In today’s bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, read about Bulls in Bitcoin (BTC) are working hard to keep the New Year’s rise going, but one analyst is warning of potential danger. Meanwhile, contrary to the situation last year, when cryptocurrency businesses dominated expensive Super Bowl advertising, this year none of the major players in the cryptocurrency industry made an appearance. Finally, there have been a thousand cases brought against “gray” miners, or persons minting coins in their homes, by authorities in the Russian province of Irkutsk. More than half of the prosecutions have resulted in court orders compelling offenders to pay damages to distribution system operators.
Bitcoin Is Vulnerable to Major Collapse
Original Source: Bloomberg Expert Sounds the Alarm: Bitcoin at Risk of Major Collapse – Here’s Why
One analyst is warning Bitcoin (BTC) bulls to keep the New Year’s rise going.
Since December, 2023 has experienced a remarkable turnaround.
Markets have been revived by BTC’s 31% YTD price rise. Many crypto Twitter influencers have called it the end of crypto winter.
Mike McGlone, the “guy behind the dashboard,” raises the alarm. A financial media commentator who popularized Bitcoin.
McGlone is Bloomberg’s Senior Macro Strategist and previously Head of Research & Strategy at ETF Securities.
Bitcoin (BTC) may be turning.
The leading expert argued on Twitter that risk-assets are still in trouble.
According to McGlone, his projection is based on macro mood towards risky assets like crypto.
McGlone stated, “The major 1Q risk-asset possibilities look to be either bear-market rebound or bottoming.”
“Bitcoin may be turning over – the benchmark crypto is pulling away from resistance as the major headwinds linger”.
Bitcoin’s February price movement has been tough. The price fell to local support around $21,750 after retracing from $24,000 barrier.
While bulls seek to consolidate gains here, things aren’t looking good. The chart structure is entering a nasty head-and-shoulder pattern.
Could the Fed explain Bitcoin resistance in February?
McGlone’s study implies the US Federal Reserve’s headwinds are responsible for this price behavior.
“Rising rate expectations as reflected by the Federal Futures Funds [in Q1], but the fundamental difference: markets are lower than last year.”
“Don’t resist the Fed,” he said.
Since the end of 2021, market worries of rate rises have remained consistent.
The unexpected dovishness of Jerome Powell has calmed markets in 2023.
Bitcoin, buoyed by a bullish S&P 500, has gained confidence.
Bitcoin’s 200-day MA is currently in its path. Things will become ugly if it doesn’t bounce from support shortly.
Today’s Fed data might influence prices. At 13:30 UTC, BTC markets will trade on CPI data.
Markets are pricing in a 6.2% YoY and 5.5% core YoY projection.
On Super Bowl Night, There Will Be No Crypto Activity
Original Source: Crypto Nowhere To Be Seen On Super Bowl Night
This year, cryptocurrency firms did not buy Super Bowl commercials.
This year’s Super Bowl advertisements didn’t include cryptocurrency firms as last year’s did.
Coinbase (COIN) Free Report, 2022 Super Bowl advertising included FTX and Crypto.com. Several of them filed for bankruptcy, cut their budget, or laid off workers, so they were absent this year.
Multiple issues sank the crypto business. includes the crypto winter, summer 2022 credit crunch, and FTX’s cataclysmic collapse.
Crypto firms capitalized on investor interest in bitcoin and other currencies last year. Larry David and Matt Damon sponsored several of these brands.
Coinbase, Crypto.com, eToro, and Crypto.com spent hundreds of millions on Super Bowl advertising when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Coinbase, a famous crypto exchange, offered free bitcoin awards to lure new clients. Their QR code ad broke their app.
Shares are down 71.2% year-to-date as investors fled the firm.
Crypto Winter 2022
In 2022, bitcoin, the king of crypto currencies, went below $20,000 and the global market value fell below $1 trillion, causing extreme market turbulence.
In May, June, and July, investors feared a recession as the Federal Reserve rapidly raised interest rates to battle inflation, which was at a 40-year high.
Fears increased bitcoin market volatility. From the start, the cryptocurrency market has witnessed bull runs, even euphoria, followed by significant declines. Crypto winter begins when drops last.
Since 2009, bitcoin has had multiple incidents. However, crypto booms bust before crypto winters. CoinGecko reports a $1.04 trillion cryptocurrency market cap.
In 2022, numerous notable crypto lenders failed to declare that they largely lent money to Three Arrows Capital, or 3AC, a hedge fund.
This hedge fund’s opaqueness and problems caused a liquidity crisis: Voyager Digital and Celsius Network declared bankruptcy.
Investors panicked and withdrew their money from Luna and UST, causing a cascade effect for numerous industry companies.
Crypto gains correlated strongly with the stock market last August. Cryptocurrency investors might purchase the dip like stock investors.
FTX’s Demise
FTX launched an exchange for bitcoin and ethereum investors.
However, the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund, hurt investors and consumers. On November 11, founder Sam Bankman-Fried declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later arrested, Bankman-Fried lives with his parents under house arrest.
