Bitcoin price rally may not last now, but should in the long run, Wintermute CEO says

Bitcoin prices are heading higher as equities lag and U.S. banks weather a crisis, but it’s too soon to say how long the rally will last, according to Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy.

“I’m just not sure about the timing,” Gaevoy told The Scoop’s Frank Chaparro this week. “I would say like the value that we see now, I’m not sure how sustainable it is, but long time for sure.”

“It’s definitely something that has some legs and it’s the first time in a long time where I’ve seen something like this,” said Larry Cermak, The Block’s head of research and data, who was also a guest on the podcast.

The trio spoke Monday as news broke that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had sued Binance, but before the 74-page filing was available. 

“It’s the FUD. We’ll see how serious this is. It could be really serious. It could just be a small fine like it usually is,” Cermak said. “The only question will be, ‘What’s the actual impact?’”

Uncertain future

Cermak questioned how easy it might be for Binance to continue existing amid the enforcement action. He pointed to Bitmex. The platform no longer operates in the U.S. after its founders pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, and took years to remove customers in the country.

“At the same time, Bitmex is still around. It’s still trading. So it’s like it didn’t lead to closure of the exchange, but obviously it wasn’t good for it,” Gaevoy said.

“They kind of faded away as soon as that came out and now they’re like the most irrelevant in terms of liquidity,” Cermak replied. “But also I think the timing was really good for Binance and FTX to start taking some of that market share.”

Gaevoy also said that there are still U.S. banks willing to work with crypto companies, taking the place of recently collapsed Silvergate and Signature.

For more of Frank’s chat with Evgeny and Larry, check out The Scoop podcast.

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