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Crypto markets and equities tied to the industry felt the pressure last week as the situation around crypto exchange FTX continued to unravel.

Bitcoin was changing hands at around $16,550 at 2:15 p.m. ET Sunday, representing a decline of about 0.8%. Ether fared somewhat more poorly, losing about 3% in the past day. ETH was trading at roughly $1,170 at 2:15 p.m.

BTCUSD Chart by TradingView

Bitcoin is down about 1% over the past seven days while ether is down roughly 6%.

Other cryptocurrencies were trading in a similar range Sunday afternoon, according to data from CoinGecko. Cardano (ADA) was down 3.1% on the day, while dogecoin (DOGE) and polygon (MATIC) lost 4.2% and 4.7%, respectively. 

Crypto contagion

Crypto-related stocks largely suffered a tough week as well.

Coinbase ($COIN) shares fell more than 18% last week, according to Nasdaq data, after initially climbing higher on Tuesday compared to Monday’s open.

Block ($SQ) slid 6.3% while MicroStrategy ($MSTR) gyrated to close the week 0.7% in the red.

The stock price for Silvergate Bank ($SI) closed the week down more than 30% and was among the worst-performing crypto-related stocks tracked by The Block. The company drew scrutiny this week over its links to FTX.

Beyond the realm of stocks, contagion from FTX’s collapse continued to unfold as more industry firms revealed the degree to which they were exposed to the crypto exchange.

Genesis announced Wednesday it would halt all customer withdrawals and loan originations on its platform after taking a significant hit from the fallout of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and FTX.

“Genesis Lending’s failure will have far-reaching implications within the space, especially in the institutional segment,” QCP Digital said Friday. “Genesis has close business ties to Silvergate bank – the venue for the bulk of crypto’s institutional banking needs; and was running the staking programs of Gemini and Circle – USDC, the former of which Gemini Earn itself has had withdrawals halted since.”

“Many are now expecting DCG to use the most liquid part of the business — Grayscale — to shore up Genesis and other parts of the business,” the note said. QCP had written off a potential sale of GBTC’s bitcoin assets in its 2022 year outlook, but it then said, “we never expected it to be under such circumstances.”

However, those perhaps expecting GBTC to allow a one-off redemption for Genesis to meet liquidity needs are misguided, according to QCP’s analysts, as Grayscale would need the SEC’s approval.

GBTC is currently trading at a discount of -42.7%, its lowest point ever, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. 

The Grayscale’s ETHE product also hit an all-time low. ETHE was trading at a discount of -40.1%, according to The Block’s data. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The deadline for Celsius customers to file a claim in the company’s bankruptcy case is Jan. 3, 2023.

The bankruptcy court handling Celsius’s case set Jan. 3 as the bar date, the last day creditors can file a proof of claim against the failed crypto lender. After that date, creditors who have not filed a claim may not be eligible for distributions from the case.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July, after a crypto market slide in the spring landed the firm in trouble. At its peak, Celsius managed more than $10 billion in assets and claimed it had more than 1.7 million users.

“Customers should expect to receive a notice regarding the bar date and next steps in the proofs of claim process from our claims agent, Stretto, via email, physical mail for those customers with an address on file, and through a notification in the Celsius app,” Celsius said Sunday on Twitter.

No action is required for customers who agree with Celsius’s scheduling of their claims. The next Celsius hearing is set for Dec. 5, where the firm says it plans to discuss custody and withhold accounts.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

CORRECTION (1:30 p.m. ET) Corrects to clarify the process by which followers have been reinstated to Trump’s account and how crypto CEO accounts were re-added as followers.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is back on Twitter.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced the move Saturday night following a Twitter poll on Friday that drew more than 15 million votes. Trump’s account became visible in the wake of Musk’s announcement, but as of yet, Trump has not issued a tweet.

Attention quickly turned to the fact that, at least initially, nearly all of Trump’s followers had been disconnected. Social activity suggests that some of the users who attempted to refollow his account encountered a bug that required them to re-follow several times. Since then, Trump’s follower count has swelled above 80 million.

BigCryptoAlert, an account that tracks the Twitter activity of key players in the blockchain industry was abuzz in the wake of Trump’s reinstatement, highlighting refollows by Block CEO Jack Dorsey, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. It’s not clear who among those tagged by BigCryptoAlert were manual refollows or automated ones.

According to a post in Twitter’s Help Center, reinstated accounts may not immediately retain all of their followers. “Some people’s following/followers or Tweet counts do not immediately display their previous numbers upon reactivation. Don’t worry, these will be fully restored within 24 hours of reactivation,” the firm wrote.

