Bahamian Authorities Confirm Arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Bahamian Authorities Confirm Arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried</strong>

They pointed out that they are awaiting the extradition request from the United States.

The Bahamas Attorney General’s Office confirmed the arrest of the founder of bankrupt exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried “SBF”, made on the afternoon of December 12 by the Royal Bahamas Police, at the request of United States on criminal charges.

The announcement comes a day before the supposed appearance of SBF before the United States Congress, where the former CEO had even indicated that he “was considering” attending, while congressmen urged him to present his version, while Bankman made a media tour.

Official Statement from the Attorney General of the Bahamas

In its official statement, the Office of the Attorney General & Ministry of Legal Affairs of the Bahamas explained the following:

“On December 12, 2022, the Bahamas Attorney General’s Office announces the arrest by the Royal Bahamas Police of Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), former CEO of FTX. SBF’s arrest followed receipt of formal notice from the United States that it had filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition.”

In early December, the chair of the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, called on Sam Bankman-Fried to testify before the committee and not make excuses for not attending.

At the same time, Elon Musk revealed that SBF and FTX had “donated” to the Democratic Party of the United States, around a billion dollars, while the exchange had reported only 40 million dollars.

Bankman to Remain Imprisoned in the Bahamas

According to the Attorney General of the Bahamas, SBF will remain in custody until he is extradited to the United States; in addition, the authorities reaffirmed their intention “to comply” with the formal request “as soon as possible”, that is, they are just waiting until Washington submits the request.

In response to SBF’s arrest, Prime Minister Davis stated the following:

“The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and violated the law. As the United States pursues criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.”

SBF’s US media tour drew a barrage of criticism, including from Michael Saylor, who exposed in a recent interview FTX’s complex lending network that had been collateralized by its own unregistered securities, which Bankman-Fried allegedly manipulated.

According to Saylor, a famous Bitcoin maximalist and head of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy, Bankman-Fried essentially borrowed money from himself, as no traditional bank would lend money at the loan-to-value ratio allowed by US Bitcoin law. The authorities in the Bahamas say they are ready to extradite SBF.

By Audy Castaneda

Coinbase Integrates Avalanche-Based USDC Stablecoin

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Coinbase Integrates Avalanche-Based USDC Stablecoin</strong>

The native USDC has over $850 million in circulation

Avalanche announced that its native USDC stablecoin has been listed by Coinbase, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, allowing operators and institutions to accelerate their fiat-to-cryptocurrency conversion experience on Web 3.0. The tweet reads like this:

“Native $USDC on Avalanche is now integrated on @Coinbase! Coinbase’s over 108 million users will now have the fastest path from cash to DeFi with Avalanche $USDC.”

Avalanche’s native USDC has more than $850 million in circulation and close to 100 million users of the exchange will have access to decentralized finance (DeFi) such as Aave, Curve, BENQI, among others.

The native USDC can be traded or bought in more than 100 countries through Coinbase, which processes more than $1.2 billion in transactions, while the stablecoin is the second largest in Web 3.0, with its circulating supply of $43 billion.

Ava Labs Expands Despite Bear Market

According to Ava Labs, users will now be able to transfer cash to USDC and vice versa, without intermediaries, which represents great advantages for developers and users. Meanwhile, there are two assets for stablecoin exposure: USDC and USDC.e., the latter is an asset sent by Avalanche Bridge and the former is issued directly by Circle.

Despite the bear market, Avalanche continues to expand. At the end of November, Avalanche reported its new milestone: reaching 450 million transactions, and explained that the level of transactions was around 28 million. In this realm, the Avalanche Blockchain increased by 1,507%.

According to Beincrypto, the Avalanche network has ranked sixth among the Blockchains with the highest Total Value Locked (TVL). This, when crypto assets valued at approximately 823 million dollars were found blocked.

End of Bear Market in 2023? What’s Next for Avalanche?

