• Bitcoin has surged beyond $26,000 as investors expect lower interest rates and surging crypto prices.
• The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate sent shockwaves throughout the market, affecting USDC reserves and amplifying fears about solvency.
• However, the US government stepped in to guarantee deposits would be made whole, calming market panic and setting off a rally in crypto prices.

Bitcoin Surges Beyond $26K

Bitcoin has surged beyond $26,000 as interest rate expectations flip. Investors are dreaming of a return to a lower interest environment that could see crypto prices surge.

Inflation Reading Adds Momentum

The most recent inflation reading provided further impetus to the rally, with investors encouraged by potential for higher returns on risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Reasons For Suspicion

Despite the excitement surrounding this run-up, there are reasons to be hesitant here. The shutdown of three major crypto banks will hurt industry confidence while bearish developments have been seen since the start of the year. Furthermore, decoupling from other risk assets is unusual and has not been seen to this extent since 2021.

US Government Steps In To Shore Up Crisis

The US government stepped in to shore up the crisis and guarantee deposits would be made whole after SVB’s collapse last week was followed by Silvergate’s fall. This calmed market panic and set off a rebound in cryptocurrency prices.

Market Expects Fed To Halt Interest Rate Hikes

The banking sector wobble shifted market expectations surrounding future path of interest rate hikes causing Fed futures currently imply a 72% chance of no hike at next week’s meeting – encouraging investors who expect higher returns on risk assets such as cryptos

• Crypto and stocks reacted negatively to comments about US inflation by Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
• Bitcoin traded to lows of $22,120 while the S&P 500 fell 1%.
• Investors are now likely to turn their attention to the next Fed meeting in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Hints at Higher Rates

Cryptocurrencies, stocks, and bonds all reacted negatively after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted that interest rates could go up in order to combat higher than expected inflation. Bitcoin traded down towards support around $22,100 while the S&P 500 fell by 1%.

Market Reaction

During his testimony before Congress on Tuesday, Powell stated that recent economic data suggests the need for faster tightening which could lead to higher interest rates. This sent shockwaves through both the crypto and stock markets as investors sold off their positions. Ethereum also dropped towards support near $1,540 as investors weighed in on the news.

Economist’s Take

Economist Mohamed El-Erian pointed out how market participants had reacted to Powell’s comments and what they project for future monetary policy decisions from the Federal Reserve. He noted that despite dovish comments from the last press conference, Powell was now tilting more hawkish with his remarks—triggering sell-offs in stocks and bonds as investors awaited responses to questions from Congress members.

Next Meeting In March

Following these developments, investors will likely be looking ahead with anticipation at the next Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for March this year. At this time it is unclear what direction monetary policy will take but any changes made could have far-reaching implications across financial markets.

Conclusion

The reaction from cryptocurrencies, stocks and bonds after Jerome Powell’s hints of higher rates shows just how sensitive market participants can be when it comes to monetary policy decisions from central banks like The Fed. With a new meeting coming up soon investor sentiment is sure to remain volatile until then as markets wait for clarity on where policies may move going forward.

Summary of DeFi Growth in 2022

• User numbers for the DeFi sector increased by 31% quarter-on-quarter in 2022, despite the year-long crypto winter.
• Total value locked (TVL) is now below $40 billion as per DeFiLlama.
• Projects have used the crypto winter to build and improve their products, attracting more users and increasing user wallets across DeFi segments to more than 5 million people by Q3, 2022.

DeFi Sees 31% Jump in Users Despite Crypto Winter

The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector continues to attract more users with strong products and services across segments such as decentralised exchanges, lending protocols and staking. In 2021, user numbers skyrocketed 545% as cryptocurrencies boomed on the back of a staggering bull run. While DeFi statistics for 2022 show a decline in user growth amid the year-long crypto winter, the sector still witnessed a 31% increase in users quarter on quarter according to HashKey Capital’s latest report on DeFi growth.

Total Value Locked (TVL) Below $40 Billion

HashKey Capital analysts highlighted that not only is DeFi eating into traditional finance markets but it’s also curving its own new market – what they refer to as a „blue ocean market“. As of Q3 2020, total value locked (TVL) was below $40 billion as reported by DefiLlama while overall user wallets across various protocols had surpassed 5 million. It is estimated that this number will grow even further passing 5.5 million by Q4 2022 with an 8% projected growth rate during that time period.

Projects Use Crypto Winter To Build & Improve Products

A look at market prices shows that most assets in the space have plummeted in value and the DeFi index has shrunk by 76%, compared with a 65% decline for Ethereum. However, projects have used this time of uncertainty to build and improve their products which ultimately attracted more users and increased demand for decentralized finance solutions.

