Our Crypto-Upvotes experts told us what dynamics to expect from Bitcoin and digital currency market in short term

On November 14, Bitcoin exchange rate is about $16.5 thousand. During the last week, it fell by more than 20%. Our experts have analyzed this situation on crypto market and told what kind of dynamics to expect in next week.

Any negative news will bring down crypto market

The second week of November reversed all the achievements of buyers since mid-September. The collapse of the crypto market occurred due to the fiasco of negotiations between the head of Binance Changpeng Zhao and the head of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried.

Changpeng Zhao caused a liquidity crisis at the FTX exchange on Monday with his announcement that he would sell FTT tokens. As it turned out, most of the assets of FTX-affiliated company Alameda ($14.6 billion) were FTT tokens.

The Binance CEO wiped out a huge competitor in a matter of days. There is an opinion that he intentionally made public statements about selling FTT. The collapse in crypto market was partly localized by U.S. statistics on Thursday. Slowing inflation in the U.S. collapsed the dollar and boosted demand for risky assets. Traders sold off the U.S. currency on expectations of a slowdown in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hike cycle. The BTC/USDt pair jumped 16% to $18,200.

Although Dollar Index continued to fall on Friday, cryptocurrency halted its rise. Sam Benkman-Fried undermined confidence in the crypto industry. Investors fear the collapse of other cryptocurrencies that have had liquidity problems because of FTX. We just don’t know about it yet. Alameda may be “dumping” its portfolio on the market to take advantage of a price rebound.

The inflation report temporarily diverted investors’ attention away from FTX problems. Although situation in market remains tense. After a collapse and rebound, Bitcoin/USDt is trading at $16,400 in the range of $15,600-$18,200. Shock has passed, but buyer activity is very low. Without new negative news, the continuation of the correction above $18.5k remains. In such conditions, it will be a feat for the buyers. According to our experts, the risks of Bitcoin decline to $12,000 are over 70%. The market is low-liquid, so any bad news on the collapse of some other exchange with its token will collapse crypto market within a day.

Prospects for Bitcoin to rise to $20,000 in coming week

Unfortunately, our experts do not see prerequisites for Bitcoin recovery even up to $20K. All that positive impulse, which the market got after the data about growth of consumption prices in the USA. But crisis around FTX, which is still in its acute phase and just started to develop, didn’t let BTC grow and it fell below $17K again.

This week market will wait for developments around FTX. And the details of the debts of Alameda and FTX. As well as possible solutions to the problem of repayment of debts to clients. Regulators will definitely take action, because many companies related to the American market, Galaxy Digital and Circle, have been affected.

It’s not yet completely clear how catastrophic the collapse of Alameda would be for those companies that Sam Bankman-Fried was actively rescuing in recent months. Rumors have surfaced about Alameda’s liabilities of up to $50 billion. This could be a real counterpart to a collapse of Lehman Brothers for crypto market.

Our forecast for BTC this week is that it might fall to $14-15K and it will hardly go lower because, judging by Order Book, there are huge buy orders. So even if Bitcoin falls below that level, it will be bought back immediately.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, stepped down as CEO. Then unknown hackers hacked FTX crypto exchange and managed to withdraw about $400 million.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX reported on its Twitter page about the filing for bankruptcy. According to the report, FTX Trading Ltd., Alameda Research and 130 other affiliated companies began voluntary proceedings under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The procedure will allow the companies to get protection from creditors’ claims during business reorganization and debt restructuring.

At the same time, it was announced that Sam Bankman-Fried is stepping down as CEO of the platform. John Ray III has been appointed as the new CEO.

FTX needs up to $8 billion to save business and customer funds

FTX CEO Bankman-Fried told investors that his company may need up to $8 billion to save the business and customer funds. After Binance’s failure, he continued looking for a solution and sought help from the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. As well as to the founder of the blockchain Tron and one of the leaders of the exchange Huobi Justin Sun, but did not achieve positive results.

At the same time, on November 10, it was revealed that Bankman-Fried secretly covered Alameda’s losses with funds from FTX clients. He used for this purpose at least $4 billion from the funds of exchange.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched an investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried. And the Bahamas Securities Commission froze the funds of FTX Digital Markets. This company is the operator of the FTX crypto exchange. Also, stabelcoin issuer Tether blocked 46 million USDT on its wallet.

All FTT token holders cannot expect to receive funds

Because of FTX problems, capitalization of the entire crypto market decreased by 24%. And the panic of investors will further enhance this effect – the flight from cryptocurrencies will continue – warned our expert.

For crypto market, bankruptcy of a major cryptocurrency exchange is a worsening of the investment climate. It is also another blow to authority of crypto-industry.

FTT holders will likely get a chance to lock in their losses at less catastrophic prices. This will happen after a short technical correction, which may occur in coming days. However, forecasts are negative for future of FTT holders and exchange clients as well. A miracle is unlikely to happen, all who could help this exchange refused.