Recently, Bloomberg Senior Commodity Strategist and Analyst Mike McGlone recently indicated that the winter-shaking cryptocurrencies may be coming to an end and that the decline seen so far is not only attributable to digital currencies since it also shakes other important sectors of the global economy.

Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer assures his stakeholders that FTX impacts very little on companies and projects operating in the Avalanche ecosystem. The company had an account at FTX with a very small amount of coins. That’s a big relief for Avalanche but not the same for others with larger deposits.

Following the FTX crash in early November, AVAX fell 10% and has yet to recover. However, the coin should recover as the industry recovers from the bear market.

Cryptopolitan’s prediction of AVAX Coin price for 2023 is a high of $25.15; in five years, a maximum price of $156.82 could be reached, and within 10 years, AVAX could be trading at a maximum price of $500.15.

By Audy Castaneda

Polygon Rise: Starbucks, Reddit, and Meta Integrate It to Enter Web 3.0

Audy Castañeda
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Polygon Rise: Starbucks, Reddit, and Meta Integrate It to Enter Web 3.0

Polygon (MATIC) outperformed other major cryptocurrencies following FTX collapse.

Layer 2 solutions like Polygon have created quite a buzz throughout the crypto ecosystem. Some even see L2 as the next step in Blockchain evolution, which is a better approach to scaling, primarily on Ethereum.

Both analysts and cryptocurrency gurus on Twitter have noted significant increases in L2 adoption throughout the year. In a Reddit discussion thread from last May, one user even referred to these solutions as “a turning point” in the industry.

Layer 2 Solutions: Scalable Growth of the Blockchain

Layer 2 is the nickname given to all Blockchain scaling solutions built in a layer behind a mainnet. The goal is to offload some transactional payloads from the primary chain. The main focus of this concept has been on Ethereum L2s.

Plasma is a suggested method that builds a network of sidechains below the main Ethereum chain, forming a tree-like structure. One of the top and trending names in this sector has been Polygon and its native MATIC, given its proven scalability.

In addition to scalability, Polygon aims to enhance the developer experience with permissionless design, complete technology sovereignty, and modular security solutions.

Regular users also benefit from low gas fees, instant transactions, and full compatibility with Ethereum tools like MetaMask.

Integrations and Associations

The Polygon ecosystem has attracted significant interest from developers who have suffered from Ethereum’s periodically high gas fees. Notably, Polygon has been adopted by several high-profile decentralized exchanges and crypto gaming applications. An example is Polygon and Aave.

Polygon partnered with Aave, a leading DeFi protocol for lending and borrowing on the Ethereum Blockchain, to offset traffic issues due to adoption spikes.

NFT adoption and markets on Polygon have especially skyrocketed in recent months. Polygon, according to recent data, has secured partnerships with Starbucks, Reddit, and Meta.

Additionally, the Blockchain-native MATIC coin witnessed some price growth; on Nov. 4, MATIC was trading around $1.10 after rising around 30% in just two days. However, the token suffered the wrath of the ongoing crypto bear market and traded back to slightly below $0.90.

Rising Above the Dark clouds

The last period of sell-off within cryptocurrencies was mainly triggered by the FTX crash. This caused the crypto market capitalization to drop below the trillion-dollar mark, and it currently sits at $845.66 billion.

Despite Polygon’s performance, rivals have begun taking steps to close the gap in the L2 sector. One such rival is Polkadot, another big name that claims to be the foundation of the decentralized internet often referred to as Web 3.0.

Due to harsh macroeconomic conditions and infighting, cryptocurrencies continue to suffer and trade at a massive discount. The risks are always there, even with the growing bullish narratives around layer two solutions.

By Audy Castaneda

Although Traders Defend the USD 16,800 Level, Little Buying Determination Indicates the Bears Dominate

Alexander Salazar
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<strong>Although Traders Defend the USD 16,800 Level, Little Buying Determination Indicates the Bears Dominate</strong>

The short-term bias is bullish, but the price must break above resistance at USD 17,556 to confirm a broader rebound. Bitcoin might resume its previous trend if it lost its USD 16,463 support, but it must first exceed its USD 21,300 resistance.

