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Bitcoin hits highest in a year as crypto rebounds from scandals - 26th June 2023

Bitcoin hit its highest level in a year amid renewed fervour for digital assets despite a slew of challenges for the industry.

The original digital currency crossed above $US31,013, its 2023 peak, to reach its highest level since June 2022, Bloomberg data show. The surge brought bitcoin to as high as $US31,410 before the gain was pared.

The token is up by almost 90 per cent since the start of the year, though still more than 50 per cent below an all-time high of almost $US69,000. Other cryptocurrencies followed suit, with Ether also rallying.

At 3.48am AEST, bitcoin was 3.4 per cent higher to $US31,158 on bitstamp.net.

It’s a remarkable development — and show of resiliency — for a market that many had written off as being on the verge of extinction following a number of high-profile and high-impact scams and company fallouts that left the industry besmirched among investors.

“From the ardent Bitcoiner’s perspective, the token’s most fundamental investment thesis is playing out: inflation, monetary mismanagement, banking crises, sovereign debt anxiety, US-dollar-reserve-status questions are all playing a role in giving Bitcoiners an ‘I told you so’ moment,” said Strahinja Savic, head of data and analytics at FRNT Financial. “I would not describe rallying to new all-time highs despite the challenging environment, but rather because of it.”

BlackRock’s shock filing

Most recently, it’s been news about BlackRock’s shock filing for a US spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund that’s reignited fervour for crypto, with some in the market hoping that such a product — which currently doesn’t exist — gets approval from regulators. An approval — whatever its odds — would mark a win for fans who have for years longed for such an investment product.

“BlackRock’s filing is big news for bitcoin due to its close ties with regulators and a very strong ETF-approval track record,” wrote K33’s Bendik Schei and Vetle Lunde. “It’s also worth noting that BlackRock would not dedicate time and resources to this filing if they did not view the probability of long-term strength from BTC, and thus strong inflows, as substantially high.”

They added: “An approval would profoundly impact the market structure of bitcoin, as it would reduce the barriers for financial advisors to offer exposure to BTC through an accessible investment vehicle with daily creations and redemptions delivered by a trusted issuer.”

Other recent news also reinforced crypto believers’ faith in the rally. A new crypto exchange backed by firms including Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets and Charles Schwab — called EDX Markets — said it’s gone live.

And, among other pieces of news, JPMorgan Chase & Co expanded one of the most high-profile projects to bring blockchain technology to traditional banking, introducing euro-denominated payments for corporate clients using its JPM Coin.

Crypto winter fades

“The effects of the so-called ‘crypto winter’ seem less persistent today than a year ago, as various jurisdictions and institutional players continue to embrace crypto-related initiatives,” David Duong, head of research at Coinbase, said in a recent note.

On Twitter, where a lot of crypto discourse takes place, a number of users cited FOMO — or the fear of missing out — as part of the recent price surge, whereby some investors jump into the market because they are watching others reap the benefits of the rally and want to take part in it.

But the fact that the industry is facing harsh regulatory oversight has not dissipated, despite all the renewed hype over prices surging.

The SEC has set its sights on the crypto space following last year’s numerous instances of scams and fallouts of once-vaunted companies, including FTX and a number of lenders. It’s led to a mass exodus by retail investors in particular, who have collectively lost billions of dollars in the wake of the revelations and implosions.

Trading volumes have dried up as a result. In May, the combined spot and derivatives trading volumes on centralised exchanges fell more than 15 per cent to $US2.4 trillion ($3.6 trillion), according to CCData.

Spot trading volumes alone dropped nearly 22 per cent to $US495 billion, notching the lowest monthly reading since March 2019, the researcher said in a report.

“Given the thin liquidity and the relatively scant amount of BTC available to new entrants (no eager sellers at these levels), even a tiny uptick in large investor interest would be enough to move the price,” said Noelle Acheson, author of the “Crypto Is Macro Now” newsletter.

Others point out that hype around a potential spot-Bitcoin ETF has come and gone in the past, without regulators ever approving such a product.

