​Solana Rally Sees FTX's Holdings Grow to $3.3B, Setting Claims Market on Fire

A rally in the price of cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), which is currently trading at $78, has set the market for FTX bankruptcy claims on fire, according to specialists at distressed firms dealing in crypto.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the boss of FTX, which suddenly spiraled into bankruptcy last year, had championed the Solana project, and the exchange holds a sizable clutch of 55.8 million SOL tokens, according to CoinGecko.

Those SOL holdings, the majority of which (42.2 million) are locked up and not immediately tradable on the market, had been pegged at a market value of $1.16 billion earlier this year. The tokens are worth around three times that amount now, over $3.3 billion.

This hike in the value of the FTX estate’s crypto holdings would catapult its recovery into 100% re-pay, leaving distressed firms scrambling to buy claims at 60-70 cents on the dollar, according to Thomas Braziel, CEO of 117 Partners.

“The market for claims has gone red hot,” Braziel said via email. “Everything that was off the table is now on the table in terms of issues with claims, such as KYC/ AML being not verified. In the beginning it was super picky; now it’s whatever we can touch that we can figure out, we will do.”

Vladimir Jelisavcic, founder and manager of Cherokee Acquisition, agreed that competition for FTX claims has been “exceptionally keen” lately.

“The dramatic price increase is driven by Solana and anticipation of the amended plan that should be filed by December 16,” Jelisavcic said via email.

​SEC Rejects Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase!

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announced that they rejected the petition submitted by Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the USA, to establish cryptocurrency rules and regulations.

“I was pleased to support this decision by the SEC for three reasons.

First, existing laws and regulations also apply to crypto securities markets.

Second, the SEC is also addressing crypto securities markets through rulemaking.

Third, it is important for the SEC to maintain discretion in determining its own rulemaking priorities.”

​OKX Wallet Adds 50x Leverage Trading with GMX Integration

OKX is a famous Web3 technology leader. It has announced its latest updates on December 13, 2023. OKX Wallet now integrates with GMX, a perpetual swap DEX. OKX Wallet users can trade BTC, ETH, and AVAX with up to 50 times leverage through this connection.

GMX Integration Boosts OKX Wallet Trading Options
GMX expands OKX Wallet customers’ trading options and boosts its utility. OKX Wallet, a Chrome and Firefox browser add-on, lets users access GMX. Simple steps allow customers to access the perpetual swap DEX’s broad trading choices. This requires downloading the web extension, creating an OKX Wallet, and linking it to GMX.

OKX Wallet’s Discover platform, which hosts over 5,500 DApps, DEXs, blockchain games, NFTs, and other tools, gives users access to GMX. The Discover platform integration gives consumers a centralized and intuitive environment for cryptocurrency-related activities.

OKX, a global pioneer in Web3 technology, offers a variety of products for different skill levels. OKX Wallet is the most secure, adaptable, and resilient cryptocurrency wallet across the globe. It allows users to engage with over 80 blockchains while maintaining complete monetary management. The wallet uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) to improve security. It also enables wallet recovery without seed phrases.

OKX Platform Offers 70 Protocols across 10 Blockchains
OKX’s Web3 DeFi platform allows users to earn and stake assets across 70 protocols on over 10 blockchains for a strong decentralized financial experience. Users can participate in decentralized financial activities in many ways on this platform.

The OKX Wallet’s inclusion of GMX shows the company’s commitment to a healthy, user-focused cryptocurrency ecosystem. OKX expands users’ trading possibilities, increasing digital asset industry diversity, accessibility, and inventiveness. As users explore and use the integrated features, this strategic move should benefit the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As OKX continues to impact Web3 technology, its role in shaping the future of cryptocurrency becomes more vibrant.

​Here's Why Bitcoin (BTC) And Crypto Market Falling Today

The cryptocurrency market has continued to face a downturn today, leaving investors on edge as Bitcoin and other major cryptos experience a dip. Meanwhile, several factors might have potentially contributed to this decline, as investors are treading with a cautious eye on economic indicators and the looming Federal Reserve meeting.

So, let’s take a look at the potential factors that might have triggered the recent crypto market selloff.

