Frogs, Black Swans, Bankrupt Banks

Crypto news: We bring you a roundup of what’s been happening in crypto this week. Amid the rather boring Bitcoin price action of late comes the rise of the meme coins. 

By last weekend, frog had overtaken dog after the price of PEPE surged 39,000% in less than two weeks. Poor Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) were left trailing in Pepe’s wake.

Frog Chorus

Based on Pepe the Frog memes, the PEPE token follows an established pattern characterized by social media-fueled hype. 

However, whether the frog has longevity is a bigger question. Time will tell as at press time, Binance announced it was to list the PEPE for trading, despite earlier denying such a move was afoot.

Floki Inu price spiked 50% when it first listed on Binance.

But meme coins are notoriously risky investments and buyers can quickly find themselves underwater as market tides turn. Whether you’re green with envy or sickness, only time will tell. 

The Elon Musk Effect

Not for the first time has a comment by Elon Musk moved markets. However, he usually restricts his comments to canine-related meme coins. But last week, a two-word tweet sent one token skyrocketing by 70% in one hour. 

On Tuesday, Elon Musk tweeted, “Cult/Culture.” And traders immediately took that to mean a reference to Cult DAO. Cult is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that invests in decentralized platforms. 

But, as Elon knows all too well, what goes up must come down. And, alas, within 24 hours, the price had retreated back to its pre-tweet level. 

Crypto Coin News

The week’s biggest crypto gainers were led by Casper (CSPR), which increased by 11.53%. Rocket Pool (RPL) was up by 7.06%, and Tron (TRX) price saw a 5.65% uptick.

As for the losers, Sui (SUI) dropped by 71.72%, Immutable (IMX) fell by 16.12%, and Injective (INJ) price decreased by 15.44%

Is a Black Swan About to Land?

A couple of months ago, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan raised eyebrows by prophesying Bitcoin rising to $1 million by June 16, a prediction even the most fervent bulls found overly optimistic.

However, last week, it was reported that Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) imminent $630 million default could speed up a black swan event. 

Black swan events are exceptionally rare, unpredictable events with severe consequences. Finance professor Nassim Taleb popularized the concept in his 2007 book.

Crypto conglomerate DCG risks defaulting on its obligations if it cannot pay or restructure the $630 million it owes to its subsidiary Genesis. The debt is due to be repaid between May 9 and May 11.

Balaji claims that the Federal Reserve is still “printing trillions” of dollars to bail out failed banks. He says this undisciplined money printing could trigger a black swan event and lead to an appreciation in the price of Bitcoin.

Crypto News – Socially Speaking

Why a Half of All U.S. Banks Face Bankruptcy

The crisis so far in U.S. banking may only be the tip of the iceberg, if a report from the Telegraph is to be believed. The newspaper claimed nearly half of America’s 4,800 banks are “burning through their capital buffers.”

Stanford University banking expert, Professor Amit Seru, said that thousands of banks are underwater before adding: “Let’s not pretend that this is just about Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic. A lot of the U.S. banking system is potentially insolvent.”

He estimated that more than 2,315 banks are currently sitting on assets worth less than their liabilities. Some of these lenders include America’s largest banks, and one was described as a “globally systemic entity with assets of over $1 trillion.”

Bitcoin was spawned out of the last United States banking meltdown, which caused the 2008 global financial crisis. It is ironic that it could be the financial parachute in the next imminent banking disaster.