Bitcoin, crypto prices inch higher as Silvergate woes worsen

Crypto prices rose over the past week as equities fell on a plethora of negative news.

Bitcoin was changing hands for $16,910 at 7:30 a.m. EST, according to data via TradingView. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap was up 1.9% over the past seven days.

Crypto Heatmap chart by TradingView

Ether jumped 5.3% in the same period, while altcoins had even more pronounced gains. Binance’s BNB rose 6%, Cardano’s ADA soared 11.3% and Polygon’s MATIC was up about 5.5%. 

Dogecoin was up 5.3% and shiba inu rose 4.5% as dog-themed memecoins recovered from last week’s drop. 

Crypto stocks and structured products

U.S. stock indices were down marginally throughout the week; the S&P 500 slipped 0.01% and the Nasdaq 100 was down 0.02%. 

Silvergate tanked as the firm released preliminary Q4 financials that showed $8.1 billion in withdrawals. The crypto-friendly bank also announced plans to lay off about 40% of its staff. JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight. Bank of America downgraded it to underperform and cut its earnings per share estimates by 90%. 

Coinbase dropped 9% over the week, despite receiving a bump on Wednesday following a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services. Cowen downgraded COIN on Thursday, with analysts citing dwindling trading volumes — although others argued that the market had already digested lower volumes.  

MicroStrategy jumped 10% to start the new year, paring last week’s losses. Block traded up 4%, changing hands for about $69. 

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