<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107095923-1659087675543-gettyimages-1231981582-economou-notitle210327_npj1T.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-418831" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107095923-1659087675543-gettyimages-1231981582-economou-notitle210327_npj1T.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107095923-1659087675543-gettyimages-1231981582-economou-notitle210327_npj1T-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107095923-1659087675543-gettyimages-1231981582-economou-notitle210327_npj1T-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin prices have been under pressure in 2022 after the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and subsequent bankruptcy filings from lender Celsius and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> hovered around $24,000 on Friday, hitting a 6-week high as it continues to follow stock markets higher.



The world’s largest digital currency reached $24,412 on 2:30 a.m. ET on Friday, according to CoinDesk data, its highest level in more than six weeks. Bitcoin has since pared some of those gains and sat just above $24,000 at 6:32 a.m. ET.



Bitcoin’s rally began after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that the pace of such rises could slow. This sparked a rally in U.S. equities.



Moves in cryptocurrencies have traded broadly in line with U.S. stocks of late, in particular tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has jumped sharply in the last two days.



Other cryptocurrencies including <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/eth=x/">ether</a> were sharply higher on Friday.



“Overall, I think markets have reacted positively to the Fed’s comments and arguably have priced in most of the rate hikes,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC via text message.



“There seems to be a lot of liquidity sitting on the sidelines, which is now coming in based on the last few months of consolidation/downward pressure, that is now easing up,” he added.



Still, bitcoin is down about 48% this year and remains more than 60% off of its all-time high price of $68,990.90 that was hit in November.



The crypto market has been plagued by a number of issues including the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD, which sparked a chain of events that led to the bankruptcy of lending platform Celsius and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.



Market participants are trying to figure out where the bottom is for bitcoin and whether the deleveraging and shakeout in the industry is over. Market players told CNBC that they want to see an improving macroeconomic picture and the completion of deleveraging before the bottom for bitcoin is found.



Bitcoin has been trading within a range of&nbsp;around&nbsp;$18,000 to just over $24,000 since mid-June, and Luno’s Ayyar said that investors had been accumulating bitcoin at those prices.

107095923-1659087675543-gettyimages-1231981582-economou-notitle210327_npj1T

Bitcoin hits 6-week high topping $24,000 in a post-Fed rally

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-418541" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-1.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-1-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have been under pressure in 2022 with traders feeling the fallout from a number of major collapses in the industry. Selim Korkutata | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> bounced above $22,000 on Monday, hitting its highest level in more than a month as the cryptocurrency market held out hope that the contagion and shakeout over the past few weeks is nearing its end.



The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading around $22,135.30 at 8:57 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data, up around 4%. Bitcoin traded as high as $22,493.61 in the past 24 hours, the highest since June 16.



Other cryptocurrencies also bounced with <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/eth=x/">ether</a> up more than 9% versus the price 24 hours ago and Polygon’s MATIC token up 16%.



The bullish sentiment was helped by a rally in stock markets in Europe and Asia. U.S. stock futures were also higher. Cryptocurrencies, in particularly bitcoin, has been closely correlated with equity market trade. Often, a rise in stocks will also lift sentiment in the crypto market.



But investors are also watching whether the carnage over the last few weeks, which has seen bitcoin near 70% off its all-time high that was hit in November and billions of dollars wiped off the market, might be over.



The price crash has brought the downfall of several high-profile companies in the space, most notably hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and crypto lender Celsius, both of which have filed for bankruptcy.



These collapses have caused contagion across the industry and seen other associated companies come under pressure.



Much of this has been caused by the huge amounts of leverage and borrowing that has taken place in this latest crypto cycle. Three Arrows Capital for example took out loans it was unable to pay back once the crypto collapse took place. Celsius, which offered customers yields over 18% for depositing their digital coins, took on high risk trading activities to earn the interest to try to give back to its users.



Crypto companies have been selling off whatever assets they have to try to meet their liabilities which has put pressure on the broader market.



Analysts say there are signs this contagion could be slowing.



“The worst of market contagion has likely run its course, with the majority of forced selling behind us,” David Moreno, research analyst at CryptoCompare, wrote in a research note.



Despite the rally, the crypto market is still suffering. Both bitcoin and ether are down more than 50% this year. Bitcoin had its worst quarter in more than a decade in the second quarter.



Analysts are still not convinced of any significant move higher in the near term.



“Given the severely negative performance in Q2, it is unsurprising that a ‘relief’ bounce has occurred. We believe the market will continue range-bound over the coming months,” Moreno said.

106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-1

Bitcoin tops $22,000 as crypto market hopes contagion and shakeout is over; ether jumps 9%

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107083589-1656654994211-gettyimages-963468298-_DHP4856.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-418184" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107083589-1656654994211-gettyimages-963468298-_DHP4856.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107083589-1656654994211-gettyimages-963468298-_DHP4856-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/107083589-1656654994211-gettyimages-963468298-_DHP4856-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) is the first attempt at creating comprehensive regulation for digital assets in the EU. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



EU officials on Thursday secured an agreement on what is likely to be the first major regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry.



The European Commission, EU lawmakers and member states hammered out a deal in Brussels after hours of negotiations. The move came a day after the three main institutions finalized measures aimed at stamping out money laundering in crypto.



The new rules come at a brutal time for digital assets, with bitcoin facing its worst quarter in more than a decade.



The landmark law, known as Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, is designed to make life tougher for numerous players in the crypto market, including exchanges and issuers of so-called stablecoins, tokens that are meant to be pegged to existing assets like the U.S. dollar.



Under the new rules, stablecoins like tether and Circle’s USDC will be required to maintain ample reserves to meet redemption requests in the event of mass withdrawals. Stablecoins that become too large also face being limited to 200 million euros in transactions per day.



The European Securities and Markets Authority, or ESMA, will be given powers to step in to ban or restrict crypto platforms if they are seen to not properly protect investors, or threaten market integrity or financial stability.



“Today, we put order in the Wild West of crypto assets and set clear rules for a harmonized market that will provide legal certainty for crypto asset issuers, guarantee equal rights for service providers and ensure high standards for consumers and investors,” said Stefan Berger, the lawmaker who led negotiations on behalf of the European Parliament.



MiCA will also address environmental concerns surrounding crypto, with firms forced to disclose their energy consumption as well as the impact of digital assets on the environment.



A previous proposal would have scrapped crypto mining, the energy-intensive process of minting new units of bitcoin and other tokens. However, it was voted down by lawmakers in March.



The rules won’t affect tokens without issuers, like bitcoin, however trading platforms will need to warn consumers about the risk of losses associated with trading digital tokens.



Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which represent ownership in digital properties like art, were excluded from the proposals. The EU Commission has been tasked with determining whether NFTs require their own regime within 18 months.



Separately, regulators also agreed on measures Wednesday that would reduce anonymity when it comes to certain crypto transactions. Authorities are deeply concerned about exploitation of crypto-assets for laundering ill-gotten gains and evasion of sanctions — particularly after Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.



Transfers between exchanges and so-called “un-hosted wallets” owned by individuals will need to be reported if the amount tops the 1,000-euro threshold, a contentious issue for crypto enthusiasts who often trade digital currencies for privacy reasons.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-un-stablecoins"><a></a>Un-stablecoins</h2>



The rules follow the collapse of terraUSD, a so-called “algorithmic” stablecoin that tried to maintain a $1 value by using a complex algorithm. The debacle resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars being wiped from the entire crypto market.



