Bitcoin has bounced back from a 12-day decline after hitting a $17,600 low and is now trading close to the $20,000 mark as it leads a swift turnaround in the cryptocurrency market. The cryptocurrency is up 8.2% in the last 24 hours.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research has stepped in to prevent further contagion in the cryptocurrency space during the ongoing bear market, at a time in which numerous crypto companies face liquidity issues as a result of the collapse of UST and other macroeconomic factors.

Celsius Network’s lead investors, BnkToTheFuture, and its co-founder, Simon Dixon, have offered to assist the platform through a financial recovery plan similar to the one used by cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex after its Bitcoin hack back in August 2016.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Bounces Back to $20,000 After 12-Day Slide
• Alameda Steps in to ‘Stem Contagion’ Amid Crypto Collapse
• Lead Celsius Network Investor Proposes Recovery Plan
• FTX Overtakes Coinbase, OKX in Spot Trading Volume in May 2022

Bitcoin Bounces Back to $20,000 After 12-Day Slide

Bitcoin has bounced back from a 12-day decline after hitting a $17,600 low and is now trading close to the $20,000 mark as it leads a swift turnaround in the cryptocurrency market. The cryptocurrency is up 8.2% in the last 24 hours.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, has also risen over 11% in the past 24 hours - bouncing back from a low near $880. Other altcoins including Solana, Binance coin, and Litecoin have also enjoyed significant gains.

Paul Veradittakit, a partner at crypto-focused hedge fund Pantera Capital, was quoted saying that he believes we “started to hit levels near the bottom where institutional investors see a buying opportunity.”

Analysts have warned the recovery may be brief, as monetary tightening keeps providing macro headwinds and crises within the crypto industry. Katie Stockton, managing partner and founder of Fairlead Strategies, said that consecutive weekly losses below $18,300 would increase the risk of a fall toward $13,900.

Crypto prices have been affected by a mix of bad news cycles and growing interest rates. These factors influenced the space, which was battered by UST’s fall from grace, along with crypto lender Celsius freezing withdrawals, and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital suffering large losses that forced it to consider asset sales or bailout.

Alameda Steps in to ‘Stem Contagion’ Amid Crypto Collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research has stepped in to prevent further contagion in the cryptocurrency space during the ongoing bear market, at a time in which numerous crypto companies face liquidity issues as a result of the collapse of UST and other macroeconomic factors.

Celsius Network and Three Arrows Capital are both said to be on the brink of insolvency, with their collapse potentially affecting other entities in the space.

In an interview with NPR, Sam Bankman-Fried said that given the stature of his firms Alameda and FTX, he believes they have a “responsibility to seriously consider stepping in, even if it at a less to ourselves, to stem contagion.” Sam Bankman-Fried said:

“Even if we weren't the ones who caused it, or weren't involved in it. I think that's what's healthy for the ecosystem, and I want to do what can help it grow and thrive."

The CEO noted his companies have done this in the past when FTX provided Japanese crypto exchange Liquid $120 million in financing after the exchange saw hackers steal nearly $100 million from it.

Alameda has notably already stepped in, as it signed a non-binding term sheet with crypto broker Voyager Digital. The firm is giving the crypto broker a revolving line of credit to safeguard customers’ assets.

The loan includes a cash/USDC-based line of credit with an aggregate principal amount of $200 million, with a 15,000 BTC revolving credit facility. Voyager is set to only use the credit facilities if needed to safeguard customer assets.

Lead Celsius Network Investor Proposes Recovery Plan

Celsius Network’s lead investors, BnkToTheFuture, and its co-founder, Simon Dixon, have offered to assist the platform through a financial recovery plan similar to the one used by cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex after its Bitcoin hack back in August 2016.

Dixon shared a statement that did not include specific details, but noted it would be similar to the one Bitfinex used that was resolved within nine months. Believing traditional finance would lead to an untimely solution for Celsius network the way it has been with Mt. Gox – which remains unresolved 10 years later – Dixon said:

“I believe that this can only be solved with a solution using financial innovation like we did with Bitfinex that was resolved within 9 months and worked out very well for depositors.”

BnkToTheFuture is a global online investment platform allowing users to invest in fintech companies and other alternative financial products. In June 2020, Celsius launched an equity offering with the investment platform, where it raised $20.46 million from 1039 investors.

After being hacked for around 120,000 BTC back in 2016, Bitfinex issued “promises to repay” in the form of BFX tokens to customers. The tokens represented the value lost in the hack and were tradeable on the open market. BnkToTheFuture added to the solution at the time, allowing BFX tokens to be converted into equity in Bitfinex.

FTX Overtakes Coinbase, OKX in Spot Trading Volume in May 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading platform FTX has managed to overtake two major cryptocurrency exchanges in spot trading last month: Coinbase and OKX. FTX overtook these exchanges after seeing its volume rise 90% from the month prior.

As detailed in CryptoCompare’s May 2022 Exchange Review, FTX’s trading volume surged 80.8% to $69.4 billion, making it the second-largest cryptocurrency trading platform by spot volume behind Binance, which saw its trading volume rise 14.3% to $532 billion last month. Binance commands a market share of 50.9%.

FTX also managed to overtake OKX as its trading volume plunged 29.4% to  $82.1 billion. Coinbase put up a fight, however, with its trading volume rising 10% to $79.7 billion in spot trading. CryptoCompare  reports that in May, the spot volume for the 15 largest Top-Tier exchanges increased 9.67% to $1.06 trillion.

Read CryptoCompare’s latest Exchange Review report to find out more.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

Build your project with CoinDesk Data

Terms | Privacy

13 Charles II St, SW1Y 4QU

London, UK

This email may include advertisements by third parties. None of the advertised or promoted products and services have been verified or approved by us and this email is not any endorsement by us of the third party or of their products or services.