The surge in Bitcoin's value over the last week is credited to a couple factors, the main driver seems to be the growing mistrust of traditional banks. As reports of bank failures and bailouts continue to make headlines, investors are turning to alternative forms of investment to safeguard their wealth. Bitcoin's decentralized nature has made it an attractive option for those looking to spread risk across different investment types.

The Federal Reserve's announcement of an emergency loan program to backstop depositors as three regional U.S. banks collapsed only added to Bitcoin's momentum.

The gains stopped today - for what may end up just a 'short pause'...

That momentum hit bump today as the Federal Reserve's decision to raise its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, as well as its indication that it is unlikely to cut its key interest rate this year, led to a pullback.

Despite the setback, in the big picture Bitcoin remains largely unaffected having surged from $22,000 to $28,000 over the past week, and today's losses have it settling around $27,000 (at the time of publishing) - the overwhelming majority of its recent gains remain intact.

The reasons that sparked the last bull run remain present, and may even intensify - unless there's some unexpected bad news, things could turn bullish again at any moment.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

The battle for the future of money is heating up in the United States, with some states proposing to ban the "digital dollar" before it even exists, while others quietly pass laws to make it a reality. It's a conflict that has raised concerns about privacy, surveillance, and control.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is leading the charge against the digital dollar, announcing a proposed bill to ban it in his state. According to a statement from the governor's office, the legislation is intended to "protect Floridians from the Biden administration's use of financial sector weapons through a central bank digital currency (CBDC)."

DeSantis's bill seeks to prohibit the use of the digital dollar or CBDC as money in Florida and to create "protections" against digital currencies issued by central banks belonging to nations sanctioned by the United States. He hopes that other states will follow suit and establish similar prohibitions to "fight this concept throughout the country."

In the view of the Republican governor, a digital currency "has to do with surveillance and control" of citizens, and it "will stifle innovation." adding that "Florida will not side with the economic central planners. "We will not adopt policies that threaten economic freedom and personal security."

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is also pushing for a ban on the digital dollar, citing concerns about privacy implications. He argues that a digital dollar "could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government."

As Other States Quietly Take Steps to Move the Digital Dollar Forward...

President Biden issued an executive order last year that instructs several government offices to research creating a central bank digital currency, since then things have appeared to be moving forward with no official updates from the federal government.

The silence seems to be deliberate when it comes to the most recent steps targeting the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which are laws that every state has, and every state controls. 

Intended to make sure states can easily conduct business with each other, the digital dollar may be the first time there's been major disagreements between some states and could result in the 'Uniform' codes ending up far from uniform nation-wide. 

Just this week South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem vetoed House Bill 1193 which would have opened the doors for the digital dollar in her state by amending their UCC to allow for fully electronic payments backed only by electronic records "this is extremely troubling. If Congress were to someday create an official electronic currency that is programmable, it would pose significant threats to Americans’ liberty and privacy rights. Why, then, would so many lawmakers want to make it easier for such a currency to be used in their states?"

Both republicans and democrats have made more public statements implying they are against the digital dollar, yet both parties have been found slipping the verbiage needed to make it happen into bills in their states, now there are similar bills headed to vote soon in 20 more states including in Arkansas, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and California.

One Major Roadblock Could Still Stop the Digital Dollar from Happening...

Not because they share any of the same concerns citizens have voiced - but nonetheless, they hate the idea and they may have enough power over politicians to get their way - the banks.

Banks see the Digital Dollar as a way for the government to become their biggest competitor.  Imagine - your job pays you in digital dollars, they're stored in an app on your phone, and virtually every place you would spend money accepts it, what do you need a bank for? 

While banks would still have a role when it comes to investing, lending, and securing larger business and personal accounts, the average person could go months, or even years without needing to interact with a bank, and have no need for a personal account. 

A battle with significant consequences...

Both for the future of our economy and the role of the government in our financial lives. Will we become a cashless society dominated by a digital dollar, or will we maintain the status quo? 

