Crypto News: ETH, SOL, Bitcoin Accumulation, FTX, Oil Caps & More!

Foreign To the coin Bureau weekly crypto review Here are this week's top headlines in The crypto news BTC accumulation accelerates the number Of Bitcoin wallets holding at least one BTC reaches a record high as the crypto Market continues its slow decline what Does this mean for crypto adoption Ethereum takes all Solana's most popular Wallet and avalanche's top decks Announced support for ethereum layer Twos while demand for liquid staking Grows how can ethereum Killers compete FTX Alameda exposure blockfi claims both Companies owe one billion reporters Reveal a one billion investment by Alameda and Gemini acknowledges a one Billion dollar hole everything you need To know Cbdc's at home and overseas the U.S Tests stock trading using digital Dollars and EU countries test the Trading of government debt using digital Euros when will they roll out their Dystopian currencies Price cap implemented G7 countries agree On a price cap for Russian oil as OPEC Ponders another production cut and China Starts to drop its zero covert policy And a closer look at the current state Of the crypto Market by the one and only Benjamin Cowan all this and More in just A moment

Good morning afternoon or evening thank You for tuning in my name is guy and What you're about to see is educational Content not Financial advice You can find any topics you're looking For using the timestamps in the video Timeline and now for today's top stories Last week on-chain analytics company Glass node announced that the number of Bitcoin wallets holding up to one BTC Hit a record high of almost 1 million The news came as a surprise to many Given that the crypto Market has been Crashing since last November and the Bear Market bottom may not be in yet More about that in the description now As most of you will know a Bitcoin whale Is a wallet address that holds over 1 000 BTC What some of you may not know is that There are other categories in this Taxonomy Bitcoin shrimps are Bitcoin Wallets which hold up to one BTC and Bitcoin crabs are Bitcoin wallets which Hold between 1 and 10 BTC according to Glass node Bitcoin shrimps have Accumulated almost 100 000 BTC since FTX Collapsed less than a month ago a record Level of accumulation for shrimps at the Same time Bitcoin crabs have accumulated Almost 200 000 BTC since FTX collapsed a Record level of accumulation for those Crustaceans too it's not entirely clear Why there's been so much BTC

Accumulation over the last few weeks but There are a few possibilities the first Is that most crypto holders who are Accumulating believe we are at or near The bottom of the crypto bear Market Which is possible but not likely in my Personal opinion The second possible cause of this Accumulation is regulation so scrutiny Of the crypto industry has increased Significantly after the collapse of FTX And Alameda research so much so that the Commissioner of the cftc recently said That bitcoin's BTC is the only commodity In crypto now this is significant Because the cftc commissioner was saying That ethereum's eth was also a commodity At the end of October his Sudden Change In tone is concerning as any Cryptocurrency deemed to be a security By the SEC risks being delisted in the United States and then some The third possibility is arguably the Most likely and that's that everyone can See just how messed up the financial System is and how much worse it's Getting with each passing day Bitcoin is The ideal hedge against this messed up Financial system This is why most crypto holders become Hodlers in the long run According to research by the bank for International settlements or bis between 50 and 60 percent of crypto holders

Become hodlers the caveat is that this Research was conducted before all the Pandemic money Printing and other such Stuff The moon boy to hodler conversion rate Is likely much higher now The continued adoption of crypto despite The current crash is probably why the European Central Bank felt it was Necessary to publish a blog post to Insist that bitcoin's recent resilience Is quote an artificially induced last Gasp before the road to irrelevance This obvious cope stems from the fact That the ECB doesn't want any Competition for its upcoming digital Euro this is why the ECB has been so Hostile towards stablecoins and it begs The question of why it hasn't attacked Smart contract cryptocurrencies like Ethereum in the same way as Bitcoin the Answer might have something to do with Circles recently released Euro Stablecoin but that's a topic for Another time Speaking of ethereum it looks like its Blockchain is quickly starting to become Home to top crypto projects building on Other smart contract cryptocurrencies The most significant of these is Probably Solana's Phantom wallet which Will soon be adding support for ethereum And its polygon sidechain if you watched Our video about the Phantom wallet

