Binance Alleges SEC Overreach, FTX Claims Surge
Market Update
- U.S Equities are bouncing after a three-day losing streak, but both the S&P (-2.2%) and Nasdaq (-2.5%) are set to close down for the week. The 2-year and 10-year treasury have reversed 0.87% and 1.38% respectively, after reaching 15 year highs this week. To counter the higher for longer environment, concerns are rising around a likely U.S government shutdown, which could hurt consumers and the economy. While detrimental to economic activity, this could be seen as a positive in the current ‘bad news is good news’ market sentiment, since it may contribute to taming inflation. BTC and ETH gained 0.23% and 0.81% over the last day. TON has continued to outperform among large caps, rising 18.6% this week, overtaking Tron to enter the top 10 and nearly on par with SOL at a MC of ~$8bn. The Telegram team has officially endorsed TON network as its blockchain for Web3 infrastructure, creating an in-app wallet that allows merchants to accept crypto payments on its popular messaging app.
- Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, have jointly submitted a request to have the SEC lawsuit against them dismissed, alleging overreach by the regulatory body. They argue that the SEC misinterpreted securities laws and is retroactively attempting to extend its authority over the cryptocurrency industry. The petition highlights that the SEC failed to provide clear guidance for the crypto sector before initiating the lawsuit, and it questions the SEC's attempt to expand its jurisdiction globally. Binance and Zhao maintain that the SEC's claims are unjust, as they pertain to crypto asset sales dating back to July 2017, before the SEC issued any public guidance on digital assets. Binance.US, the American subsidiary, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The SEC's legal action against Binance began in June, accusing the exchange of offering unregistered securities and operating unlawfully in the United States. The ongoing regulatory pressure has significantly impacted Binance.US, resulting in a dramatic drop in daily trading volumes and recent layoffs.
- FTX claims in the secondary market are actively trading at about 35% of their original value, with investors eyeing strong returns as the settlement progresses. Notably, over $250 million worth of FTX debts changed hands, including a $23 million claim sold to Hudson Bay Capital Management. This bullish sentiment is based on the belief that FTX's bankruptcy process will unlock additional value, although such processes can take years. The secondary market's demand has surged, starting the year at around 15%. Growth is attributed to progress in FTX's restructuring and ongoing court proceedings involving FTX's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Investors are also acquiring rights to FTX crypto accounts with assets stuck on the platform since November 2022, when withdrawals were halted. Crypto bankruptcies, like Mt. Gox, have a history of lengthy resolutions. Currently, around 72% of claimants haven't decided on their scheduled claims, with 10% agreeing and 18% disputing them. The deadline for claim disputes is September 29, 2023.
Source: CoinDesk, Claims Market
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
Heading into late September, TRON looks like one of the better positioned Cryptocurrencies to favor and appears very close to a larger breakout of the consolidation which has been ongoing since mid-2021. This week's rally has carried TRX to the highest level in over a year on weekly charts, and movement over $0.09 looks likely which should result in acceleration up to resistance near late 2021 peaks initially. While pullbacks are possible after the recent runup, it's unlikely that $0.07 is breached in my view ahead of an acceleration back to new monthly highs. Overall, TRX looks quite appealing technically given its larger bullish base in the making, and i anticipate a positive breakout of this pattern in the weeks to come.
Daily Important Metrics
All metrics as of September 22, 2023 12:41 PM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
BTC | $518B | $26,591 | ↑ 0.11% | ↑ 61% | |
ETH | $191B | $1,589 | ↑ 0.29% | ↑ 33% | ↓ -28% |
DOGE | $8.7B | $0.0614 | ↓ -0.17% | ↓ -12% | ↓ -73% |
ADA | $8.6B | $0.2443 | ↓ -1.54% | ↓ -1.05% | ↓ -62% |
SOL | $8.0B | $19.38 | ↓ -0.89% | ↑ 96% | ↑ 35% |
DOT | $5.0B | $4.01 | ↓ -0.53% | ↓ -7.79% | ↓ -68% |
MATIC | $4.8B | $0.5193 | ↓ -1.25% | ↓ -32% | ↓ -92% |
LINK | $3.8B | $6.76 | ↑ 0.49% | ↑ 22% | ↓ -39% |
NEAR | $1.0B | $1.11 | ↓ -1.62% | ↓ -13% | ↓ -73% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
GBTC | ↓ -21% | $18.99 | ↓ -0.07% | ↑ 129% | ↑ 69% |
BITW | ↓ -46% | $11.87 | ↑ 0.25% | ↑ 121% | ↑ 61% |
ETHE | ↓ -28% | $10.95 | ↑ 0.46% | ↑ 130% | ↑ 70% |
BTCC | ↓ -0.16% | $4.87 | ↑ 0.21% | ↑ 61% | ↑ 0.21% |
News
QUICK BITS
Decrypt.co FTX Claims Trading Near 35% of Debt Amount in Secondary Markets Analysts found that investors are actively purchasing claims with an expectation of strong returns as the settlement progresses. |
Null TX Mt. Gox Trustee Extends Repayment Deadline Amidst Ongoing Saga But There’s A Catch The trustee responsible for handling the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox, Nobuaki Kobayashi, has recently announced a significant extension of the repayment deadline for ... |
MARKET DATA
CoinDesk Ethereum's Shanghai Upgrade Has Failed to Boost Network Activity, JPMorgan Says Daily transactions, daily active addresses and total value locked on the blockchain have all fallen since the upgrade, the report said. |
Coin Telegraph Stablecoin exodus: Why are investors fleeing crypto’s safe haven? Stablecoins have seen a 17-month decline as investors move to traditional assets. What needs to happen for the exodus ... |
REGULATION
Decrypt.co Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao Seek Dismissal of SEC Lawsuit, Citing Regulatory Overreach The crypto exchange accuses the U.S. regulator of misinterpreting securities laws and retroactively imposing its authority. |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
Coin Telegraph Core Scientific cracks $77M Bitmain deal for 27K Bitcoin mining rigs The deal was first finalized in August with Anchorage as another party agreeing to equity stake in the bankrupt crypto... |
HACKS, EXPLOITS, AND SCAMS
Decrypt.co Nansen Users’ Blockchain Addresses Exposed in Security Breach The crypto analytics firm reported that some password hashes and blockchain addresses were exposed, along with email addresses. |
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