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Binance CEO CZ Steps Down: What comes next?
Staying informed on the latest movements in the Cryptocurrency market.
Sunday is upon us.
Welcome to another exciting edition of The Merge.
It's that time of the week when we bring you the freshest insights and the latest tools to equip you for the crypto world.
This Week’s Roundup:
Binance CEO CZ Steps Down: What comes next?
Bridging Traditions with Technology: FCA Green Lights Tokenised Funds
A Tale of Resilience: Celsius Network pivots to Bitcoin Mining
A Twist in the Tale: KyberSwap Hacker Offers $4.6 Million Bounty for Return of Loot
Read Time: 6 Minutes
Latest Developments
Binance CEO CZ Steps Down: What comes next?
Background:
This week we have bid farewell to an industry titan, CZ or Changpeng Zhao, who helped bring the cryptocurrency industry to the forefront of what it is today.
Binance has grown to become the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world over the last few years under the leadership of CEO Changpeng Zhao, estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars in value.
However, with the rapid growth and expansion that Binance has experienced comes more scrutiny. Especially from the US Government, which has built up evidence against CZ & Binance over the last few years as a criminal investigation unfolded.
The investigation focused on aspects of the exchange's operations, including money laundering and supposedly turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions with terrorists, including ISIS and the recent case of the war in Gaza with Hamas rebels.
This multi-year case all came to a head over the last few weeks and ultimately has led to a $4 Billion settlement fee that Binance have to pay to the US Government and CZ stepping down from CEO as the investigation concludes.
When It's Happening:
Reports on discussions about CZ's potential departure surfaced on November 21, 2023, and he announced on X the following day that he was indeed stepping down, with Richard Teng stepping up to take his place as CEO.
Why It's Important to Investors:
Leadership changes in a major crypto exchange like Binance can have significant implications for users and the broader market.
Investors are closely watching this development as it could influence Binance's strategic direction, operational policies, and overall market confidence.
The resolution of the investigation will likely bring clarity to the regulatory landscape, impacting investor sentiment.
Bridging Traditions with Technology: FCA Greenlight for Tokenised Funds
image from: ftadvisor.com
Background:
In a landmark move, British investment managers have received approval to launch tokenized funds. This development signifies a merging of traditional finance with blockchain technology, opening new possibilities for asset tokenisation.
When It's Happening:
The green light for tokenised funds was granted earlier this week on November 24th.
Why It's Important to Investors:
Tokenised funds offer a novel way for investors to access and manage assets. The approval of such funds demonstrates the growing acceptance of blockchain in traditional finance, providing investors with diversified opportunities.
Monitoring the performance and reception of these funds will be crucial for investors exploring innovative investment avenues in the future.
Ultimately this is positive for UK adoption of digital assets and wider cryptocurrencies, bringing with it more adoption from institutions and the retail space.
Celsius Network Pivots to Bitcoin Mining After Bankruptcy: A Tale of Resilience?
image from: ilcittadinomb.it
Background:
Celsius Network, a prominent crypto lending platform, has decided to pivot into Bitcoin mining following a period of bankruptcy. This strategic move showcases the company's resilience and adaptability in navigating challenges.
When It's Happening:
This announcement was made by Celsius at the start of this week on November 21st.
Why It's Important to Investors:
The crypto industry is dynamic, and the ability of a platform to pivot strategically speaks to its longevity.
Celsius has seemingly put aside the problems that it faced earlier after declaring bankruptcy this year and is aiming to step one foot in the right direction.
Investors should follow how this move impacts Celsius Network's overall business model, user experience, and potential for sustained growth. The success of this pivot could influence similar strategic decisions across the industry.
KyberSwap Hacker Offers $4.6 Million Bounty for Return of Loot: A Twist in the Tale
image from: cointelegraph.com
Background:
In a surprising turn of events, the hacker responsible for the KyberSwap exploit has offered a $4.6 million bounty for the return of the $46 million stolen funds. This unexpected development adds a layer of complexity to an already high-profile crypto hack.
When It's Happening:
On Nov. 23, KyberSwap alerted users that its liquidity solution, KyberSwap Elastic, was compromised and advised them to withdraw funds.
In the meantime, on Nov. 22, the hacker made away with roughly $20 million in Wrapped Ether (wETH), $7 million in wrapped Lido-staked Ether (wstETH) and $4 million in Arbitrum (ARB) tokens.
The offer for a bounty was extended recently, injecting a new twist into the ongoing investigation.
After hiding the stolen funds, the hacker wrote an on-chain message directed to KyberSwap developers, employees, decentralised autonomous organisation members and liquidity providers, stating, “Negotiations will start in a few hours when I am fully rested.”
Following a day’s silence from both ends, KyberSwap responded to the hacker requesting the return of 90% of the stolen funds.
The attacker then repeated this exploit against other Kyberswap pools on multiple networks, eventually getting away with $46 million in crypto loot.
Why It's Important to Investors:
Cybersecurity is a critical concern in the crypto space. This unconventional approach by the hacker introduces an ethical dimension to the incident.
Investors should closely follow the resolution of this case as it may influence discussions around responsible disclosure and the handling of stolen funds in the crypto ecosystem.
It emphasises the importance of secure practices and ethical behaviour within the industry and more importantly the dangers of users keeping their funds stored in Liquidity Pools! Stay safe.
Latest Tools to Use
📈 TradingView: The go-to platform for advanced chart analysis and market insights (link)
🦙 DefiLlama: Analytics dashboard which shows the Total Value Locked (TVL) across all of the major DeFI protocols (link)
🦎 CoinGecko: Keep up to date with prices, trading volumes, and crucial crypto data (link)
💰 Staking Calculator: Calculate current rewards and future run scenarios to estimate future returns of different tokens (link)
🪙 Token Terminal: A platform that aggregates financial and alternative data on blockchains and decentralised applications that run on blockchains (link)
🧾 CryptoTaxCalculator: Simplify tax reporting and stay compliant with this useful tool (link)
Keep your finger on the pulse of these developments and explore the latest tools to make your crypto journey more productive.
Key Indicators
MVRV
The MVRV Z-Score uses blockchain analysis to identify periods where bitcoin is significantly over or undervalued relative to its ‘fair value’.
It can be a good sign to an investor/trader of when to buy or sell. You can read more in detail about how it can be used here.
Current MVRV Score: 0.53
As of 23:00 on 25/11/23
TOP SIGNAL: MVRV>1 (3.5+) A higher number of larger unrealised profitability of BTC holders and subsequent selling might occur. | BOTTOM SIGNAL: MVRV<1 A lower number with fewer holders that are in a position of unrealised losses. |
Fear and Greed
Investors need to be cautious of their own nature as their emotions could cloud their rational decision-making and judgement.
This Index is a collection of sources to track the general sentiment of the crypto market.
Current Fear & Greed Index:
As of 23:00 on 25/11/23
Extreme fear can be a sign that investors are too worried. That could be a buying opportunity.
When Investors are getting too greedy, that means the market is due for a correction.
Quote of the Week:
If you aren't thinking about owning something for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes.
Free Alpha
That’s all from us this week, before we let you go here are some of our favourite Twitter pages:
Shout us out if you find them valuable (we’re sure you will):
Just remember if you’re reading this, we’re so early in this journey of technology.
Zoom out, stick to your intuition and have patience - all great things come with time.
Wrapping Up
As always, we'll be back next week with more insights and updates from the crypto universe.
If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover in future newsletters, feel free to reach out.
Stay connected with The Merge:
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please conduct your own research before making any investment decisions.
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