“The EU is not happy about stablecoins generally,” said Robert Kopitsch, secretary general of crypto lobbying group Blockchain for Europe.



Policymakers have been skeptical of such tokens — which aim to be pegged to existing assets, such as the dollar — ever since Facebook botched an attempt at launching its own token in 2019. Authorities feared private digital tokens could end up threatening sovereign currencies like the euro.



Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Tether, said the world’s biggest stablecoin issuer welcomed regulatory clarity.



“MiCA is one of the more progressive initiatives to date and is focused on driving crypto innovation and adoption in the European region,” Ardoino said.



In addition, Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer at Circle, said the EU framework represented a “significant milestone.”



MiCA “will be to crypto what GDPR was to privacy,” he said, referring to groundbreaking EU data protection rules that set the standard for similar laws elsewhere in the world, including California and Brazil.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Reducing fragmentation</h2>



Overall, MiCA is the first attempt at creating comprehensive regulation for digital assets in the EU. While some of its stricter policies have rattled a few crypto firms, several industry insiders see the move as a positive step and believe Europe could lead the way on crypto regulation.



The rules are expected to come into force as early as 2024, a landmark move that would put the bloc ahead of both the U.S. and Britain in rolling out laws tailored to the crypto market.



“Harmonization of the market is key in order to really generate bigger crypto companies in Europe,” said Patrick Hansen, an advisor at the venture fund Presight Capital.



“Europe is lacking huge crypto companies right now, and fragmentation is one of the reasons why.”



Coinbase is seeking licenses in several European countries including France, said Katherine Minarik, the firm’s vice president of legal. She told CNBC the exchange will be able to “passport” its services into all 27 EU countries under MiCA.

107083589-1656654994211-gettyimages-963468298-_DHP4856

EU agrees on landmark regulation to clean up crypto ‘Wild West’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-417941" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin continues to trade around the $20,000 mark, keeping investors on edge about where the price is going next.
Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



If crypto’s past bubbles are anything to go by, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">bitcoin</a> could be about to fall much further.



That’s according to one strategist, who warns the world’s top cryptocurrency is likely to tank as low as $13,000 — an almost 40% drop from current levels.



“We would still be selling these kinds of cryptocurrencies into this environment,” Ian Harnett, co-founder and chief investment officer of Absolute Strategy Research, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Tuesday.



“It really is a liquidity play. What we’ve found is it’s neither a currency, nor a commodity and certainly not a store of value.”



Explaining his bearish call, Harnett said past crypto rallies show bitcoin tends to fall roughly 80% from all-time highs. In 2018, for instance, the cryptocurrency plummeted close to $3,000 after hitting a peak of nearly $20,000 in late 2017.



Such a drop in 2022 “would take you back to about $13,000,” a “key support area” for the token, according to Harnett. Bitcoin rose to a record high of nearly $69,000 at the height of the 2021 crypto frenzy.



“In a world where liquidity is plentiful, the bitcoins of this world do well,” Harnett said. “When that liquidity is taken away — and that’s what the central banks are doing at the moment — then you see those markets come under extreme pressure.”



The crypto world is on edge as investors grapple with the impact of higher interest rates on assets that flourished in an era of ultra-loose monetary policy.



Last week, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate by 75 basis points, its largest single hike since 1994. The decision from the Fed was followed up with similar moves from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.



That’s taken its toll on digital assets. The combined value of all cryptocurrencies plunged more than $350 billion in the past two weeks. Bitcoin was trading at a price of $20,010 Tuesday, down 5% in the last 24 hours. The No. 1 crypto has lost more than half of its value year-to-date.



The crypto market was already on shaky ground before the Fed’s rate hike last week, with traders roiled by the $60 billion collapse of popular stablecoin terraUSD and its sister token luna.



To further complicate matters, the fall in the value of a derivative token designed to be one-to-one redeemable for ether has exacerbated financial troubles at major industry players like Celsius and Three Arrows Capital.

107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY

Bitcoin could plunge even further to a low of $13,000, one strategist warns

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-417941" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/107078012-1655709503739-gettyimages-1234311678-sindeyev-notitle210729_npFPY-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin continues to trade around the $20,000 mark, keeping investors on edge about where the price is going next. Nurphoto | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> jumped 8% on Monday after a sharp sell-off over the weekend but continues to teeter around the $20,000 mark, keeping investors on edge.



The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading at $19,935.98 at 03:20 a.m. ET, according to data from CoinDesk. In the last 24 hours, bitcoin had risen sharply above $20,000 and fallen as low as $18,261.75.



Over the weekend, bitcoin had fallen as low as $17,601.58.



Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/eth=x/">ether</a> jumped more than 12% and was trading above $1,075 at 03:13 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data.



While the rebound will be welcome by investors, bitcoin still sits around 70% below its all-time high hit in November last year and is down 57% year-to-date.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dead-cat-bounce"><a></a>‘Dead cat bounce’</h2>



With bitcoin unable to hold convincingly above $20,000, industry watchers said the rally might be short-lived.



Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC that unless the price of bitcoin closes above $23,000 on a daily time frame basis, “the odds are this is a dead cat bounce.”



“We’re oversold, so a bounce was expected,” he said.



The broader cryptocurrency market has been plagued by a number of issues in recent weeks, beginning with the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and associated token luna.



Attention has now turned to crypto lending companies that promise users high yields for depositing their digital coins. Last week, Celsius, a company with 1.7 million customers and nearly $12 billion of crypto assets under management, paused withdrawal of funds for customers, sparking concerns that it is insolvent.



Cryptocurrency companies have announced rounds of layoffs amid the market downturn. Coinbase, a crypto wallet and exchange, said last week it will cut 18% of full-time jobs. A lending firm called BlockFi said last week it will lay off a fifth of its staff.



Macroeconomic factors including high inflation and upcoming rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve are also weighing on the market.



“When inflation is on the doorstep and with rate hikes in the offing, the risks of a recession round the bend are high,” Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email.



“The push me pull you of higher rates sapping cash from mortgaged house owners means people are psychologically bracing and paring back and digital assets are suffering thus.”



“Coupled with this, the pull back in the digital asset ecosystem has uncovered a number of systemic issues.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Market bottom?</h2>



Given the big fall in cryptocurrency prices in the last few weeks, some observers said that a bottom to the market could be close.



Giles Keating, director of Bitcoin Suisse, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday that “we’re close to a point where some of the real excess leverage has now been driven out of the system and a bottom can begin to be formed.”



Leverage refers to trading in which investors effectively use borrowed money to make trades. That means investors can get larger exposure to positions with less initial capital. But that’s seen as a risky means of trading as it requires investors to ensure they have enough capital to meet the so-called margin requirements. If they don’t, their position is automatically liquidated. Those liquidations are seen as a big factor behind market moves.



Keating said there is still a risk of further liquidation, but he thinks the majority of the selling is over.



“Now some people are warning that we are still not yet there and that if we were to break significantly lower, that we’d see another wave of liquidations,” Keating said.



“There’s always that risk hovering there. But my feeling, given I think those very very big double digit rebounds we saw, in bitcoin, particularly in ether, I think to my mind that was a sign that a lot of those really big liquidations are now done and that the base really is being formed.”