“People are speculating BlackRock’s heft in the financial markets will help them get approval. I am not quite there yet,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. “The SEC has been aggressively cracking down on the crypto space, it seems a bit early for such an about-face.”

News

$2 billion worth of Bitcoin withdrawn from Coinbase over weekend

November 29, 2022

Numbers show that Binance increased its reserves by a total of 78,000 BTC

Over the weekend of November 26 and 27, Coinbase saw withdrawals of about $2 billion worth of bitcoin, bringing the total amount taken out since November 24 to $3.5 billion, as reported by Cryptoslate.

Cryptoslate further noted Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals from the exchange between November 24 and November 25 totaled approximately $1.5 billion. Since November 24, the exchange’s reserves have been losing about 50,000 BTC per day, or about $3.5 billion, in total.

Numbers show that Binance increased its reserves by a total of 78,000 BTC, which at the time of this writing is equivalent to about $1.2 billion.

The vast majority of the major exchanges experience heavy BTC withdrawals, according to data from Glassnode.

Numbers show that Binance increased its reserves by a total of 78,000 BTC, which at the time of this writing is equivalent to about $1.2 billion.

News

Bankman-Fried’s Money Tied to Major Media Outlets, Bringing ‘Journalistic Integrity’ Into Question

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried gave millions to various media outlets throughout 2022 via his family-run nonprofit, “Building a Stronger Future.” The major companies who received funding include Vox, ProPublica, Semafor, and The Intercept.

In some cases, donations appear to be crucial to the viability of the recipients.

In a leaked letter to staff members, Roger Hodge, editor-in-chief of The Intercept, admitted that there was now a “significant hole” in the company’s budget. According to Hodge, the company received $500,000 a few months ago. “Another $250,000 was due in December, with $3.25 million to follow over the next two years.”

Downplaying the potential conflict of interest, Hodge heaped praise on his reporters in the letter: “I also knew our reporters would never pull their punches because of a donation—and they didn’t.” He adds that The Intercept disclosed Bankman-Fried’s donation in its reporting on the FTX story.

A co-founder of The Intercept took issue with these statements.

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who co-founded the outlet in 2013, but resigned after editors refused to publish his reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election, criticized his former colleague for deliberately obfuscating details about the funding and for failing to disclose it in past articles.

A representative for The Intercept told The Epoch Times that Bankman-Fried’s donations were received in September of this year. “In keeping with our general practice, The Intercept disclosed the funding in subsequent reporting on Bankman-Fried’s political activities,” said Rodrigo Brandão, director of communications at The Intercept, providing a link to an October article in which the financial ties are disclosed.

Greenwald points to several articles by The Intercept, including one published as recently as Nov. 11, in which the outlet does not mention Bankman-Fried’s donations. “Maybe there is some place that The Intercept mentioned this extremely deep and intricate relationship between it and Bankman-Fried and FTX—I can’t find it,” Greenwald taunted.

Industrialist Elon Musk took aim at Bankman-Fried–funded media as well, calling out Semafor, a journalistic outfit founded by former Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, for what Musk claims to be false reporting on FTX founder Bankman-Fried’s equity stake in Twitter. Musk also highlighted the fact that Semafor received investments from Bankman-Fried earlier this year in a $25 million fundraising round.

Smith, also a former New York Times columnist, founded the outlet earlier this year aiming for “a focus on global news for college-educated readers.” Semafor published an article suggesting Bankman-Fried owned a $100 million stake in Twitter, presumably rolled over from his public equity holdings prior to Musk taking the company private.

Musk responded in a tweet reply to Smith last week: “All public holders of Twitter were allowed to roll their stock into Twitter as a private company, but he [Bankman-Fried] did not do so.” The Tesla founder then asked Smith how much of Semafor is owned by Bankman-Fried, but did not receive an answer.

The Semafor article noted that FTX listed Twitter shares as an “illiquid asset” on its balance sheet, according to a document reported to be circulating among FTX investors.