Hackers hacked FTX and withdrew about $400 million

Unknown hackers hacked the crypto exchange FTX and managed to withdraw about $400 million. The hack was confirmed by the exchange’s official Telegram chat.

Chat administrator advised not to visit official FTX website and to delete exchanger’s application, as they may contain Trojans. At the moment, some of lost funds were recovered, and the stolen USDT of $30 million were promptly blocked by Tether issuer.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explained he could not help FTX solve its problems. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Crypto exchange Binance will not buy a trading platform FTX. This was announced by the head of the company Changpeng Zhao. He released an official statement explaining his decision.

As a result of the due diligence review, as well as recent news about mishandling of customer funds. And the alleged investigations by U.S. authorities, we have decided that we will not pursue a potential purchase of FTX.com.

“Initially, we had hoped that we could support FTX customers and provide liquidity. But the trading floor’s problems are beyond our control or ability to help,” Zhao wrote.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem has become more resilient over the years, he said. The head of Binance believes that in the future, over time, the free market will weed out those who use user funds in an untargeted way.

Following Zhao’s statement, cryptocurrency exchange FTX suspended withdrawals and urged users not to fund their accounts. At the same time, the head of another cryptocurrency project Tron, Justin Sun, wrote without elaboration. That he is developing a solution with FTX for holders of tokens TRX, BTT, JST, SUN and HT.

According to two people close to FTX, left without a buyer, Bankman-Fried is now looking for other sponsors. After Binance pulled out of the deal, he told FTX employees in Slack that he was “exploring all options.”

Binance confirmed its assets worth $70 billion

Binance published its cryptocurrency wallet addresses to confirm its capabilities. In particular, the company indicated that it holds 475 thousand BTC ($8.265 billion at current exchange rate), 4.8 million Ethereum ($5.76 billion) and 17.6 billion USDT.

Additionally, a trading platform owns 21.7 billion BUSD tokens, 601 million USDC and 58 million BNB ($16.82 billion). Total assets of Binance are estimated at $70.746 billion. In addition, crypto exchange pointed out that this is not complete information, all data will be presented in a report after audit.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that FTX platform turned to his company for help because of a serious liquidity crisis

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will buy platform FTX. Changpeng Zhao, the head of Binance, wrote about it on Twitter. He said that FTX today sought help from Binance due to a serious liquidity crisis. To protect users, the site signed a letter of intent to acquire FTX.com. As well as help cover the liquidity crisis, Zhao noted.

In addition, the head of Binance wrote that due diligence will be conducted in the coming days. According to Zhao, the situation is dynamic and Binance is evaluating it in real time. Binance has the right to withdraw from the deal at any time.

The FTX exchange ranks 5th in daily trading volume with $3.6 billion in the last 24 hours. 321 cryptocurrencies are represented on the platform and 511 pairs of coins are traded.

The apparent problems at the FTX exchange began over the weekend, after Binance’s CEO said. That his company intends to sell its remaining FTT tokens within a few months. We ran an article about this earlier. The exchange’s FTX native token (FTT) fell more than 73% daily.

Huobi stopped trading 7 tokens. And asked users to cancel all open orders for these cryptocurrencies, Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global will delist seven anonymous cryptocurrencies. The list includes Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Decred (DCR), Firo (FIRO), Verge (XVG), ZCash (ZEC) and Horizen (ZEN). Trading of these tokens was terminated on September 6 on this platform. Which was announced on this platform’s blog on September 12. Huobi team asks users to cancel all open orders for these cryptocurrencies in a timely manner.

Anonymous cryptocurrencies – these are cryptocurrencies that hide transactions in blockchain. In order to preserve anonymity of transaction participants and traces of their actions. Withdrawal function in these tokens continues to function for now.

According to Coingecko, centralized exchange Huobi Global, founded in 2013, ranks 8th by trading volume ($816 million). Cryptocurrency exchange features about 630 assets and more than 1,000 trading pairs.

Also in early August, a largest cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) mining pool named MineXMR announced its closure. Platform team asked miners to reconfigure their equipment to other pools by August 12.

Effects of rejection of anonymous cryptocurrencies

Unfortunately, more and more CEX exchanges are delisting anonymous cryptocurrencies. This is due to the fact that many CEX exchanges must follow the rules of international regulatory organizations. And the internal rules of the country in which they are located.

Most likely, we are facing the start of a global confrontation between cryptocurrency exchanges and anonymous cryptocurrencies. Because tensions have long been brewing between blockchain ideologues and traditional traders. Real cryptocurrency followers follow original ideals of technology and privacy. And traditional traders have come into cryptocurrency world only out of profits.

Perhaps we will soon see what you might call a “hardfork” of blockchain industry. When some currencies will simply become digital money, reminiscent of the usual fiat money of any country.
And part of the investors will use only real cryptocurrencies. Which maintain privacy and security.

