IRS Files $44 Billion in Claims Against FTX, Coinbase Sparks Pepe Controversy
Market Update
- This morning’s initial jobless claims came in at 264k vs. 245k expected, marking the highest level since October of 2021, further supporting the notion that the Federal Reserve is seeing what they need to pause rate hikes going forward. Equity indices are mixed following this morning’s data, with the S&P 500 declining 0.23% and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.26%. Crypto markets are underperforming compared to equities, with $BTC (-1.51%) and $ETH (-1.90%) hovering around recent lows. Crypto’s underperformance to equities has been notable over the past 30 days, with BTC falling over 10% compared to $SPX. Despite recent underperformance, it’s important to note that BTC is still up 55% YTD compared to SPX.
- The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has filed claims amounting to nearly $44 billion against the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its entities. In the bankruptcy filings from April 27th and 28th, the IRS presented 45 claims against FTX companies, including West Realm Shires (FTX.US), Ledger Holdings, and Blockfolio, among others. Notably, the largest claims are $20.4 billion and $7.9 billion against Alameda Research LLC, while two claims totaling $9.5 billion are directed at Alameda Research Holdings Inc. These claims fall under the category of "Admin Priority," which means they could supersede the claims of other creditors in the bankruptcy case. The IRS's substantial claims against FTX and its affiliates add a new layer of complexity to the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and raise concerns for general creditors about the timely recovery of their assets.
- Coinbase has sparked controversy after an email was sent to customers labeling the popular meme coin Pepe ($PEPE) as a “hate symbol” associated with alt-right organizations. Pepe, which is based on “Pepe the Frog” was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) database of online hate symbols in a 2016 decision. The ADL’s decision stemmed from white supremacist groups appropriating the character and spreading racism. Coinbase’s email has received tons of backlash from the crypto community who is arguing that Pepe Coin has nothing to do with hate and Coinbase’s claims are unjustified. Some of the more passionate Pepe supporters are calling for the “canceling” of Coinbase and trying to persuade users to move their funds to other crypto exchanges. $PEPE is down 16.47% today while $COIN shares are down 3.08%.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
DASH's recent pullback under March lows keeps the near-term trend bearish, but prices are growing closer to an area of support where this could stabilize. Daily $DASH charts show the sharp correction from mid-February, which erased over 60% of the four-month gain since last November in about two weeks' time. It's bounce attempt reclaimed 61.8% of this prior decline before rolling back over in the last month. This week's violation of former March lows at $44 is a bearish technical development, and volume expanded on this breakdown. However, momentum per RSI, has gotten officially oversold, and DeMark exhaustion could materialize following another 2-3 days of decline. Important near-term Fibonacci levels could provide some support at $38.50 which represents a 78.6% Fibonacci alternate projection target and looks likely over the next week. Overall, it will take some stabilization in this ongoing downtrend before growing too confident that DASH is bottoming, and this would initially involve a breakout back over $46. Bottom line, it looks a bit premature to buy dips at this time technically, but opportunities could arise into next week for a potential trading low.
Daily Important Metrics
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All metrics as of May 11, 2023 12:11 PM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
| Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
 BTC | $527B | $27,203 | ↓ -3.58% | ↑ 64% | |
 ETH | $218B | $1,809 | ↓ -3.52% | ↑ 51% | ↓ -13% |
 ADA | $12B | $0.3562 | ↓ -4.23% | ↑ 44% | ↓ -20% |
 DOGE | $9.9B | $0.0712 | ↓ -3.75% | ↑ 1.52% | ↓ -63% |
 SOL | $8.0B | $20.18 | ↓ -4.31% | ↑ 104% | ↑ 40% |
 MATIC | $7.9B | $0.8501 | ↓ -3.70% | ↑ 12% | ↓ -53% |
 DOT | $6.3B | $5.31 | ↓ -3.25% | ↑ 22% | ↓ -42% |
 LINK | $3.3B | $6.37 | ↓ -3.88% | ↑ 15% | ↓ -50% |
 NEAR | $1.4B | $1.60 | ↓ -3.40% | ↑ 25% | ↓ -39% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
| Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
| GBTC | ↓ -38% | $14.79 | ↓ -3.93% | ↑ 78% | ↑ 14% |
| BITW | ↓ -56% | $10.53 | ↓ -1.82% | ↑ 96% | ↑ 32% |
| ETHE | ↓ -51% | $8.36 | ↓ -4.84% | ↑ 76% | ↑ 11% |
| BTCC | ↑ 0.04% | $4.98 | ↓ -2.35% | ↑ 64% | ↑ 0.15% |
News
QUICK BITS
Bitcoinist Coinbase Under Fire For Email Linking PEPE To Alt-Right Groups, Calling It ‘Hate Symbol’ Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has found itself embroiled in controversy once again. This time, the company has caused a s... |
BtcEthereum China launches national blockchain center to train half a million specialists The institution will reportedly train more than 500,000 specialists in distributed ledger technology. On May 10, the National Blockchain Technology Innovation ... |
CoinDesk U.S. Internal Revenue Service Files Claims Worth $44 Billion Against FTX Bankruptcy The largest of the claims includes a $20.4 billion claim against Alameda Research LLC, which details nearly $20 billion in unpaid partnership taxes. |
CryptoSlate Circle reserves no longer contain US Treasuries that mature after June Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement to Politico on May 10 that his stablecoin firm no longer holds long-term U.S. Treasuries. Specifically, Circle doe... |
MARKET DATA
BtcEthereum Animoca Brands reports $3.4B of assets in an interim financial update The update shows $194 million in cash, $566 million in digital assets and $2.7 billion in off-balance sheet token reserves for other majority-owned Web3 subsid... |
CoinDesk Hut 8 First-Quarter Revenue Drops 64% as Bitcoin Mining Difficulties Bite The mining firm had to turn off about 8,000 machines in Ontario due to a dispute with its energy provider in mid-November. |
The Block Robinhood reports steep 30% decline in crypto trading revenues year-on-year Robinhood reported its crypto transaction revenue for the first quarter of 2023. The post Robinhood reports steep 30% decline in cry... |
HACKS, EXPLOITS, AND SCAMS
CryptoPotato SEC Targets Bitcoin Miner Marathon in Latest Action Against The Industry The U.S. securities regulator has set its sights on Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital in its latest salvo in the war on crypto. |
CryptoPotato South Korea Freezes $176M Worth of Crypto and Luxury Items Belonging to Do Kwon (Report) The authorities supposedly blocked Kwon's access to cryptocurrencies, luxurious cars, and real estate worth nearly $176 million. |
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