Bitcoin rebounds 8% but struggles to hold above $20,000

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-414803" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin-1.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin-1-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A representations of virtual currency Bitcoin is seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken May 19, 2021.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> tumbled below $24,000 on Monday, hitting its lowest level since December 2020, as investors dump crypto amid a broader sell-off in risk assets.



Meanwhile, a crypto lending company called Celsius has paused withdrawals for its customers, sparking fears of contagion into the broader market.



The world’s largest cryptocurrency bitcoin briefly dropped below the $24,000 mark around 05:00 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data, before jumping back above that level shortly after.



Over the weekend and into Monday morning, more than $200 billion had been wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market. The cryptocurrency market capitalization fell below $1 trillion on Monday for the first time since February 2021, according to data from CoinMarketCap.



Macro factors are contributing to the bearishness in the crypto markets, with rampant inflation continuing and the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to hike interest rates this week to control rising prices.



Last week, U.S. indices sold off heavily, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping sharply. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have tended to correlate with stocks and other risk assets. When these indices fall, crypto drops as well.



“Since Nov 2021, sentiment has changed drastically given the Fed rate hikes and inflation management. We’re also potentially looking at a recession given the FED may need to finally tackle the demand side to manage inflation,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.



“All this points to the market not completely having bottomed and unless the Fed is able to take a breather, we’re probably not going to see bullishness return.”



Ayyar noted that in previous bear markets, bitcoin had dropped around 80% from its last record high. Currently, it is down around 63% from its last all-time high which it hit in November.



“We could see much lower bitcoin prices over the next month or two,” Ayyar said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-celsius-adding-fuel-to-the-fire"><a></a>Celsius ‘adding fuel to the fire’</h2>



The crypto market has also been on edge since mid-May when the so-called algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD, or UST, and its sister cryptocurrency luna collapsed.



Now, the market is concerned about a crypto lending company called Celsius which said on Monday that it’s pausing all withdrawals, swap and transfers between accounts “due to extreme market conditions.”



Celsius, which claims to have 1.7 million customers, advertises to its users that they can get a yield of 18% through the platform. Users deposit their crypto with Celsius. That crypto is then loaned out to institutions and other investors. Users then get yield as a result of the revenue Celsius earns.



But the crypto market sell-off has hurt Celsius. The company had $11.8 billion worth of assets as at May 17, down from more than $26 billion in October last year, according to its website.



CEL, which is Celsius’ own coin, is down more than 50% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Investors are concerned about broader contagion in the crypto market.



“The Celsius situation is definitely adding fuel to the fire,” Ayyar said.



“Broadly the markets were already under pressure from inflation concerns and the interest rate hikes, but with crypto such contagion events could cause outsized declines, given the market is tightly interlinked these days with a variety of inter-connected protocols and businesses.”

106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin-1

Bitcoin drops 12%, falling below $24,000 as $200 billion wiped off crypto market over the weekend

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106837526-1612866638564-gettyimages-1294702554-yn_cryptoimages_016.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-409576" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106837526-1612866638564-gettyimages-1294702554-yn_cryptoimages_016.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106837526-1612866638564-gettyimages-1294702554-yn_cryptoimages_016-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/106837526-1612866638564-gettyimages-1294702554-yn_cryptoimages_016-140x80.jpeg 140w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A visual representation of digital currencies.
Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Several cryptocurrency industry players have told CNBC that thousands of digital tokens are likely to collapse while the number of blockchains in existence will also fall over the coming years.



There are more than 19,000 cryptocurrencies in existence and dozens of blockchain platforms that exist. A blockchain platform, such as Ethereum, is the underlying technology that many of these different cryptocurrencies are built upon.



The recent collapse of so-called algorithmic stabelcoin terraUSD and its associated digital token luna, which sent shockwaves through the market, has thrust a spotlight on the thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence and whether they will all survive.



“One of the effects of what we’ve seen last week with the Terra issue is we’re at the stage where basically there are far too many blockchains out there, too many tokens. And that’s confusing users. And that’s also bringing some risks for the users,” Bertrand Perez, CEO of the Web3 Foundation, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week.



“Like at the beginning of the internet, you were having lots of dotcom companies and lots of them were scams, and were not bringing any value and all that got cleared. And now we have very useful and legit companies.”



Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of cross-border blockchain payments company Ripple, said there is likely to be “scores” of cryptocurrencies that remain in the future.



“I think there’s a question about whether or not we need 19,000 new currencies today. In the fiat world, there’s maybe 180 currencies,” Garlinghouse said.



Guggenheim Chief Investment Officer Scott Minerd added further pessimism last week when he said that most crypto is “junk” but that <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">bitcoin</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/eth=x/">ethereum</a> would survive.



The comments from the industry come as the cryptocurrency market continues to feel pressure. Bitcoin is off more than 50% from its record high it hit in November, with many other digital tokens sharply lower from their all-time highs.



Many different blockchain platforms from Ethereum to Solana are vying for a leadership position in the industry. But Brett Harrison, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX U.S., said the hundreds currently in existence will not all survive.



“When you think about the blockchains &#8230; there probably won’t be hundreds of different blockchains in 10 years, I think there’ll be a couple of clear winners for different kinds of applications,” Harrison said.



“And we’ll see the market &#8230; sort that out over time,” he added.

106837526-1612866638564-gettyimages-1294702554-yn_cryptoimages_016

Crypto firms say thousands of digital currencies will collapse, compare market to early dotcom days

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106907103-1625597281111-gettyimages-1233700528-porzycki-binancep210628_npNRz-1.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-411538" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106907103-1625597281111-gettyimages-1233700528-porzycki-binancep210628_npNRz-1.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106907103-1625597281111-gettyimages-1233700528-porzycki-binancep210628_npNRz-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/106907103-1625597281111-gettyimages-1233700528-porzycki-binancep210628_npNRz-1-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>The logo of cryptocurrency exchange Binance displayed on a phone screen.
Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is launching its own venture capital fund.



The company’s venture arm, Binance Labs, said Wednesday it has raised $500 million for its debut start-up fund, securing backing from venture capital firms DST Global and Breyer Capital as well as unnamed family offices and corporations.



Binance Labs plans to use the capital to invest in companies building “Web3.” Though still an ill-defined term, Web3 loosely refers to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/what-is-web3-gavin-wood-who-invented-the-word-gives-his-vision.html">hypothetical future iteration of the internet</a>&nbsp;that’s more decentralized than online platforms today and incorporates blockchain, the shared digital ledgers behind most major cryptocurrencies.



The launch of Binance’s new fund arrives at a time when&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.BS=-USS">bitcoin</a>&nbsp;and other digital currencies are down sharply. Bitcoin has plunged more than 50% since reaching an all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November. That’s taken a toll on publicly-listed crypto companies like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/COIN" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a>, whose shares have plunged 69% since the start of 2022. Investors fear the slump will feed through to privately-held crypto start-ups.



While start-up valuations of $1 billion or more are “slowing down a bit,” there’s “no current impact in early-stage private markets,” Ken Li, Binance Labs’ executive director of investments and M&amp;A, told CNBC.



Binance Labs is hoping to capitalize on the recent plunge in digital assets to find founders building what it sees as the next big thing in tech. Its bets will be split into pre-seed, early-stage and growth equity, and the fund will invest in tokens as well as shares.



