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...

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

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

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 

For those of us who have been around awhile, it takes more than another bear market to change our long term expectations for cryptocurrencies. 

I've been through three crashes - the first one really had me questioning things, the second time I was more willing to ride it out, 'hopeful but not certain' was my outlook on crypto's future. In both cases the crashes were followed by hitting new all time highs, and this pattern wasn't new, it's what Bitcoin historically had always done, and more recently, the top altcoins were included as well. 

So, this time around I feel like I'm just waiting... for our largest bull run yet. Not wondering if it's coming - waiting for it to get here.

Some of the Biggest Names in Investing and Wall Street are Quietly Preparing for a Crypto Boom...

Thankfully, it looks like I'm not the only one making this prediction. In fact, the biggest firms from the world of investing and Wall Street seem to be anticipating this too.

Keep in mind, the firms I'm about to mention don't throw millions at something because one or two executives believe it will pay off - before they invest, teams of analysts with specialists covering multiple aspects, and algorithms pumping out multiple models of possible outcomes, are involved.

Let's look at some of what is happening quietly behind the scenes right now - and ask yourself: does it seem like they see something coming?

Major Investment Firms:

Between just these 2 firms you're looking at over $2 TRILLION in assets under management, twice the size of the entire crypto market currently. 

When these firms enter a sector, countless smaller ones follow. 

Payment Processors:

The big 3 are all in.

In addition to this, both Visa and Mastercard will expand their current role of providing cards that allow people to spend crypto anywhere that accepts their credit cards.  This has become a standard offering from most major exchanges now, and accounts for over $1 billion in transactions for Visa alone. 

Start-Ups:

When it comes to startups, those that truly serve a purpose are not struggling to find funding. Here are some of the projects that held investment rounds over just the last month - all hit their targets:

Nillion, a decentralized file storage network, raised $20 million in its latest funding round led by Distributed Global.

There's only one reason any firm would be investing in new companies that could still be years away from seeing profits - again, the long term outlook.

The Path from Here, to There...

The road from bear to bull market is surprisingly short and straight - plus, following the collapse of FTX, a come-back for crypto also means washing off  some of the mud currently splattered on crypto's public image.  But all of this is doable, here's how it will go;

Crypto regulations are coming, discussing if you're for or against this is officially a waste of time - we're getting them.

However, the industry has gotten smarter over the last few years and regulations no longer mean a 'crack down' on crypto. 

As politicians began considering passing finance laws specific to crypto assets, the crypto industry became major Washington DC influencers, and almost overnight began supporting pro-crypto politicians campaigns at such large amounts that crypto is outspending the industries that have typically spent the most for decades, the defense industry and pharmaceutical companies.

Until recently we were truly were at risk of tech-illiterate politicians passing poorly-written regulations that could bring everything to a halt, that no longer longer seems possible. This level of involvement has given the industry a place at the table with lawmakers.

If you're outside of the US thinking this doesn't involve you, I wouldn't count on that.  Some regulations will address the situation FTX is in, requiring exchanges to prove the assets they hold and auditing their total value regularly.  It wouldn't surprise me if US companies and investors could only do business with foreign firms that follow similar guidelines - setting a standard that will quickly become global.

Over the span of just a few days:  Crypto's current public image gets fixed as politicians pat themselves on the back for 'fixing crypto' with 'new investor protections'.  The largest investment firms have citied the lack of these regulations as the only reason they haven't yet gotten involved - so now the floodgates open. 

I believe the next bull market doesn't just set new all-time highs for the top cryptocurrencies, but does it at record speed as well - Bitcoin gaining $10,000 per week for 5 weeks would get us past it's previous high, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's how it went.

Remember - there's never been so many people and companies aware of what a Bitcoin bull run can do, and it will be a lot harder to justify sitting it out.

In Closing...

There's nothing fun about a bear market, except looking forward to it ending. Based on current indicators, it seems we may have a lot to look forward to!

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

Computer Security specialist Alex Holden was born in Ukraine, and while he now lives in the United States, he's doing what he can to help his countries efforts against Russia. 

