Crypto Market Overview May 19th | Dex-Trade
“Venture Investing Requires Humility”: Mike Novogratz on the Collapse of Terra
For the first time since the collapse of the UST stablecoin and the LUNA cryptocurrency, several ambassadors of Terra solutions broke their silence at once and spoke about their thoughts on one of the most dramatic events in the history of the crypto market. In particular, Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital and one of Terra’s brightest advocates, in an open letter addressed to “shareholders, friends, partners, and the crypto community,”spoke about his experiences associated with the collapse of a promising and original blockchain ecosystem: “There is no good news in what happened in markets or to the Terra ecosystem, … [collapse of coins] dented confidence in crypto and DeFi, … [it was] a big idea that failed.” In the letter, the entrepreneur recalled that his investment team invested part of the balance capital in the LUNA project at the end of 2020. At that time, they were inspired to support the expansion of blockchain-based payment systems, and Chai, built on base of Terra, was one of the top five financial apps in South Korea with over 1.8 million regular users and impressive growth potential. By the way, Novogratz even got a LUNA tattoo on his shoulder, a photo of which he posted in a tweet in January of this year. And just 5 months later, he wrote: “With hindsight things always look clearer. My tattoo will be a constant reminder that venture investing requires humility.”
Stocks will be traded on FTX US
Representatives of the FTX US cryptocurrency exchange announced the launch of a tool for trading regulated securities, namely the shares of more than a hundred US-listed companies and exchange-traded funds, which can now be traded through the FTX mobile application. In an official statement from FTX Capital Markets, it’s written that the trading floor will act as "an affiliated broker-dealer registered with the SEC and member FINRA/SIPC", that is, legally, its role will now be to provide brokerage services. As for the direct addition of the relevant functions, the company plans to gradually integrate them into the platform interface and make them available to all FTX users in the US over the next few months. It’s also reported that there will be no commission charged for processing a transaction on FTX US, and customers will be able to replenish their accounts with the popular USDC stablecoin. Moreover, the exchange intends to launch trading in derivatives, and trading of futures and options on exchanges through brokers and clearing sellers is already available to its clients. By the way, this news seriously hurt the CME Group, which dominates the trading of commodity derivatives. Representatives of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange said that FTX proposal is "glaringly flawed and poses a serious risk to market stability and market players."
China is the Largest Underground Bitcoin Miner
According to research by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), China, despite a complete crypto ban, ranked second in the distribution of Bitcoin mining capacity and currently accounts for 22.29% of the global hash rate. How did it happen? In fact, there is no particular secret in this, since researchers have repeatedly hinted at underground miners who simply do not register their companies. But unlike China-2021, in China-2022, the number of illegal mining installations has increased markedly. Recall that after the entry into force of the ban on cryptocurrencies in China, the United States became the main center of mining, where miners who fled from the Iron Curtain were actively invited. The high hashrate also continues to be held by Kazakhstan, which accounts for 13.22% of mining capacity, and Canada, where 6.48% of the hashrate is located. But it’s important to consider that many BTC miners actively use VPNs to hide their real location. Therefore, the researchers warn that the actual proportions of power distribution may differ slightly from the nominal ones.