Perhaps in the near future we will see new DEX platforms. Which will not follow general rules. And will stick to real cryptocurrency goals. Because cryptocurrencies were not created just to replace ordinary fiat money. Their purpose was security, anonymity, and decentralization. So that no country in world could control these funds. Who will win – regular traders or real cryptocurrency users. We will know in the next few years.

Binance announces measures to protect customer funds in case of ETH network hardfork

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will suspend withdrawals and deposits of ETH and ERC-20 tokens during the “Merger” (blockchain’s migration to Proof-of-Work protocol). In an official announcement, platform team announced measures. Which will be taken to minimize trading risks. And to protect customer funds in case of a split network and the emergence of a second Ethereum token.

Deposit and token withdrawal transactions will be suspended on the platform on September 6 during the Bellatrix update. And also on September 15 during the Paris update. The exchange will suspend Binance Crypto Loans. As well as ETH margin borrowings between September 14 and 16.

Spot trading of ETH and ERC-20 will not be affected during Ethereum update. However, Binance has drawn attention to the risk of increased volatility in the event of a hardfork. And reserved the right to suspend margin trading.

In the case of network splitting and new ETH token emergence. Binance will use ETH ticker for PoS Ethereum chain. Withdrawals for another version of token will be supported. But distribution details will be covered in a separate announcement.

Coinbase will suspend Ethereum operations during the “Merger” of network

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced in its blog. That new deposit and withdrawal transactions in ETH and ERC-20 tokens will be temporarily suspended on Coinbase during Ethereum Merge (blockchain update). Transactions launched before the suspension will also be temporarily delayed.

Coinbase team stated that this will be done as a precautionary measure. To ensure that customer funds are protected. Once the update is complete, processing of suspended transactions will be restarted.

“Merger” is tentatively scheduled for September 15. Customers of Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Exchange services may encounter delays in withdrawals. That’s why Exchange recommends customers to withdraw funds in advance, if necessary.

Users of Coinbase Wallet with ETH and ERC-20 tokens. As well as NFT or DeFi products of Ethereum network, this update should not affect them.

Our experts recommend withdrawing the necessary funds from CEX exchanges in advance. Or convert them to other cryptocurrencies at the time of ETH network update.

How Crypto Exchanges use users’ personal information. And what exactly government interests.

Legal treatment of crypto exchanges varies greatly from country to country. A number of states officially allow cryptocurrency transactions.

In accordance with the international recommendations of the FATF. Operators of virtual asset services. Including crypto-exchanges, should collect data on participants of cryptocurrency transactions.

What Crypto Exchanges must do.

They are required to conduct a rigorous check on their users – both individuals and businesses. Crypto exchanges cannot disclose this data without a valid reason, for example in USA. In USA, 4th amendment to Constitution prohibits illegal searches and seizures of data. In order for a crypto exchange to release personal data, there must be a court order. A mere request from law enforcement will not be enough.

Monitoring activities of users of various crypto-platforms takes place worldwide as well. State authorities most often request information on what kind of cryptocurrency the user owns. And how often he or she makes transactions. In addition, the source of funds may be of interest.

Crypto exchanges monitor suspicious trades.

Legislative requirements for suspicious trades have been in place for a long time. Crypto exchanges are required to report suspicious trades. And provide detailed reports on transactions over $10,000. And also to keep information about money transfers. But this obligation is so far only relevant in those countries. That have allowed cryptocurrency exchange at the legislative level.

If an exchange gathers evidence of illegal activity. It will be required to notify law enforcement. Most often, crypto exchanges simply block suspicious accounts. Or they restrict any transactions other than transfers to a local wallet.

Users cannot find out if their personal data has been provided to a third party. But such information can appear, as in the case of Coinbase. Coinbase sell crypto user geo-location data to U.S. ICE immigrations and customs agency.

Our experts say that cryptocurrency platforms themselves use personal data to ensure legal procedures. And compliance with all requirements.

Who is monitoring you and what do they want to know?

It is almost any worldwide country that has legally binding methods for analyzing centralized user data.

They are interested in what coins you have. And how often you trade them. As well as where your funds used to buy cryptocurrencies come from. And they also track where coins are sent when they leave centralized exchanges. If you’re storing coins in an offline wallet. There’s a good chance that. One or even more governments will find out about that wallet address. Regardless of where you move the coins that have ever been in a centralized exchange, they can track you.

How to avoid being watched?

In answer to the question of how to avoid government control. We can say this: DEX exchanges and confidential coins are really only answer we know. If you use centralized services, you take a risk.

Conclusions:

Our Crypto-Upvotes experts warn you. Always check website to which you are providing your personal information. Don’t give your personal information to everyone who asks for it. Use one or two exchange at most where you will disclose your personal information. In principle, there is no notification mode, so you won’t know that your data has been disclosed. Our experts believe that disclosure of personal data in crypto-industry is possible only in extreme cases.