You'll know it's probably the most User-friendly wallet in cryptocurrency It's also received an obscene amount of Funding this has given the wallet the Resources it needs to support additional Blockchains and it may eventually Support them all Though Phantom had always planned to Support ethereum and other chains the Recent collapse of FTX and Alameda seems To have been the Catalyst to accelerate The process This is evidenced by the fact that many Other Solana projects have added support For ethereum in recent weeks namely nft Marketplaces meanwhile Trader Joe one of The most if not the most popular Decentralized exchanges on Avalanche Announced it would be deploying on Arbitrum ethereum's leading layer 2 Scaling solution This is also somewhat expected given That activity on arbitrum has been Growing exponentially since August in Addition trading volumes on Decentralized exchanges have spiked Since FTX and Alameda collapsed this is Because crypto Traders are becoming Increasingly skeptical of centralized Exchanges even after their attempts to Increase their transparency GMX has been the leading decks and it's Also on arbitrim this Mass migration to Ethereum makes sense given that most

So-called ethereum killers were using Modified versions of the ethereum Virtual machine or evm for their smart Contract functionality evm support was Initially seen as a positive since it Would attract developers users and Liquidity however now that ethereum has Successfully transitioned from proof of Work to proof of stake there isn't that Much that makes the other evm compatible Ethereum Killers stand out the only real Difference is speed which can easily be Found on ethereum scaling Solutions such As polygon and arbitrum Moreover many evm compatible ethereum Killers are at a huge disadvantage due To their much smaller market caps by now Eth has also become a part of Institutional investment portfolios Alongside BTC this is ultimately why Eth's price has dropped Less in Percentage terms than it did in previous Bear markets this combined with Ethereum's Incredible decentralization And security has also made eth the ideal Cryptocurrency to stake for yield Case in point liquid stake teeth has Become increasingly popular over the Last few months regardless of whether It's issued by a centralized or Decentralized entity From where I'm standing it looks like The only actual competitors to ethereum Are those with their own virtual

Machines for smart contracts This includes the likes of Solana and Aptos both of which have gotten wrecked By the collapse of FTX and Alameda Luckily this is not the case for cardano Or algorand Anyways it's not just crypto projects That have been getting wrecked by the Collapse of FTX and Alameda crypto Companies have been getting crushed too The latest victim is crypto platform Blockfi which officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week this was Somewhat expected given that blockfi had Been bailed out by FTX earlier this year FTX was also going to buy the assets of Bankrupt crypto platform Voyager digital That deal has gone down the drain too And it looks like binance might be Stepping in to plug the hole in any case Blockfi's first bankruptcy hearing Revealed that FTX and Alameda owe the Crypto platform almost 1 billion dollars That's because blockfi had 355 million Dollars on FTX and Alameda owed block Fire almost 700 million dollars a debt Alameda has now apparently defaulted on Block fi is also going after FTX and Alameda founder Sam bankman freed for Leveraging Robin Hood shares for loans Via one of his many shell companies Now if that wasn't bad enough it's been Revealed that Alameda research had Invested over one billion dollars in

Genesis Digital not to be confused with Genesis Global Genesis Digital is a Crypto mining company that's been around Since 2013. Alameda was investing in Them between 2021 and 2022. The good news is that Alameda doesn't Seem to owe any money to Genesis Digital The bad news is that Genesis Digital Seems to have been FTX and alameda's Biggest Venture investment yikes Now when it comes to digital currency Group subsidiary Genesis Global the Trading firm is still scrambling to find The funding it needs to avoid bankruptcy If you watched our video about Genesis Grayscale and dcg you'll know that Genesis Global was looking to get 500 Million to 1 billion dollars in Emergency funding Coincidentally this is almost the exact Same amount that Genesis Global Reportedly owes to Gemini For context the Gemini cryptocurrency Exchange had a yield program called Gemini earn which would basically give Customers crypto to Genesis Global to Earn a yield that would be paid back to Users when Genesis Global announced it Had paused withdrawals Gemini earn had No other choice but to do the same Leaving thousands of Gemini users in Limbo make no mistake Gemini going down Would be another devastating blow to the Crypto industry as it is even more of a

Trusted name than FTX was What's scary is that a recent analysis By massari CEO Ryan selkis found that Genesis Global Investors won't be made Whole unless the company or dcg get Funding stat Ryan's research also Suggests it's possible that Genesis Global holds lots of grayscales Bitcoin Trust which could be sold if the trading Firm Folds It's safe to say that the FTX Alameda Contagion is far from over and it looks Like central banks are capitalizing on The chaos to rush out their dystopian Digital currencies if you've watched any Of our videos about cbdc's you'll know That over 90 percent of central banks Are planning on rolling one out While the central banks initially made It sound like it would be years before Their digital currencies would see the Light of day it seems that their Timelines have accelerated significantly A great example here is India whose Central Bank started testing a digital Rupee for retail use just last week In the United States the digital dollar Project successfully tested the trading Of tokenized Securities like stocks with A digital Dollar on its private Permissioned and closed source Blockchain France and Luxembourg did something Similar except with European government