Cardano’s Hoskinson later marked the occasion by tweeting out a poll asking users if Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk might redistribute his followers to fellow Republican nominee hopeful Ron DeSantis. Earlier this month, Trump announced a 2024 presidential bid. 

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former president’s attitude toward crypto is unclear. Trump said he was “not a fan” of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in 2019, and has more recently called the tech a “scam.” Still, some of the regulators that he appointed during his administration have gone on to work for crypto companies. Former first lady Melania Trump also released her own NFT collection last December.

Trump’s account on the platform was removed by Twitter in what was understood to be a “permanent suspension” after riotous events that took place in the U.S. Capitol last year on Jan. 6. 

Musk took control of the social media platform last month. Since then, the platform has been plagued by internal strife and rampant staff reductions, with Twitter’s crypto boss leaving the company on Friday. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and a number of crypto execs followed the account of former President Donald Trump after it was reinstated earlier on Sunday. 

Along with founder and current Block CEO Dorsey, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss and Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, have all followed Trump in the last few hours, according to an account that tracks the Twitter activity of key players in the blockchain industry. 

Cardano’s Hoskinson later marked the occasion by tweeting out a poll asking users if Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk might redistribute his followers to fellow Republican nominee hopeful Ron DeSantis. Earlier this month, Trump announced a 2024 presidential bid. 

Alogrand interim CEO W. Sean Ford, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein, Bitfury boss Brian Brooks and the former CEO of the FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, also clicked the follow button on Trump’s account. 

The former president’s attitude toward crypto is unclear. Trump said he was “not a fan” of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in 2019, and has more recently called the tech a “scam.” Still, some of the regulators that he appointed during his administration have gone on to work for crypto companies. Former first lady Melania Trump also released her own NFT collection last December. 

The interest in Trump’s reignited presence on the platform from key figures in the crypto community follows a Twitter poll set up by Musk that narrowly approved his reinstatement. Trump’s account on the platform was removed by Twitter in what was understood to be a “permanent suspension” after riotous events that took place in the U.S. Capitol last year on Jan. 6. 

Musk took control of the social media platform last month. Since then, the platform has been plagued by internal strife and rampant staff reductions, with Twitter’s crypto boss leaving the company on Friday. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Beleaguered crypto exchange FTX said unauthorized fund transfers from FTX Global are being sent to other exchanges via crypto wallets. 

“Exchanges should be aware that certain funds transferred from FTX Global and related debtors without authorization on 11/11/22 are being transferred to them through intermediate wallets,” it said on Sunday via Twitter. “Exchanges should take all measures to secure these funds to be returned to the bankruptcy estate.”

 Blockchain research firm Chainalyasis said that funds stolen from FTX are on the move and warned exchanges to be on alert in case a hacker tries to cash out.

It did not indicate which exchanges were receiving the funds nor the amount. 

This came after news earlier on Sunday that a purported drainer of FTX had cashed out in bitcoin after holding more than $300 million in ether. 

The identity of the FTX drainer remains unknown. While many say a hacker was able to drain the funds from the embattled exchange — which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — others speculate that the suspicious outflow of funds may be an inside job. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes more than $3 billion to its top 50 creditors.

A filing from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings on Saturday revealed the amount owed the unidentified creditors, with the biggest being slightly more than $225 million. According to the filing, its top 10 creditors come in at just under $1.45 billion. In total, it added up to almost $3.1 billion. The list did not include names. 

Previously, a filing indicated that the company may have more than a million total creditors. 

FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection about two weeks ago, citing somewhere between $10 billion and $50 billion in assets and liabilities, as well as more than 100,000 creditors. A Financial Times report said that FTX had only $900 million in liquid assets against $8.9 billion in liabilities on the eve of bankruptcy. 

Previous filings have highlighted “a complete failure of corporate controls” at the company. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Crypto exchange Liquid stopped trading on its platform only five days after suspending fiat and crypto withdrawals on the platform. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

After consecutive days of swapping cryptocurrencies drained from FTX for ether, the so-called “FTX Accounts Drainer” is now swapping its ether stack for bitcoin — and putting downward pressure on the price of ether in the process.

Earlier Sunday, the exploiter swapped about 5,000 ether for 347 renBTC — a form of wrapped bitcoin on Ethereum that can be redeemed for native bitcoin — according to blockchain tracker PeckShieldAlert. The drainer then followed with another swap of roughly the same amount for 344.53 renBTC.

