The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) have taken action against Silvergate Capital Corp., the holding company for Silvergate Bank, and its former executives for misleading investors and failing to monitor significant transactions. Silvergate has agreed to pay penalties without […]
Bitcoin News
Wasabi Wallet Lead Developer: ‘Bitcoin Developers Are Failing El Salvador’
Adam Ficsor, the lead developer of Wasabi Wallet, a privacy-centric Bitcoin wallet, has revealed his position regarding the slow adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador. In a recent interview, Ficsor stated that Bitcoin developers have failed El Salvador, having been unable to improve the situation of Bitcoin as a means of exchange, even with the […]
Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Retreats After Failing To Break Crucial $72,983 Resistance
Following the failure to break above the ,983 resistance level, the price of Bitcoin has continued to drop. Although Bitcoin’s price is still trading above the 1-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), this rejection has led to the crypto asset dropping from ,942 to ,785 and moving below the SMA both in the 1-hour and the 4-hour chart. This drop below the SMA could trigger a change of character and the price will go bearish.
As of the time of writing the price of Bitcoin was trading at around ,635 and was up by 0.14% with a market capitalization of over .3 trillion and a 24-hour trading volume of over billion. Its market capitalization and trading volume are both down by 1.14% and 6.07% respectively in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin Price Conditions In 4-Hour And 1-Day Chart
From the 4-hour timeframe, BTC has dropped below the simple moving average. This indicates that the price of BTC might begin to move downward from this point.
The 1-hour MACD also indicates that BTC could go bearish as the MACD histograms are trending below the zero line. Also, the MACD line and the signal have crossed each other trending below the MACD zero line.
From the 1-day chart, it can be observed that BTC‘s price is moving toward the 100-day simple moving average. The 1-day MACD also creates a formation suggesting that Bitcoin’s price might go bearish, as the histograms are already trending below the MACD zero line.
The MACD line and the MACD signal line have crossed each other and are heading toward the MACD zero line. Examining the price formations and that of MACD from both timeframes, BTC could make a huge drop and probably start a bearish trend.
A Path To New All-Time High On The Horizon?
Currently, there is one major resistance level ,203, and two major support levels ,146 and ,604. If the price of Bitcoin goes bearish as predicted, it will start to move downward toward the ,146 support level.
Should it break below this level, it could move further to test the ,604 support level. Also, there are other support levels below ,635, which BTC could move on to test if there is a break below the ,146 and ,604 support levels.
However, given that the digital asset fails to break below any of the support levels mentioned above, it will begin to move upward toward its previous resistance level of ,203. Meanwhile, if it breaks above this level, it might start a new rally possibly to create a new high.
Billionaire Barry Sternlicht Foresees Banks Failing Every Week in US
Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital Group, has voiced concerns about the vulnerability of regional and community banks in the U.S. to high interest rates and inflation, particularly amid the commercial real estate downturn. He forecasted frequent failures of these banks, predicting: “You’re gonna see your regional bank fail … every week, maybe two a […]
Bitcoin News
South Korea to Expel Crypto Exchanges Failing to Meet Its Stringent Conditions
Cryptocurrency exchanges that fail to meet South Korea’s stringent operating standards will be expelled from the crypto market, the country’s financial intelligence agency has said. The Financial Intelligence Unit said its annual work plan incorporates the insights of cryptocurrency experts serving on its advisory committees. South Korea to Deploy System for Identifying Suspicious Transactions South […]
Bitcoin News
Africa-Focused Remittances Fintech Zazuu Shut Downs After Failing to Secure Additional Funding
An Africa-focused remittances firm, Zazuu, has become the latest fintech startup to close shop after it failed to raise extra funding. Zazuu and other African fintechs’ funding problems are said to be linked to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S.
Zazuu Shuts Down Just Over a Year After Raising Million
Zazuu, an Africa-focused cross-border remittances fintech startup, recently said its inability to secure additional funding had forced it to shut down. The startup’s decision to close shop come just over a year after it raised million from investors that included Launch Africa, Founders Factory, and rapper Tinie Tempah.