Debt and a digital Euro this is Terrifying because the end game of most Central banks seems to be to tokenize All real world assets on centralized Blockchains If this were to happen then the Ownership of all physical property could Be easily Changed by whoever controls The blockchains most likely governments For what it's worth the digital dollar Project's recent pilot is the first of Five that the questionable institution Will conduct so it could be a long time Before we see an actual digital dollar Then again it's quite possible that Centralized stable coins have been Slowly but surely filling this role even If they're not the Federal Reserve is Planning to release its fed now payment System in the second half of next year Fed now is a fast payment system which When paired with a digital ID is no Different from a cbdc system according To the bis the aforementioned bank for Central banks I'll be doing an in-depth video about Digital ID later this week so keep your Eyes peeled for that anyhow you'll know When cbdcs are about to be rolled out in Your country when the government starts Aggressively regulating crypto this Includes raising taxes on all crypto Gains something that India did earlier This year before beginning the rollout

Of its digital rupee as it so happens The European Union is reportedly Planning on introducing tax regulation Later this week and you'll know this Already if you're subscribed to My Weekly Newsletter if Portugal and Italy's crypto tax schemes are anything To go by the eu's crypto tax will be Close to 30 percent just like India's For reference the EU will be presenting Legislation for its digital Euro Sometime next year EU regulation Typically takes one to two years to come Into Force this sets the stage for a Digital Euro sometime in 2025 or 2026 Which is consistent with comments made By ECB officials earlier this year As dystopian as cbdcs are going to be The Silver Lining is that they could Accelerate the adoption of Cryptocurrency this could start as soon As cbdc details are finalized because Intelligent individuals and institutions Will be the first ones to protect their Wealth using decentralized Alternatives This is one of many bullish catalysts That could lift most cryptocurrencies From their bear Market lows in the Coming months you can find out about the Other bullish crypto catalysts using the Link in the description Now to clarify it's more than likely That the bottom of the crypto bear Market isn't in just yet this is because

Of all the bearish macro and crypto Factors that have yet to occur and it Looks like one of them started today I Am of course referring to the price cap On Russian oil imposed by G7 countries This is something I've been talking About for a couple of weeks now because I don't believe that the potential Implications of this move are being Fully appreciated as I've mentioned many Times before the United States Department of the treasury has Threatened to sanction any country that Violates the price cap on Russian oil Just recently the Russian government Announced it would no longer be Providing oil to countries that comply With the price cap now forget the Increase in oil prices that could come If oil supplies to some countries are Cut off This has the potential to cause Unprecedented geopolitical conflict it Could also quite possibly result in the Collapse of some countries that import Most of their oil from Russia but are Aligned with the United States on that Note an increase in oil prices appears Inevitable because OPEC confirmed just Yesterday that it will continue to Restrict oil supplies into 2023 this was Clearly an indirect response to the Price cap on Russian oil given that OPEC Announced Sunday's meeting shortly after

The price cap was confirmed that's just The supply side of the equation on the Demand side we have all the countries That are going to need lots of oil for Energy over winter there's also the United States's strategic petroleum Reserve that the current Administration Will have to start refilling soon Otherwise it could very well run out as A cherry on top China appears to be Slowly but surely easing its zero covert Policy following weeks of protests Depending on how quickly the Restrictions drop this could lead to a Resurgence in oil demand it wouldn't Surprise me if these protests were Allowed to escalate for this reason After all a sudden increase in oil Demand coupled with a restriction in oil Supply would cause energy costs in many Countries to go through the roof Particularly in the West This would cause the already High Cost Of Living to increase for the citizens Of these countries leading to more Social unrest more importantly an Increase in inflation would cause Central banks in Western countries to Continue raising interest rates or at Least keep them higher for longer The surprisingly positive jobs report That came out on Friday in the United States seems to be spelling it out for Investors another wave of inflation is