“We are looking for projects with the potential to drive the growth of the Web3 ecosystem,” Li said. Such projects may include infrastructure,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/16/what-are-nfts-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-non-fungible-tokens.html">nonfungible tokens</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/25/what-are-daos-what-to-know-about-the-next-big-trend-in-crypto.html">decentralized autonomous organizations</a>. Binance estimates there are currently around 300,000 to 500,000 active Web3 developers, a number it hopes to grow “substantially.”



Binance has made a series of high-profile equity investments in the past year. This is the first time the company has formally raised a VC fund with financing from external investors.



Binance Labs’ investment portfolio includes business news magazine Forbes and Sky Mavis, the company behind popular nonfungible token game Axie Infinity. It was also an investor in Terraform Labs, the embattled Singapore-based start-up behind&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/13/cryptocurrency-luna-crashes-to-0-as-ust-falls-from-peg-bitcoin-rises.html">failed stablecoin project Terra</a>.



Binance Labs “always does its due diligence and has strong conviction in its investment strategy,” Li said. “We know that investing in early stages involves risks,” he added. “The industry is still young and was younger back then.”



Binance is also planning to take a $500 million stake in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/TWTR" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>&nbsp;to support&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/">Elon Musk’s</a>&nbsp;bid to acquire the social media service, a move the firm hopes will boost its aim of “bringing social media and Web3 together.”



Founded in 2017 by Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur Changpeng Zhao, Binance is the world’s biggest digital currency exchange. The firm handled $490 billion of spot trading volumes in March, according to CryptoCompare data.



In an interview with CNBC earlier this year, Zhao said Binance had “billions ready to invest” in Web3. The trend has been met with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/21/elon-musk-and-jack-dorsey-are-talking-about-web3-heres-why.html">skepticism from some notable figures in tech</a>, including Musk and Twitter co-founder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/jack-dorsey/">Jack Dorsey</a>. Zhao said he’s a believer in the concept, but that it will take time to make it a reality.



“Exactly how it’s going to shape up, what exactly Web3 looks like, which company, which projects — nobody knows,” he said.



“Before Facebook started, nobody could predict that,” Zhao added. “We’ll just have to see what turns out.”

106907103-1625597281111-gettyimages-1233700528-porzycki-binancep210628_npNRz-1

Binance raises $500 million fund to invest in ‘Web3’ as crypto slides into bear market

WASHINGTON/MUMBAI, May 17 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nofe Isah, a 25-year old based in Nigeria, has been investing in crypto since January. Last week, she lost all of her $5,000 in savings as cryptocurrency luna went into free fall.



Isah, a recently unemployed administrative officer, vowed she would never invest in crypto again.



&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe I fell for crypto,&#8221; she told Reuters by phone. &#8220;I&#8217;m just trying not to get myself depressed. Crypto has taken my money, fine. It shouldn&#8217;t take my head.”



The crypto market, known for its wild price swings, slumped last week as investors yanked money from riskier assets amid worries over soaring inflation and rising interest rates.



Bitcoin, the world&#8217;s largest cryptocurrency, fell as low as $25,401 on Thursday, its lowest since Dec. 2020. It hit a record high of $69,000 in November.



Small tokens were hit too, with ether, the second-largest token, dropping more than 15% to its lowest since June. Luna &#8211; a digital coin widely hyped on social media and backed by institutional crypto investors &#8211; shed nearly all of its value.



Small traders such as Isah have flocked to cryptocurrencies in the hope of quick returns, despite warnings from regulators that the emerging assets can be high risk.



Platforms such as Robinhood, which has 23 million customers across a variety of assets, have helped spur retail investing, including in crypto. Around a quarter of Robinhood&#8217;s transaction-based revenues came from cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of this year, Robinhood said in its latest earnings statement.



Overall user numbers at crypto platforms have ballooned. Binance, the world&#8217;s biggest crypto exchange, had some 118 million clients last month, up from 43.4 million in the first quarter of last year.



But after last week&#8217;s turmoil, online forums were awash with tales of woe, as retail investors expressed anguish about their losses.



&#8220;I&#8217;m 49, big mortgage, 3 kids etc. My retirement party is on ice for the foreseeable future!&#8221;, a user with the handle Boring-Fun-3646 said on Reddit.



Another user with the handle AdventurousAdagio830 posted on Reddit: &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t seem real that I lost $180,000.&#8221;



&#8216;DEATH SPIRAL&#8217;



Emblematic of crypto risks was the collapse last week of terraUSD, a stablecoin designed to keep a constant value via a complex algorithm that involved luna.



When the coins came under heavy selling pressure, the system broke down. TerraUSD &#8211; designed to keep a value of $1 &#8211; traded around 9 cents on Tuesday while luna plunged to near-zero, based on CoinGecko data.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2X20JL&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Tejan Shrivastava, a 31-year old graphic designer from Mumbai, who has been investing in cryptocurrencies for the last year, had his $250 investment wiped out by luna&#8217;s collapse.



&#8220;It was stuck in a death spiral. All the money was gone in 15 minutes,&#8221; he told Reuters.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t even know if I&#8217;ll invest in crypto in the future. I have a crypto portfolio, but I am planning to liquidate it once it reaches break even.&#8221;



Luna&#8217;s fall wiped out most of its market value which had been above $40 billion as recently as early April, CoinGecko data shows.



Retail investors&#8217; online frustration even spilled over into the real world.



Seoul police last week said they were seeking a suspect after an unidentified individual rang the doorbell of the apartment of Do Kwon, the founder of terraUSD, and ran away.



Police would investigate whether the suspect had invested in cryptocurrencies, a Seoul police officer told Reuters.



PATCHY REGULATION



Through its 13-year life, the crypto sector has been peppered by vertiginous climbs and sudden free falls. In November, for instance, bitcoin slumped by a fifth in just under two weeks after touching a record $69,000. Six months earlier, it had tumbled by almost 40% in just nine days.



Yet crypto&#8217;s latest crash &#8211; which pushed the sector&#8217;s combined value to $1.2 trillion, less than half of where it was last November &#8211; led to the crushing of luna, which on May 1 was the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.



Cryptocurrencies are subject to patchy regulation across the world, with traders of bitcoin and the panapoly of smaller tokens typically unprotected against price slumps.



But it is difficult to gauge the scale of retail investors&#8217; pain from the crypto plunge and the repercussions on future appetite given the opaque nature of the market.



In Britain more than 4% of adults &#8211; some 2.3 million people &#8211; own cryptocurrencies, data published last year by the UK financial watchdog showed.



Britain&#8217;s watchdog said understanding of crypto was falling compared with a year earlier, &#8220;suggesting that some crypto users may not fully understand what they are buying&#8221;.



Still, some small investors are keeping the faith.



Eloisa Marchesoni, based near Tulum in Mexico and investing with a crypto syndicate, said she would not give up.



&#8220;I am looking to buy the dip &#8211; we are all waiting for bitcoin to go down to $22,000, which is not something too probable but not something that&#8217;s &#8216;not probable at all&#8217;.&#8221;



Marchesoni is also hedging her crypto bets with physical assets &#8212; &#8220;cars because you can lease them, watches, real estate&#8221;.



