We have browsed through dozens of crypto media outlets and singled out the essential news, so you don’t have to.
Fed raises interest rate to combat record-high inflation (again)
The macroeconomic situation remains unstable globally. To battle record-high inflation of 9,1% in the US, the Federal Reserve has once again raised the key interest rate to the 3%-3.25% range. The institution also signaled more spikes to come: according to the forecasts, the key rate will reach 4.4% by the end of the year.
Markets react with a decline (again)
The crypto market responded with a downfall — Bitcoin dropped below $19k and reached $18,300 before it began to recover partially. Ethereum lost 10% of its price, while the weekly decline amounts to 19%. The key rate spike also got the stock investors worried. The S&P 500 index fell 1,71%, Dow Jones — 1,70%, and NASDAQ — 1,79%.
Institutions buy the dip
While some crypto investors panic-sell when the BTC price drops, institutions use the bear market to buy low. The number-one Bitcoin institutional investor MicroStrategy announced the purchase of additional 306 coins for $6 million at an average price of $19,851. The company now holds 130 000 BTC.
FTX has one more billion to buy troubled crypto companies
While several major crypto service providers, such as Celsius, Voyager, and Terra, collapsed due to a protracted downtrend and insane cross-collateralization schemes, some companies use it to develop and gain popularity.
FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried expressed the willingness to spend $1bn more on troubled crypto platforms. He added that the protection of clients and long-term development of the crypto market outweigh the short-term losses his company may suffer. We recall that FTX has already spent $1b on acquiring crypto projects on the verge of bankruptcy.
New York Court orders Tether to provide USDT backing documents
The issuer of the most popular stablecoin, Tether, must provide “undoubtedly important” documents on the USDT reserves in the alleged fraud case. The requested documents include “general ledgers, balance sheets, income statements, cash-flow statements, profit and loss statements,” etc.
We recall that in 2019, a collective lawsuit was filed against Tether and Bitfinex. Their parent company iFinex was accused of market manipulation. The initial estimate of the total damages was $1,4 trillion. Tether representatives have already stated that the court ruling is a standard legal procedure.
What else to read/watch
- The USA plans to enter the CBDC race to compete with China and preserve the number-one backing currency status of the US dollar.
- Meanwhile, China expands its e-CNY trials to four entire provinces, including Guangdong.
- Colorado now accepts cryptocurrency as an additional form of payment for all state taxpayers.
- The WhiteBIT exchange became an official Netflix partner. Soon, users will be able to pay for their streaming subscriptions in crypto by the end of 2022. Additionally, Netflix will make a series about the WhiteBit platform.