Smith did not respond to The Epoch Times’s requests for comment.

“Is it perhaps the case that Bankman-Fried thought he was actually buying goodwill and favorable coverage?” asked Robby Soave in a recent article for Reason Magazine.

While there are no reports of financial ties between FTX and The New York Times, the Times was widely criticized for its “puff piece” on the controversial crypto exchange founder. Soave, who is also host of The Hill’s “Rising” show, criticized the outlet for using “soft, passive language” in regards to alleged crimes and instead emphasizing Bankman-Fried’s altruistic ventures.

Soave highlighted the disproportionate outrage the Times seems to exhibit when covering companies like Twitter versus what is potentially the largest financial fraud in history.

“One hopes they wouldn’t treat [Bankman-Fried] with kid gloves out of admiration for his philanthropy.”

The ubiquity of the former billionaire’s influence and financial ties has raised questions regarding the vulnerability of our institutions.

“The lesson to me is just exposing how corrupt the system really is,” said Saagar Enjeti, a media personality, on a recent episode of the news podcast Breaking Points. “If you’re a billionaire with the right ideology, the right amount of checks cut to the right people, you can make a hell of a lot happen in a short amount of time.”

“If it was this easy for [Bankman-Fried], imagine what the real titans of industry are doing behind the scenes.”

Musk, echoing this same sentiment with a more humorous tone, tweeted last Wednesday, “If [Bankman-Fried] was as good at running a crypto exchange as he was at bribing media, FTX would still be solvent!”

Several attempts to reach Bankman-Fried for a comment were unsuccessful.

(The Epoch Times)

The Media Man group has learned that there is a considerable change that many, in fact, most, of the world's premier online casino and online poker websites and brands will eventually accept the Bitcoin crpto-currently, with some also tipped to accept other forms of crypto.

This news comes as global press such as The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others continue to ramp up coverage (much of it positive) on Bitcoin, other crypto-currencies and Blockchain. Crypto news website Coin Telegraph has enjoyed a strong spike in traffic in the past few month, as this is another strong indicator that the confidence is building in crpto-currency and respective business models centered around the new money currency.

It's also reported that governments are looking very closely at even tightly regulating the use on Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies in both the casino, financial market and other business sectors.

A Media Man analyst said it was likely and was to be expected that governments would be looking to get their slice of the action as a new widely accepted currency emerges.

It's also common knowledge that people are carrying around less cash on them than in years past and that credit and debit card and PayPal use has escalated, which hasn't helped live entertainers ala buskers.

Internet and e-commerce giants such as Google will be looking to capitalize on the trend, with more changes tipped to be in story for Google Play, a favorite with games and music lovers.

A Media Man spokesperson said 'We will be aiming to enjoy a similar success with Bitcoin and crypto-currency opportunities in the media, publicity and advertising sector as we have with gaming, poker, pop culture and sports promotions. We are currently in negotiation with a number of leading Bitcoin entities and are accepting each business proposal on its own merits".

Social media gaming websites such as Twitch will also be looking to further moneytize crypro-current opportunities.

Bitcoin Profile via Wikipedia

Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; signis a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The currency began use in 2009, when its implementation was released as open-source software.ch. 1

The word bitcoin was defined in a white paper published on 31 October 2008. It is a compound of the words bit and coin.

The legality of bitcoin varies by region. Nine countries have fully banned bitcoin use, while a further fifteen have implicitly banned it. A few governments have used bitcoin in some capacity. El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, although use by merchants remains low. Ukraine has accepted cryptocurrency donations to fund the resistance to the 2022 Russian invasion. Iran has used bitcoin to bypass sanctions.

Bitcoin has been described as an economic bubble by at least eight recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The environmental impact of bitcoin is significant.Its proof-of-work algorithm for bitcoin mining is designed to be computationally difficult, which requires the consumption of increasing quantities of electricity, the generation of which has contributed to climate change.According to the University of Cambridge, bitcoin has emitted an estimated 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since its launch. (Wikipedia)