Bitcoin&nbsp;BTC=BTSP&nbsp;was hovering around $30,000 on Tuesday, having lost more than 20% so far this month.



Regulators remain on alert. The British government said last month it will regulate stablecoins.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2W23WH&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is toughening its stance. Gary Gensler, SEC chair, said this week investors in cryptocurrencies needed more protections.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2X81YX&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Additional reporting by Alun John in Hong Kong and Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul; Writing by Carolyn Cohn, Elizabeth Howcroft and Tom Wilson in London. Editing by Jane Merriman)

106911087-16263029762021-07-12t182451z_1049474836_rc26jo9ua1af_rtrmadp_0_fintech-crypto-flows

Small players lose faith in crypto after sell-off￼

Bitcoin dropped below the $27,000 level as a recent sell-off in the cryptocurrency space continues.



The price of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CM=">bitcoin</a>&nbsp;was last down 8.76% to $26,848.20 as of 1:47 a.m. ET Thursday, according to data from Coin Metrics.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/ETH.CM=">Ether</a>&nbsp;fell more than 13% to $1,832.33.



Cryptocurrencies fell with stocks after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported consumer prices for the month of April&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/11/cpi-april-2022.html">jumped 8.3%, which was slightly higher than expected</a>&nbsp;by economists polled by Dow Jones.



That spooked investors, leading them to exit risk assets including crypto. Cryptocurrencies remain highly correlated with the S&amp;P 500 and, more recently, the Nasdaq Composite.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bitcoin-stays-under-30-000-wednesday">Bitcoin stays under $30,000 Wednesday</h2>



“The crypto market has been under pressure for some time now,” said Michael Rinko, venture associate at AscendEx. “The Fed keeps hiking, so equities keep going down and crypto’s been going down along with it. Generally that’s created a lot of fear in the market.”



This is the second time this week bitcoin has fallen into the $29,000 range. Analysts have called $30,000 a key level for the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and said it could fall even further if it can’t hold there.



This time last week bitcoin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/04/bitcoin-jumps-to-40000-after-fed-chair-powell-rules-out-bigger-rate-hikes.html">touched a recent high of $40,000</a>&nbsp;but quickly reversed the next day and has been steadily hitting new lows since.



Investors also digesting big news from the Terra project, whose suddenly popular stablecoin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/UST.CM=">TerraUSD</a>&nbsp;crashed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/11/terra-ust-stablecoin-dives-below-1-peg-luna-cryptocurrency-down-80percent.html">almost 100% at one point</a>&nbsp;in the past week, breaking its $1 peg. The decentralized, algorithmic stablecoin is meant to be backed by a combination of digital assets, including bitcoin.

106885587-16214575182021-05-19t203912z_144465080_rc28jn9cpt2v_rtrmadp_0_crypto-currency-bitcoin

Bitcoin drops below $27,000 level as crypto sell-off continues

KEY POINTS



<ul><li>UST, a so-called stablecoin that’s meant to maintain a $1 peg, was trading at less than 50 cents Wednesday.</li><li>Sister token luna dived more than 80%.</li><li>Terra creator Do Kwon said Tuesday he was “close to announcing a recovery plan” for UST.</li></ul>



The two main tokens from embattled crypto project Terra are now in free fall.



TerraUSD, or UST, is a so-called stablecoin that’s meant to maintain a 1-to-1 peg with the U.S. dollar. But the cryptocurrency plunged to as low as 31 cents Wednesday morning. It was last trading at less than 50 cents, according to CoinGecko data.



Sister token luna dived 95% to just $1.69. The latest plunge means luna has erased more than 98% of its value in the last seven days.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CM=">Bitcoin</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/ETH.CM=">ether</a>&nbsp;saw more muted moves. Bitcoin fell about 1% to $31,378 while ether slipped 0.6% to $2,393.



Stablecoins are akin to bank accounts for the crypto economy, offering a sound store of value to avoid the kind of volatility cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have become notorious for — in theory, at least.



UST is what’s known as an “algorithmic” stablecoin. It uses a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/09/what-is-terrausd-ust-and-how-does-it-affect-bitcoin.html">complex system of minting and burning tokens</a> to adjust supply and stabilize prices. UST’s price has crumbled under the pressure of a sell-off in cryptocurrencies recently, resulting in further panic in the market.



Do Kwon, the coin’s creator, has amassed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/bitcoin-btc-investors-panic-as-terrausd-ust-sinks-below-1-peg.html">billions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin</a>&nbsp;through his Luna Foundation Guard fund to support UST in times of crisis. The fear now is that Luna Foundation Guard dumps those bitcoins onto the market, resulting in an even bigger sell-off.



Bitcoin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/bitcoin-dips-below-30000-drops-more-than-56percent-from-its-all-time-high.html">briefly slumped below $30,000</a>&nbsp;late Monday, its lowest price since July 2021. The world’s biggest digital coin is now hovering slightly above that level. It’s fallen over 50% since setting an all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November.



David Moreno Darocas, a research analyst at CryptoCompare, said the situation highlights the “fragility” of algorithmic stablecoins like UST.



“UST has grown to be both an integral and controversial piece of the crypto ecosystem,” he said.



The phenomenon is still relatively new. But UST has grown to become a major player in the crypto economy, with a circulating supply of 16 billion tokens.



Investors are now closely watching for how Luna Foundation Guard responds to prop up its ailing stablecoin. Kwon said Tuesday he was “close to announcing a recovery plan” for UST. “Hang tight,” he tweeted.



Elsewhere, crypto traders were also rattled by concerns over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/COIN" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase’s</a>&nbsp;financial health.



CEO Brian Armstrong clarified Tuesday that there was “no risk of bankruptcy” for the crypto exchange even as digital currency prices slide.



“For our retail customers, we’re taking further steps to update our user terms such that we offer the same protections to those customers in a black swan event,” he said in a series of tweets. “We should have had these in place previously, so let me apologize for that.”



Coinbase shares were down 19% in pre-market trading Wednesday after the company reported a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/coinbase-coin-earnings-q1-2022.html">27% slide in first-quarter revenue</a>.

51008793946_8a23be8a2d_k

Controversial stablecoin UST — which is meant to be pegged to the dollar — plummets below 50 cents

KEY POINTS



<ul><li>Crypto investors are keeping a close eye on UST, a controversial stablecoin, as the organization that supports it is sitting on billions of dollars in bitcoin.</li><li>Terra’s UST token sank below 70 cents late Monday, as holders continued to flee the controversial stablecoin.</li><li>Traders worry the project might have sold, or will sell, a large portion of its bitcoin to prop up UST.</li></ul>



Investors in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC.CM=">bitcoin</a>&nbsp;are in panic mode as the controversial terraUSD stablecoin slips further from its intended $1 peg.



TerraUSD, or UST, sank below 70 cents for the first time late Monday, as holders continued to flee the token in what some have described as a “bank run.” The token fell as low as 62 cents before regaining ground to trade at 90 cents Tuesday, according to Coinbase data.



Created by Singapore-based Terraform Labs in 2018, UST is what’s known as an “algorithmic” stablecoin. Part of the Terra blockchain project, it’s meant to track the value of the dollar, like fellow stablecoins tether and USDC.



However, unlike with those cryptocurrencies, Terra doesn’t have cash and other assets held in a reserve to back its token. Instead, it uses a complex mix of code — alongside a sister token called luna — to stabilize prices.



