The ‘core systems are working well,’ Bitcoin Suisse director says as BTC holds $20K level

Giles Keating, director at Bitcoin Suisse, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that the crypto market may have seen unprecedented pain over the past several months, but at the base of it – blockchain systems are “working well”.

Speaking from Zurich, Switzerland, Keating noted that it’s the companies within the crypto ecosystem, the DeFi lenders (and of course the collapse of TerraUSD), that’s been hit. The past week saw crypto lender Celsius freeze customer withdrawals as markets bled, with crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) also sinking into trouble – mainly after its brutal beating during Terra’s crash.

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It’s such companies that are in murky waters, otherwise, the core blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum are not affected.

Bitcoin’s bottom is almost in

Giles Keating’s comments came as Bitcoin battles to stay above $20,000, having traded below $18,000 late last week. The BTC/USD pair has indeed lost over 30% of its value over the past week, and has found some resistance above $21,000 amid continuing market weakness.

But despite this outlook, the Bitcoin Suisse executive notes that the BTC price could be nearing a bottom.

According to him, the sell-off has largely seen “some of the real excess leverage” driven out of the crypto market. It’s a scenario that he says sees Bitcoin trading at levels where a “bottom can begin to be formed”

On whether fresh liquidations are still likely, Keating said the risk is always there. However, he points to the double digit bounce seen on Monday, especially in Bitcoin and Ether, as a potential signal that the market is over those “big liquidations.”

He says “a base is really being formed.”

BTC/USD is currently changing hands near $21,185 while Ethereum is poised at $1,148, with the leading coins up 5.9% and 4.7% respectively.