Hodler’s Digest, January 28 – February 3 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

Spot Bitcoin ETFs add 151K BTC amid GBTC dump in January

The Greyscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) sold Bitcoin strongly in January. According to public holdings data tracked by Cointelegraph, GBTC dumped a total of 132,195 Bitcoin (BTC) last month, reducing its Bitcoin holdings by 21% to 487,025 BTC on January 31. The remaining nine funds add up to the total and are actively monitored. 151,006 Bitcoin since the first trading day. Non-GBTC ETFs increased their holdings by over 700% to 169,396 BTC in January. Despite the GBTC selloff, total bitcoin held by the 10point Bitcoin ETF rose 3% to 656,421 BTC, worth $27.7 billion.

Celsius emerges from bankruptcy, begins repaying more than $3B to creditors

Celsius has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States and is set to begin distributing $3 billion worth of crypto and fiat to creditors, along with launching a new Bitcoin mining company. In a January 31 press release, the crypto lender said the bankruptcy filing will see the creation of Ionic Digital, a Bitcoin mining company managed by Hut 8 and led by Hut 8 Chief Commercial Officer Matt Prusak. 98% of Celsius' creditors have agreed to the bankruptcy exit plan, which comes 18 months after it ends bankruptcy in June 2022 and 18 months after it files for bankruptcy.

$900M in proprietary tokens are set to be released in February.

According to data provider Token Unlocks, the digital asset market is pushing for the release of nearly $900 million worth of proprietary tokens in February. Among the tokens to be released are Avalanche, Aptos (APT), Sandbox (SAND), Optimism (OP) and Sui (SUI). Avalanche is set to release 9.5 million tokens, Aptos plans to release 24.8 million. The sandbox is scheduled to unlock a significant 209 million tokens. Optimism and Sui will also participate, releasing 24 million OP tokens and unlocking 53 million Sui tokens.

FTX plans to pay customers in full but not to restart exchange, bankruptcy attorney says

The restructuring plans of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX did not include a “reboot” of the company, but focused on paying customers in full. In a January 31 hearing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said that the exchange can “carefully predict” that it will fully pay users and creditors, but that this is a “goal” and not a “guarantee.” There were no plans to relaunch FTX in the current Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, he said, “after a painstaking effort.”

Argentina embraces crypto regularization in new economic reforms

The option to legalize crypto holdings, while tax returns are out of date, has been dropped from a major reform package that Argentina's new President Javier Malé's government has introduced in the country's parliament. According to local media reports, the clause on property regularization was cut from the omnibus bill to launch Melee's policy agenda, which proposes a one-time tax on various undisclosed properties. The normalization plan includes cryptocurrencies and other assets such as real estate, personal property, stocks, and securities. According to Interior Minister Guillermo Francos, the title was removed from the bill because it could delay the legislative process.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $42,980, Ether (ETH) at $2,297 and XRP at $0.50. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $1.65 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Chainlink (LINK) at 26.96%, Pyth Network (PYTH) at 24.95% and Ronin (RON) at 22.70%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Jupiter (JUP) at -61.88%, FTX Token (FTT) at -30.55% and OKB (OKB) at -11.70%.

Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“True decentralization gives national governments, corporations and citizens confidence that they can trust the chain.”

Superfiz, anonymous developer of the Ethereum community

“If Mr. Banman-Fried left it in the dumps, the costs and risks involved in creating a good exchange were too great.”

Andy Dietrich, FTX attorney and partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

“Historically, investors who have bought and held Bitcoin have profited for at least 5 years regardless of their purchase.”

ARK Invest

“So, for blockchain, the way I think about it is, basically, a collaborative technology. […] At the most basic level, this is what inspires me about blockchains.

Sam Blackshear, Chief Technology Officer at Misten Labs

“It's a sign of health, a sign of validation. Bitcoin is definitely more recognizable, and the name is getting out there.

Paul Sztorc, Bitcoin Drivechain supporter

” of [SEC] A policy of denying defendants their right to public criticism after a settlement is signed is unnecessary, undermines regulatory integrity, and raises First Amendment issues.

US Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Pearce

Forecast of the week

BTC Price Shows 60k ‘Potential' As MVRV Metric Copies Bitcoin Bull Cycles

Bitcoin may be struggling on lower timeframes following the release of a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), but the picture is looking brighter with a boost. In a January 30th post on X, popular social media analyst Ali Tariq repeated himself on the popular BTC price indicator.

For Ali, one of the many encouraging signs comes from the Market Value to Virtual Value (MVRV) measure — a popular tool used by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode to measure what Bitcoin's “fair value” calls.

Currently, the BTC/USD MVRV is focusing on the average level, crossing the top and bottom in both 2016 and 2020. “In past bull markets, Bitcoin bounced back strongly after touching the average MVRV price band,” Ali wrote in accompanying comments. “We are seeing a similar pattern now. A recent breakout from the average MVRV at $40,500 in $BTC to the 1.0 standard deviation line at $60,000 is likely!”

FUD of the week

Binance claims the code is ‘outdated' on GitHub, with little risk.

Crypto exchange Binance has denied reports that “highly sensitive” internal passwords and code were exposed on GitHub for months – the code was outdated and caused a “negligible risk”. According to a January 31 report from 404 Media, there was a cache of “code, infrastructure diagrams, internal passwords and other technical information,” including information on how the exchange handles passwords and multi-factor authentication. A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the person “shared very old information on GitHub.

Ripple Chairman Chris Larson Hacked For 213M XRP Worth Approximately $112.5M

Chris Larson, the founder and executive chairman of Ripple, had his personal accounts hacked on January 31. The news was first reported by anonymous crypto analyst ZachXBT, and it was initially thought that the company itself had been hacked. Larson didn't confirm the amounts, but according to ZachXBT, the breach netted 213 million XRP, which is roughly $112.5 million at the time of the event. The attacker attempted to launder XRP through at least six different exchanges, including MEXC, Gate.io, Binance, Kraken, OKX, HTX and HitBTC. Binance later recovered $4.2 million worth of XRP from the hack.

Hyperverse alleges $1.7B ‘Ponzi' promises HK listing, hires fake CEO.

At least two people were involved in a $1.7 billion cryptocurrency scam that once promised investors a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange and hired an actor to play the company's CEO. On January 29, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicted Shue Lee (aka Sam Lee) and Brenda “Bitcoin Beautee” Chunga for their involvement in the scheme, which went by several names such as HyperFund, HyperVerse and HyperTech. A third person, promoter Rodney Burton, was also charged by prosecutors.

The best magazine sections of the week

‘Treat your first NFT purchase as a first day' – NFT collector Suzanne.

NFT collector Suzanne has an impressive collection of Pudgy Penguins, Cryptopunks and Fidenzas – but advises noobs not to get too excited.

Polygon's Lost Mathematical Secret: Everyone's Doing It, Says ChainArgos

Blockchain data suggests that there is a 400-million-MATIC hole in Polygon's staking address, but ChainArgos also got everyone's token allocation wrong.

Nick Carter vs Bitcoin Maxis, ‘No Regrets' for Losing $10M DOGE: X Hall of Flame

Nick Carter says he has “no regrets” about losing his $10 million hard drive at DOGE or messing up the Bitcoin Maxis: X Hall of Flame.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.