of the crypto exchange signals a turning point in the industry, Cuban tweeted: These blowups have not been crypto blowups, they have been banking blowups. “Lending to the wrong entity, misvaluations of collateral, arrogant arbitrages, followed by depositor runs,” the Shark Tank star elaborated. “See long-term capital, savings & loan and sub-prime blowups. All different versions of the same story.” Many people on Twitter agreed with Cuban. One user described: “There was nothing specific about crypto … Other recent blowups (3AC, Celsius...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard have stressed the need for strong crypto regulation. Yellen said the FTX collapse shows “the weaknesses” of the entire crypto sector while Brainard cautioned that failures from one platform are “spilling over into elsewhere.” Yellen: Crypto Needs ‘Very Careful Regulation’ U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shared her concerns regarding the implosion of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Saturday in an interview with Bloomberg. She stressed that FTX’s failure has reinforced her view that the crypto market requires “very careful regulation,” emphasizing that “It shows the weaknesses of this entire sector.” Yellen compared crypto markets to developed financial markets with better investor protection rules, adding: In other regulated exchanges, you would have segregation of customer assets. The notion you could use the deposits of customers of an exchange and lend them to a separate enterprise that you cont...

Bitcoin was trading marginally higher on Nov. 15, as the U.S. dollar continued to weaken, dropping to multi-month lows versus several G7 currencies. The decline of the dollar overshadowed tweets from FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, who cryptically tweeted “What happened” to his 1 million followers. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) rose back above $17,000 on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar weakened on reports that the Federal Reserve could be set to pivot its hawkish policy. Following a low of $16,267.33, BTC /USD raced to an intraday high of $17,109.32 earlier in today’s session. The weaker dollar was a catalyst for the move, as markets seemed to have ignored cryptic tweets from Sam Bankman-Fried. Looking at the chart, BTC seems to have settled on a floor (for now) of $15,800, using this as a springboard to securing consecutive higher highs. BTC has since moved back below $17,000, as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) neared a key resistance level of 39.00. Bulls may face difficulty exten...

A study from Technavio, a market research firm, has predicted that the area of the metaverse dedicated to entertainment, including virtual concerts, video games, and movies, will grow to $28.92 billion in value from 2021 to 2026. The report states that 33% of this growth will originate in U.S. markets, due to the intersection of gaming and film companies. Metaverse of Entertainment to Grow, Fueled by Consumer Adoption The metaverse and its future adoption continue to be a matter of active research by market forecasting companies. A report issued on Nov. 11 by Technavio, a market research firm, has determined that the market size of the metaverse initiatives related to entertainment will grow to reach $28.92 billion in the period from 2021 to 2026. The report identified two key areas that will fuel this growth, including the rising consumer spending on virtual concerts and virtual events, made possible by the growing advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) t...

According to a report stemming from the blockchain analytics firm Argus, Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research obtained tokens ahead of FTX.com listings. The report claims that Alameda acquired roughly $60 million worth of tokens before the digital assets were scheduled to be listed on FTX. Blockchain Analytics Firm Says Alameda Had an Insider’s Edge a Month Prior to FTX Listings Wall Street Journal (WSJ) contributor Caitlin Ostroff detailed on Nov. 14, 2022, that analysis from the blockchain analytics firm Argus indicates the now-bankrupt Alameda Research had amassed a large stash of tokens prior to specific FTX listings. Ostroff’s report notes that between March 2021 through March 2022, Alameda acquired $60 million of these types of crypto tokens stemming from 18 different FTX listings that followed. “What we see is they’ve basically almost always in the month leading up to it bought into a position that they previously didn’t. It’s quite clear there’s something in t...

Huobi, the Seychelles-based crypto exchange, recently became the latest digital asset exchange platform to reveal the number as well as the value of its digital assets held in reserves. Huobi has said disclosing the assets held in reserves helps to boost users’ confidence in the exchange as well as to improve transparency. Huobi’s ‘Inexhaustive Overview’ The Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, Huobi, became the latest digital asset exchange to attempt to assuage users’ anxieties when it unveiled its so-called “proof of reserves” on Nov. 12. As shown in Huobi’s “inexhaustive overview” of digital assets held, the crypto exchange had about 32,000 BTC , 274,000 ETH , and 820 million USDT stablecoins, as well as 9.7 billion TRX tokens. In addition to disclosing the U.S. dollar value of digital assets held — $3.5 billion — Huobi also shared a snapshot of the list of addresses where the funds are being kept. Huobi’s revelation of digital asset holdings came just two days after FTX...