GM GM,
It’s been a wild week so far. SBF arrested, Wonderboy FUDs Binance HARD, CPI came in at 7.1% and the FOMC announced a 50 basis points hike but keeps a firm hawkish stance.
When will the Christmas Printer Index (CPI) go brrrrrrr again?
Today we look at the 3 hottest bits of news and break down the bite-sized bits whilst taking a look at the DXY and some updates from the bloc.
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The TLDR
🔥 Top 3 Hot Topics – The SBF Apology Tour is OVER, The Christmas Printer Index (CPI) goes BRRRRR and What’s all this Binance FUD for?
🗞 The TLDR News Bites – PayPal partners with Metamask, Goldman Sachs on the hunt for crypto bargains, Amber Groups struggles continue to grow, Paradigm slice salaries, Do Kwon heads to Serbia, BlackRock launches Metaverse ETF and J Powell raises rates by 50 basis points
🛡 Chart of the day – $DXY, rise, retrace…rise?
🦧 Thread of the day – Eli5_Defi digs into the “fake” memechain BeraChain
🎧 Podcast of the day – blocmates mate DeadCaitBounce interviews Skygate CEO Anthony Scaramucci
🔥 The Top 3 Hot Topics
1) The SBF Apology Tour is OVER
Game over serrrr for the last few weeks Sam has been on a Twitter spaces apology tour to create the public image of an innocent, slightly plebish, completely gigabrain nerdy guy who was a little careless and pressed the wrong buttons.
On Monday a warrant for Sams’s arrest was served and the SEC is (finally) charging him with wire fraud whilst trying to hide behind a supercharged risk engine and adhering to customer protection protocols embedded deep into a TLDR terms of service.
An empire built on a deck of cards from a foundation of deception, lies, and an ego bigger than Andrew Tates walking down the red carpet.
After day 1 of the FTX hearing, some key points came up from the key speakers
• Why was Sam arrested the day before?
• FTX CEO John Ray says FTX is worse than Enron
• Without blockchain we wouldn’t have seen Sam’s fraud
• FTX didn’t keep records but uses Slack to share invoices and Quickbooks
• How involved is Gensler as he had more meetings with FTX than anyone else in the industry
• Was the Bahamian government involved?
• Why was it only the 1500 Bahamian residents allowed to withdraw?
I see two outcomes, of which I’ll let you decide on the direction
1) The SEC manages to extradite Sam back to US soil and that beautiful Bahamian beach resort becomes a small dark basement full of goblins.
2) Sam gets thrown into a beautiful beach resort in the Bahamas sipping on cocktails and enjoying the sun over this festive season as the illegal donations to plump up the bank accounts of political and legal figureheads mask one of the most blatant cover-ups.
As seen here by Rep. Maxine Waters…derp derp.
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1602752402087477248?s=20&t=ouYErk2PbU11qpZ8ARHIwQ”,”full_text”:”Lmfao Rep. Maxine Waters tried to end the FTX hearing before Rep. @Lancegooden got a chance to question the witnesses, who had to remind her that all the members of a committee are entitled to questions. “,”username”:”greg_price11″,”name”:”Greg Price”,”date”:”Tue Dec 13 19:48:45 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[{“img_url”:”https://substackcdn.com/image/upload/w_1028,c_limit,q_auto:best/l_twitter_play_button_rvaygk,w_88/cz1cgiyvcfwzthpsiale”,”link_url”:”https://t.co/wYTxSsLVg3″,”alt_text”:null}],”quoted_tweet”:{},”retweet_count”:1430,”like_count”:4828,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:”https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1602752363785322497/pu/vid/476×270/QIBlEPTz7hfW4QfS.mp4?tag=12″,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
Day 2 of the hearing and like any proud community bag holder, wonderboy Kevin O’Leary is doing what he can to save his bags as he publically names and shames Binance after Senator Toomey asks “why he thinks FTX failed.”
Clearly, it was because of CZ and not all of the fraudulent activities and the co-mingling of funds that were going on behind the scenes.
