Crypto CliffsNotes
Dan Habib dissected the BLS jobs report further, suggesting the "seasonal adjustments" inflated the true employment figures, altering a negative reading to a positive one. This data will likely show itself eventually as the Fed hikes from the last 11 months really start to catch up with the economy. Recessionary concerns and lower prices are still afoot.
Regulators in Hong Kong are stepping up their game when it comes to monitoring the activities of the crypto industry. According to a Securities and Futures Commission report filed on Feb. 6, it plans to hire four additional staff to “better supervise” the activities of local virtual asset (VA) providers. Moreover, the extra oversight will help “better assess the compliance and risk” by allowing retail investors to trade virtual assets on regulated platforms.
Digital banking service Revolut is starting to offer crypto staking to customers in the U.K. and European Economic Area (EEA), according to a report by financial technology publication AltFi. Revolut, which has around 25 million customers worldwide, the vast majority of whom are in the U.K. and the European Economic Area (EEA), is rolling out the service this week, AltFi said. At first, the London-based fintech will support staking of the tokens of Polkadot (DOT), Tezos (XTZ), Cardano (ADA) and Ethereum (ETH). Yields on the assets range from 2.99% up to 11.65%, though these are variable.
The latest announcement follows the Dec. 19, 2022 one by FTX debtors. At that time they revealed the launch arrangements for such recipients to return funds voluntarily. Now, if the payments are not returned voluntarily, FTX debtors “reserve the right to commence actions before the bankruptcy court to mandate the return of such payments, according to the statement released on Sunday. Additionally, the recipients will also have to bear interest costs from the date any action is taken.
Per a report from CoinDesk, crypto lending firm Genesis and its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) are moving forward with the former’s bankruptcy process. The companies reached a “principle agreement” to restructure the lending firm. In addition, the principle agreement will require the DCG to “refinance” its $500 million loan in cash and its $100 million in Bitcoin from its subsidiary, according to the report. The source failed to provide further details on the deal but mentioned that the refinancing process would include the following: (…) an equitization of the infamous 10-year promissory note that DCG gave Genesis in return for failed hedge fund 3AC (Three Arrows Capital) claims.
Multiple Chinese cities have reportedly launched initiatives to give away digital yuan (e-CNY) worth over $26.6 million to drive consumption during the Spring Festival. Authorities across China have doubled their efforts to increase Digital Yuan adoption and usage. In May 2022, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Xiong’an gifted their citizens roughly 90 million digital yuan in red packets to restart the economy due to Covid-19.
In the LBRY case, the Court has issued an Order scheduling additional discovery on remedies. This decision is important as it can set precedent for the SEC to use in future litigation.
Payments giant Visa reportedly seeks to meet customer requests to convert digital assets into fiat payments, similar to how it converts foreign currencies. “We’ve been testing how to actually accept settlement payments from issuers in USDC starting on Ethereum and paying out in USDC on Ethereum,” Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said during the StarkWare Sessions 2023 event in Tel Aviv. “So, these are large value settlement payments.”
Roofstock, the leading digital real estate platform specializing in single-family rental (SFR) properties, today announced the sale of an Alabama rental property via a non-fungible token (NFT) enabled by Roofstock onChain (ROC), its web3 subsidiary. Unlike commemorative NFTs that are used as a marketing tactic to sell homes, ROC uses the technology to settle real estate transactions via an NFT marketplace on the Ethereum Blockchain built by Origin Protocol, a web3 pioneer bringing real world NFT use cases to the market. Teller Protocol provides flexible, asset-based Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending options, with real estate lending accessible through USDC. Homes, a real estate financing marketplace powered by the Teller Protocol.
Technical Tune Up
Today's focus was on the dollar, specifically the sharp rally and follow through we're seeing on DXY at key levels, suggesting risk on assets like stocks and crypto may be in for some bearish price action. Dylan Leclair of BTC Magazine and trader John Wick shared some excellent charts pointing to more bullishness for the dollar.
We've been monitoring the Heiken Ashi candles on BTC looking for a shift in momentum, and we have now seen 2 daily closes with no upper wicking suggesting more bearishness is afoot. Price may pull back towards $20,000 and $18,000 respectively before seeing strong bounces higher.