Until recently, this all felt like something so far in the future it was hard to really concern yourself with - but as we begin seeing real laws designed to move plans for the digital dollar forward proposed in multiple states, the potential implications are beginning to feel very real.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

 Wedbush Securities Managing Director of Equity Research David Chiaverini talks about Silvergate's collapse, stablecoins, and the current state of the cryptocurrency market.

Video courtesy of Yahoo Finance...

According to court records that have just been made available to us, there has been nothing less than a  massive army of professionals working non-stop to clean up the mess at FTX. 

They've been tasked with examining every bit of FTX's business, due to the lack of record keeping during the reign of it's former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Of course, hiring a large amount people qualified to review complex financial data doesn't come cheap -but no one seems to have expected it would be this expensive either, as these firms have now billed FTX $38 million PLUS expenses...and that's just for January!

Breaking Down The Bill...

The bankruptcy administrators have retained the services of some of the biggest names in law and finance. Let's take a look at who's involved, and what they're each bringing to the table.  

Leading the pack is the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which was hired as counsel. Along with them, the administrators have also retained Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb as special counsel for the proceedings. Meanwhile, consultancy firm AlixPartners was brought in to conduct forensic analysis on DeFi products and tokens that were in FTX's possession.

On the financial front, Alvarez & Marsal and Perella Weinberg Partners were tasked with sorting through FTX's accounting records and determining which assets it could sell. According to court filings, Sullivan & Cromwell billed $16.8 million for January, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan billed $1.4 million, and Landis Rath & Cobb billed $663,995. Collectively, the three firms have over 180 lawyers assigned to the case and over 50 non-lawyer staff, such as paralegals.

What's more, court filings show that Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers and staff billed a total of 14,569 hours for January. The largest project that Sullivan & Cromwell worked on was discovery, followed by asset disposition and asset analysis and recovery.

Interestingly, the U.S. Department of Justice initially objected to FTX hiring Sullivan & Cromwell, citing potential conflicts of interest. Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's founder, also objected to the bankruptcy administrators hiring the firm, claiming that the law firm's staff had pressured him into filing for bankruptcy in November. However, in late January, a Delaware bankruptcy court judge approved the firm to continue representing FTX.

In early February, Sullivan & Cromwell submitted a bill for $7.5 million for the first 19 days of bankruptcy work after FTX filed in November. The majority of billed time for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan was spent on Asset Analysis and Recovery as well as Avoidance Action – legalese for attempts to undo certain transactions that the debtor engaged in before bankruptcy. As for Landis Rath & Cobb, a significant amount of time was billed for hearings, litigation, and asset disposition.

But that's not all. AlixPartners billed $2.1 million for 2,454 hours of work. Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners billed $450,000 (its monthly fee), and court documents show that it spent a significant amount of time on developing a restructuring strategy, as well as correspondence with third parties.

According to its billing breakdown, the bank spent a large amount of time working on the sale of FTX assets LedgerX and FTX Japan. In January, a bankruptcy judge gave the sale the green light to create liquidity to pay back creditors.

Last but not least, Alvarez & Marsal billed $12.3 million, the second-largest charge for the month, behind Sullivan & Cromwell. Some of the largest items it billed for were Avoidance Actions, at 3,370 hours, financial analysis, at 1,168 hours, and accounting at 1,106 hours.

In November, shortly after FTX declared bankruptcy, interim CEO John J. Ray III said that the exchange had a "complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information." Ray, who also oversaw the liquidation of Enron and Nortel Networks when they collapsed, called the FTX situation "unprecedented".

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

China banning Bitcoin had become a joke in the years preceding it actually happening, with the country repeatedly announcing that Bitcoin was banned, 6 times to be exact, and every time the percentage of Bitcoin's network located within China increased  

However, last year, Chinese authorities began seizing expensive mining equipment from facilities still up and running, and the ban began to be taken seriously.

The process of shutting down hundreds of mining operations happened virtually overnight.

At the time of the ban, China was the top-ranked nation for Bitcoin mining...