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/1603064184727535618?s=20&t=SVebgehuZ5TC0pOMu99wAQ”,”full_text”:”.@SenToomey asks @kevinolearytv why he believes @FTX_Official failed.nn@binance put FTX out of business.nnWatch the live proceedings: youtu.be/37CM_rIdIi0 “,”username”:”CoinDesk”,”name”:”CoinDesk”,”date”:”Wed Dec 14 16:27:39 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[{“img_url”:”https://substackcdn.com/image/upload/w_1028,c_limit,q_auto:best/l_twitter_play_button_rvaygk,w_88/kkfh9mrl5ppgkyef6ies”,”link_url”:”https://t.co/aKTUxA2Eud”,”alt_text”:null}],”quoted_tweet”:{},”retweet_count”:135,”like_count”:503,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:”https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1603064016435384322/pu/vid/1280×720/8tmsDcQS-GX5DGxX.mp4?tag=12″,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
@binance put FTX out of business.
Watch the live proceedings: youtu.be/37CM_rIdIi0
What is starting to become clear is that this is a battle of crypto as much as it is all of the illegal activities that took place behind the scenes between FTX and Alameda.
It’s looking likely that Sam was arrested to shut him up as he did no favours for himself during his Twitter Spaces apology tour in the lead-up.
2) The Christmas Printer Index (CPI) goes BRRRRR
On Tuesday we saw inflation beat expectations and come in lower at a cool calm 7.1%, down from its July highs of 9.1%.
Can you start to feel that anon?! The Christmas Printers Index might be warming up ready to go BRRRRRR into 2023.
On Wednesday J Powell took to the stage to announce that the Fed will be raising rates at an expected 50 basis points (0.5%). Whilst this is lower than the previous 4 months J Powell still conveyed a very firm hawkish stance.
Powell reiterated his point that the Fed will NOT be letting up on its public mission to tackle inflation and WILL bring it down to 2% which the FED is forecasting for 2025….yeah that’s a long way to go from here.
Despite 2 days, of what should be good news, the market reacted slightly confused with a short-term “hey this is good lets pump” into “errrrm ok maybe not lets dump” with markets across the board finishing lower.
In reality, what the Fed needs to see is the rate of unemployment rising which should lead to reduced spending and the rising wage growth to stall.
But overall J Powell didn’t tell us anything new or that we weren’t already expecting.
3) What’s all this Binance FUD for?
Everybody loves to FUD Binance because, without it, crypto Twitter just wouldn’t be as fun.
What are the chances that all of this FUD happened right before the FTX trial?
First, it came during a period of “planned maintenance” as withdrawals of specific cryptocurrencies were halted and as you can imagine FUD’ers took to Twitter.
Then, “CoinMamba”, a Twitter crypto analyst then added some fuel to the FUD-fire as he accused CZ of shutting his Binance account down for a disagreement over his critical tweets.
It does, however, look like a good old fashion user error…yeah we’ve all jumped to conclusions when $$$ are on the line.
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/binance/status/1602388050880888837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602388050880888837%7Ctwgr%5E67005d6d870faaf6c147f0dc0781efabdc1f2192%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbitcoinist.com%2Fbinance-rumors-and-fud-ramp-up-here-are-the-facts%2F”,”full_text”:”@coinmamba @cz_binance It appears you are still confused in regard to the reason your account was put into withdrawal-only mode. nn@coinmamba, here is a screenshot of your conversation with our CS agent. “,”username”:”binance”,”name”:”Binance”,”date”:”Mon Dec 12 19:40:56 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[{“img_url”:”https://pbs.substack.com/media/FjzS8KeWAA8dB5f.jpg”,”link_url”:”https://t.co/Na2MagN6Dy”,”alt_text”:null}],”quoted_tweet”:{},”retweet_count”:163,”like_count”:2259,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:null,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
@coinmamba, here is a screenshot of your conversation with our CS agent.
