Bitcoin
BTC
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The bitcoin price has added 20% since this time last week, climbing over $20,000 per bitcoin for the first time since the shock FTX exchange collapse in November. Ethereum
ETH
BNB
XRP
Now, as traders and investors cheer bitcoin’s rally, the crypto market is braced for the sprawling $10 billion crypto giant Digital Currency Group (DCG) to begin offloading assets following problems at its crypto lender Genesis and a devasting regulatory lawsuit.
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DCG’s Genesis froze customer withdrawals in November in the aftermath of FTX’s meltdown to avoid bankruptcy and reportedly owes its creditors more than $3 billion.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week charged Genesis with offering unregistered securities through a program run with the crypto exchange Gemini that promised investors high interest on deposits.
Genesis and Gemini bypassed “disclosure requirements designed to protect investors,” SEC chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. Last year, the SEC reached a $100 million settlement with the now-bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi.
DCG, which also owns crypto media outlet Coindesk, investment manager Grayscale, bitcoin mining operation Foundry and crypto exchange Luno, has begun exploring selling some of its assets to raise money, it was this week reported by the Financial Times.
Grayscale, the manager of the world’s largest bitcoin fund, has seen share price of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) crash well below the value of its underlying bitcoin in recent months as investors fret over its future.
This week, tron founder and crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun told Reuters he would be willing to spend up to $1 billion to buy some of DCG’s assets, “depending on their evaluation of the situation.”
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Despite trouble for DCG and fears swirling around the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, long-suffering bitcoin and crypto investors are hoping this week’s rally will mean the end of the crypto winter that’s gripped the bitcoin and crypto market for more than a year.
“The crypto winter is thawing amid growing signs that inflation is beginning to cool,” Nigel Green, crypto investor and the chief executive of financial advisory company deVere Group, said in emailed comments.
“Of course, the crypto market will not go in a straight line—no market ever does—but we expect the bears to go into hibernation and bulls are ready to run. We are technically still in a bear market, but the signs are the bulls are beginning to take back control.”