Crypto Market Update, episode 16 with “Crypto Mark” from SwapAcross (formerly X528) (CBP 418, 31 December 2023)

This is the 16th episode of the Crypto Market update with Mark Magliocco, co-founder of SwapAcross (formerly known as X528 DAO) and Allen Wazny, host of the Calgary Business Podcast and Partner/CFO of Purpose Driven Travel in Calgary.

All discussions in this episode are for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services

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Yahoo Finance and Bitcoin trading charts.  

As is customary, Mark opened the discussion by sharing his knowledge and understanding of reading the technical charts around the price of Bitcoin | https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/BTC-USD

We also highlighted the price of Bitcoin on 30 December between 2017 and 2023 courtesy of the team at CoinMarketCap:

30 December 2023: US $42,250

30 December 2022: US $16,547

30 December 2021: US $46,306

30 December 2020: US $29,002

30 December 2019: US $7,194

30 December 2018: US $3,743

30 December 2017: US $14,156 

To track all historical prices of BTC and other crypto currencies, click on the link to the CoinMarketCap website: https://coinmarketcap.com

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2023 Year in Crypto

Mark referenced the 25 December 2023 article published by The Block titled “From SBF to Taylor Swift, BlackRock, CZ and Binance: The top crypto stories of 2023” with some notable takeaways: 

USDC Stablecoin

The key issue related to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the exposure that the fintech giant, Circle, had to the bank resulting in massive sell-off of its stablecoin, USDC and a 15% drop in the coin’s market cap within a 24-hour period.

Taylor Swift and FTX

Unlike notable football hall of famer, Tom Brady, and NBA great, Shaquille O’Neal, Taylor Swift did not sign on to promote FTX.  It seems that Swift-enomics kicked in and some due diligence was performed prior to the decision, unlike other celebrity influence

BlackRock and Bitcoin ETF

In June of 2023, BlackRock filed a registration with the SEC for its spot bitcoin ETF, known as the iShares Bitcoin Trust.  Other notable investment firms, including Franklin Templeton, VanEck and Fidelity, are reportedly also seeking approval for a spot bitcoin ETF

Binance and Changpeng Zhao (“CZ”)

Binance and the US Department of Justice settled for $4.3 billion after the DOJ commenced a criminal investigation alleging money laundering and sanctions violations. As part of the plea deal, CZ agreed to step down as CEO of Binance and pay a $50 million fine after pleading guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. 

Link to The Block article: https://www.theblock.co/post/265652/sbf-taylor-swift-blackrock-cz-binance-top-crypto-stories-2023

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Celsius bankruptcy 

Celsius actually declared bankruptcy in July 2022 but continued to form part of the 2023 crypto narrative alongside other notable bankruptcies such as Three Arrows Capital and Genesis (founded by Barry Silbert).  

We discussed the back story to Celsius and the founder of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky and a spring 2018 conference with Alex on stage with anti-crypto influencer, Nouriel Roubini (or “Dr. Doom” ) and Bill Barhydt (founder of Abra Global).  Alex rebutted Nouriel’s claims of "99% of crypto land is one shitcoin traded for another shitcoin…"

Link to Yahoo Finance article of October 2018 titled