Holden is sharing his accomplishment of infiltrating Russia's largest online drug market, called Solaris, steal 1.6 bitcoin (BTC) from the website's main wallet, and donate it to Ukraine.

The funds were sent to a Ukrainian non-profit called 'Enjoying Life", and the organizations co-founder Tina Mikhailovskaya confirms it was received, saying it was "given directly to the elderly, families and internally displaced people who suffered from the Russian war."

Holden declined to tell how he did the robbery, only sharing that it involved help from his team of hackers from he employs at his company Hold Security, and that they took 'partial control of the Solaris infrastructure' which somehow included access to the wallet. 

While an amusing story, this is small compare to the true impact of crypto on this war...

Ukraine is the first nation in history to formally accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to finance the costs of a war, and so far their wallet has received 645 BTC in donations from around the world. That is equivalent to $10 million USD at current rates, and $45 million at Bitcoin's high.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

Official bankruptcy court filings state that FTX owes more than $3 billion to its top 50 creditors. The largest single loan listed in the document is over $226 million, with the rest of the total debt owed falling somewhere between $21 million and $203 million.

The "hack"...

As things unfolded last week a significant number of tokens were moved from the official storage wallets of FTX. It's not surprising that some would suspect a "inside job," but former FTX employees are spreading rumors that the same authorities from the Bahamas government who are investigating the company for possible legal violations are also the thieves.

Analytics firm Chainalysis is tracking the funds that originated from the FTX exchange and say the funds are now being traded from Ethereum to Bitcoin. The FTX hacker once held 228,523 ETH, making them one of the top Ether wallets globally.

...but was there actually no hacker at all?!

To be fair, the rumors started because no one was coming forward to say otherwise.  Millions in crypto gets moved, with no legitimate entity claiming responsibility, the logical conclusion is a hack. 

After coming forward, the Bahamas government confirmed they were indeed behind it - but it wasn't corrupt officials stealing funds. Regulators in the Bahamas officially state they are in possession of the funds which were taken as part of a seizure of assets - to prevent anyone at FTX from doing anything with them.

It all seemed settled, then we learned - this isn't what happened either.

The actual story with the FTX "hack"...

Collateral Damage...

So far, Solana has lost over 60% of its value since the FTX saga began, and users have removed about an equal percentage from the total staked supply. In response, Tether announced they will be taking $1 billion USDT it had on the Solana blockchain and moving it to the Ethereum blockchain, as they don't foresee the supply being needed on the Solana blockchain in the near future.

While there's no shortage of die-hard Solana supporters posting that they're taking this opportunity to load up on SOL tokens at a discount, others are saying there's still a big hit to come, with FTX rumored to a large amount of Solana tokens that they will probably be forced to put on the market. 

Sam Bankman-Fried...

One of the most interesting things to watch in the Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) fallout are those who previously praised him, now trying to figure out why they ever said things that sound completely insane today.

In all fairness, while Sam's wrongdoings were deliberate and dishonest - blaming everyone who once worked with, or once simply liked the guy is going a step too far, in my opinion. If the accusations we've heard are true, you can be sure very few people knew the truth

Sam had accumulated a sizeable list of endorsements, and it wasn't made up of a bunch of easily scammed or gullible people...

Even the person who begun FTX's downfall first believed they were legit.  Binance CEO 'CZ' started the avalanche that would burry Sam and FTX by sending out of tweet when he lost confidence in the company - but before that, he trusted Sam and FTX enough to have $2 billion of his assets tied up in their FTX's official token, FTT.

Earning trust within an industry can be a chain reaction, where getting 'in' with one person who is more established than yourself can lead to a dozen more if you play your cards right.  So who was the first 'big name' in crypto to publicly link themselves with Sam? I have no idea, and they aren't to blame for this anyway.

While researching another story I came across this, the only organization that I've seen address the situation by adding disclaimers to their old write-ups about Sam.