UST is important for bitcoin investors as Luna Foundation Guard, an organization supporting the Terra project, is sitting on billions of dollars in bitcoin that could potentially be dumped onto the market at any point.



″Every professional investor in crypto has one eye on UST today, watching to see if it can maintain its peg to the dollar,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management. “There’s clearly significant risk in the market.”



In simple terms, the Terra protocol&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/09/what-is-terrausd-ust-and-how-does-it-affect-bitcoin.html">destroys and creates new units of UST and luna</a>&nbsp;to adjust&nbsp;supply.&nbsp;When the price of UST falls&nbsp;below the dollar,&nbsp;it can be&nbsp;taken out of circulation and exchanged for luna, making&nbsp;UST’s supply more scarce and boosting its price&nbsp;— at least, that’s how it should work in theory.



To further complicate things, Terra’s creator, Do Kwon, bought $3.5 billion worth of bitcoin to provide a backstop for UST in times of crisis. The theory was that UST could eventually be redeemed for bitcoin instead of luna, but this is untested and hasn’t yet been put into practice.



Deposits into Anchor, Terra’s flagship lending protocol, have declined from 10.3 billion tokens on May 6 to just 6.4 billion Tuesday, according to data from blockchain analytics platform Nansen. Anchor offered users an almost 20% annual percentage yield on their UST holdings, a rate many analysts believe was unsustainable.



On Monday, Kwon’s Luna Foundation Guard said it would lend $750&nbsp;million worth of bitcoin to trading firms to “help protect the UST peg,” while a further 750 million UST will be lent out to buy more bitcoin “as market conditions normalize.”



In a follow-up tweet, the organization said it had withdrawn 37,000 bitcoins — worth more than $1 billion at current prices — to lend out. “Very little” of the borrowed bitcoins have been spent, Luna Foundation Guard said, but it is “currently being used to buy” UST.



Several crypto investors are worried that Luna Foundation Guard might have sold, or will sell, a large portion of its bitcoin to prop up UST — analysts pointed out that the group’s bitcoin wallet is now <a href="https://www.oklink.com/en/btc/address/bc1q9d4ywgfnd8h43da5tpcxcn6ajv590cg6d3tg6axemvljvt2k76zs50tv4q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">completely empty</a>.



Amid all of this uncertainty, UST’s decline has sent shock waves throughout the crypto market.



Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/10/bitcoin-dips-below-30000-drops-more-than-56percent-from-its-all-time-high.html">briefly fell below $30,000</a>, hitting its lowest price since July 2021. As of 7:00 a.m. ET, bitcoin was trading at $31,324, down around 5% in the last 24 hours. It’s now down more than 50% from its November all-time high.



Luna, UST’s counterpart, has roughly halved in value in the past 24 hours. It was last trading at a price of $32.



Adding to UST holders’ woes, Binance, the largest crypto exchange by market volume,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/dc02bedd65be40f7b10022f26bc06879" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">temporarily suspended</a>&nbsp;withdrawals of both UST and luna “due to a high volume of pending withdrawal transactions,” citing network congestion.



Binance has since resumed withdrawals, and says it “will continue to monitor” network conditions.



“I think the market is expecting some forced selling here on the part of Terra and the reserve,” Nic Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics, told CNBC. “It is a calamity but very expected. No algorithmic stablecoin has ever succeeded and this is no exception.”



He added that the problem with UST is that it’s largely “backed by faith.”



“It’s not fully guaranteed, it’s certainly not fully backed by reserves,” he told CNBC. “It was really just backed by faith in the issuer effectively.”



Terraform Labs did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

106914167-1626861873395-gettyimages-1234061399-sindeyev-notitle210719_npeAJ

Bitcoin investors are panicking as a controversial crypto experiment unravels

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="464" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/S5ZSZFJYLBIXNPDNSK3FB3QCRA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416757" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/S5ZSZFJYLBIXNPDNSK3FB3QCRA.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/S5ZSZFJYLBIXNPDNSK3FB3QCRA-300x191.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/S5ZSZFJYLBIXNPDNSK3FB3QCRA-141x90.jpg 141w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken taken March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



BANGUI, April 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Central African Republic has adopted bitcoin as an official currency, the presidency said on Wednesday, becoming the first country in Africa and only the second in the world to do so.



Despite rich reserves of gold and diamonds, Central African Republic is one of the world&#8217;s poorest and least-developed countries and has been gripped by rebel violence for years.



A bill governing the use of cryptocurrency was adopted unanimously by parliament last week, said a statement signed by Obed Namsio, chief of staff of President Faustin-Archange Touadera.



&#8220;The president supports this bill because it will improve the conditions of Central African citizens,&#8221; Namsio told Reuters, without elaborating.



In the statement, he called it &#8220;a decisive step toward opening up new opportunities for our country&#8221;.



Central African Republic is one of six nations that use the Central African CFA franc, a regional currency governed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-bitcoin-spikes-8-after-apparent-release-of-yellen-statement-on-biden-s-crypto-executive-order">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/bitcoin-spikes-8-after-apparent-release-of-yellen-statement-on-bidens-crypto-executive-order/">Bitcoin spikes 8% after apparent release of Yellen statement on Biden’s crypto executive order</a></h3>



Two of the country&#8217;s former prime ministers last week signed a letter expressing concern about the adoption of bitcoin without guidance from the BEAC, calling it a &#8220;serious offence&#8221;.



&#8220;The BEAC learned at the same time as the public of the enactment of a new law on cryptocurrency in Central African Republic,&#8221; a BEAC spokesman told Reuters, adding that the bank did not have an official response yet.



El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last year, but the rollout was hampered by scepticism and it postponed a proposed bitcoin bond in March amid global market turmoil.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL6N2VP07Q&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



African governments have taken a varied approach to regulating cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.



Nigeria&#8217;s central bank barred local banks from working with cryptocurrencies last year before launching its own digital currency, the eNaira.



South African regulators have been exploring the potential regulation of cryptocurrencies and other blockchain technology, and Tanzania&#8217;s central bank said last year it was working on a presidential directive to prepare for cryptocurrencies.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2O7264&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Judicael Yongo; Additional reporting by Bate Felix; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

S5ZSZFJYLBIXNPDNSK3FB3QCRA

Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as an official currency

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415449" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806-160x90.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin on a mound of gold.
bodnarchuk | iStock Editorial | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The price of bitcoin stumbled on Monday as investors assessed the risks from rising rates and the potential for more tightening by the Federal Reserve.



Bitcoin last fell 7% to $40,009.78, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier in the day it fell to $39,785.68, falling below the key $40,000 support level for the first time since Mar. 16.



The decline came after the 10-year Treasury yield hit a three-year high of 2.78% Monday. Riskier assets tend to fall when yields rise. On Monday the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down by more than 1%. Though bitcoin should trade independently of the stock market, a correlation between the two has been particularly high in recent months.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-bitcoin-spikes-8-after-apparent-release-of-yellen-statement-on-biden-s-crypto-executive-order">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/bitcoin-spikes-8-after-apparent-release-of-yellen-statement-on-bidens-crypto-executive-order/">Bitcoin spikes 8% after apparent release of Yellen statement on Biden’s crypto executive order</a></h3>



“Bitcoin and traditional markets have continued to respond negatively to expectations that the U.S. Fed will tighten its monetary policy to fight inflation, and Tuesday’s CPI release seems to be weighing heavily,” said Riyad Carey, a research analyst at Kaiko. “Globally, the continuing war in Ukraine and increasing shutdowns in China are dragging on markets.”



