Crypto Market Overview December 12th | Dex-Trade
The Worst Is Behind: Arthur Hayes Draws Enviable Future for Bitcoin
In an interview on Scott Melker's podcast, ex-CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, spoke about how he considers the current “mess” in the digital asset market to be over, as the “largest most irresponsible entities”: "Looking forward, pretty much everyone who could go bankrupt has gone bankrupt." According to Hayes, when centralized lending firms (CELs) get into financial trouble, they often first solicit loans and then sell BTC reserves in the first place. Moreover, the sale of a stock of flagship coins always precedes bankruptcy, which suggests that in most cases this is an unworkable strategy to deal with a crisis. The ex-head of BitMEX touched on this topic in one of his blog posts, where he explained that despite the continuation of the credit crunch, large physical sales of BTC are taking place both from CELs trying to avoid bankruptcy, and from trading platforms whose loans have been revoked. and liquidated all open positions: “This is why the price of Bitcoin swoons before CELs go bankrupt. That’s the big move." However, Hayes believes that the era of large-scale liquidations has come to an end with the dramatic collapse of FTX. This event once again showed the inconsistency and naivete of the sale of the main crypto-assets in a crisis situation. Therefore, the businessman believes that in 2023 the situation on the market will begin to improve.
Terra Do Kwon's 'Trace' Discovered in Serbia
According to South Korea's largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs that went bankrupt in May, Do Kwon is currently in hiding in Serbia. At least that's what the intelligence obtained by an official who was involved in the investigation into the case of the disgraced crypto-entrepreneur says. After Kwon and five other people involved in the collapse of Terraform received arrest warrants in September on charges of violating capital market rules and other offenses, which even Interpol later joined in, the South Korean prosecutor's office made a request to cooperate with the Serbian authorities. Recall that back in September, Kwon remained in Singapore, but later disappeared. In October, the South Korean prosecutor's office gave him an ultimatum, under which he had to either return to the country within 14 days, or his passport as a citizen of the country would be canceled. As far as we know, Kwon did not return to his homeland. By the way, according to the New York Times, in December, US federal prosecutors launched their own investigation to answer the question of whether the management of the bankrupt FTX and its subsidiary Alameda Research manipulated the prices of LUNA and USDT stablecoin, which are Terraform Labs native coins. In the meantime, authorities and investigators are trying to figure out the possible connection between FTX and Terra, Kwon has already accused Sam Bankman-Freed of an “attack” on the USDT peg that brought down the Terra ecosystem. The battle of weak titans can be considered begun...
Ray Youssef Supports Autonomous Hodling
While many crypto platform executives are focusing their efforts on securing user funds, the CEO of 11 million-user Paxful cryptocurrency exchange, Ray Youssef, is strongly advocating offline storage of assets in user wallets, not exchange wallets: “My sole responsibility is to help and serve you. That’s why today I’m messaging all of our [Paxful] users to move your Bitcoin to self-custody. You should not keep your saving on Paxful, or any exchange, and only keep what you trade here.” Youssef also promises to send weekly emails to users strongly advising them not to store cryptocurrencies on all crypto exchanges, including Paxful. The entrepreneur highlighted the trust issue with custodians like the SBF, stating "you’re at the mercy of […] their morals." Paxful CEO also recalled that thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin as an asset is protected from centralized control and manipulation, so he gives "the chance to finally be in control."
