SBF legal fees, BTC market cap flips Meta,USDC climbs back to $1

Top Stories This Week

Sam Bankman-Fried petitions court docket to prioritize reimbursing his legal charges

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is in search of to use FTX’s company insurance coverage insurance policies to cowl his legal bills, in accordance to a court docket submitting on March 15. As per the submitting, the insurance policies present “priority of payment” to insured people corresponding to Bankman-Fried. The transfer would put the previous CEO on prime of the FTX payout checklist. Another headline exhibits that Bankman-Fried’s internal circle acquired $3.2 billion in funds and loans from FTX-linked entities. The quantities exclude over $240 million used for the purchases of luxurious properties within the Bahamas, political and charity donations, in addition to “substantial transfers” to non-FTX subsidiaries. In one other headline, FTX debtors reported $11.6 billion in claims and $4.8 billion in property, that means there’s a $6.8 billion gap within the alternate’s stability sheet.

Signature Bank closed by New York regulators for not offering information

Crypto-friendly Signature Bank was formally closed down and brought over by the New York Department of Financial Services on March 12 for “failing to provide consistent and reliable data.” The financial institution has been investigated by two United States authorities our bodies over whether or not it took ample measures to monitor and detect potential cash laundering by its shoppers. Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Barney Frank advised that New York regulators closed Signature as a part of a seeming present of drive towards the crypto market.

USDC bounces back towards $1 peg after Fed announcement

Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC), climbed back to its $1 peg following constructive developments regarding Circle’s $3.3 billion value of reserves held at Silicon Valley Bank and its new banking companions: redemptions of USDC will now be processed by Cross River Bank and BNY Mellon. The stablecoin depegged from the U.S. greenback on March 10 following SVB’s sudden collapse, triggering the depeg of many different stablecoins. The stablecoins’ depegging prompted a development in mortgage repayments over the weekend, permitting debtors to save greater than $100 million on loans.

US Fed broadcasts $25B in funding to backstop banks

United States federal regulators introduced “decisive actions” that might “fully protect depositors” at each Silicon Valley Bank and the now-shuttered Signature Bank, together with $25 billion value of funding geared toward backstopping banks and different depository corporations. The Federal Reserve is investigating the failure of Silicon Valley Bank — together with an inside probe as to how the Fed supervised and controlled the monetary establishment. Amid the sudden collapse, SVB’s U.K. arm was acquired by HSBC for 1 British pound ($1.21), with loans of 5.5 billion kilos ($6.7 billion) and deposits of 6.7 billion kilos ($8.1 billion).

Bitcoin market cap flips tech big Meta, widens hole on Visa

Despite a turbulent week for crypto following the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Bitcoin’s market cap has managed to flip that of tech big Meta. On March 14, Bitcoin’s market cap reached $471.86 billion, surpassing Meta’s $469 billion, in accordance to information from Companies Market Cap. The main cryptocurrency climbed to the eleventh spot amongst prime property by market cap, sitting behind electrical automobile maker Tesla. The market capitalization of Bitcoin has added over $190 billion in 2023, outperforming prime Wall Street financial institution shares, notably as fears of a worldwide banking disaster are rising.

Winners and Losers

At the tip of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $27,571, Ether (ETH) at $1,823 and XRP at $0.38. The whole market cap is at $1.18 trillion, in accordance to CoinMarketCap.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are Conflux (CFX) at 186.02%, Mask Network (MASK) at 120.56% and Stacks (STX) at 102.97%.

The prime 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 extra data on crypto costs, ensure that to learn Cointelegraph’s market evaluation.

Most Memorable Quotations

“The recent shutdowns of financial institutions may be the opportunity for crypto to reach mass adoption.”

Johnny Lyu, CEO of KuCoin

“We believe that elements of the future of finance will be blockchain enabled and we’re already witnessing rapid change in the tokenisation market.”

Drew Bradford, govt normal supervisor, markets on the National Australia Bank

“Major adoption by mainstream businesses and their consumers is right around the corner thanks to recent developments in scaling and privacy technology.”

Mark Smargon, CEO of Fuse Network

“Drop the blockchain/NFT/play-to-earn (P2E)/metaverse/Web3 talk. […] They [players] just want to have an entertaining playing experience — not a science lesson.”

Peter Bergstrom, former producer of Age of Empires and CEO of BitBlock Ventures

“We are going to have a credit crunch in the U.S. and globally. […] You want to be long gold and silver […] and you want to be long Bitcoin.”

Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital

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

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest

Prediction of the Week 

Bitcoin worth hits $27K in new 9-month excessive as Fed injects $300B

Bitcoin hit new nine-month highs on March 17 as the most recent occasions within the U.S. banking disaster boosted crypto markets. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed BTC/USD hitting $27,025 on Bitstamp earlier than consolidating. A catalyst for contemporary upside had come in a single day within the type of the Federal Reserve’s stability sheet information, which confirmed virtually $300 billion being injected into the financial system as a part of the banking disaster response.

Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of buying and selling agency Eight, eyed particular ranges up and down.

“Chopperino land on Bitcoin, which means that we’ll probably have some sideways structures,” he wrote on Twitter. “Needs to hold $26K. If that holds, $28–30K is next. If it loses $26K, I’m punting around $25K for some longs. Relatively easy to understand.”

FUD of the Week 

Euler Finance hacked for over $195M in a flash mortgage assault

Lending protocol Eurler Finance confronted a flash mortgage assault on March 13. The exploiter carried out a number of transactions, stealing almost $196 million in stablecoins DAI and USDC, in addition to staked Ether and wrapped Bitcoin. The assault was dubbed the biggest hack of 2023 up to now. A portion of the stolen funds began to be transferred to crypto mixer Tornado Cash shortly after a $1 million bounty was launched to determine the hacker. As of March 18, solely a small portion of the funds had been recovered — round 3,000 Ether ($5.4 million).

Europol seizes $46M from crypto mixer after $2.88B allegedly laundered

Law enforcement company Europol has seized property of cryptocurrency mixer ChipMixer value $46 million for its alleged involvement in money-laundering actions. ChipMixer’s web site has been shut down and 4 servers internet hosting the applying have been seized. Europol claims that ChipMixer has laundered over 152,000 BTC ($2.88 billion) since its inception in 2017.

FBI, NY authorities probes collapse of TerraUSD stablecoin

The U.S. Justice Department is reportedly investigating the collapse of the TerraClassicUSD (USTC) stablecoin, which contributed to a $40 billion wipeout within the Terra ecosystem final May. Former workers at Terraform Labs have been interrogated in latest weeks by U.S. companies, together with the FBI. The probe covers related floor to a lawsuit filed towards Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in February, together with deceptive traders.

Best Cointelegraph Features

4 out of 10 NFT gross sales are faux: Learn to spot the indicators of wash buying and selling

NFT wash buying and selling inflates the quantity on some platforms by 10x–20x the reputable quantity. Why is it inspired, and what may be accomplished about it?

All rise for the robotic choose: AI and blockchain might rework the courtroom

Do the builders of legal bots have adequate information and expertise of the legislation? Is the info used to “train” their algorithms well timed? Will vital proof be filtered out?

Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ psychological well being

The relentless bear market, a string of high-profile legal costs and the autumn of trusted establishments have taken their toll on these actively concerned within the crypto business.