Conclusion

Overall, despite the crypto winter taking its toll on many assets within decentralised finance sectors such as TVL values shrinking substantially compared to last year’s highs; user numbers are still growing steadily with projections suggesting over 5 million wallets within this space before the end of 2022.

Bitcoin Breaks Above $25K

• Bitcoin price broke above $22,500 to new highs above $25,000 amid the hunt for short stops and liquidations.
• The move to $25k resulted from short liquidations of over $155 million.
• Analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex suggest that recent price movements could be indicative of a bottom.

Liquidations Fueled Breakout

Bitfinex analysts suggest that Bitcoin’s breakout from the $22,500 price level to highs above $25,000 was fueled by the massive liquidations recorded over the past few days. Commenting on BTC price outlook and what could lie awake in coming weeks they said: „Over the past two weeks, the BTC price has been hunting both over-leveraged long positions, as well as liquidating over-eager shorts of over $155 million. It reached an eight-month high of $25,000 in the process.“

Pullback Caught Out Bullish Speculators

A sharp but short-lived pullback caught out some short-term bullish speculators off-guard who were betting on a push to the upper $25,000-$26,000s on Thursday, February 16th according to Bitfinex analysts. Profit-taking in the wake of the recent rally and a stop-run on those who had gotten overly aggressive chasing the upside might well send Bitcoin back below $24,000 in the week ahead.“

Price Action Could Result In Ranged Movement

The action that has seen both longs and shorts have been simultaneously wiped off could result in ranged price movement according to Bitfinex analysts. This is due to traders taking profits following a rally or getting stopped out when prices reach key levels after an explosive move higher.

Short Term Outlook

Going forward it is likely that Bitcoin will continue its volatile swings with possible retracements followed by more bullish moves according to analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex.

• SEC ruling on BUSD has been called into question by Truflation CEO Stefan Rust, who believes the decision is politically motivated.
• Paxos, the US-regulated issuer of the stablecoin, was ordered to stop minting new BUSD by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
• Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said it would continue to support BUSD but could look at other alternatives as a main trading pair.

SEC Ruling on BUSD „Makes No Sense“

Stefan Rust, CEO of Truflation, has expressed his disbelief at the SEC’s ruling about BUSD being a security. The former Bitcoin.com CEO believes there’s a political angle to the action and noted that this could have been triggered by Binance freezing out USDC last year.

Paxos Ordered to Cease Issuing New Tokens

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued an order for Paxos – the issuer of BUSD – to cease issuing new tokens. In response to this order, Paxos announced that it would comply but also said that it would be terminating its relationship with Binance despite still maintaining that BUSD is not a security.

Truflation CEO Condemns SEC Ruling

Truflation CEO Stefan Rust believes that the SEC’s action against Paxos does not make sense legally and looks like it is politically motivated due to the diminishing trading volumes of USDC compared to USDT and BUSD. He further stated that any economy can be affected by large companies like BlackRock who have $10 trillion balance sheets.

Binance Continues To Support BUSD

Despite these developments, Binance still announced that it would continue supporting its own stablecoin -BUSD- but did state it could look at other alternatives as main trading pairs instead. It had previously looked into increasing use of this coin across its ecosystem including through providing no-fee trading on its trading pairs and offering auto conversion between USD Coin and Tether (USDT).

Conclusion:

Ultimately both Paxos and Stefan Rust are in disagreement with how they feel this situation should be handled legally however they both agree upon one thing: politically motivated decisions can have drastic effects on economies such as those with large balance sheets like BlackRock’s $10 trillion one.

• Metacade, a crypto gaming platform has seen a massive surge in interest and investment during its presale stages, with more than $4.9m of funding being raised.
• Experts predict that early investors could enjoy 10X gains in 2023 due to the platform’s ambitious white paper and the projected growth of the GameFi sector over the next five years.
• The value of MCADE is set to rise throughout the duration of the presale, culminating in a value of $0.02 per token as it prepares for its IDO.

Metacade’s Initial Presale Raises Over $4.9m

Investors searching for potential gains in 2023 have been wowed by the news that Metacade’s initial presale stages have sold out within a matter of weeks as bullish investors poured more than $4.9m of funding into the fledgling crypto gaming platform.

Potential 10X Gains for Early Investors

Forward-thinking investors and crypto gaming enthusiasts have been effusive in their early backing of Metacade during the presale, supporting the platform’s aim of delivering the most comprehensive range of online arcade games in the metaverse. With MCADE’s presale continuing to attract massive interest in subsequent presale rounds, some experts are predicting that early investors could enjoy 10X gains in 2023 due to Metacade’s vast long-term potential, set out in their comprehensive and ambitious white paper as well as projections for wider growth within GameFi over time.

