Silicon Valley Bank fell, USDC disengaged, FTX billed $34 million in January

Top news this week

Silicon Valley Bank Shut Down By California Regulator, Withholding Over $5 Billion For Prominent Crypto VCs

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was shut down by California’s financial watchdog on March 10 after announcing a significant asset and stock sale aimed at raising additional capital. The California watchdog designated the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a recipient to protect insured deposits. However, the FDIC only insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution, and per property category. The bank had more than $5 billion in funding from top venture capital firms. Silicon Valley Bank is one of the 20 largest banks in the United States, providing banking services to crypto-friendly venture firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

USDC Disengages as Circle Confirms $3.3B Stuck in Silicon Valley Bank

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle confirmed that $3.3bn of its $40bn USDC holdings remain with Silicon Valley Bank, triggering a sell-off that resulted in the stablecoin falling below $1 The stablecoin ecosystem felt an immediate shock when USDC de-pegged from the US dollar, and as a consequence, major stablecoins de-pegged from the US dollar, including DAI, USDD, and FRAX. The USDC price slowly re-fixed on Saturday night after turbulent trading hours. Circle plans to cover the lack of liquidity at SVB with corporate funds.

Silvergate Capital Corporation to ‘voluntarily liquidate’ Silvergate Bank

Silvergate Capital Corporation this week announced plans to “reduce operations” and liquidate its crypto arm, Silvergate Bank. The decision was made “in light of recent industry and regulatory developments,” the company said. Silvergate was one of the main banking partners of many crypto companies, but raised concerns about its solvency after delaying the filing of an annual financial report. Although their closure does not appear to be a systematic risk to the US banking system, crypto firms are preparing for the potential effects of their exit, such as increased banking concentration and challenges for crypto VC firms in the US. .us

SBF lawyers point to the need to delay the October criminal trial

Lawyers representing FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said his criminal trial may need to be delayed as the defense is still awaiting a “substantial portion” of the evidence and more charges were filed against Bankman-Fried in late February. Meanwhile, law firms, investment banks, and consulting firms working with FTX on its bankruptcy case billed the crypto exchange a combined $34.18 million in January, court documents revealed. FTX’s new CEO and turnaround director, John J. Ray III, also received a hefty pay package, charging $1,300 an hour, bringing the total to $305,000 in February.

Biden’s budget proposes a 30% tax on crypto mining energy use, double tax on capital gains, and a ban on laundering crypto sales

Crypto miners in the United States could be subject to a 30% tax on electricity costs under a budget proposal by President Joe Biden aimed at “reducing mining activity.” According to the White House, any company using resources, whether owned or leased, would be subject to a tax of 30% of the cost of electricity used to mine digital assets. Other points affecting the crypto industry in the budget proposal include ending tax loss collection and nearly doubling capital gains tax rates for some investors to 39.6% on long-term investments, vs. Current tax of 20%.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) I sat down $19,920Ether (ETH) in $0,000 and XRP in $0.35. Total market capitalization is $928.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Kava (Kava) at 12.40%, Bone ShibaSwap (BONE) at 1.22% and ONE BUT LEO (LION) at 1.05%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Stacks (STX) at -31.05%, Mine (MINE) at -29.40% and SingularityNET (AGIX) to -29.14%.

To learn more about cryptocurrency prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

most memorable quotes

“This industry has grown by leaps and bounds, especially for being as young as it is, and I am still confident that we are in the process of building a better and more equitable financial system in the United States and around the world.”

charlie shremgeneral partner of Druid Ventures

“Despite a regulatory framework around stablecoins, they will be commodities in my opinion.”

Rostin BehnamChairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission

“Without knowledge of or exposure to the industry, women may lose confidence and interest in pursuing careers in the sector.”

sand carterDirector of Operations and Director of Business Development for Unstoppable Domains

“It is important that regulators encourage the growth of IoT and M2M payments, as it is key to maintaining the global competitiveness of the European digital economy.”

Euro Digital Association

“Despite the volatile crypto landscape of 2022, consumers have not lost faith in their crypto investments.”

Paxos Annual Survey

“As the bank of choice for cryptocurrency, the failure of Silvergate Bank is disappointing, but predictable.”

Elizabeth WarrenUS Senator

prediction of the week

Bitcoin Fights $20K as Trader Calls Banking Chaos ‘2008 All Over Again’

Bitcoin fell to its lowest price since mid-January on March 10 as cryptocurrency markets panicked over a potential banking crisis, Cointelegraph Markets Pro data and TradingView shows

The BTC/USD pair experienced most of its losses during Wall Street trading the day before, as risk assets everywhere suffered setbacks courtesy of cold market feet following the major restructuring at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). ), the 16th largest in the United States. commercial lender.

“Will probably go in 18-19k before this is over, but it’s just a retest,” pseudonymous trader Credible Crypto wrote On twitter.

Uncertainty remains in the air as the aftermath of the collapse at SVB is far from over – stablecoins in particular are feeling the heat. USD Coin de-pegged from the US dollar on March 11, trading at $0.93 an hour after revealing it held $3.3 billion in SVB, triggering a ripple effect on other stablecoins.

FUD of the week

Hedera Confirms Mainnet Exploit Led to Theft of Service Tokens

The team behind the Hedera distributed ledger confirmed that a smart contract exploit on the Hedera mainnet led to the theft of several liquidity pool tokens. The attacker targeted liquidity pool tokens on decentralized exchanges that derived their code from Uniswap V2 on Ethereum, which was transferred for use on the Hedera Token Service. The suspicious activity was detected when the attacker tried to move the stolen tokens through the hashport bridge. Hedera did not confirm the number of tokens that were stolen.

Tether Attacks WSJ Over “Outdated Allegations” of Fake Documents for Bank Accounts

The company behind the stablecoin Tether has rejected reports that it had ties to entities that falsified documents and used shell companies to gain access to the banking system. Based on leaked documents and emails, The Wall Street Journal reported that entities linked to Tether and its sister crypto exchange Bitfinex falsified sales invoices and transactions to open bank accounts. Tether called the report’s findings “long outdated allegations” and “totally inaccurate and misleading.” A “proud” partner of law enforcement, the firm claims to routinely and voluntarily assist law enforcement in the US and abroad.

NY AG sues KuCoin for selling securities and commodities without registration

New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin after she was able to buy and sell cryptocurrency on the exchange, which is not registered in New York. James alleges that KuCoin violated securities law when it “sold, offered to sell, bought, and offered to buy cryptocurrencies that are commodities and securities” to New Yorkers. The action is one of the first times a regulator has asserted in court that ETH is a security.