Potential Reasons For The Recent Dip

U.S. CPI Data As Fed’s Decision Looms
Investors are treading carefully as the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data reveals a cooling inflation rate of 3.1% in November. Meanwhile, the latest data also showed that on a monthly basis, the inflation rose 0.1%, while the core CPI surged 4% on an annual basis.

Despite this dip, anticipation grows ahead of the Fed’s meeting starting today, December 13, as the inflation remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target range. Now, the market eagerly awaits insights into the Fed’s stance on potential rate hikes, a decision with far-reaching implications for global financial markets, including cryptocurrencies.

While the CME FedWatch Tool showed that there are 98.2% chance of the Fed keeping the interest rate unchanged at their upcoming gathering, the investors seem to be waiting on the sideline before putting any further bets. In addition, the rate-cut decisions by the central bank are also something that the market eagerly anticipates.

Profit Booking and Economic Health

Another factor contributing to the market’s recent slump could be profit booking by investors seizing recent gains from the notable rally in the crypto market. Notably, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies reached yearly highs in the past weeks, as the risk-bet appetite of the investors grew due to the absence of any negative catalysts in the market.

In addition, the market participants seem to be seeking clarity on the nation’s economic health, with the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data set to be released later today. This key economic indicator may influence market sentiment as investors weigh their bets in the digital asset space.

In a climate where uncertainty prevails, market participants closely monitor these developments, understanding that each piece of data has the potential to sway the crypto market either way.

​Vivek Ramaswamy: “My policy will guarantee a bright future for cryptocurrency”

US presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami said that in his political course he does not forget about cryptocurrencies, which will give freedom to Americans.

“15 years ago, US taxpayers were forced to bail out big banks by acting as intermediaries between them and big government. It poisons the proper functioning of capitalism,” wrote Vivek Ramaswamy.

The cryptocurrency movement began as an alternative to “this shame,” he added.

“The policies I released this month ensure a bright future for cryptocurrency and provide economic freedom for Americans seeking an alternative to centralized finance,” the presidential candidate said.

He said that such freedom rests on three pillars - freedom of coding, freedom of financial independence and freedom from regulatory violations.

“Using policies like this as a framework will allow us to free American innovators from an administrative state that persecutes and blocks innovation,” he added.

Ramaswamy calls Bitcoin “the way out of the broken financial infrastructure” created by the US Federal Reserve (Fed). He also assures that, as the future President of the United States, he intends to fight to ensure that the dollar remains the reserve currency of the world, without interfering with the development of Bitcoin.

In May, at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami, Ramaswami announced he was collecting campaign donations in BTC. The presidential candidate later spoke out against the digital dollar, calling it a threat to the freedom of American citizens.

​The Bank for International Settlements commented on the anonymity of CBDC

Representatives of the Tourbillion project and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced the results of a joint study. Experts have concluded that users can maintain privacy when making payments with central bank digital currencies.

Payment options have been explored where retail customers do not have to share personal information with third parties, including the retailer. However, the user's identity will be disclosed to his credit institution. This is necessary in order to discourage potential tax evasion.

Given the fact that the implementation of CBDC is being actively studied by various jurisdictions, the confidentiality of this tool has become one of the key issues. BIS emphasized that the ability to maintain anonymity is a key requirement for most users, but this situation is quite difficult to solve. The main challenge is ensuring technological security and privacy.

The situation in the world is such that attitudes towards blockchain technologies may differ significantly depending on the jurisdiction. It is noteworthy that at the moment Japan has set a clear vector for itself, within which the country intends to take a leading position in the Web 3.0 industry. The local government is systematically easing the way it regulates digital assets.

This position is very different from South Korea, where the government has committed to tightening oversight. It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida strongly supports blockchain technologies and digital assets.

​BitcoinSistemi: Three whales are selling three altcoins.

Large traders sell MEME, LRC and LINK cryptocurrencies.

Three major players are selling three altcoins. The observation was shared on BitcoinSistemi.

A whale with short address 0xd4e on Coinbase accumulated LRC coins from February 1st to March 9th. On average, he bought coins for $0.35. The investor sold the coins for $0.21. A total of 5.7 million LRC was spent with an estimate of $1.2 million.

