Is the new Bitcoin bull run starting?

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Cryptocurrency

A rapid rise in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies saw the market rally back above $1 trillion.

At the time of writing (7am UK), Bitcoin is trading at $21,150, its highest level since early November and 23% higher than its price a week ago.

And Twitters Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index, which produces a score for overall market sentiment by combining data such as market volatility, momentum and volume, social media and Google Trends, fell into the neutral zone – 52 – over the weekend, its highest level since April 2022.

It has since fallen back to 45, just in the fear zone, but has been in the 20s for much of the past few months.

Nigel Green, CEO and founder of financial advisor deVere Group – which launched a crypto exchange – says the signs are that the bulls are starting to regain control.

Referring to the latest US inflation data, which revealed that the CPI had slowed to 6.5% in December from 7.1% the previous month, he said: “As inflation in the world’s largest economy is, it seems, brought under control by the aggressive Federal Reserve.” interest rate hikes, it is more likely that the central bank will begin to ease the brakes on the economy by slowing the hikes.

The Fed will continue to raise rates for some time to come – albeit at a slower pace – because it cannot afford to back down. Officials will also continue to appear hawkish in order to avoid further excitement in the markets and further complacency.

[But] as central banks begin to untighten and the cyclical recovery begins, asset classes [such as crypto] could surpass the others. Knowing that they will likely be rewarded for it, many crypto investors are now positioning themselves for the pivot.

Of course, the crypto market will not go in a straight line, no market ever does, but we expect the bears to go into hibernation and the bulls to be ready to run.

Sam Bankman-Fried ‘threatens to bankrupt former US president of FTX’

Former FTX US President revealed that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried once threatened to destroy his professional reputation.

Brett Harrison met Bankman-Fried at New York trading firm Jane Street and was hired for FTX US via text message in 2021.

Six months into my time with the company, pronounced cracks began to form in my own relationship with Sam, Harrison wrote in a damning 49-part Twitter thread. Around this time, I began to advocate strongly for establishing the separation and independence of the executive, legal, and development teams at FTX US, and Sam disagreed.

I saw in this first conflict his total insecurity and his intransigence when his decisions were questioned, his wickedness and the volatility of his temperament. I realized he wasn’t the one I remembered.

Harrison said he suspected mental health issues may have contributed to Bankman-Fried’s change.

At the beginning of April 2022, my eleventh month, I gave it a last try. I filed a formal complaint in writing about what I considered to be the biggest organizational issues hampering the future success of FTX. I wrote that I would resign if the issues were not resolved, Harrison continued.

In response, I was threatened on Sam’s behalf that I would be fired and that Sam would destroy my professional reputation. I was asked to formally retract what I had written and to issue an apology to Sam that was written for me.

Harrison resigned from his position on September 27, five weeks before FTX’s dramatic collapse.

Bankman-Fried was recently released on bail after posting $250 million bond, after pleading not guilty to eight criminal charges, including fraud at FTX and its sister trading company Alameda Research.

I could never have guessed that underlying these kinds of issues that I had seen in other more mature companies during my career and which I thought were not fatal to the success of the company, there had a multi-billion dollar fraud, Harrison insisted.

If any of us had suspected let alone learned the truth, we would have reported it immediately.

Harrison’s new venture, which has yet to be named, has secured personal financial backing from SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci.

The software company will allow crypto traders to create algorithm-based strategies to access different markets, both centralized and decentralized.

Cryptocurrency Shorts

YouTube influencer Logan Paul has revealed a payback plan for investors in his CryptoZoo NFT project. Those wishing to leave the project – which Paul plans to continue – can burn their base tokens for their factory price in ETH or BNB. Paul said he and manager Jeff Levin would burn their own chips to eliminate any winnings. He also apologized to Stephen Findeisen – aka Coffeezilla – after he dropped his threat of legal action over accusations that the project was a scam.

Animoca Brands Japan, a blockchain investment subsidiary of Animoca Brands, invested approximately $780,000 in Psychic VR Labs in a recent $7.8 million funding round. STYLY, the company’s mixed reality creative platform, is used by more than 50,000 artists worldwide, while its visualization app has been downloaded more than 5 million times.

Quantum Temple, a Web3 startup creating a blockchain-based platform that will help preserve cultural heritage, announced a $2 million pre-seed round led by Borderless Capital.

Crypto prices

The aggregate market capitalization of the 22,200 coins is $996 billion at the time of writing (7am UK), an increase of 2.4% in the last 24 hours.

For summaries of recent developments in cryptocurrency news, click here.

For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price changes, see below.

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