And then, from the blindside Reuters posted this highly clickbait-able, FUD-inducing article titled:
“Exclusive: U.S. Justice Dept is split over charging Binance as crypto world falters”
The article goes on to talk about how Binance has “weak anti-money laundering controls, processed over $10 billion in payments for criminals and companies seeking to evade U.S. sanctions, and plotted to evade regulators in the United States and elsewhere.”
A very serious statement and with no final decision being made it could be construed as well-timed FUD.
The DOJ could push forward, negotiate a settlement or completely drop it as a number of important officials need to sign off before any action can be taken.
Perfectly timed? Or Timed perfectly?
This then lured out all of the Twitter trolls, bears, and engagement farmers to launch an all-out FUD campaign against CZ and Binance. Whether directly or indirectly connected we saw over $5bn of withdrawals happen in the blink of an eye.
But steady lads HE Justin Sun, who loves to save the day, is deploying $$$ which may be linked to BUSD deploying on TRON for cross-chain swaps.
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/1602570929845829632?s=20&t=wGaU0tb2jp5YQ05oYY2SWg”,”full_text”:”I just deposited 100 million USD into @binance. 我刚刚给币安充值1亿美元。 etherscan.io/tx/0xf013763e2…“,”username”:”justinsuntron”,”name”:”H.E. Justin Sun🌞🇬🇩🇩🇲🔥”,”date”:”Tue Dec 13 07:47:38 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[],”quoted_tweet”:{},”retweet_count”:1145,”like_count”:8005,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:null,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
Whether it’s a stress test or real FUD the point of self-custody and keeping your magical internet beans in a safe secure “my keys my money” place just makes sense.
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1602905590384181248?s=20&t=3101YuCBWc1Z2-YmgGaZpQ”,”full_text”:”FUD brought “stress test”, which in turn helps to build the credibility for exchanges that passes the test. nnIf you want to hold your own coins, feel free to use @TrustWallet. Please keep your private keys safe.nnOtherwise, we are here @binance. 🙏 “,”username”:”cz_binance”,”name”:”CZ 🔶 Binance”,”date”:”Wed Dec 14 05:57:27 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[],”quoted_tweet”:{“full_text”:”FUD helps us grow, even though they are thoroughly annoying. nnYou can FUD about someone without explicitly mentioning their name, which spreads awareness.nnIt also helps unite their supporters because it forms a common defense alliance.nnShort thread. 1/4 https://t.co/PlxhqV5cZS”,”username”:”cz_binance”,”name”:”CZ 🔶 Binance”},”retweet_count”:1172,”like_count”:7319,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:null,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
If you want to hold your own coins, feel free to use @TrustWallet. Please keep your private keys safe.
Otherwise, we are here @binance. 🙏
FUD helps us grow, even though they are thoroughly annoying.
You can FUD about someone without explicitly mentioning their name, which spreads awareness.
It also helps unite their supporters because it forms a common defense alliance.
Short thread. 1/4 https://t.co/PlxhqV5cZS
For the sake of having a Happy Christmas, let’s just hope that this is FUD and FUD that is well-timed as a capitulation event days away from Santa popping down the chimney just isn’t what’s needed!
🗞 The TLDR News Bites
PayPal partners with Metamask to integrate its buy, sell and hold crypto services with MetaMask Wallet. This is the kind of news that would have pumped the markets back in the bull run…*sigh*
Will the White House give back SBF’s $5.2m donation? that was the question posed to the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Unfortunately, Jean-Pierre dodged the question as it’s been said that politicians who received an SBF donation may have to return it…Offft!
Amber Group’s struggles continue as they raise only half of a much-needed $100m cash injection whilst dropping their Chelsea FC sponsorship and reducing the workforce by 40%.
Paradigm slices company-wide salaries by up to 15% in an attempt to reduce costs as the contagion and crypto winter continues. Paradigm did, however, manage to raise $35m in Dec ‘21 from Alameda, so let’s hope this gives them runway into ‘23.