The organization is called 80,000 Hours, and they say their goal is to 'provide research and support to help students and graduates switch into careers that effectively tackle the world’s most pressing problems' 80,000 hours refers to the average time someone will spend working in their chosen career in their entire lifetime. 

What was a page on their site containing 10 paragraphs of pure praise for SBF, now begins with a statement:

 Our statement regarding the collapse of FTX

The collapse of FTX is likely to cause a tremendous amount of harm – to customers, employees, and many others who have relied on FTX. We are deeply concerned about those affected and, along with our community, are grappling with how to respond.

Though we do not know for sure whether anything illegal happened, we unequivocally condemn any immoral or illegal actions that may have taken place.

Prior to this, we had celebrated Sam Bankman-Fried’s apparent success, had held him up as a positive example of someone pursuing a high-impact career, and had written about how we encouraged him to use a strategy of earning to give (for example, on this page). We feel shaken by recent events, and are not sure exactly what to say or think.

In the meantime, we will start by removing instances on our site where Sam was highlighted as a positive example of someone pursuing a high-impact career, since, to say the least, we no longer endorse that. We are leaving up discussions of Sam in places that seem important for transparency, for example this blog post on the growth of effective altruism in 2021, and this user story.

In the coming weeks and months we will be thinking hard about what we should do going forward and ways in which we should have acted differently.

If you are out there trying the best you can to use your career to help solve the world’s most pressing problems with honesty and integrity, we also want to say we support and value you.

We are following the situation closely and hope to write more soon.

It's election day in America, for those unfamiliar with US politics, this one is a 'mid term' - no new President will be selected, but seats in virtually all other elected rolls are up for grabs.

All 435 members of the House of Representatives and 34 senators are running.  According to media reports, political action committees and bitcoin lobbyists have contributed millions of dollars to candidates races.

As of two weeks ago, crypto-related donors had given more money than the traditional big election spenders - surpassing both defense and big pharma.

The industry expected 2022 would be the year policymakers came up with a plan for regulating crypto - that didn't happen...

Unresolved policy disputes between lawmakers and lobbyists left this unfinished, as Congressmembers and Senators left Washington DC until the new year.

That means those elected today are virtually guaranteed to be the ones voting on crypto regulation in the near future.

Crypto becomes a mainstream topic for voters...

According to a poll by Grayscale early October, 38% of voters said candidates "crypto policy positions" mattered to them when deciding who to vote for. 

Another poll by the Crypto Council for Innovation, taken around the same time, had 45% of voters agreeing that lawmakers should "treat crypto as a serious and valid part of the economy."

The ideal outcome for crypto...

Most crypto traders want a Republican majority in either or both chambers, since Republicans have been some of their most loyal supporters in the past.

The Republicans have also indicated the willingness to move bills that many in the industry say create a reasonable regulated environment, where protections for investors can be implemented without slowing down the progress of a fast growing industry.

"We believe crypto is one of the few sectors we follow where the midterms will have a material impact on policy. Republicans tend to be more accepting of fewer limits on crypto products because they are decentralized and different - We believe a GOP sweep of the midterm elections would be the best outcome for crypto" said Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at financial services company Cowen.

Generally favoring less government involvement in free markets, Republicans would also likely put pressure on agencies like the SEC stop over-aggressive regulation of crypto firms and seek reasonable regulation aimed at protecting investors.

A history of bipartisan support...

While crypto does have a history of finding supporters from both major parties, many see the Democrats as 'dropping the ball'.  Some expressed the desire for what sounded like reasonable solutions to the regulation issues, some even co-authored bills with Republicans. 

But at the end of the day, they had 2 years where they held most of the power, and nothing was accomplished.

Then, with some opinions from members of the Biden administration that sounded like they don't understand the basics of what crypto is, many who consider crypto an important issue switched to a firm "Republicans only' stance this election.

The crypto industry may get their wish...

Polls are indicating that Republicans will take back the House and probably the Senate as well.  

A common prediction from crypto traders on multiple platforms right now is that a Republican win of both the House and Senate tonight could immediately trigger some market movement upward, we'll probably soon see if they're correct.