Carey also noted the market reaction to Terraform Labs buying bitcoin in troves for its stablecoin reserves – it holds about 40,000 bitcoin after buying $175 million worth over the weekend – has “largely played out.” Two weeks ago bitcoin climbed over the $48,000 level, turning positive for the year, as the group behind the Terra stablecoin stepped up its bitcoin buying.



Tokens across the crypto market were lower as well. Ether declined by about 9% along with other platform networks, according to Coin Metrics. Algorand’s ALGO lost more than 9%. Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA were each down by 11%.

104893268-GettyImages-818871806

Bitcoin falls below $40,000 for the first time in almost a month as investors assess global macro risks

At a bitcoin conference on Thursday, billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel said Warren Buffett tops an “enemies list” of people who are trying to stop the cryptocurrency.



“Enemy number one,” Thiel said to a booing Miami crowd, is “the sociopathic grandpa from Omaha.” Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is based in Omaha, Neb.



Thiel, who by 2018 had reportedly amassed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin through venture firm Founders Fund, also called out JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. Thiel presented large graphics with images of the two financial executives and their bearish comments about bitcoin.



The images all contained the word “gerontocracy.” About Dimon, Thiel said his views are part of “the New York City banker bias.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="405" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/104352405-GettyImages-464620582.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-416367" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/104352405-GettyImages-464620582.jpg 720w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/104352405-GettyImages-464620582-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/104352405-GettyImages-464620582-160x90.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption>Peter Thiel VCG/VCG | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Thiel held up a headshot of Buffett with the words “rat poison” on it, referring to the time the Berkshire CEO dismissed bitcoin using that phrase. Another quote from Buffett read, “I don’t own any and I never will.” Earlier this year, Berkshire invested $1 billion in Brazil’s Nubank, an online bank that’s popular among crypto investors.



The Miami tirade is Thiel’s latest and boldest public attack on the people he sees as standing in the way of bitcoin’s progress.



“This is what we have to fight for bitcoin to go 10x or 100x from here,” Thiel said.



underpinning the cryptocurrency, but feel the need to take down bitcoin and its legitimacy.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-cryptocurrencies-tumble-with-bitcoin-falling-8-and-ether-down-9-in-the-last-24-hours">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/cryptocurrencies-tumble-with-bitcoin-falling-8-and-ether-down-9-in-the-last-24-hours/">Cryptocurrencies tumble, with bitcoin falling 8% and ether down 9% in the last 24 hours</a></h3>



“When they choose not to allocate to bitcoin, that’s a deeply political choice,” said Thiel, a prominent backer of Republican politicians, most notably former President Donald Trump. Buffett, Thiel said, invests in a “list of woke companies.”



At one point, Thiel presented a colorful photo of Miami next to the word “youth.”



“We need to say, you know, you have to get on board with this,” he said.



A representative from Berkshire Hathaway didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and a JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment for this story.



A BlackRock spokesperson pointed CNBC to comments Fink made in his letter to shareholders last month. He wrote that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could accelerate adoption of digital currencies, and said “a global digital payment system, thoughtfully designed, can enhance the settlement of international transactions while reducing the risk of money laundering and corruption.”

104352405-GettyImages-464620582

Peter Thiel calls Warren Buffett a ‘sociopathic grandpa from Omaha’ and bitcoin’s ‘enemy number one’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-415765" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Selim Korkutata | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">Bitcoin</a> and other cryptocurrencies spiked after the U.S. Treasury apparently released details of an executive order from President Joe Biden that appeared to take a supportive stance toward digital assets.



Bitcoin was trading at $41,584.21, nearly 9% higher as of 2:17 a.m. ET, according to data from CoinDesk. Other cryptocurrencies including <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/eth=x/">ether</a> were also sharply higher.



The rally began just after 6 p.m. ET Tuesday after the Treasury published details and a statement online in response to an upcoming executive order from the U.S. president on cryptocurrencies. The statement from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was unpublished shortly after.



Reuters and other news outlets reported earlier this week that a Biden order on cryptocurrencies is imminent.



The now-removed Treasury statement said the executive order calls for a comprehensive approach to digital asset policy and that government agencies would coordinate their work.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-bitcoin-jumps-13-as-russia-ukraine-conflict-continues-and-u-s-imposes-further-sanctions">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/bitcoin-jumps-13-as-russia-ukraine-conflict-continues-and-u-s-imposes-further-sanctions/">Bitcoin jumps 13% as Russia-Ukraine conflict continues and U.S. imposes further sanctions</a></h3>



Traders are still awaiting the final executive order, but the fleeting Treasury statement, which appeared supportive of cryptocurrencies, was enough to boost optimism.



“The leaked Treasury statement has been welcomed by the crypto market as it seems to focus on development of the industry, rather than on imposing unrealistic regulations,” Yuya Hasegawa, market analyst at Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank, told CNBC.



Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, called the executive order a “constructive approach to thoughtful crypto regulation.”



While countries like China have looked to wipe out cryptocurrency trading, others such as El Salvador have embraced it. But the U.S. currently does not have a high-level framework for developing and regulating cryptocurrencies, sparking fears that it could be left behind.



Last year, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said the U.S. should create a new regulator to oversee the digital asset market.

106963876-1634825244800-gettyimages-1236011917-AA_21102021_496570

Bitcoin spikes 8% after apparent release of Yellen statement on Biden’s crypto executive order

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415449" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806.jpg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/104893268-GettyImages-818871806-160x90.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>Bitcoin on a mound of gold.
bodnarchuk | iStock Editorial | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The role of cryptocurrencies like <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/quotes/btc=x/">bitcoin</a> has been a key talking point during&nbsp;Russia’s invasion of Ukraine&nbsp;and the enacting of sanctions and subsequent financial market turmoil.



And it has thrown up three big questions about how it is being used and what its future looks like.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-cryptos-be-used-to-avoid-sanctions"><a></a>Can cryptos be used to avoid sanctions?</h2>



After its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been hit with a number of economic sanctions aimed at cutting the country off from the global financial system.



Key Russian figures and financial institutions have been placed on a&nbsp;U.S. sanctions list&nbsp;that effectively prohibits American firms from doing business with them. Meanwhile, the United States, European allies and Canada have removed key Russian banks from an&nbsp;interbank messaging system called SWIFT, which hampers their access to global financial markets.



The sanctions have&nbsp;caused the Russian ruble to plunge.



This has led to a debate about whether cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, could be a way for those on sanctions lists to evade the restrictions.



This is because bitcoin and other digital currencies are often decentralized, meaning they’re not issued or controlled by a central entity like a central bank. When crypto is sent to other users, it does not go through the traditional route of financial plumbing.



But there are a number of challenges.



First, blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin, is a public ledger of activity. It’s therefore possible to track the movements of funds from one account to another quite easily. This doesn’t make it a good tool for avoiding sanctions.