John Ray, the platform’s new CEO and liquidator, is trying to compensate investors.
FTX collapsed because it used customer cryptocurrency as security to borrow money from Alameda Research, with which it had multiple ties. Alameda invested in crypto companies and traded with it.
A federal court allowed Ray to discontinue many endorsement arrangements and collaborations. These connected the FTX bitcoin exchange to celebrities, NBA teams, and conferences.
According to court filings revealed on Jan. 26, FTX will cease partnerships with NBA player Steph Curry and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, ex-wife of NFL great Tom Brady.
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, made an FTX-related judgment. The corporation struggled to save FTX.
The site halted bank account U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals.
Bitcoin, ether, solana, dogecoin, and cardano investors may no longer send U.S. dollars to the site. Coin sellers cannot get U.S. dollars.
EUR and GBP transactions are unaffected.
In 2022, numerous notable crypto lenders failed to declare that they largely lent money to Three Arrows Capital, or 3AC, a hedge fund.
This hedge fund’s opaqueness and problems caused a liquidity crisis: Voyager Digital and Celsius Network declared bankruptcy.
Investors panicked and withdrew their money from Luna and UST, causing a cascade effect for numerous industry companies.
Crypto gains correlated strongly with the stock market last August. Cryptocurrency investors might purchase the dip like stock investors.
FTX’s Demise
FTX launched an exchange for bitcoin and ethereum investors.
However, the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund, hurt investors and consumers. On November 11, founder Sam Bankman-Fried declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later arrested, Bankman-Fried lives with his parents under house arrest.
John Ray, the platform’s new CEO and liquidator, is trying to compensate investors.
FTX collapsed because it used customer cryptocurrency as security to borrow money from Alameda Research, with which it had multiple ties. Alameda invested in crypto companies and traded with it.
A federal court allowed Ray to discontinue many endorsement arrangements and collaborations. These connected the FTX bitcoin exchange to celebrities, NBA teams, and conferences.
According to court filings revealed on Jan. 26, FTX will cease partnerships with NBA player Steph Curry and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, ex-wife of NFL great Tom Brady.
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, made an FTX-related judgment. The corporation struggled to save FTX.
The site halted bank account U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals.
Bitcoin, ether, solana, dogecoin, and cardano investors may no longer send U.S. dollars to the site. Coin sellers cannot get U.S. dollars.
EUR and GBP transactions are unaffected.
Irkutsk Crypto Miners Face 1,000 Lawsuits
Original Source: At Least 1,000 Lawsuits Filed Against Crypto Miners in Russia’s Irkutsk Region
Irkutsk authorities have filed 1,000 complaints against “gray” miners, or home-minters. Over half of these instances ordered defendants to reimburse distribution network operators.
Irkutsk Sues Hundreds of Crypto Miners for Extracting Digital Currencies with Subsidized Electricity
Irkutsk Oblast power providers have filed lawsuit number 1,000 against residents unlawfully mining cryptocurrencies. In 600 of them, judges ordered “gray” miners to pay over 260 million rubles ($3.5 million) in losses and penalties.
Irk.ru said that extremely high electricity use is the main basis for going to court. The owner of a property in Novaya Razvodnaya consumed approximately 80,000 kWh in a year, more than the other 15 properties on the street combined.
He said he used heat guns to dry his basement, not mine cryptocurrency. The Irkutsk Regional Court rejected his explanation, thus he must pay the local electricity provider, Irkutskenergosbyt, about 2 million rubles (around $27,000).
The sum should compensate the difference between rural households’ $0.01 per kWh subsidized power rates and enterprises’ substantially higher bills.
Over the past several years, officials in the region have tried to crack down on home crypto mining, which has become a popular way to make extra money. Officials think Russian mining control and consumption-based tariffs will fix the problem.
In December, the Russian press stated that electrical distribution firms are pursuing illegal miners in residential buildings after identifying them by increasing grid loads at substations, citing Deputy Ministry of Energy Pavel Snikkars.
Crypto mining is currently unregulated in Russia, although a measure is under consideration in parliament. However, utilities can argue in court that these users are not utilizing power for home purposes and want commercial prices.
Summary of today’s bitcoin and cryptocurrency news
In summary, at the core of McGlone’s projection are, as he put it, worries about the macro attitude for risky assets like crypto. The two most likely outcomes for risk assets in the first quarter, according to McGlone, are a bear market rebound or a bottoming. There are still strong headwinds, so it’s possible that Bitcoin may “roll over.”
Meanwhile, the stock has been penalized by a 71.2% drop in value year-to-date as investors have fled the firm. U.S. dollar deposits from investors’ bank accounts are no longer supported on the site for the purchase of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, solana, dogecoin, and cardano. When selling coins, investors cannot expect to get USD in exchange.
Finally, there are currently no outright bans on cryptocurrency mining in Russia, despite the fact that a specific measure to govern the industry is now being reviewed in the parliament. Utilities can still argue in court that these customers are not utilizing power for residential purposes and seek to charge them commercial prices.