China is currently just a blip on the radar, occasionally a Chinese IP address will be seen as some individual hobbyists, and a few remaining mining operations still running “taking steps to hide their location”. 

Now there are signs that China's leadership may view the ban on cryptocurrencies as too broad, with manybusiness leaders within China's tech industry believing that a crypto-free China would put the country to be a step behind the rest of the world. 

"VR and the metaverse are largely considered the next big thing that will have a major impact on the industry - do people think they can hand over printed paper money in a virtual world?" Says one of my sources within China, a lead developer for a Chinese software company that provides software related to the back-end management of both stock and crypto trading platforms. With an agreement that we wouldn't use his name, our (very encrypted) chat last night continued... "That's just the beginning, because everything you own in that world, your clothes, your house, your car. they're all going to be NFTs.  I was worried China would be sitting it out, delusionaland waiting for the day people say they no longer have a need for decentralized cryptocurrencies thanks to China's digital yuen. The reality of it is, people are going to be buying crypto (NFTs) with other crypto."        

The Signs...

The current crypto ban did not result in every crypto-related company in China being shut down. Some crypto-based companies were allowed to continue operating inside China if their user base was mostly international. If companies could remain profitable while still excluding Chinese citizens from their services, they were allowed to continue operating.

One such company is Conflux, which recently saw a huge influx of funds, resulting in gains of 143% in just one week and 800% over the last month.

Assets such as Filecoin, Neo, Vechain, Cocos-BCX, Polkadot, and EOS have registered price increases of between 10% and up to 40% in a matter of days.

Why this sudden positive price movement for anything crypto related out of China? 

What began as a rumor has just became a very real possibility...

It is now confirmed via the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) - they're evaluating a proposal that would legalize crypto trading in Hong Kong.  While officially part of China, Hong Kong still has the ability to pass laws independent of the mainland. 

The law would bring regulation of exchanges - and also legalize buying, selling and trading in the territory.

Currently, no western investment firms (which are required to reveal their holdings) have announced large investments in Chinese based cryptocurrencies or their supporting companies.

As of now, our best guess that the investing is happening internally, specifically by wealthy investors who believe this is going to happen. While these trades may technically be breaking the rules today, they believe ownership of these assets will soon be given the green light anyway.

Keep in mind, anyone in China with millions to invest will also have close ties with the ruling party, so their investments could indicate they know much more than the general public.  If that is the case here, it seems they've been told that this is going to happen.

Where things stand as of today...

The biggest surprise  - we're hearing that Hong Kong leaders are NOT being met with disapproval from China's leadership in Beijing "there's nothing to indicate mainland officials don't want this to happen, and I believe we're well beyond the point where they would make their stance known" a source explained.

Beijing quietly allowing this to happen may be thanks to some of China's wealthiest business leaders, who have been complaining to officials about being restricted from a market with huge growth potential - saying they understand the risks, and take proper safeguards to prevent any catastrophic losses.  They believe those who can afford to take risks should be guided by regulations that take this in to account. 

It's unlikely the same leadership that banned crypto trading have completely reversed their views, but they may now be willing to allow it if the the requirements still discourage the average citizen  Only allowing crypto trading via Hong Kong would be enough of a barrier to stop the 'average worker' from risking their funds in the market, as the expenses involved with taking trips to and from Hong Kong would be enough to make simply make it not worth doing. 

A major impact to global crypto markets...

As one of the largest economies in the world, China’s re-entry into the cryptocurrency market could have a ripple effect on the global market. This could lead to increased adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide. 

Also worth noting - China's ban has been an example to other counties that discourage investing or adoption of cryptocurrencies - Chinese investors re-joining the crypto market would mean no major superpower is enforcing a ban on cryptocurrencies.

The amount of 'saved Bitcoin' (coins being kept at a single wallet address for at least two years) has reached a new all-time high.

According to data compiled by the analytics firm Glassnode, these coins total over 49% percent of the total Bitcoin supply, which comes to 9.45 million BTC. Nearly half of all Bitcoin's are in the hands of long term investors.