MCADE Value Set to Rise Throughout Presales

Beginning at $0.008 per token in the beta phase, MCADE’s value is set to rise to $0.02 by the end of the ninth and final presale stage before launching on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) when buyers globally will likely scramble to get their hands on MCADE tokens.

Bullish Investors Expecting Huge Jumps In Value

Early investors are expected to maintain their HODLing, awaiting huge jumps in MCADE’s value once available on public markets – with some analysts expecting up 10X returns this year alone!

Investors Flocking To Get Their Hands On MCADE

With its promising white paper and strong potential for wide adoption within both casual gamers and those looking for financial gain through investing – it looks like savvy investors aren’t going to want to miss out on getting their hands on MCADE tokens before they go mainstream!

• 60% of institutional investors are bullish on Ethereum, believing it will be a better investment in 2023.
• Bitcoin is also seen as having huge potential, with other coins attracting institutional investors being Polkadot, Cardano and XRP.
• Speculative interest and exposure to distributed ledger technology are the main reasons for the increased interest.

Institutional investors have become increasingly bullish on Ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap gains more attention from major wealth managers, family offices, hedge funds and financial advisors. With its market worth nearly $190 billion, Ethereum is set to benefit from the growing interest, with some investors believing it is a better investment for 2023 than Bitcoin, which has a market cap of over $482 billion.

The sentiment shift is evident from the results of the latest Digital Asset Quarterly Fund Manager Survey conducted by digital assets manager CoinShares. According to the survey, 60% of respondents are bullish on Ethereum’s prospects in 2023, which is 20% more than the 40% that indicated a bullish outlook in October 2022.

The main reasons for the bullish sentiment appear to be speculative interest and exposure to distributed ledger technology. Many institutional investors are investing in Ethereum, Polkadot, Cardano and XRP as they believe these coins have the potential to generate long-term returns.

Given the increasing interest, it is not surprising that Ethereum is being viewed as a “safe haven” by some investors. The altcoin has been relatively stable compared to Bitcoin, which has seen its price swing wildly in the last few months. Ethereum’s price has also been increasing steadily, with its value rising from around $1,400 at the start of 2021 to nearly $2,400 currently.

Another factor that is driving institutional investors’ interest in Ethereum is its use for DeFi and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Ethereum-based protocols are making it easier for users to engage in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and NFTs, which are becoming increasingly popular. This is leading to increased demand for Ethereum and its related tokens, which may continue to drive its price up in the future.

Given the increasing bullish sentiment from institutional investors, it is likely that Ethereum will continue to attract more investors in the near future. As the cryptocurrency industry matures, the number of institutional investors entering the market is likely to continue to grow, which will further bolster Ethereum’s prospects.

• Yield App, a digital wealth platform, has acquired Trofi Group, a platform offering structured solutions for cryptocurrencies.
• This acquisition brings four new structured products to the Yield App product suite, and makes Yield App one of the leading digital wealth platforms.
• The team at Trofi Group boasts 30 years of experience in derivatives desks at JP Morgan and HSBC, and will join Yield App in building best-in-class crypto-structured products.

Yield App, a digital wealth platform that offers safe custody of digital assets and allows customers to exchange and earn on their assets at market-leading rates, has announced the acquisition of Trofi Group, a platform that offers structured solutions for cryptocurrencies. The acquisition adds four new structured products to Yield App’s product suite and further establishes Yield App as one of the leading digital wealth platforms.

The team at Trofi Group brings 30 years of experience in derivatives desks at JP Morgan and HSBC, and will join Yield App in building best-in-class crypto-structured products. Commenting on the acquisition, the CEO of Yield App, Tim Frost, said: “The acquisition of Trofi Group establishes Yield App as a pioneer within the crypto-structured products arena, making us one of only a few platforms to bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto. We are grateful to the team at Trofi for trusting us to continue their excellent work in bringing enhanced yield structured products to crypto. We look forward to leveraging their expertise to further develop our product suite.”

The move will enable Yield App customers to gain access to a wide range of structured products, which have become increasingly popular in the cryptocurrency space. These products are tailored to meet the individual needs of customers, allowing them to take advantage of a range of features such as leverage and diversification. The addition of these products to the Yield App platform will help customers to grow and diversify their portfolios.

The acquisition of Trofi Group is an important step for Yield App in its mission to become the world’s leading digital wealth platform. With the addition of these new structured products, Yield App customers can now gain access to a wide range of products that are tailored to meet their individual needs. The acquisition will also enable Yield App to offer a superior suite of products to its customers, further cementing its position as a leader in the digital wealth space.