ICYMI, here are some of the key developments in the crypto and blockchain space over the past week that we think should be noticed. Let us know what you think about the compilation, subscribe and clap if you like. Happy reading!
Bitcoin at $5,000 Could Be One of 2023’s Surprises — Standard Chartered Bank
A further Bitcoin price plunge of about 70% to $5,000 could be among the “surprise” scenarios that markets could experience in 2023, Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Research Eric Robertsen stated last week. With economies struggling, more crypto-related bankruptcies, and a collapse in investor confidence in digital assets, Robertsen thinks demand for Bitcoin could switch to gold thus spurring a 30% rally in the precious metal.
Former Binance CSO Sees ATH in Late 2023 or Early 2024
On the other hand, Gin Chao, the founder of CVP NoLimit Holdings and a former chief strategy officer at Binance, sees the crypto market differently in 2023. Chao thinks the market is about one to two quarters into what he calls “the fifth sort of major cycle” and likened it to mid-2018, late 2018, into late 2019 when successful investments emerged “from this sort of crypto winter”.
Chao also thinks the current crypto winter is part of a cycle that repeats itself every 18 to 24 months and, depending on one’s estimation of the market low, argues for another all-time high by late 2023 or early 2024 if prior patterns hold.
While he assumes it could get a little extended because of the overall macro environment, Chao told Forkast he does not expect to see “anything that would completely break this pattern.”
After USD, Euro, and Peso, Tether Adds Chinese Yuan Stablecoin
Tether last week added its offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH₮) to the Tron blockchain. Initially available as an ERC-20 token, CNH₮’s launch on TRON makes it the second blockchain on which the stablecoin can be obtained, traded, and held.
CNH₮ is one of four stablecoins that Tether supports including stablecoins pegged to the U.S. Dollar (USD₮), Euro (EUR₮), and Peso (MXN₮). At launch, Bitfinex will be the first exchange to enable its users to transact CNH₮ using the Tron blockchain.
Ethereum Devs Determine Shanghai Upgrade Timeframe
Following Ethereum Consensus Layer Call #99, Ethereum developers have agreed to focus on enabling withdrawals in the Shanghai upgrade. They also planned to have a separate hard fork sometime in the fall of 2023 after the Shanghai upgrade to address EIP-4844 –or proto-danksharding– which would make Ethereum more scalable through sharding, a method that splits up the network into “shards” as a way to increase its capacity and bring down gas fees.
“Shanghai” will have a target release time frame of March 2023. The upgrade will include EIP-4895 which will allow Beacon Chain staked ETH withdrawals.
SBF’s Parents Won’t be Teaching at Stanford Next Year
Still, on the fall of the second largest crypto exchange FTX which filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. after facing a funding gap of about $8 billion, the parents of its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, have confirmed they won’t be teaching at Stanford Law School next year. The Stanford Daily reported that Joseph Bankman has canceled the only class he was slated to teach this winter, while Barbara Fried has not been listed to take any courses next year due to a “long-planned” decision to retire and has “nothing to do with anything else going on.”
According to Reuters, SBF’s parents had been named owners of a $16.4 million vacation home purchased by FTX. They said that they are seeking to return the deed to FTX.
Goldman Sachs Sees Opportunities in FTX Collapse, Crypto Shakeout
Goldman Sachs is looking to cash in on investor interest dampened by the collapse of the FTX exchange. Reuters reports that the investment bank, as one of the big banks that see an opportunity to pick up business, has earmarked tens of millions of dollars to buy or invest in crypto companies.
As it confirms conducting due diligence on a number of different crypto firms without providing details, Reuters considers the bank’s willingness to keep investing despite the sector shakeout as sensing a long-term opportunity.
Terra founder, Do Kwon, Located After Months of Manhunt
About 4,400 crypto investors reportedly looking to track down Terra founder, Do Kwon, should now heave a sigh of relief. Not for the investors who lost money owing to the UST/Terra to get their money back but to know his whereabouts. Named the UST Restitution Group, the investors have been doing their bit to hunt for Kwon after the crash of his stablecoin. This follows an arrest warrant issued for Kwon by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Financial and Securities Crimes Joint Unit and Interpol issuing a red corner notice on his behalf. The South Korean foreign ministry also served him a “Notice of Order to Return Passport” stating that he risks his travel document being administratively invalidated if he fails to comply within the stipulated period. They had thought it was highly likely that he was in Dubai, but a report emerged last week that says he is in Serbia.
ProBit Global Featured AVAX in 50% Price Cut-Off Exclusive Sale
Last week saw AVAX token featured on ProBit Global’s Exclusive ahead of the global exchange listing AVAX and to usher in more Avalanche-based tokens to be listed.
With a promising outlook as one of the top blockchains by revenue, more projects on the Avalanche network whose smart contracts are designed to be infinitely flexible with subnets would benefit AVAX as the native token used to power transactions within the ecosystem. As more altcoins are touted to break out as the market recovers from FTX’s collapse, ProBit Global picking AVAX token for its 50% price cut-off sale presented some of its users with a great opportunity to own AVAX.
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