The Digital Assets Report 100

Summary

• Digital Assets exchange Bitvavo can’t access €280 million euros on Genesis Global Capital (subsidiary of Digital Currency Group).
• Genesis claims are selling for 35p to the Dollar, reminds FTX before bankruptcy.  Genesis Capital suspended withdrawals last month following a $1.2 billion loss to defunct crypto fund Three Arrows Capital and a $170 million loss to exchange FTX bankruptcy. They had $1.8 billion in loans outstanding, and rumours now suggest their hole is similar, about $2 billion.
• Another subsidiary, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is impacted with a discount of near 50%, crypto investors worry about another sell-off. Grayscale Investments is exploring options to return a portion of capital of its BBTC if the SEC refuses to approve its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
• Audit firm Mazars ceases proof-of-reserves work for crypto exchanges including Binance, Crypto.com and Kucoin. The reports are very limited said Mazars in a statement last Friday.

"They do not constitute either an assurance or an audit opinion" - Mazars spoke person

• Police in China arrest gang who laundered $1.7 billion via Tether even after Beijing’s crackdown. Starting from May 2021, the criminal gang allegedly used the proceeds from illicit sources including pyramid schemes, fraud and gambling and converted into Tether.
• FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to tell a court in the Bahamas he will no longer contest extradition to the United States.
• Amber Group, a Singapore-based crypto firm, has raised US$300 million in a series C round led by Fenbushi Capital. Previously, the crypto firm said it had less than 10% of its overall trading capital on FTX before it filed for bankruptcy but impact seems to be bigger as they announced last week the readjustment of their growth plan.
• Binance.US set to acquire Voyager Digital assets for $1 billion.
• Paypal  announced  an integration in Metamask wallet so that users can buy cryptocurrencies using their PayPal account.
• Ethereum addresses > 32 ETH continue to increase, transition to ETH2.0 is underway.
• G20 wants to build policy consensus on crypto assets.

To watch this week

• US initial jobless claims - Thursday 22nd, 8:30am
• US Personal consumption Expenditure (PCE) - Friday 23rd, 8:30am

Business

First Mover Americas: Grayscale Explores Options to Return Portion of GBTC

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Dec. 19, 2022.

CoinDeskLyllah Ledesma and Omkar Godbole

Bitvavo unable to access 280 million euros held at Genesis Global Capital

Dutch cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo can’t access 280 million euros held at Genesis Global Capital.

The BlockRT Watson

Audit firm Mazars ceases proof-of-reserves work for Binance and others

Mazars is suspending its work with crypto companies on proofs-of-reserves reports going forward.

TechCrunchRomain Dillet

Chinese police arrest 63 people accused of laundering $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency via tether stablecoin

Police in China confiscated about $19 million worth of proceeds after investigating a money-laundering scheme involving blockchain accounts.

Markets InsiderCarla Mozée

Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s First Bahamas Court Hearing After His Arrest

Bankman-Fried faces extradition to the United States from the Bahamas.

CoinDeskCheyenne Ligon

Amber Group raises $300M to recover from FTX contagion

Amber Group has paused the $100 million Series B round to raise $300 million in new funding to address the challenges fueled by the FTX collapse.

CointelegraphHelen Partz

PayPal and MetaMask team up to make it easier to buy crypto

MetaMask announced that it would add an integration in its crypto wallet so that users can buy cryptocurrencies using their PayPal account.

TechCrunchRomain Dillet

Blockchain startup Aztec Network raises $100M round led by Andreessen Horowitz - SiliconANGLE

Blockchain startup Aztec Network raises $100M round led by Andreessen Horowitz - SiliconANGLE

SiliconANGLEMaria Deutscher

Binance.US set to acquire Voyager Digital assets for $1B

A hearing for the deal’s approval is set for Jan.5, 2023.

CointelegraphZhiyuan Sun

Markets

• The Fed raised interest rates by 50bps on Wednesday following a better-than-expected CPI print earlier this week. We saw a retracement post-FOMC press conference.

Crypto Charts 92

Bitcoin Last time we said: ’If the bearish view is valid then a correction in 3 waves is close to completing with a possible push to $17′530 which would test the top of the channel as well as the 161.8% retracement level. Given the divergence in the MACD we

The AssetsMatthew Clark

Bitcoin dips under $17K as ‘craziest rumors’ over Binance sink BTC price

Bitcoin sinks under $17,000 with Binance “FUD” still impacting BTC price.

CointelegraphWilliam Suberg

FX swap debt a $80 trillion ‘blind spot’ BIS says

Pension funds and other ‘non-bank’ financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in FX swaps, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.

ReutersMarc Jones

Regulations

Eva Kaili arrest a ‘setback’ for EU crypto regulations, economist says

Eva Kaili’s arrest and expulsion from European Parliament could dent further adoption of crypto and blockchain-friendly regulation.

CointelegraphGareth Jenkinson

CFTC declares Ether as a commodity again in court filing

The CFTC has labeled Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT) and Bitcoin (BTC) as commodities in its lawsuit against SBF, Alameda and FTX.

CointelegraphLuke Huigsloot

Zero-knowledge proofs could solve CBDC privacy concerns, research shows

Zero-knowledge proof cryptography is technologically feasible in a central bank digital currency, a new study lead by Mina Protocol and Etonec shows.

The BlockInbar Preiss

G20 wants to build policy consensus on crypto assets

The Group of 20 (G20) countries are striving to build a policy consensus on crypto assets to inform better global regulation, India’s federal economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth said on Wednesday.

ReutersReuters

Opinions

Blackrock Warns of Unprecedented Recession for 2023, Bull Markets Not Returning – Finance Bitcoin News

Blackrock, one of the largest asset management companies, has warned that 2023 will be a year of recession different from other recessions.

Bitcoin NewsSergio Goschenko

What Goldman Sachs’ CEO misunderstands about private blockchains

Blockchains aren’t meant to provide big banks with another venue for imposing new fees on users.

CointelegraphOmid Malekan

Podcasts / Readings