In a Linkedin post explaining the “difficult news,” Zazuu said it had worked hard to make cross-border money transfers “fair.” However, the funding climate ultimately made it impossible for the startup to continue operating.
“With the support of our investors and team, we made huge strides – securing regulatory approvals, building our products, and laying the groundwork for future growth.
However, due to a tough funding climate, we failed to secure [a] growth funding
round. We explored every option before making this decision,” Zazuu said in a statement.
According to a Techcabal report, Zazuu is the latest fintech startup in 2023 to cite funding challenges as the primary reason for closing shop. Lazerpay, Paystack, and Vibra are some of the fintech firms which have either shut down or scaled down operations due to funding challenges.
African Fintechs ‘Need Favourable Funding’
Meanwhile, in his reaction to Zazuu’s announcement, Linkedin user and entrepreneur Ogar Phil Blaize suggested that the closure could be linked to the demise of the Silicon Valley Bank. Before its collapse, the bank had primarily focused on supporting tech businesses both in and outside the U.S. However, in his Nov. 20 post, the Linkedin user implied that there has been no bank focused on supporting African fintechs since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.
Therefore, in order to end the cycle of African fintechs shutting down due to lack of funding, Blaize said:
“Many startups affected with this dilemma, especially African startups will need favourable funding again to stand up else now or later we will be hearing more shut down.”
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Dogecoin Poised For A Deep Pullback After Failing To Hold Key Resistance, Analyst
Following a futile fight to break the .07 resistance, Dogecoin (DOGE) appears poised for a big drop. This was a warning in an October 31 X post by prominent crypto analyst Rekt Capital to his nearly 400,000 followers.
According to the analyst, despite its notable rally last week, DOGE failed to break its diagonal resistance, which resisted its ascent for several months. As a result of this failure, DogeCoin’s price might decline significantly soon.
Rekt Capital Analysis: DogeCoin’s Complex Weekly Close Below Resistance
From Rekt Capital’s analytic chart, Dogecoin (DOGE) has had a tricky week. It recorded notable upswings but closed below a significant resistance level at the price channel top. The analyst marked the meme coin’s closing price with a circle, as seen on the chart below.
This setup suggests that DOGE’s anticipated big upswing might encounter delays, the analyst said in the Twitter post. He added that, in the past, when this has happened, DogeCoin’s price declined significantly.
This means that the DOGE breakout is postponed. Previous weekly closes like this -> downside, Rekt Capital remarked.
However, despite the high likelihood of a decline, the analyst believes there’s hope for DOGE. Rekt said, “If DOGE can hold the highs and reclaim the channel top as support – there may still be a chance.”
Based on Rekt’s chart, to confirm a bullish trend, the DOGE .07 resistance needs to change to a support level on the weekly timeframe.
Ali Martinez’s Bullish Analysis: Dogecoin’s Promising Breakout
Recently, another crypto expert, Ali Martinez, made an optimistic prediction about Dogecoin. The analyst shared a chart on the X platform showing that the meme coin has broken out of a long-term pattern. According to Martinez, this happened when the overall cryptocurrency market trend shifted upwards.
Also, Martinez highlighted that a special TD Sequential indicator gives a BUY signal on DOGE. According to the analyst, this signal strengthens the positive outlook for the cryptocurrency. In context, this indicator helps traders figure out if an asset’s price might change direction.
Meanwhile, Dogecoin has formed two consecutive bullish higher-high candles on the weekly chart. The setup confirms that DOGE indeed broke free from the previous pattern.
In line with Rekt’s analysis, if the market keeps up this pace, the price could increase significantly. As of the time of writing, DOGE is trading at .0665; the coin is down by almost 4% in the past 24 hours. However, over the last seven days, Dogecoin has gained more than 1%, with a 12% 14-day increase.
