Crypto news: As the fallout from the FTX collapse continues and the clichés spread like wildfire, we pick through the rubble and brief you on the stories you may have missed.
If there was a word of the week this week, it would be contagion. Although not this time linked to COVID-19, but rather the unraveling of the knotty issue of FTX and Alameda Research.
The first to emerge from the ashes were sports stars Tom Brady, Steph Curry and Naomi Osaka. The trio became global ambassadors for FTX last year. Unfortunately for Super Bowl-winner Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, the deal involved them taking an equity stake in the firm. While the amount they received wasn’t reported, the investment that cost them nothing is also now worth nothing.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital announced a loss of its $213.5 million investment in the exchange. In a letter sent to its partners, it stated that it was marking down its investment to zero.
The studio behind the Solana-based gaming metaverse Star Atlas disclosed that it lost half of its cash runway to FTX collapse.
And another crypto firm with exposure to the bankrupt exchange was the crypto fund Galois Capital – down $40 million
But it was a Singapore who won the dubious honor of being the biggest loser. The state investment firm was obliged to write down $275 million in losses.
Is the Sun About to Set on SOL?
Solana has long been criticized as being centralized and VC-backed — and the downside of this is painfully evident at the moment. It is centralized as FTX and Alameda owned 58 million SOL tokens, which represents nearly 11% of the total supply.
DeFi on Solana has also been battered, with TVL dumping 96% since its all-time high of $10 billion. DeFiLlama reported there was only $335 million in collateral in DeFi on Solana at one point.
Ren Protocol also disclosed that it had received quarterly funding from Alameda for the past 12 months. But it also stated that it would continue operating and looking for ways to continue the plans for Ren 2.0.
If, like us, you’re sometimes overwhelmed by the scale of the collapse, crypto reporter Colin Wu helpfully provided a breakdown of exposure to FTX.
Briefs Encounter
It wouldn’t be a week in crypto news without mention of the Ripple SEC saga. The fintech behind XRP was buoyed by news that Judge Torres granted motions for Ripple to file amici briefs. The amici status permits individuals to assist in court hearings and allows them to file “friends of the court” briefs. Although it has had little impact on XRP price action – yet.
This Week in NFT Sales
The rout continues for non-fungible tokens (NFT). And one of the highest-profile casualties is Justin Bieber, who this Jan. spent $1.3 million on a “floor” Bored Ape, #3001. The value now is sitting at just 59.16 ETH, or $72,000, representing an 88% loss. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken his own advice to Never Say Never...
Crypto Coin News
It was yet another miserable week on the price action front. Crypto.com token, CRO, looked like it was hit by a speeding freight train. A little digging on-chain revealed the exchange held more Shiba Inu than Ethereum. It had more than $531 million in SHIB compared to $446 million in ETH. With news that the exchange bungled a $400 million transaction, these events crashed Cronos (CRO) price by 28%.
The biggest gainer of the week was Trust Wallet (TWT), which saw its price leap 97% on the back of a resounding endorsement from Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, head honcho at Binance. CZ tweeted a variation on the oft-cited “not your keys, not your coins.” Although for many, it was more a case of “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.”
A King Among Queens
In lighter news (well, all things are relative), in the five years since cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova’s last sighting, researchers have given an explanation for why she may be proving elusive – because she is now a he. Maybe.
Brian McColl, an analyst at TradingPedia, commissioned a criminal sketch artist to explore what Ignatova might look like today. The most extreme sketch suggests she might have had gender reassignment surgery, or be living disguised as a man.
The fate of the woman allegedly behind the $4 billion OneCoin scam has been the topic of great speculation. Last month, the BBC suggested she may be living in a $20 million villa in Dubai. Others suggest she’s been buying intel from the Bulgarian police, hence the reason she has successfully flown under the radar for so long.
Crypto News, Socially Speaking
An Avalanche of Cheer for AVAX
And last, but by no means least, our senior crypto analyst Valdrin Tahiri gave his price predictions on YouTube for Avalanche (AVAX), which is showing strength.
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Source: https://beincrypto.com/this-week-crypto-news-ftx-fallout-sol-xrp-queen-king/