“The biggest misconception about crypto remains that it is untraceable and is primarily used for nefarious purposes, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/bitcoin-sanctions-could-be-next-but-most-russians-wont-care/">Bitcoin sanctions could be next, but most Russians won’t care</a></h3>



Meanwhile, there isn’t enough liquidity for Russian oligarchs and companies to move their money around.



“Liquidity in crypto is still a fraction of the global currency market, and hence moving large amounts of money using crypto is difficult,” Ayyar said.



Cryptocurrency exchanges will also be on high alert.



“Exchanges that operate with strong processes and codes of conduct will no doubt be doubly watchful at this moment for funds that have nefarious origins,” Charles Hayter, CEO of data firm CryptoCompare, told&nbsp;CNBC.



On Thursday, Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Coinbase, backed up many of these points in a thread. He said that every U.S. business has to follow the law.



“It doesn’t matter if your company handles dollars, crypto, gold, real estate or even non financial assets. Sanctions laws apply to all US people and businesses,” Armstrong said.



“So it would be a mistake to think crypto businesses like Coinbase won’t follow the law. Of course we will. This is why we screen people who sign up for our services against global watchlists, and block transactions from IP addresses that might belong to sanctioned individuals or entities, just like any other regulated financial services business.”



However, there has been a spike in the volume of transactions from ruble into bitcoin and to tether, a so-called stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar, since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, according to CryptoCompare. Hayter said this is a “flight to the dollar by any means possible where crypto is but another route to preserve wealth,” as the ruble has plunged.



Coinbase’s Armstrong said “some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed.”



Earlier this week, lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren urged the Treasury Department to ensure that they could make sure crypto companies are compliant with sanctions on Russia. One U.S. government official said it’s unlikely that Russia could evade sanctions using cryptocurrencies.



“The scale that the Russian state would need to successfully circumvent all U.S. and partners’ financial sanctions would almost certainly render cryptocurrency as an ineffective primary tool for the state,” said Carol House, the director of cybersecurity for the National Security Council, during a webinar on Wednesday,&nbsp;Reuters reported.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Is bitcoin finally becoming ‘digital gold’?</h2>



For years, proponents of bitcoin have been calling the digital currency “digital gold.” The idea is that bitcoin is a store of value and could be a safe haven asset in times of turmoil, just like the yellow metal.



However, that theory has unraveled in recent years, as&nbsp;bitcoin trading has been correlated to risk assets, in particular stocks.



But as the war in Ukraine intensified this week, bitcoin saw a huge one day jump taking it above $44,000 off the lows for the year, prompting speculation that its&nbsp;time as a safe haven asset has come.



Several experts disagreed.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/cryptocurrencies-tumble-with-bitcoin-falling-15-and-ether-down-20/">Cryptocurrencies tumble, with bitcoin falling 15% and ether down 20%</a></h3>



“We have read across a few different publications that BTC is regaining its status as a safe-haven. We completely disagree with this notion,” Lux Thiagarajah, head of trading and account management at crypto financial services company BCB Group, said in a note on Thursday.



“A safe haven is an asset that retains its value during times of market turbulence. Crypto has aggressively sold off since it was clear the Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) were going to hike rates faster than anticipated which in turn saw stocks sell off. This is not the definition of a safe haven.”



Luno’s Ayyar said in the past week that bitcoin has “de-correlated quite a bit from equities and gold, which is one positive indication around its use case as a safe haven.” He added that bitcoin will continue to mature, taking away market share from gold, but that narrative “may still take more time to play out.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Has blockchain tech proven its utility?</h2>



Cryptocurrency proponents often tout the&nbsp;underlying blockchain&nbsp;as a way to have more efficient and traceable transactions. One of the reasons is that there is no intermediary to move the money, unlike traditional financial transactions.



But many cryptocurrencies still suffer from high fees and slow transaction speed. They haven’t necessarily seen mass adoption for things like payments.



However, during the war,&nbsp;Ukraine began to accept donations via cryptocurrencies&nbsp;to fund its military, among other things. Ukraine has raised over $50 million via cryptocurrencies, according to analytics firm Elliptic.



Taking donations via traditional banking methods could be difficult, given the high cost of sending money abroad. It might also take a long time for Ukraine to receive money.



That’s where cryptocurrencies have an advantage, according to Garrick Hileman, visiting fellow at the London School of Economics.



“When critical infrastructure is out or there are concerns about how quickly something can get through traditional banking system, as long as you have internet and a computing device you can transact. That has been one of the promises of crypto,” Hileman said.



Because the transactions are on a public ledger, Hileman said, you can to some extent to see where the money you send goes and how it is deployed after it is received.



“Some of the original value propositions of cryptocurrencies are seeing validation,” he added.

Crypto

Bitcoin hits 6-week high topping $24,000 in a post-Fed rally

Bitcoin tops $22,000 as crypto market hopes contagion and shakeout is over; ether jumps 9%

EU agrees on landmark regulation to clean up crypto ‘Wild West’

Bitcoin could plunge even further to a low of $13,000, one strategist warns

Bitcoin rebounds 8% but struggles to hold above $20,000

Bitcoin drops 12%, falling below $24,000 as $200 billion wiped off crypto market over the weekend

Crypto firms say thousands of digital currencies will collapse, compare market to early dotcom days

Binance raises $500 million fund to invest in ‘Web3’ as crypto slides into bear market

Small players lose faith in crypto after sell-off

Bitcoin drops below $27,000 level as crypto sell-off continues

Controversial stablecoin UST — which is meant to be pegged to the dollar — plummets below 50 cents

Bitcoin investors are panicking as a controversial crypto experiment unravels

Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as an official currency

Bitcoin falls below $40,000 for the first time in almost a month as investors assess global macro risks

Peter Thiel calls Warren Buffett a ‘sociopathic grandpa from Omaha’ and bitcoin’s ‘enemy number one’

Bitcoin spikes 8% after apparent release of Yellen statement on Biden’s crypto executive order

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has thrust crypto into the spotlight and raised 3 big questions

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Crypto

Bitcoin hits 6-week high topping $24,000 in a post-Fed rally

Bitcoin tops $22,000 as crypto market hopes contagion and shakeout is over; ether jumps 9%

EU agrees on landmark regulation to clean up crypto ‘Wild West’

Bitcoin could plunge even further to a low of $13,000, one strategist warns

Bitcoin rebounds 8% but struggles to hold above $20,000

Bitcoin drops 12%, falling below $24,000 as $200 billion wiped off crypto market over the weekend

Crypto firms say thousands of digital currencies will collapse, compare market to early dotcom days

Binance raises $500 million fund to invest in ‘Web3’ as crypto slides into bear market

Small players lose faith in crypto after sell-off￼

Bitcoin drops below $27,000 level as crypto sell-off continues

Controversial stablecoin UST — which is meant to be pegged to the dollar — plummets below 50 cents

Bitcoin investors are panicking as a controversial crypto experiment unravels

Central African Republic adopts bitcoin as an official currency

Bitcoin falls below $40,000 for the first time in almost a month as investors assess global macro risks

Peter Thiel calls Warren Buffett a ‘sociopathic grandpa from Omaha’ and bitcoin’s ‘enemy number one’

Bitcoin spikes 8% after apparent release of Yellen statement on Biden’s crypto executive order

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has thrust crypto into the spotlight and raised 3 big questions

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters

Small players lose faith in crypto after sell-off