Swedbank Strategist Says US Banking Crisis Is Spreading — Warns of More Banks Failing in ‘Vicious Spiral’
A strategist at Swedbank, a Swedish bank, has warned that the regional banking crisis in the U.S. is spreading. After several bank failures, he stressed that Pacwest Bank, Western Alliance Bank, and First Horizon Bank have all been “subject to financial meltdowns.”
Swedbank on U.S. Banking Crisis Spreading
Pär Magnusson, a fixed income strategist at Swedbank, a Swedish bank based in Stockholm, has warned about the spreading of the U.S. banking crisis. He reportedly said:
After Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank and now potentially Pacwest Bank, Western Alliance Bank, and First Horizon Bank all having been subject to financial meltdowns, the proverbial cat will be very difficult to put back into the bag.
First Republic Bank was seized by regulators last week and most of its assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase. It was the biggest U.S. bank failure since 2008. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed in March. Following the seizure of First Republic Bank, shares of several banks, including Pacwest and Western Alliance Bank, plummeted.
“It is hard not to see the irony of regional U.S. banks having successfully lobbied for less regulations during the Trump administration only to find that less regulations now is making them vulnerable to bank runs,” Magnusson opined.
The Swedbank strategist further cautioned:
The U.S. regional bank crisis is spreading. With every bank that succumbs to shrinking deposits and/or market distrust, the probability of more banks falling victim to similar fates grows. A vicious spiral may be about to take hold.
“A general risk-off reaction is becoming increasingly likely, and you should position for this risk,” the strategist concluded.
Despite multiple bank failures, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the U.S. banking system is “sound and resilient” as Fed officials raised interest rates by 25 basis points this week. The Federal Reserve recently revealed that 722 banks reported unrealized losses exceeding 50% of capital in the third quarter of 2022.
Do you agree with the Swedbank strategist that the U.S. banking crisis is spreading? Let us know in the comments section below.
Nigerian Crypto and Web3 Startup Lazerpay Shuts Down After Failing to ‘Close a Successful Funding Round’
The Nigerian crypto and Web3 startup Lazerpay announced on April 13 that it will cease operations. Co-founder and CEO Njoku Emmanuel said the decision to cease operations was made after Lazerpay failed to successfully close a funding round. The CEO also said he is ready to listen to offers from companies that may want to acquire the startup’s intellectual property (IP).
Stablecoin Payments
Lazerpay, a Nigerian crypto and Web3 startup, announced on April 13 that it will cease operations and has asked merchants to withdraw their funds before the end of the month. According to a statement shared by the startup’s co-founder and CEO Njoku Emmanuel on Twitter, Lazerpay’s failure to close a successful funding round proved to be the last straw.
Launched in 2021 with the objective of helping merchants convert their crypto to fiat and vice versa, Lazerpay is reported to have helped over 3,000 businesses accept payments in stablecoins. In addition, the startup claimed to have established a network of individuals that made its work “so rewarding.”
Statement from Njoku Emmanuel, CEO and Co-Founder, Lazerpay. pic.twitter.com/UvBGMlKAgn
— Lazerpay Finance (@lazerpay) April 13, 2023
However, despite these achievements, the CEO said in the statement that Lazerpay’s inability to secure adequate funding meant it could not continue operating. The statement however said the Lazerpay team stands ready to help members of its community that may have “questions or concerns.”
Lazerpay’s IP up for Sale
In the same statement, Emmanuel also said he is ready to listen to offers from companies that may want to acquire Lazerpay’s domain.
“We welcome offers from companies who are interested in purchasing Lazerpay’s IP and who would like to continue building the future of crypto payments. We are more than happy to talk further about how our technology works, how we can help you set up to build or integrate with it,” the CEO said.
The Lazerpay boss ends the statement by expressing his optimism about the future of crypto.