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

"Regarding any speculation as to whether this is a move against a competitor, it is not" said Binance CEO 'CZ' on Twitter, while confirming "recent revelations that have come to light" are behind a decision to sell-off $2.1 billion USD worth of FTT, the native token of rival exchange FTX.

Binance first obtained the tokens last year, as part of their payment from a pre-planned exit from investment in FTX equity.

Can't Have it Both Ways...

CZ first attempts to include the FTT sell-off as part of everyday 'business-as-usual' saying:

"Liquidating our FTT is just post-exit risk management, learning from LUNA."

That sounds like he's saying it's a purely strategic move, like the reasoning behind it could be something as simple as not believing the bear market has hit bottom - until in his next sentence where he immediately makes it clear - there's more to this story.

"We gave support before, but we won't pretend to make love after divorce. We are not against anyone. But we won't support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs. Onwards."

FTX is accused as a company, or perhaps CEO Sam Bankman-Fried himself of doing something behind the scenes, with at least the goal of hurting a competing crypto company...

At least that seems to be the accusation CZ, the Binance CEO, is making, although vaguely, and because of their mention of LUNA (which famously crashed, then crashed the market, and never recovered) and FTT together - the FTX CEO has been trying to assure customers that their token has none of the same risk factors (and from what we can see, that's true).

Any comparison of FTT with LUNA is a bit unfair...

There's no reason for CZ to bring back memories of the LUNA disaster when mentioning FTT - none of LUNA's risk factors can be applied to FTT.

"A competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors. FTX is fine. Assets are fine" said CEO Sam Bankman-Fried his first public response.

However - Binance CEO CZ has proven to be a level-headed voice of reason in the industry, and seems to have a reasonable outlook on the 'big picture' of cryptos future - so if he's accusing FTX or their CEO of crossing a line, it's probably true. 

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Why did Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter include $500 million from Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world?

The exchange platform's creator and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, well known by his alias CZ, explained the decision today.

CZ gave three reasons for why Binance was backing Musk's Twitter campaign...

First, to support international freedom of expression. That is exactly how he sees the social network. He said, "That is something incredibly significant."

Second, Binance likes supporting "excellent entrepreneurs." The CEO of Binance believes that Elon Musk, the founder of firms like Tesla and SpaceX, is a fantastic businessman.

Third, the potential for Twitter to develop into a "super app". Musk himself had previously made a comment about this. Zhao likens WeChat, a Chinese platform that combines a social network, a commerce site, and a way to make payments, to Twitter.

“We want to help bring Twitter to Web3 and help solve problems like charging for subscriptions. Something that could be done very easily globally using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.” Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance added.

CZ rushed in as soon as Musk announced his desire to buy the social network, making little effort to keep their $500 million contribution to the buyout a secret.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Dogecoin, the tenth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $10.5 billion, outperformed any of the other top 50 coins over the last 24 hours, with gains of over 15%. 

For the week, DOGECOIN gained nearly 30% and was only outperformed by Telegram's TON token.

Behind The Rise...

Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter nw seems to be a 'sure thing', as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO walked through the doors of the Twitter offices earlier today. 

From what we can tell, social sentiment is driving the price, with people assuming Twitter will eventually implement the use of Dogecoin, somehow.

Bad Time To Bet Against The DOGE...

Almost $9 million in Dogecoin futures positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, almost all by people taking short positions.

The increased attention going to DOGE seems to have spread to its main competitor, SHIBA, which posted gains of around 7%. 

It's Easy To Downplay the strength of DOGE - but this 'joke coin' is showing some legitimately strong fundamentals...

A large, seemingly majority of people holding DOGE today appear to be true believers in the coin's long-term potential.

Wallets holding DOGE for more than 1 year are currently at an all-time high of 2.8 million, according to IntoTheBlock. 

Also, wallets that buy and sell within a month are at an all-time low - only 132,000 wallets can be considered 'short-term traders' - this is the lowest since mid 2020.

Recently, Dogecoin was the reason for a new lawsuit that has been filed against Elon Musk...