Soon the majority of all BTC will have not moved in over 2 years - an extremely bullish indicator...

The previous record amount of saved Bitcoin was set between the end of 2020 and the start of 2021. This coincides with the start of the bull market that year - with the rising price being driven by a lack of people willing to sell their BTC.

So far, we're seeing a similar path ahead now, as Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market appear to be beginning a price recovery cycle.

Since the beginning of this year, bitcoin has increased by almost 40%. and is hanging around $23,000 -reclaiming a price not seen since August 2022.

Last week it became official that the majority of Bitcoin holders have made a profit at current prices. 

Predictions for the year...

So far, are bullish, according to a majority of analysts.

However, you may not be feeling it yet - the first few months of 2023 are anticipated to be slow,  followed by a large increase in the price of BTC in the second half of the year.

Will Bitcoin repeat its traditional cycle of crashes, followed by setting a new all time high?  That would mean Bitcoin breaking the $70,000 ceiling. 
------- 

Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

These highs have not been witnessed since early November of last year, just before the FTX meltdown and accompanying drop in bitcoin's price.

Based on data from the blockchain explorer blockchain.com, miners were making about $16.1 million per day at the start of the year. In the meantime, as of 30 January 2023, the amount is $23.8 million daily. In this light, January's growth rate stands at 48%.

Because miners are paid in BTC, the value of Bitcoin has major significance. On that note, after beginning the month at around  $16,500, January ended around $23,000.

The mining profitability increase began to stand out about halfway through January, when profitability for miners hit USD 77 PH/day, signaling a clear upward trend in miner performance metrics.

After a depressing 2022 characterized by a significant bear market and a 65% loss in BTC's market value, miners are optimistic about 2023 with their surprisingly strong start. 

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

Following Bitcoin's price gains over the past week, the crypto world can once again claim that the majority of Bitcoin investments have made a profit for the investor - as 68% of Bitcoin addresses are now considered 'profitable' to it's owner, according to the latest data from research firm Glassnode.

The last time this happened was in the middle of last year, as can be seen in the graph that accompanies the firm's publication. At that time, the price of the cryptocurrency exceeded $40,000 and was in sharp decline.

Basically, it Means the Majority of BTC Holders Paid an Average Price Less than $22,000...

There's more positive statistic pointing towards Bitcoin's resilience.

Looking at 'dormant' coins (coins that have not moved for an extended period) 'lost' coins (coins believed to be in wallets no one has the key to) and long-term 'saved' coins (coins deliberately untouched by their owner, aka HODLing) are now at a 5-year high. 

These coins contribute to stability and a higher floor price, because they are considered unlikely to be sold anytime soon . 

Also, there are more people with at least 1 full bitcoin now than ever before. 

End of the Bear Market in Sight?

While a good week doesn't mean we're out of a bear market, it does look like the sell-off is done. Those buying BTC say their current goal is accumulating more, and as they began dominating the market it became clear, buyers are greatly outnumbering sellers, which naturally led to the price increase. This behavior indicates that most BTC owners believe that there's another bull run coming.

Currently the market is a mixed bag of indicators pointing in both directions, we see sentiment among traders moving away from fear, which is part of a bear market coming to a close, but that's still premature to claim.

While traders feel more confident now than they have for months, another price dip before things go bullish is still something most traders see as possible. The main reason for skepticism is the larger economic situation, as the uncertainty resulting from national debit, layoffs, and inflation are shared by crypto investors regardless of where they're from. 

Officially, this is still a bear market, and many believe it will stay that way until the overall economic situation improves - people are unlikely to make significant investments in crypto or anything else if they're not sure they will still have a job next month.

I Reached Out to 2 Pro-Analysts, Hoping for Some Insight on What Bitcoin's Next Move Could Be...

I've occasionally reach out to these guys for their opinions ever since I met them at Blockchain Expo Global in 2018. 

One works for a US based investment firm some of you have most likely heard of, the other works at an international exchange I think nearly everyone is familiar with. Note that they are sharing their professional opinions, on a personal and unofficial basis. So while we cannot include their full credentials here - they're the real deal.
 
