Digital Assets Report 78
- Crypto lender Celsius acknowledges $1.2bn hole in balance sheet after filing for bankruptcy protection, faces a new lawsuit accusing the firm of having run a 'Ponzi scheme' and was able to pay off its last DeFi loan to Compound.
- Three Arrows Capital fund founders Su Zhu & Kyle Davies receive subpoenas from the fund's liquidators.
- USDC issuer Circle dislcoses full breakdown of $55.7 bn USDC reserves.
- ETH surges by 10% on Monday as the 'Merge Trade' begins with BTC gaining 5% on the day as crypto market reclaims $1 trillion total market capitalisation.
- Putin bans digital payments in Russia.
- US Senate appoints ex-Ripple adviser Michael Barr as the new vice-chairman of the Fed.
- SEC considers waiving certain rules to regulate crypto and delays decision on ARK's new Bitcoin ETF application.
- Binance CEO 'CZ' claims that decentralized exchanges will overtake their centralized counterparts within 10 years.
Business
Lightspeed Raises Over $7 Billion to Fund Early and Growth-Stage Entrepreneurs Around the Globe
Lightspeed Venture Partners (“Lightspeed”) today announced the closing of Lightspeed Venture Partners XIV-A/B, L.P. (“Fund XIV”) with $1.98 billion, L
Celsius Acknowledges $1.2B Hole in Balance Sheet
The news comes after the ailing crypto lender filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday.
Krisztian Sandor
Crypto Biz: 3AC’s founders are nowhere to be found
Three Arrows Capital, Grayscale, Playboy and Multicoin Capital headline this week’s Crypto Biz newsletter.
Sam Bourgi
Three Arrows Capital co-founder files $5 million claim against own firm while on the run
On July 8 it emerged that the liquidators of 3AC have not been able to connect with the company’s founders “in any meaningful way.”
Jordan Major
Embattled crypto lender Celsius is a ‘fraud’ and ‘Ponzi scheme,’ lawsuit alleges
Celsius artificially inflated the price of its own digital coin, failed to hedge risk and engaged in activities that amounted to fraud, a lawsuit alleges.
Three Arrows Creditors Get Emergency Hearing As Founders Fail to ‘Cooperate’
Creditors say the fund’s remaining assets could be “transferred or otherwise disposed of” before creditors get their share.
Sam Reynolds
Crypto Exchange Blockchain.com Faces $270M Hit on Loans to Three Arrows Capital
Blockchain.com “remains liquid, solvent and our customers will not be impacted,” wrote CEO Peter Smith in a letter to shareholders.
Ian Allison
Celsius Pays Off Last DeFi Loan in Push to Recoup $1 Billion - Decrypt
The repayment, to the lending protocol Compound, netted Celsius almost $200 million in recovered collateral.
Sander Lutz
EthCC Returns for Year Five in Paris
Europe’s largest Ethereum conference is coming back a fifth time, in Paris, from July 19-21. More than 200 speakers are expected.
Tom Carreras
Circle discloses full breakdown of $55.7B USDC reserves
Three-quarters of Circle’s USDC reserves are backed by U.S. Treasuries and the remaining is backstopped by cash held in U.S. accounts.
Sam Bourgi
Multicoin Capital Announces $430M Venture Fund for Crypto Startups
The venture capital giant’s latest fund – in combination with its already existing vehicles – will invest $500,000-$1 million in early-stage projects and up to $100 million or more for more mature opportunities.
Elizabeth Napolitano
Crypto miners in Texas shut down operations as state experiences extreme heat wave
From Riot Blockchain to Core Scientific, many crypto miners in Texas have announced they have already scaled back or shut down operations in Texas.
Turner Wright
NEW: 🇨🇭 Swiss post office to offer crypto trading and custody services by 2024
— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) July 11, 2022
Markets
📈 #Bitcoin $BTC Total Number of Addresses Ever Created just went above 1,000,000,000.
— glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) July 12, 2022
Current value: 1,000,002,559
View metric:https://t.co/L293QrC6rC pic.twitter.com/mCxcmzkJb2
Crypto Charts 78
Bitcoin Last time we said: ’look to buy at $19′343 and $18′745 level with stops remaining at $17′599. If wave (ii) is in place then this will be confirmed on a break above $22k and we would look to buy on a break expecting BTC to start accelerating higher in
The ‘Merge Trade’ Has Begun, Experts Say, as Ether Surges And stETH Discount Narrows
“ETH has undergone a rapid change in narrative over the past week, with speculators purely focused on the upcoming ‘merge’ as a catalyst for appreciation,” one observer said.
Omkar Godbole
Crypto market flashes green reclaiming $1 trillion capitalisation
Things are finally looking up for the crypto market, whose total cap has managed to reclaim the $1 trillion mark and continues to push on.
Ana Nicenko
Regulations
Vladimir Putin Bans Digital Payments in Russia
He has signed a bill that adds to a previous prohibition against cryptocurrency payments in the country.
Oliver Knight
Former Crypto Adviser Michael Barr Confirmed as Top US Financial Watchdog
The Senate approved the appointment of Barr, an ex-Ripple adviser who served in Obama’s Treasury Dept., as the Fed’s new vice chair for supervision.
Jesse Hamilton
SEC Weighs Waiving Some Rules to Regulate Crypto, Gensler Says
(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street’s top regulator may use its authority to exempt crypto companies from certain securities laws to help the industry come into compliance, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Thursday. Most Read from BloombergIvana Trump, First Wife of Former President…
SEC Delays Decision on Cathie Wood’s ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF - Decrypt
The SEC has pushed back a decision on whether to approve spot Bitcoin ETF by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and crypto investment firm 21Shares.
Mat Di Salvo
MiCA and ToFR: The EU moves to regulate the crypto-asset market
Here’s everything you need to know about the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets and Transfer of Funds Regulation proposals.
Tatiana Revoredo
OKX Obtains Dubai VARA Provisional License
Crypto trading app, OKX confirmed today that the company has received a provisional virtual assets license from the Dubai VARA.
Biden Administration Wants Public Opinion on New Digital Asset Executive Order - The Daily Hodl
The U.S. Treasury is seeking the public’s opinion on crypto as part of its mandate under President Biden’s digital assets executive order.
Daily Hodl Staff
Opinions
Bitcoin ‘will be part of everyone’s portfolio’, says former Blackrock executive
Former Blackrock Executive Edward Dowd has stressed that Bitcoin is here to stay and has the qualities to make it into everyone’s portfolio.
Justinas Baltrusaitis
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says fears of runaway inflation are hugely overblown - and dismisses the risk of stagflation
The economics professor and columnist highlighted Treasury-bond data showing inflation expectations aren’t out of control.
Theron MohamedBinance CEO Predicts DEXes Will Overtake CEXes Within the Next 10 Years
CZ, Co-Founder and CEO of the world’s largest centralized crypto exchange (CEX) by trading volume, recently shared his thoughts on decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized exchanges (DEXes).
Michael Lavere
Podcasts / Readings
Digital Alchemy: A Post-Mortem of the Crypto Crash