Traders still defend support around USD 16,800, but the lack of buying determination suggests the bears will continue dominating.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 16,926 and has accumulated a 1.6% loss over the last 24 hours. While its daily trading volume is above USD 19,17 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 325.59 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Although the price action is encouraging, the little strength from the bulls does not confirm a broader recovery.

The Daily Technical Analysis of the Price of Bitcoin

A Shoulder-Head-Shoulder pattern announced a short-term trend reversal, but the intention may only be a small respite before dropping again.

Looking a little to the left on the chart, it is evident that the dominant force remains bearish.

Increasingly high lows have allowed the very short-term bias to be bullish right. However, it is impossible to confirm a broader rebound if the price does not break above resistance at USD 17,556.

If Bitcoin lost the immediate support at USD 16,877, the slight bullish intention created over the last few weeks would end. Therefore, the ground would be clear for USD 15,900.

Furthermore, it will be logical to think of new yearly lows for the price of Bitcoin if traders decide to sell.

The Weekly Chart Analysis of the Price of Bitcoin

The weekly chart shows that a bullish trend remains unquestionably in force.

However, a significant bearish divergence formed between the price chart and the RSI after Bitcoin sought the new yearly low of USD 15,480. That indicates an oversold area and few possibilities for the bears to drive Bitcoin lower.

Since that has not prevented buyers from failing to show weakness, there may be new lows in the short term. What is true is that those signals indicate that the price of Bitcoin is about to bottom out.

The price of Bitcoin might resume its previous trend if it loses its support at USD 16,463. However, it must exceed the resistance at USD 21,300 to consider a significant rebound or a trend change.

The On-Chain Analysis of the Price of Bitcoin

According to on-chain data, the leading Bitcoin holders or Whales have not started to hoard coins. The UTXO Value Bands (between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC) reveal that a bullish trend in the price usually implies accumulation.

However, the holdings of the whales have dropped by 367,000 BTC since June 2022. Therefore, the market should experience significant accumulation from those players to support a price increase.

Regarding spending, the high level of whale distribution opposes a signal that might lead to changing the market cycle. Besides, a considerable amount of the BTC spent (up to 80% of the total) came from whale addresses.

Investors should investigate Bitcoin before buying it to learn about its all-time high, behavior, and possible future prices. That will allow them to make better investment decisions and reduce the risk of losing money.

By Alexander Salazar

Predictions about the Price of XRP Suggest It Might Rise in the Medium Term

Alexander Salazar
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<strong>Predictions about the Price of XRP Suggest It Might Rise in the Medium Term</strong>

The forecasts about XRP might be slightly optimistic in the short term if t BTC breaks above USD 17,000. Positive news amid the legal dispute might allow the price of XRP to rise toward USD 0.45.

XRP is one of the most exciting crypto assets on the market for various reasons. The value of the project may increase massively in the coming years, but the legal proceedings against Ripple may affect it.

The Behavior of the Price of XRP over the Last Few Weeks

XRP appreciated significantly in late September and early October but only rose slightly due to an altcoin rally in late October. However, the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX triggered a rapid crash.

Over the last three weeks, t XRP has remained slightly stable, but the collapse of FTX caused it to drop below USD 0.33. Over the past few days, the price has been around USD 0.38, above its level before the September rally.

Reasons for the Recent Increase in the Value of XRP

Over the last few weeks, the predictions about the price of XRP for late 2022 have improved. The situation in the legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is better, as the government agency might exonerate Ripple.

However, the price of XRP during the Altcoin rally in late October could only rise from USD 0.45 to USD 0.50. Although it has aligned with other altcoins, its recent performance has been much better than other leading cryptocurrencies.

Predictions about the Price of XRP for Late 2022

The forecasts about the value of XRP might be neutral to slightly optimistic in the short term. That will depend on if the price of Bitcoin (BTC) breaks above its resistance at USD 17,000.