Meanwhile, a report in Techcabal has said Lazerpay’s attempts to resize its business by laying off some employees in Nov. 2022 proved that such a step was not enough. The report also suggested that Lazerpay may have failed to raise funds because of investors shying away from African crypto startups.
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SEC-retly Failing: How the SEC Is Letting Crypto Down
When Gary Gensler (ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker) was announced as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February 2021, the crypto industry saw a glimpse of hope. After all, the man in charge of regulating the industry was a “crypto native,” having taught a course on the subject at MIT. However, two years later, it’s clear that Gary has been a big letdown for the industry as the SEC failed to identify major frauds and protect investors.
The following opinion editorial was written by Joseph Collement, General Counsel at Bitcoin.com.
This should not come as a surprise, as history shows that the SEC is as effective as a screen door on a submarine when it comes to protecting investors. They’re supposed to be the watchdogs of Wall Street, but they’re more like the lapdogs of Wall Street.
Take the collapse of Enron in 2001 as an example. The SEC did not formally review the company’s cooked financial statements for at least three years prior to its downfall. Six years later, the SEC’s complete laissez-faire approach toward Wall Street led to the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the years leading up to the 07-08 collapse, experts and whistleblowers were warning about the dangers of subprime mortgages and the risky practices of lenders. Despite its power to monitor investment banks, the SEC did not take any meaningful steps to protect millions of investors.
Then there’s the Madoff Ponzi scheme, the man who stole billions of dollars from unsuspecting investors for decades. The SEC conducted multiple investigations into Madoff’s business practices, but they failed to uncover the fraud. Madoff was able to continue his scheme for decades until the bubble burst in 2008. It’s worth noting that Madoff sat on SEC advisory committees while he was running his Ponzi scheme.
And now, we have the collapse of FTX and Alameda, which left hundreds of thousands of customers out of pocket. Despite clear signs, the SEC had the chance to intervene, but they didn’t. Instead, they met with SBF behind closed doors for private discussions. This is especially noteworthy considering that Alameda’s CEO’s dad, Glen Ellison, was Gary’s boss at MIT.
So, why does the SEC keep failing us? One reason could be that they’re too focused on small, insignificant cases, instead of focusing on the big, systemic issues. When you’re a bully, it’s easier to pick on the smaller kid at school. For example, we’ve seen the SEC go after relatively small projects for technical violations of securities laws (think LBRY) while failing to intervene in major frauds such as FTX. The SEC knows smaller projects do not have the resources to fight them, so it’s an easy win for them and great PR. This is not to say small cases should be ignored, but rather that the SEC should be able to balance both.
A different rationale could be that the SEC is not properly equipped or staffed to handle these complex cases. The SEC’s budget and staffing levels have remained relatively stagnant in recent years when compared to the exponential growth of crypto markets since 2017. This may have left them struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of change.
Another explanation could be that the SEC has been captured by the industry it regulates. It is no secret that the SEC has close ties with the financial industry. In fact, many of the SEC’s top officials come from Wall Street firms, and they often return to the industry after leaving the SEC (think Mary Jo White, ex-head of the SEC, now representing Ripple against the SEC). This revolving door undoubtedly creates a conflict of interest and can lead to a lack of oversight of the industry. It’s also not impossible to imagine that someone in the government was influenced by FTX. This would explain why SBF was not investigated prior to FTX’s collapse and the reason why he essentially walked out of court as a free man post-bond hearing.
Finally, there could be a lack of political will to hold the SEC accountable. The SEC is an independent agency, but it ultimately answers to Congress and the President. Unfortunately, politicians are often more interested in scoring political points than in addressing the real problems facing the securities markets.
Whatever the reason may be, the fact remains that the SEC keeps dropping the ball. It is imperative that the public calls for accountability from our government agencies. We need an SEC that operates without political bias and fearlessly takes on the elite to guard investors from exploitation.
What do you think should be done to ensure that the SEC operates without bias and effectively protects investors in the crypto industry? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.