First Mover Americas: Bankrupt With $1.4B Cash
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Top Stories
An attempt by defunct crypto trading firm Alameda Research to regain $446 million it transferred in loan repayments to bankrupt Voyager Digital has been rejected by both the creditors’ committee and Voyager itself, according to court filings. Voyager creditors argued that Alameda’s claims should either be equitably subordinated to all other creditor claims, or recharacterized as equity. The creditors said that Alameda’s “inequitable and fraudulent conduct” cost Voyager and the creditors between $114 million to $122 million.
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX had around $1.4 billion in cash as of the end of 2022, according to an interim financial update filed on Wednesday. The figure is around 19% higher than the $1.2 billion reported in November when FTX filed for bankruptcy. Among the various arms of Sam Bankman-Fried's fallen crypto empire, FTX US has $260 million in cash. Bankman-Fried has repeatedly claimed the U.S. wing is solvent. Last month he blogged that FTX US "had at least $111 million, and likely around $400 million, of excess cash on top of what was required to match customer balances."
ARK Invest maintains its prediction that bitcoin prices will hit $1 million by 2030. Fundamentals are sound despite a turbulent 2022, according to the ARK's 2023 Big Ideas research report. “Contagion caused by centralized counterparties has elevated Bitcoin’s value propositions: decentralization, auditability and transparency,” writes Cathie Wood and team. ARK backs up this claim by pointing to a higher hashrate, long-term holder supply, and addresses with a non-zero balance compared to the prior downturns.
Chart of the Day
The chart shows the dollar index's (DXY) 12-week percentage range of change since 1990.
The DXY has depreciated by 9% in the past 12 weeks, a steep decline that has brought cheer to risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
In the past, the U.S. dollar has bounced after sharp declines of the magnitude seen in recent weeks, meaning the rally in crypto markets could soon hit the wall.
– Omkar Godbole
