Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase won’t escape from the profitability challenges it will face from the crypto market downturn, despite having a strong brand and credibility in the crypto market, according to investment analysts. Credit rating firm Moody’s released a note on Coinbase on Jan. 19 discussing its downgrade of Coinbase’s senior debt and corporate family rating (CFR) — a rating assigned to reflect the opinion of a company’s ability to honor its financial obligations. Coinbase’s CFR and senior debt were re-graded to B2 and B1 from Ba3 and Ba2 respectively, indicating the firm is “non-investment grade” and “speculative and subject to …

This week Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to a 2023 high at $23,100 and the move followed a notable recovery in traditional markets, especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which gained 2.9% on Jan. 20. Economic data continues to boost investors' hope that the United States Federal Reserve will reduce the pace and length of interest rate hikes. For instance, sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5% in December, the 11th consecutive decline after high mortgage rates in the United States severely impacted demand. On Jan. 20, Google announced that 12,000 workers were laid off, more than 6% of its global workforce. …

After nearly a 20% rally last week, Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to end this week with gains of roughly 10%. Bitcoin’s rally has improved sentiment and attracted buying in several altcoins. This sent the total crypto market capitalization firmly above the $1 trillion mark. The strong recovery in Bitcoin has startled several analysts who remain skeptical about the rally. Some believe that the current rise is a dead cat bounce that will reverse direction sharply while others see similarities between the current rally and the 2018 bear market recovery. Although traders should be ready for any eventuality, the pace …

Binance has informed its retail customer base of a potential incoming service disruption that may halt on and off-ramp bank payment transfers. The service disruption will impact U.S Dollar-held bank accounts that are looking to buy or sell cryptocurrencies for less than $100,000 via the SWIFT payment system. The disruption will take effect on February 1. Binance announced the news to its “Binancians” by email on January 21, stressing that they’re now “actively seeking” a new SWIFT (USD) partner to avoid service disruptions for future bank payment transfers. The cryptocurrency exchange added that this was the banking partner’s decision and …

Bitcoin mining powers network transactions and BTC price. During the 2021 bull run, some mining operations raised funds against their Bitcoin ASICs and BTC reserves. Miners also preordered ASICs at a hefty premium and some raised funds by conducting IPOs. As the crypto market turned bearish and liquidity seized within the sector, miners found themselves in a bad situation and those who were unable to meet their debt obligations were forced to sell the BTC reserves near the market bottom or declare bankruptcy Notable Bitcoin mining bankruptcies in 2022 came from Core Scientific, filing for bankruptcy, but BTC’s early 2023 …

The United States equities markets are on track to finish the week in the red but that has not resulted in a deeper loss for Bitcoin (BTC). The news of cryptocurrency lender Genesis filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy also did not have any meaningful impact on Bitcoin’s price. This shows that the selling pressure could be reducing. However, trading firm QCP Capital warned in the latest edition of its regular markets newsletter that the current recovery in Bitcoin was only a bear market relief rally. They anticipate this recovery to be followed by another bout of selling which could sink …

Genesis Global, a prominent crypto lender, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Jan. 20, becoming the latest company to declare bankruptcy in the wake of FTX's collapse. However, the focus of the crypto community has shifted towards other crypto firms that had exposure to the lending firm. One report suggested that a total of nine crypto firms had various exposures to Genesis, including the likes of Germini, Bybit, VanEck, Decentraland and a few others. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou was quick to respond to the reports and clarified that Bybit indeed had $150 million exposure to the …

Several crypto industry commentators have laid skepticism on FTX CEO John Ray’s vision to potentially reboot the crypto exchange, citing trust issues and “second-class” treatment of customers as some reasons why users may not “feel safe to go back.” Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Jan. 20 praising John Ray for looking at a reboot of FTX, suggesting it is the best move for its customers. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts! I'm still waiting for him to finally admit FTX US is solvent …

Moonstone Bank, a rural Washington state bank that received an estimated $11.5 million investment from FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, has announced today that it will be exiting the crypto space and returning to its "original mission" as a community bank. In a statement released by the bank — now known as Farmington State Bank — on Jan. 19, it cited that the change in strategy comes as a result of “recent events in the crypto assets industry and the changing regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset businesses.” As part of the bank’s initiative to "return to its roots," it shared …

Crypto exchange OKX disclosed $7.5 billion in reserves of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Tether (USDT) as part of its monthly proof-of-reserves (PoR) report. Based on data from blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, OKX claims to have the “largest clean asset reserves among major exchanges.” OKX claims to maintain 1:1 reserves, which would mean means the company’s on-chain assets 100% match the customer‘s balances. The report shows current reserve ratios of 105% for BTC, 105% for ETH and 101% for USDT. The term “clean” is used in proofs of reserves to describe crypto assets that do not include an exchange's platform …

John Ray, who took over as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX prior to bankruptcy proceedings, has reportedly set up a task force to consider restarting FTX.com. According to a Jan. 19 report from the Wall Street Journal, Ray said everything was “on the table” when it came to the future of FTX.com, including a potential path forward with rebooting the exchange. FTX Trading, doing business as FTX.com, was one of roughly 130 companies under FTX Group that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022. Ray reportedly was considering reviving the crypto exchange as part of efforts to make users …

Bitcoin (BTC) price has held above $20,700 for 4 days, fueling bulls' hope for another leg up to $23,000 or even $25,000. Behind the optimistic move was a decline in inflationary pressure, confirmed by the December 2022 wholesale prices for goods on Jan. 18. The United States producer price index, which measures final demand prices across hundreds of categories also declined 0.5% versus the previous month. Eurozone inflation also came in at 9.2% year-on-year in December 2022, marking the second consecutive decline from October's 10.7% record high. A milder-than-expected winter reduced the risk of a gas shortages and softened energy …