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Bitfinex Alpha | Bitcoin Strengthens on Bank Run
The Fed reinforced its message of fighting inflation last week as we hiked rates by another 25 basis points. It remains focused on fighting inflation despite recent bank failures.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has also warned that a rate cut in 2023 is unlikely -- but bond markets and even Fed participants themselves are saying a rate cut is still possible this year.
Powell was also bullish on the U.S. banking sector, saying it remained strong. However, while the recent Bank of America collapses are thought to be the result of poor risk management and sudden bank runs, the data we disclose shows that deposits have been fleeing from several banks since last year.
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is expected to tighten the bank's lending standards. What's more, the SVB's planned resolution indirectly increases moral hazard for the banking industry, as the Fed still appears willing to prop up failed banks while other US banks bear the direct cost of getting all depositors back healthy (via higher FDIC fees ). This will eventually slow the economy and possibly trigger a recession.
This is all good for Bitcoin. Despite a brief sharp pullback and unwinding of long-term holders ($60.2m in just two hours) following the Fed rate hike, the market interpreted the Fed's actions as positive.
The BTC spot market recorded the highest weekly trading volume, while the derivatives trading volume has a greater impact on the price of Bitcoin, and the derivatives trading volume is growing faster than the spot trading volume, which in turn increases volatility. Options trading volumes also peaked, suggesting that institutional investors are increasingly participating in the market.
The increase in new market participants suggests that we may be in the early stages of a bull market, although we still advocate caution as we are also seeing increased volatility.
On-chain metrics suggest that long-term holders of Bitcoin are selling their Bitcoin for a profit, which we believe is positive for the market as it satisfies demand from new entrants while liquidity supply remains limited.
In the world of cryptocurrencies last week, as usual, there was good news and bad news. Tether, the world's largest stablecoin, is expected to post a $700 million profit in the first quarter of 2023, bringing its total excess reserves to more than $1.6 billion for the first time.
Telegram also announced support for Tether's TRC-20 stablecoin USDt-TRON, allowing users to buy, exchange and conduct peer-to-peer transactions using USDt (TRC-20) without paying transaction fees.
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with orchestrating a cryptocurrency fraud that lost at least $40 billion in market value.
At the same time, Binance experienced technical problems in spot trading on March 24, causing it to suspend deposits and withdrawals.
Coinbase received a "Wells Notice" from the SEC for possible violations of securities laws; Justin Sun and his company were charged by the SEC for violations of securities laws and fraud.
Kraken also announced that it has suspended ACH deposits and withdrawals due to the collapse of its banking partner Silvergate Bank.
Finally, Celsius has been allowed to pay up to 72.5% of the shares to escrow account holders, who must sign an opt-in form by April 24, 2023. Payments will be billed in two installments on June 11th and December 31st.
https://blog.bitfinex.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bitfinex-Alpha-47.pdf
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Bitfinex will list Bitgert network native token BRISE
Bitfinex announced that it will list Bitgert Network's native token BRISE.
Bitgert is a cryptocurrency platform that provides an alternative to DEX platforms, allowing users to trade tokens, while also offering the opportunity to earn from liquidity pools and staking. In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, the platform facilitates money transfers and provides payment solutions.
Bitgert's blockchain, Brise Chain, says it requires almost no gas fees and claims it is capable of processing up to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS). The chain's dApp wallet also operates as a global P2P payment system, allowing buyers and sellers to interact directly and benefit from free, fast transactions.
BRISE token is Bitgert's native cryptocurrency, which needs to pay gas fees for smart contract execution, pledge, P2P payment services, and collect network transaction fees. The token has a market cap of $191.36 million and a circulation of 395,688.22 billion.
“We are delighted to welcome BRISE to the Bitfinex ecosystem,” said Henry Child, Head of Tokens at Bitfinex. “Bitgert envisions unleashing financial freedom in the global community through its user-friendly platform, affordable trading and payment features, which is also the shared vision of Bitfinex”
https://blog.bitfinex.com/media-releases/bitfinex-to-list-bitgert-network-native-token-brise/