Goldman Sachs is ready to deploy and on the hunt for crypto bargains amidst the FTX fiasco. Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s head of digital assets, told Reuters…
“FTX’s implosion has heightened the need for more trustworthy, regulated cryptocurrency players, and big banks see an opportunity to pick up business”
Eth devs hard fork Shanghai with March ‘23 being the target. The upgrade would allow ether to be withdrawn from staked network validators.
Do Kwon in Serbia, CoinDesk Korea reports as he made the trek from Singapore, through Dubai to a slightly cooler climate to spend the festive season.
BlackRock to launch a Metaverse ETF (MTAV) that will track the STOXX Global Metaverse Index which leverages patent data to identify market leaders, innovators, and specialists in the space. Still bullish on the metaverse?
CPI in at 7.1% and interest rates rise by 0.5%. Whilst the numbers are good, J Powell stated that the inflation battle is not over yet and more rate hikes are coming. It’s hard to say if inflation has peaked and what’s coming will cause more economic pain.
And finally, it’s not over for this week yet…
✅ Tuesday: CPI data
✅ Wednesday: FOMC interest rate decision
🟩 Thursday: Retail sales & jobless claims data
🟩 Friday: Services and manufacturing PMI
🛡 Chart of the day: $DXY
Our Take
It’s been a while since we took a look at the DXY and judging by the chart on the 1-month time frame it’s in the process of retracing 50% of its current leg up.
From a TA standpoint, it would make sense for this to be the retrace before its next leg up which could see us hit the 120 region.
Remember the cash is still king and the FED wants to push unemployment numbers up and if tradfi deleverages again then we might see a rush to safety in the dollar.
Bull Case, the dollar continues to weaken and fails to hold the 50% retracement moving down towards the 99 zone.
Bear Case, the FED keeps the pressure on, US citizens are thrown into unemployment and more large-scale funds capitulate leading investors to seek the safety of the dollar pushing the DXY back up towards 120.
🤝 A Quick Word
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🦧 Updates from the bloc
Thread of the Day
Henlo.
There’s no denying that BeraChain MIGHT actually be real. Back in early October, we wrote about Bears, Bongs and a Sing Song, which is set to be one of the most gamified memechains.
Today Eli5_Defi breaks down all the important bits that you need to know to lead into the official launch…wen air drop?!
<div class=”tweet” data-attrs=”{“url”:”https://twitter.com/eli5_defi/status/1601961508204081152?s=20&t=fKUp0Sc-eB4oSrcZgbiePw”,”full_text”:”1/ #GM! Henlo!nWhat is @berachain? What is Proof of Liquidity? How do their native tokens play together? Who’s building on their ecosystem? In this #visualthread, we will discuss how @berachain plans to build a #DeFi-native chain.nn@itsdevbear n@SmokeyTheBera nn$BGT $HONEY $BERA “,”username”:”eli5_defi”,”name”:”Eli5_DΞFi 🦇🔊”,”date”:”Sun Dec 11 15:26:01 +0000 2022″,”photos”:[{“img_url”:”https://pbs.substack.com/media/FjtKIcIaMAA7rfx.jpg”,”link_url”:”https://t.co/VvhSrCmhHS”,”alt_text”:null}],”quoted_tweet”:{},”retweet_count”:73,”like_count”:208,”expanded_url”:{},”video_url”:null,”belowTheFold”:true}”>
What is @berachain? What is Proof of Liquidity? How do their native tokens play together? Who’s building on their ecosystem? In this #visualthread, we will discuss how @berachain plans to build a #DeFi-native chain.
@itsdevbear
@SmokeyTheBera
$BGT $HONEY $BERA
Podcast of the Day
This week we feature one of blocmates mates Ms. DeadCaitBounce whos joined by Skybridge Founder Anthony Scaramucci. This jam-packed hour digs into Anthony’s relationship with SBF and FTX, crypto sentiment in the hedge fund space, and his outlook on crypto in Washington.
Tune in on YouTube.
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