Weekly Update: 3rd of April
What happened between the 27th of March and the 3rd of April?
Bitcoin fluctuated between $68,200 and $71,300 before experiencing a flash crash of 5%, liquidating over $165 million, causing Bitcoin to retrace to ~$64,500, however, the digital asset swiftly recovered to $66,000. Read more
Stablecoin issuer Tether acquired an additional $627 million worth of Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2024, bringing its Bitcoin holdings to over $5 billion. Read more
Founder and CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried is sentenced to 25 years in prison for his involvement. Read more
Since its launch on the 20th of March, BlackRock’s tokenized investment fund has amassed over $280M in assets under management, illustrating the strength of tokenization. Read more
Bitcoin experiences flash crash
During the week spanning from March 27th to April 3rd, Bitcoin displayed relatively low volatility, maintaining a price range of approximately $3,000. However, on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the digital asset underwent a correction of over 5%, resulting in a decline throughout the day. Currently priced at $66,000, Bitcoin is on an upward trend expected to persist throughout the year. However, in the short term, further market decline may occur.
Stablecoin issuer Tether boosts Bitcoin reserves
On March 31st, stablecoin issuer Tether acquired 8,888 Bitcoin worth ~$618 million. In May 2023, the firm announced that it would invest 15% of its profit into Bitcoin and has since slowly amassed a significant amount of Bitcoin. At the end of Q4, Tether acquired 8,888 Bitcoin as well, then for $380 million. Additionally, with the latest acquisition, Tether holds 75,354 Bitcoin worth approximately $5,2 billion, making it the seventh-largest Bitcoin holder in the world. Furthermore, Tether has a current unrealized profit of $2.94 billion.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in jail
On the 28th of March, founder and CEO of the infamous FTX exchange Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his involvement in the securities fraud conspiracy. Furthermore, SBF was ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture to the US government. The news was received with mixed emotions as many were happy that SBF would go to jail for a long time while others found the sentence mild as prosecutors asked for 40 to 50 years. Additionally, SBF plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.
BlackRock’s tokenized asset fund gains momentum
On the 20th of March, BlackRock launched its first tokenized investment fund, BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) on the Ethereum blockchain. The fund allows qualified investors who can invest a minimum of $100,000 to earn yield through cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. The fund is gaining significant momentum as over $280 million has already flowed into BUIDL, strengthening the Real-World Asset narrative which already was picking up momentum. Furthermore, the significant inflows bolster tokenization's potential, and we expect more asset managers to follow this trend.
In other digital assets news
Three artificial intelligence protocols; SingularityNet, Fetch.AI, and Ocean Protocol are reportedly discussing merging the protocols, potentially creating a new token with a fully diluted valuation of $7.5 billion.
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