Alpaca Finance Institutional Newsletter #19
The start of 2023 provided our industry with little respite as noteworthy crypto events continued to make headlines. Grayscale ETH and BTC Trusts have seen their discounts steadily trend downwards to new lows, inflaming concerns regarding the trust’s ability to remain viable. At the same time, Huobi, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has confirmed it is laying off 20% of its workforce. This news has caused speculation that the company may be facing insolvency.
One of the only US onshore crypto-friendly banks, Silvergate Bank, has been hit with more bad news as Moody’s downgraded its ratings. This came on the back of a major slide in Silvergate’s share price, following the FTX fiasco and significant customer withdrawals. Finally, US authorities are turning their attention to other core members of FTX who were in the infamous “wire fraud” group chat; Nishad Singh is now in the sights of regulators due to his suspected involvement in the multi-billion dollar fraud.
News
- Grayscale ETH trust nears record 60% discount as nerves continue over DCG
- Huobi confirms 20% layoffs, denies insolvency rumors
- Silvergate gets more bad news as Moody’s slashes its ratings
- US authorities are turning their attention to FTX’s Nishad Singh
Regulation
- Alex Mashinsky sued by NY AG for allegedly hiding Celsius’ ‘dire financial condition
- Singapore’s lobbyists oppose proposed blanket ban on lending crypto tokens
- French central bank governor pushes for crypto licensing ahead of EU laws
- Three Arrows Capital founders subpoenaed on Twitter
Products
- Indonesia to launch national crypto exchange in 2023
- Bank of England answers professionals’ questions about upcoming CBDC wallet
- Turkey to use blockchain-based digital identity for online public services
- CME Group to launch 3 metaverse reference rates
Funding
- NFT project accepted $3M to move its collection to Polygon
- MEXC launches $20M ecosystem fund to support Sei Network
- Blockchain fintech GammaRey signs $320M merger agreement
- Mastercard partners with Polygon to launch Web3 musician accelerator program