Coming in fact it's quite possible that We could be entering a decade of higher Than two percent inflation this is Something I covered in a recent video About a report published by Goldman Sachs it's also something I'll be Discussing in my video about fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Brookings institution last week now with All that said let's turn to Ben's Amazing analysis of what he's seeing in The crypto Market Hey guy thanks again for having me back On the show as always it is a pleasure To be here given that we're now in December I thought it would be somewhat Useful to talk about some more of these Cyclical indicators that we've discussed In the past the reason for this is Because as we know cryptocurrency Operates in a very cyclical manner There's several indicators we can look At to find out just where we are within The context of the cryptocurrency market Cycle for instance this first chart Shows the price of Bitcoin which is the White line but this orange drawdown here Is actually the drawdown for the entire Cryptocurrency asset class as a whole Just for the record I will put up Bitcoin so people can see it they want To you know just sort of see what it Looks like just for Bitcoin but for the Entire asset class you can see that

There's been various times where we can Go down 90 from the all-time high like In 2011 80 down from the all-time high Like in 2015 and 87 percent done from The all-time high like in 2018. And so what I like about this chart is That it shows you the relative value You're getting at any given time when You enter the cryptoverse for instance If you're entering the crypto verse During a period where it's relatively Far down from the prior all-time high You know 70 80 or even 90 percent like In 2011 you tend to be doing quite well As long as you just stick around for a Few years if you are the person that Only ever comes in during the bull Market or the latter stages of the bull Market then you end up seeing a lot of Pain in the short term and then you sort Of have to just wait it out and and just Be patient so I like this chart it Currently shows that we're about 70 Percent down from the all-time high the Furthest we've gone so far this bear Market down from the all-time high for The entire asset class is 73 so we are Getting into some relatively far down Drawdowns from the all-time high it does Not mean we can't go lower but I do Think this is a great way to sort of Visualize these cryptocurrency Market Cycles additionally we can also look at Just how far into this bear Market we

Are now given that we are now in December and we started this bear Market Back in November of 2021 Some people might even argue that we Started it back in April of 2021 you can See that the green line which is the Current bear Market is the second Longest bear market so far that Bitcoin Has ever experienced furthermore if we Were to experience another low sometime In like the next month or so we could in Fact become the longest or be living in The longest bear Market that Bitcoin has Ever experienced so far it is the second Longest bear market and you can see that The only bear Market that has lasted Longer than this one is the one that Started in November of 2013 and lasted Until January of 2015 where sort of the The bottom fell out and then we we Started fresh and again if you take These out to the next Peak You can kind of see where we are within That let me hide the one from 2011 and Just show you the 2014 and 2018 bear Markets and then what you know after we Had that bear Market that we then went Sideways for a while and then entered Into a new Bull Run and then the last Thing I wanted to show Is this all coin season index which I Think is somewhat useful in trying to Understand you know how are all coins Performing relative to bitcoin or how is

Bitcoin performing relative to the Altcoin market and if you look at say The ROI time frame return on investment Time frame over the last 90 days for the Top 50 cryptocurrencies you can see over The last 90 days about 15 of those all Coins have outperformed Bitcoin and 34 Have underperformed Bitcoin now because This has been trending away from the Altcoin so like you know 60 days ago There were more altcoins that were Outperforming Bitcoin but because it's Trending in sort of bitcoin's favor this Orange line is trending down to sort of This green shaded region which Represents Bitcoin season okay the red Shaded region is all coin season where All coins tend to out for outperform Bitcoin the green region is where Bitcoin tends to outform all coins now You should know though of course that Bitcoin season does not always mean that Bitcoin's price has to go up it could Like it did in 2019 you can see we were In Bitcoin season down here while the Price of Bitcoin is going up but Sometimes it could be Bitcoin season Because the price of Bitcoin is going Sideways and the altcoin market is going Down or it could be that Bitcoin is Going down but the altcoin market is Dropping quicker or it could be Bitcoins Going up and it's outperforming the Altcoin market the point of this chart

Is not to say the direction of the US Dollar valuation of Bitcoin but just to Say that it looks like the market is Trending in the direction of Bitcoin Showing relative strength with respect To the rest of the asset class okay well This is just one of those cyclical Indicators as well we saw we experienced The same type of Um you know Bitcoin season back in and Sort of the the middle part of 2022 and We've seen this many times before and I'm sure we'll see it many times again Hopefully these charts are useful thanks Again for having me I look forward to Being here next week Thank you Ben it's great to see you as Always and I'm so glad to be able to get Your take on things see you again next Week and that is all for today's coin Bureau weekly crypto review so if you Folks enjoyed it you know what to do hit That like button subscribe button and Bell icon too if you're looking to Maximize your gains during the bear Market the coin Bureau deals page is Where you should go you can find the Link to that resource and many others in The description below thank you all so Much for watching and I'll see you in Next week's episode