There was Consensus From Both That the Smart Thing to do Right Now: Probably Nothing...

The US based analyst explained "this is one of those occasional times where no one can predict what comes next... until we see what comes next" he asks to let him clarify, and adds "basically, there's nothing we would consider a strong indicator that BTC will move in either direction right now- actually, some of the typically reliable indicators are disagreeing with each other Ironically, what seems like a lack of data is actually an accurate look at the market's current state - it's legitimately undecided right now."

The analyst currently working for an exchange added "While I know I'll be wrong sometimes, I still think that if my level of confidence is below like 70% it's probably best not to say something that people will act upon, I wouldn't move any of my own funds around for a prediction from someone whos only 60% behind it."

What Should You Be Paying Attention To Over the Next Week?

If things take a turn and prices head back down, look for Bitcoin dropping below $20,000 -  if it does,  it may continue to drop to around $16,000, a proven strong support level.

On the other hand, if Bitcoin continues to make gains and manages to cross $24,500 we could see the rise continue to around $27,000.

A Reminder of The Market You're In:

Bitcoin tanked from $1,000 to below $200 in 2015.

Bitcoin dropped below $3,200 after hitting $20,000 in December 2017.

Bitcoin dipped from $63,000 to $29,000 in 2021.

Bitcoin went from $68,000 to below $20,000 in 2022, this is today's bear market.

After each of these events the media declared the "end of Bitcoin".  Elderly professionals from the traditional finance and banking world would make sure to be seen in print and on TV saying "told you so" while warning everyone not to ever buy more Bitcoin.

What they don't say is that their grandson helps them anytime they need to send an email, and they literally couldn't buy Bitcoin if they wanted to (people under estimate how often this is the true reason an older person is anti-crypto)

EVERY. SINGLE.TIME. Those who stood firm in their belief in crypto's future were rewarded with prices hitting a new all-time high, every major crash as been followed by breaking previous records. 

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

While the scam is over, the story behind it is not. That won't change as long as it's main character remains in hiding. 

The dollar amount allegedly stolen by 'Crypto Queen' Ruja Ignatova is approximately the same amount Bankman-Fried is accused of losing. But Sam's story is downright boring compared with the chaos still happening today in the aftermath of OneCoin.

Both Sam and Ruja are accused of losing $3 - $4 billion of their user's funds, which puts them in a category beyond just running "crypto scams"- they're officially among the "largest scams ever" both in the number of victims, over 3 million, and the total dollar amount taken from them - over $4 billion in USD value, according to the FBI and Europol.

First Time Hearing About This?

The first time I heard of "OneCoin" it was already over, they had just been shut down, and the people behind it were in the process of being tracked down and arrested.

I was shocked - how could a multi-billion dollar crypto scam happen and it wasn't even on my radar?!

Good news, the problem isn't that you weren't paying attention - OneCoin deliberately avoided attracting attention from people in select 'Western' nations.  They feared that law enforcement in these countries were tech savvy, and way ahead when it comes to cases involving crypto. 

Still, today it's not uncommon to find someone who is in the crypto industry (full time) who says they've never heard of OneCoin. But most common seems to be someone remembering OneCoin was 'some kind of scam a few years back' with maybe 10% of people aware of its size - one of the largest scams in history and on the extremely short list of scams with a multi-billion dollar price tag.

It was the US FBI they feared the most, and to avoid them they also avoided scamming US citizens. They believed this was so important that if someone in the US ended up on their site and wanted to join - the signup page would give them an error and close itself.

Ironically, the FBI is leading the way in dismantling OneCoin, and is credited with tracking down many of the executives in custody today.

Comparing Sam and Ruja May Be Unfair... to Sam. He Isn't Nearly as Evil...

There's one huge difference between them  - Sam started a legitimate business. The more money he had the more careless he became.  But those funds were handed over to him for use in his legitimate business, which did exist..

Ruja never intended to start a business - she created a scam. 'OneCoin' was a fraud from the first day it launched, not a single feature ended up to be true.

