📈 FTX Plans To Restart?

Markets

Bitcoin Surges Past $23K Before Retreating (5 minute read)Bitcoin saw some action over the weekend, breaking the $23,000 barrier for the first time since August. But like all good things, it couldn't last forever and retreated later on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ethereum was having a pretty decent weekend too, up 1% from Saturday and 35% since the end of the year. Meanwhile, other cryptos like AXS and YGG were also seeing some green, with gains of 38% and 18% respectively.

FTX’s new CEO says there’s possibility for exchange to restart (3 minute read)Looks like FTX is trying to make a comeback - The new CEO, John Ray III, is reportedly dusting off the company's international exchange and assembling a team of superheroes to explore the possibility of a revival. FTX debtors identified $5.5 billion in liquid assets, which Ray referred to as a “herculean” effort to assess the firm’s financial position.

Genesis is planning to file for bankruptcy: Report (1 minute read)Reports are suggesting that Genesis might file for bankruptcy as early as this week. They reportedly ran into a liquidity crunch, just like FTX did in November. This comes after the SEC charged them and Gemini with offering unregistered securities. Meanwhile, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss is throwing shade on Digital Currency Group's CEO Barry Silbert, claiming Genesis owes Gemini $900 million. DCG, in turn, is calling Winklevoss' allegations "malicious, fake, and defamatory attacks." It's like a soap opera but with crypto instead of love triangles.

Web3: DeFi & NFTs

SEC Charges Mango Exploiter With Market Manipulation (5 minute read)Avraham Eisenberg, aka 'Degen of Wall Street,' was charged by the SEC for market manipulation that cost Solana's Mango Markets $116M. He was arrested in Puerto Rico, after being charged by multiple agencies, accused of manipulating MNGO's value, in a 'trading strategy' where he borrowed $116M in crypto, left Mango Markets insolvent and later returned $67M.

Sewer Pass Fever Pitch: BAYC Nets $20 Million, Blocks Zero-Royalty Platforms (2 minute read)Yuga Labs launched Dookey Dash, an interactive minting experience that requires a Sewer Pass to play. Sewer Passes were airdropped to BAYC and MAYC holders and have since been in high demand, with trading volume exceeding $20 million within 3 days of appearing on OpenSea. The game will be playable until February 6.

Misc

Davos-launched blockchain project aims to be the ‘SWIFT’ of stablecoins and CBDCs (5 minute read)Red Date Technology, a Hong Kong-based blockchain company, launched the Universal Digital Payment Network (UDPN) at Davos, Switzerland, to bridge the gap between stablecoins and CBDCs. With the help of GFT Technologies and TOKO from DLA Piper, UDPN is like SWIFT for banks, but for stablecoins and CBDCs.

🐥

Best of Twitter

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed, tell your friends!