Altcoins follow the steps of Bitcoin again as they wait for further bullish or bearish signals. If the price rises toward USD 20,000 again, altcoins might increase significantly.

Forecasts Suggest the Price of XRP Might Rise by 25%

The course of XRP and other altcoins might go even higher in the coming weeks. That would be possible if Bitcoin breaks through the resistance, which could lead it to increase by 10 to 25 percent.

A further increase would be possible with more optimistic news amid the legal dispute. However, those factors might not occur at the same time. Since a sharp decline toward the end of 2022 is unlikely, forecasts would be between USD 0.35 and USD 0.45.

It Is Worth Investing in XRP for the Medium Term

The crypto cycle has bottomed out, but the price of Bitcoin might fall further. Although that situation would cause a drop in altcoins in the coming weeks, the trend might be bullish in the medium term.

The forecasts about XRP for the end of 2022 suggest that the price might achieve short-term gains. Therefore, it would be worth investing in the token of Ripple.

XRP is trading at around USD 0.3766 and has accumulated a 2.5% loss over the last 24 hours. While its daily trading volume is above USD 684.13 million, its market capitalization is about USD 19.00 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitcoin Reopened Lower but Experts Insist on an Eventual Recovery

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Bitcoin Reopened Lower but Experts Insist on an Eventual Recovery</strong>

After a small recovery over the weekend, Bitcoin and the crypto ecosystem fall again.

After a weekend on the rise, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) once again crossed the floor of USD 17,000, which could mean the end of this brief positive cycle for the digital currency.

This seems to be replicated in Ethereum (ETH), the second most important coin in the ecosystem. Ethereum, created by Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood, remains at a price close to USD 1,250 and fails to turn the tide.

Latest Cryptocurrency Prices

Bitcoin (BTC): the most used cryptocurrency has presented a negative variation of 1.40% on December 10th,  and is trading at USD 16,932.60.

Ethereum (ETH): its price is USD 1,246.82, with a negative variation of -2.13% compared to December 10th.

Tether (USDT): This stablecoin maintains its value of USD 1.0004, with the price remaining the same as in the last 24 hours.

Binance Coin (BNB): the cryptocurrency of the popular exchange is trading at USD 282.30, a negative variation of -2.79% compared to December 10th.

Cardano (ADA): its price had a decrease of 2.88% and is currently trading at USD 0.3039.

Ripple (XRP): the price of this cryptocurrency is USD 0.37758, which means a drop of 2.39% in the last 24 hours.

FTX Crisis Continues to Shake the Waters

Although the market continues to decline, digital currency specialists maintain that this decline is temporary. They also insist that the fall of FXT, one of the events that most affected the different prices, is due to a misinterpretation of the future market.

Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, spoke in April about the fate of Bitcoin in the coming years and predicted that the price of this cryptocurrency will rise to USD $1 million by the year 2030. Recently, and despite the 60% drop in the price in the last year, the executive reiterated her forecast.

Through her Twitter account, Wood spoke about FTX and the “crypto winter” effect that its bankruptcy generated. For the CEO, ” The Bitcoin Blockchain didn’t skip a beat during the crisis caused by opaque centralized players. No wonder Sam Bankman Fried didn’t like Bitcoin: it’s transparent and decentralized. He couldn’t control it.”

On Sunday, Cathie Wood shared a report from her firm, stating the following:

“Despite market volatility associated with FTX’s demise, the supply held by long-term holders—or the supply last moved 155 days ago or more—closed flat for the month of November. We believe this data point indicates investor long-term focus and conviction, beyond recent events. Today, long-term holder demand is 72% of the total Bitcoin circulation.”

In response to Cathie Wood’s tweets, user @halfnium pointed out that “Two problems still exist: 1. Cryptocurrencies & the Blockchain cannot operate in isolation & require an intermediary. It is those intermediaries that are opaque. Transacting on the Blockchain needs more efficiency. 2. Cryptocurrencies offer only speculative utility.”

By Audy Castaneda

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