Her public image was the same, professionally she introduced herself as "Dr Ruja Ignatova" and claimed an educational history of elite colleges, and an employment history at major financial firms.

She is the definition of 'scammer' - so dedicated to it she lives her daily life as the character she created for the single purpose of getting people to believe the opposite of what is really happening. 

Exactly how it appeared on OneCoin's website - but when Forbes was contacted they said OneCoin simply purchased as space, in that space they put an interview, then announced people could read an interview with Ruja in the latest edition of Forbes Magazine.

People behind scams this large don't struggle morally about what they're doing, far from it. They become addicted to the power they feel whenever they step on stage and see thousands of people clapping and cheering for them - the same people they will soon financially ruin. In these short moments they feel like the smartest person on the planet. 

What Puts This Story On a New Level of CRAZY: OneCoin Wasn't Even Real...

To be clear, I am not saying "her coin wasn't as good as she claimed" - I'm saying they didn't even have a coin.

She nicknamed their non-existent cryptocurrency the "Bitcoin Killer', claiming the blockchain technology behind it was so superior, it would soon come to replace Bitcoin.  In reality, she had nothing. No blockchain, no cryptocurrency.

What they did have was the OneCoin App, where people couduse real money to purchase OneCoin, and see it added to their balance - that's the entire system.

The price of OneCoin was also entirely imaginary, having nothing to do with supply and demand they could simply decide what the app would show the public, and of course, they decided to make it look like demand was huge. 

In e-mails obtained by investigators and used in court against OneCoin leaders, Ruja is seen telling the developers building the OneCoin system that:

"We would like to be able to set the price manually and automatically and also control the traded volume."

Legitimate cryptocurrencies cannot control any of those - the market decides the price, and volume is simply the total amount people bought or sold. 

Now That They at Least Appeared to Be Having a Strong Start, They Would Use Their Fake Coin's Fake Success, to Bring in Real Money...

Within the app was also the only 'exchange' where OneCoin could be traded - it had to be this way because trading it anywhere outside of their app would have been technically impossible -  no transferable cryptocurrency existed.  But according to their app, their imaginary cryptocurrency was quickly increasing in value, and that's all they needed to keep users buying more and telling their friends. 

This is where the pyramid aspect comes in to play -users would receive commission from people they invited to OneCoin, then they would also receive commission if that friend brought their friends.

OneCoin users who referred a lot of other users are the only group of people who walked away with a profit, but it's impossible to figure out who was knowingly promoting a scam, and who was a victim believing they were sharing something good. 

OneCoin Held 'Conferences' Attended By Thousands - Here Ruja Would Speak About Blockchain Revolutionizing the World of Finance...

Always booked as the special 'keynote speaker' at her own events, Ruja would give long speeches about what blockchain tech can do, and will do in the future. But back in reality, no blockchain of any kind was being used at OneCoin.

E-Mails obtained by investigators and shown in trials of her partners made it clear - she was the mastermind behind the lies, fully aware of every shady thing they were doing.

In one exchange with co-founder Karl Greenwood, she says “We are not mining actually – but telling people shit" and jokingly referred to OneCoin as 'Trash Coins'. 

The Collapse...

The red flags started to pile up - people discovered that some of OneCoin's directors had previously been involved in other known scams.

Plus, for years people requested any verifiable evidence for any of their claims, and the excuses dragged on so long it became obvious they were hiding something.  They had been telling so many lies for so long that their own statements would occasionally contradict things they said in the past. 

As the inflow of money began to slow down, use of their fake exchange became limited, dividing their members into different levels with each given different trading restrictions. Those who spent a lot on 'educational materials' could trade on more days than those who didn't. 

They were making it impossible for there to be a run of users withdrawing until there was nothing left.

As OneCoin Comes Crashing Down,  Ruja is Nowhere To Be Found...

Some believe she bribed government officials in the 3 countries she had homes in, so they would agree to warn her in advance of any plans against her, or her business.