The exploiter next began bridging the newly swapped renBTC out of Ethereum via Ren’s BTC Gateway — effectively cashing out of the Ethereum blockchain in favor of native bitcoins.

As of 7 a.m. ET, about 45,000 ether had been sold. As of 7:20 a.m. ET, transactions were still taking place in real time.

The relentless selling from the FTX account drainer has put downward pressure on the price of ether, which has dropped almost 5% since the selling began. It has fallen through $1,200 and is currently trading at around $1,160.

Despite the heavy selling, the wallet labeled “FTX Accounts Drainer” on Etherscan remains the 37th largest holder of ether — after being in the top 30 before the selling began. The drop follows transfers of approximately 50,000 ETH to a wallet beginning with 0x866E, which is conducting ether-to-renBTC swaps.

The identity of the FTX drainer remains unknown. While many say a hacker was able to drain the funds from the embattled exchange — which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — others speculate that the suspicious outflow of funds was an inside job.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Last week, FTX continued to dominate headlines in the crypto sector and beyond. And that’s not likely to stop next week. 

We’ll probably see consequences from the collapse of the exchange continue to materialize as a contagion within an already troubled industry. Pressured by declining crypto prices and macroeconomic conditions, crypto companies now facing FTX fallout may begin making cuts. And amid Elon Musk’s radical restructuring of Twitter, there are also questions about the future of crypto’s favorite town hall. 

Spreading contagion? 

Last week, some of the knock-on effects of what was once considered one of crypto’s premier exchanges became clear. For example, Genesis Global Capital, the lending business of Genesis Trading, suspended redemptions and new loans in the wake of the collapse. Later that day, crypto exchange Gemini announced that its Earn program wouldn’t be able to meet customer redemptions for the next five days following its lending partner pausing withdrawals.

Now, JPMorgan analysts are seeing accelerated outflows from the exchange and from rivals such as OKX and Crypto.com, along with stablecoin market shrinkage. Companies including crypto bank Silvergate, which has disclosed exposure to FTX, have also encountered difficulties, with prime broker FalconX announcing that it will no longer use the company’s Silvergate Exchange Network. FalconX said its decision was based on publicly available market information, raising questions about whether others may follow suit. 

Notably, all eyes will be on a court hearing on Tuesday after FTX announced on Saturday that as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process, it will conduct a review of its assets, which may lead to the sale of business interests held by the embattled exchange. 

Layoffs continue

The demise of FTX may accelerate the process of layoffs in crypto companies as the collapse continues to take effect.

In the weeks since the market turmoil spurred by FTX’s liquidity crunch,  Valkyrie Investments, Coinbase and Solana-based Metaplex have made employee culls. Amid a wider, bleak economic outlook, tech giants such as Amazon and Meta have cut jobs as well. Next week, as the dust continues to settle, will we see further cuts in the crypto industry? 

Twitter takedown

Last week, Twitter was awash with users saying goodbye to the platform, as much of its workforce left. 

Since billionaire Musk bought the company, internal strife and staff reduction have been rampant. Along with sizable layoffs, Musk told employees to quit if they couldn’t commit to a strenuous work schedule. 

It seems that some of them took the message to heart — crypto boss Tess Rinearson left the platform, Bloomberg reported on Friday. And while a funeral for crypto’s town hall might be premature, questions abound as to whether it can withstand traffic surges from events such as the World Cup. Musk also decided on Sunday to lift former President Donald Trump’s Twitter ban, after taking a public poll. 

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Crypto investment firm Grayscale won’t show proof of reserves after bitcoin and ether products fall to new all-time lows.

“Due to security concerns, we do not make such on-chain wallet information and confirmation information publicly available through a cryptographic Proof-of-Reserve, or other advanced cryptographic accounting procedure,” Grayscale said Friday afternoon on Twitter.

The firm acknowledged its decision to keep its reserve information private would be a “disappointment” to some investors. Crypto firms are being pressed to show more information about their reserves after crypto behemoth FTX filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month.

“But panic sparked by others is not a good enough reason to circumvent complex security arrangements that have kept our investors’ assets safe for years,” Grayscale said. 

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) hit a record low on Thursday, as did its ETHE product. The firm’s parent company, Digital Currency Group, has brushed off contagion fears after the shocking collapse of FTX. At the same time, however, another entity affiliated with Grayscale recently halted withdrawals. Genesis Global Capital is linked to Grayscale through Digital Currency Group.

© 2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.