SBF Legal Fees, BTC Market Cap Reverses Meta, USDC Rebounds to $1

Top stories this week

Sam Bankman-Fried asks court to prioritize reimbursement of his legal fees

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is seeking to use FTX’s corporate insurance policies to cover his legal fees, according to a March 15 court filing. According to the filing, the policies offer “priority of payment” to policyholders such as Bankman-Frit. The move would put the former CEO at the top of the FTX payout list. Another headline shows Bankman-Fried’s inner circle received $3.2 billion in payments and loans from FTX-related entities. The amounts exclude more than $240 million used for the purchase of luxury properties in the Bahamas, political and charitable donations, as well as “substantial transfers” to non-FTX affiliates. In another headline, FTX debtors reported $11.6 billion in receivables and $4.8 billion in assets, meaning there is a $6.8 billion hole in the balance sheet. of the stock market.

Signature Bank closed by New York regulators for not providing data

Cryptocurrency-enabled Signature Bank was officially shut down and taken over by the New York Department of Financial Services on March 12 for “failing to provide consistent and reliable data.” The bank was investigated by two US government agencies to find out whether it had taken adequate steps to monitor and detect potential money laundering by its customers. Former US House of Representatives member Barney Frank has suggested that New York regulators are shutting down Signature in an apparent show of force against the crypto market.

USDC bounces back to $1 peg after Fed announcement

Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), rallied back to its $1 peg following positive developments regarding Circle’s $3.3 billion in reserves held at Silicon Valley Bank and its new banking partners: Buyouts from USDC will now be processed by Cross River Bank and BNY Mellon. The stablecoin withdrew from the US dollar on March 10 following the sudden collapse of SVB, triggering the withdrawal of many other stablecoins. The unpecking of stablecoins led to growth in loan repayments over the weekend, saving debtors more than $100 million on loans.

US Fed announces $25 billion in funding to support banks

U.S. federal regulators have announced ‘decisive actions’ that would ‘fully protect depositors’ at the now-shuttered Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, including $25 billion in funding to prop up banks and other depository companies. The Federal Reserve is investigating the failure of Silicon Valley Bank – including an internal probe into how the Fed supervised and regulated the financial institution. Amid the sudden collapse, the UK arm of SVB was acquired by HSBC for £1 ($1.21), with loans of £5.5 billion ($6.7 billion) and deposits £6.7 billion ($8.1 billion).

Bitcoin’s market cap topples tech giant Meta and widens gap on Visa

Despite a turbulent week for crypto following the fall of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Bitcoin’s market capitalization managed to topple that of tech giant Meta. On March 14, Bitcoin’s market capitalization reached $471.86 billion, surpassing Meta’s $469 billion, according to data from Companies Market Cap. The major cryptocurrency soared to 11th place among the top assets by market cap, behind electric vehicle maker Tesla. Bitcoin’s market capitalization has added more than $190 billion in 2023, outperforming major banking stocks on Wall Street, especially as fears of a global banking crisis grow.

Winners and losers

At the weekend, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $27,571Ether (ETH) To $1,823 And XRP To $0.38. The total market capitalization is $1.18 trillion, according at CoinMarketCap.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Conflux (CFX) at 186.02%, Mask network (MASK) at 120.56% and batteries (STX) at 102.97%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are UNUS SED LEO (LEO) at -2.22%, Tether (USDT) at -0.35% and Binance USD (BUSD) at -0.16%.

For more information on crypto prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotes

“Recent financial institution shutdowns may be an opportunity for crypto to achieve mass adoption.”

Johnny LiuKuCoin CEO

“We believe that the elements of the future of finance will be enabled by blockchain and we are already seeing rapid change in the tokenization market.”

Drew BradfordExecutive Managing Director, Markets at National Australia Bank

“Major adoption by mainstream companies and their consumers is imminent thanks to recent developments in scaling and privacy technology.”

Marc SmargonFuse Network CEO

“Drop the blockchain/NFT/play-to-earn (P2E)/metaverse/Web3 discussion. […] They [players] I just want to have an entertaining gaming experience – not a science lesson.

Peter Bergstromformer producer of Age of Empires and CEO of BitBlock Ventures

“We are going to have a credit crisis in the United States and around the world. […] You want to be long gold and silver […] and you want to be long bitcoin.

Michael Novogratzfounder and CEO of Galaxy Digital

“I believe regulators are using crypto as a scapegoat for their own shortcomings in oversight of traditional banks.”

Cathy WoodCEO of ARK Invest

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin price hits $27,000 in new 9-month high as Fed injects $300 billion

Bitcoin hit new nine-month highs on March 17 as the latest events of the US banking crisis boosted crypto markets. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that BTC/USD hit $27,025 on Bitstamp before consolidating. A catalyst for a further rise had come overnight in the form of Federal Reserve balance sheet data, which showed nearly $300 billion was pumped into the economy as part of the response to the banking crisis.

Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading company Eight, observed specific levels up and down.

“Chopperino lands on Bitcoin which means we will likely have sideways structures,” he wrote on Twitter. “Must hold $26,000. If that holds, $28-30,000 is next. If he loses $26,000, I swing around $25,000 for a few longs. Relatively easy to understand.

FUD of the week

Euler Finance hacked for over $195 million in flash loan attack

Lending Protocol Eurler Finance faced a flash loan attack on March 13. The exploiter made several transactions, stealing nearly $196 million in DAI and USDC stablecoins, as well as staking Ether and wrapping Bitcoin. The attack has been dubbed the biggest hack of 2023 so far. A portion of the stolen funds began moving to crypto mixer Tornado Cash shortly after a $1 million bounty was launched to identify the hacker. As of March 18, only a small portion of the funds had been recovered – around 3,000 Ether ($5.4 million).

Europol seizes $46 million from crypto mixer after allegedly laundering $2.88 billion

Law enforcement agency Europol has seized assets of cryptocurrency mixer ChipMixer worth $46 million for its alleged involvement in money laundering activities. ChipMixer’s website was shut down and four servers hosting the application were seized. Europol claims that ChipMixer has laundered more than 152,000 BTC ($2.88 billion) since its inception in 2017.

FBI and New York Authorities Investigate Collapse of TerraUSD Stablecoin

The US Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the collapse of stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC), which contributed to a $40 billion wipeout in the Terra ecosystem last May. Former Terraform Labs employees have been questioned in recent weeks by US agencies, including the FBI. The investigation covers similar ground to a lawsuit filed against Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in February, including misleading investors.