While that hasn't been proven, we can say that somehow she managed to stay months ahead of authorities, and was long gone when the day came, and OneCoin was forced to shut down as it's leaders were rounded up and arrested.

In those final months without Ruja, OneCoin stayed open for business, with her younger brother Konstantin Ignatov taking over the title of CEO.  But his reign as OneCoin's top boss was a short one, as he was arrested March 2019 in Los Angeles, and it all ending with him pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.

Co-Founder Greenwood was detained in Thailand in 2018 and then extradited to the United States - just 3 weeks ago his case was closed after a deal to plead guilty was reached.  He still faces up to 40 years in prison.

Mark Scott, a former corporate lawyer, was convicted in November 2019 of laundering $400 million for the group by using a network of shell companies, offshore bank accounts and investment funds.

Another man, David Pike, pleaded guilty to committing bank fraud. He was sentenced to two years probation in March.

Not Even her Husband or 9 Year Old Daughter Has Heard from Her Since...

Most shockingly, she left her husband and now 9 year old daughter behind as well.   

They are said to be under 'constant surveillance' as authorities were expecting Ruja to eventually make contact with them.  If she has, it was done without anyone noticing, as the official status of her with the FBI describes her 2019 disappearance has the 'last time anyone has heard from or seen' her.

Is She Now a He?

It's hard to believe that a 3 year long global search with the powers of multiple law enforcement agencies from multiple countries behind it still hasn't found anything - to avoid even the occasional random sighting she either never goes outside, or has drastically changed her appearance. 

One way people believe she could do this would be for her to live as a man.

A professional sketch artists rendering of Ruja as a male, commissioned as part of Tradingpedia's research in to her disappearance.

Simpler methods of disguise have been suggested too, such as plastic surgery to make her face and body thinner, along with dying her hair blonde, would probably also make her unrecognizable. 

Possible Leads...

This week was brutal for those betting the crypto market would continue to drop lower, as they were instead met with a surprise bull run leading to the most liquidations of short positions in over a year.

In the case of Bitcoin (BTC) which rose from $17,500 at this time last week, to over $21,000+ at the time of publishing, truly punished those who bet against it. 

Short trader losses for BTC reached levels not seen since Aug 2021.

Total Lost by those Shorting the Crypto Market this Week Totals OVER $500 Million...

Ethereum has been the most shorted coin with 49% of liquidations coming from ETH shorts, Bitcoin was the second most popular coin responsible for 29% of the liquidations, with the remaining liquidations spread among altcoins that also went along for the ride up.

One thing is clear from looking at these stats - a lot of people were caught off guard!

The Question on Everyone's Mind - Where Do We Go From Here?

There's a split among analysts who predict that prices will continue to rise, and others who believe prices are soon heading back down... so, that doesn't help much.

Both sides have valid reasoning behind their predictions, it's up to you to decide which feels right.

Those who believe that bitcoin will continue to rise point to the fact that the cryptocurrency has bounced off lows of approximately $16,000 on five different occasions over the last three months. This is seen as proof that "we've found the bottom" - many investors were standing by, waiting to see what the bottom would be - now that they have an answer, expect more to take positions as prices remain low.

Others believe that these gains are only temporary. They point to the general economic uncertainty that can be found in most industries, in most countries - and top concern, inflation, far from resolved.

Make Smart Moves: 

There's 2 strategies dominating in communities of experienced traders.

Those who agree$16,000 is indeed 'bottom' will likely agree with the strategy shared by one trader "Anything within $10k of that is an automatic buy - so if the price is $26,000 or less I'm accumulating."

If you're not convinced that we've seen the worst of it, you'll probably agree with what another trader shared, saying "I still believe a drop to $10-12k is possible before the next real, sustained bull run.  So I'm going to keep my DCA strategy running" - DCA stands for Dollar Cost Averaging, this method involves investing a set amount each week no matter what the price is. If it goes down from here, you still have funds to buy the dip.  If the price continues to go up, you at least bought some near the recent low.

Share your thoughts:
Do you believe recent gains will hold? Tweet us at @TheCryptoPress 

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News