Keith 0x432 exchanged 2.5 million MEME for 33.2 ETH. Although the deal is valued at a rather modest $65,000, the user is one of the main holders of MEME. The trader is left with $2.4 million worth of MEME. The potential profit from their sale is estimated at $390,000.

On the topic of meme coins: SHIB rate increased 5% this week

Keith 0x604 sold all his LINK - more than 62,000 coins. Keith accumulated coins on November 12 on Uniswap and FixedFloat. The investor's loss was $179,000.

​BTC rate could reach $732,000

Analysts from Twitter have studied the possibility of the price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) moving strongly upward. They noted that, according to the model, which helped predict the peak value above $60,000, the next peak in quotations will be around $732,000 for the digital coin.

The researchers tried to understand how realistic this estimate is. They studied a model for predicting future BTC Stock-to-Flow (S2F) prices from researcher Plan B. His market analytics methods have been repeatedly criticized and found to be ineffective. However, another expert, Greg Cipolaro, attempted to modify the S2F model and obtained much more accurate results.

Bitcoin reached $65,000 in April 2021 and then $68,000 in November 2021, while the specialist predicted it to reach $60,000 and slightly higher. His analytical model is based on price targets for the supply reduction after the Bitcoin halving. However, many argued: the Chipolaro mechanism turned out to be true by pure chance and this is just a coincidence that will not happen for the 2nd time in a row.

The $732,000 mark is about 1,800% higher than current levels. From the Black Thursday low of $3,800 to the 2021 high of $69,000, a difference of approximately 1,600% was recorded. Therefore, achieving such a high level at the next price peak seems unrealistic for now. This is especially noteworthy given the fact that Bitcoin is already trading at more than double its local 2022 lows.

According to data as of the evening of November 18, 2023, the rate of the digital coin BTC reached $36,685. The total capitalization was $717.09 billion. Daily trading volumes were $15.41 billion.

​Coin Center urged the US Congress to clarify the taxation of cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency legal center Coin Center has asked US lawmakers to establish clearer rules for regulating digital assets, including their taxation.
In a letter to U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Senator Mike Crapo, Coin Center listed a number of criteria that the U.S. government should take into account when developing regulations for the crypto industry.

Coin Center mentioned the virtual currency tax fairness bill previously presented to Congress. According to this bill, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should exempt traders from paying taxes for making cryptocurrency transactions. These measures will encourage the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Thus, transactions with digital assets should be considered similar to transactions when buying foreign currencies, the letter notes.

“Forcing ordinary people to meticulously collect information about other people and report it to the government without a warrant violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. And requiring politically active organizations to create and make public lists of their benefactors, and then provide this information to the government, violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, ”said the Coin Center.

In addition, the non-profit organization has proposed revising the IRS definition of a broker to exclude cryptocurrency miners and node operators from this category. The department's powers to prosecute alleged tax evaders should also be limited, the Coin Center noted.

The legal center cited as an example the situation when the IRS received data from the Coinbase crypto exchange about users who might not have been involved in any tax violations.

“If regular bitcoin trading results in trader data being no longer private, this will have serious consequences for bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem,” Coin Center experts concluded.

Last year, the Coin Center condemned the actions of the US Treasury Department for blocking the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer. However, recently the court dismissed the lawsuit of users against the Ministry of Finance, considering that the department did not exceed its powers.

​Bitcoin whale rocked the market by buying over $3 billion

An unknown person has accumulated over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) tokens since May, making it the third largest BTC address in the world.

According to data from BitInfoCharts, this wallet started accumulating in mid-May and became the largest non-crypto exchange bitcoin holder by the end of June.

Since its inception, this portfolio has refrained from being sold. The Bitcoin address in question received varying amounts of BTC: its initial transaction in May included 0.25 BTC, while its last deposit was 6,600 BTC.

It currently holds 118,300 BTC, which is equal to $3,087,545,354.

Ranking third in the world in terms of the largest addresses, it is inferior to the cold wallets of Binance and Bitfinex. It is likely that this relatively new address belongs to another crypto exchange that is reorganizing its BTC reserves.

Analyst firm Santiment previously highlighted the continued activity of Bitcoin whales during the recent cryptocurrency market downturn.

Despite significant price drops, significant transactions involving BTC worth $1 million or more continue to occur, suggesting that whales remain active even if the number of large wallets remains unchanged.