Kalam Crypto #51: Latest on FTX, BTC correlation with tech stock drops & more

Kalam Crypto #51: Latest on FTX, BTC correlation with tech stock drops & more

This week, we update you on the latest happenings in the FTX saga, as well as go behind the headlines to reveal some interesting crypto adoption trends, and Ethereum reversing post-merge censorship trend.

05 Dec, 2022
CoinMENA Team
Author

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." Confucius

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 51st edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, we update you on the latest happenings in the FTX saga, as well as go behind the headlines to reveal some interesting crypto adoption trends such as BTC correlation to tech stocks reaching a 3-year low, and Ethereum reversing post-merge censorship trend. All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

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Global News 🌍

This week’s headlines are brought to you in partnership with CoinTelegraph MENA.

FTX Update: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), has been on a public apology tour with US media outlets. Most of the interviews failed to challenge SBF’s responses to allegations of fraud and misappropriation of customer funds. It seems that SBF’s defense strategy is to claim negligence rather than fraud. On several occasions, his explanation was simply that he wasn’t aware how $8 billion dollars in customer funds were transferred to Alameda Research, and in one interview he confessed that he didn't spend any time or effort on “risk management”. So far no charges have been filed against SBF, however, lawmakers did invite him to testify at a hearing in Washington DC on December 13th.  

Fidelity opens to retail crypto accounts: Investment giant Fidelity has finally launched their retail crypto trading platform. The platform is available to select customers in the US and offers zero-commission trading for BTC and ETH. Fidelity is one of the first traditional finance firms to embrace digital assets. The company offers a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in Canada, multiple crypto and metaverse-related ETFs in the U.S., and has also allowed investment in bitcoin through 401(k) retirement accounts. 

Apple restricts NFT functionality to Coinbase Wallet users: According to the official Coinbase Wallet twitter account, Apple users are no longer able to send NFTs. “Apple’s claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee.” In the tweet thread, the company followed up by saying “This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols,”. MetaMask developer and former Apple software engineer Dan Finlay publicly condemned Apple’s and tweeted. “Oh I'll absolutely stand in solidarity here, I assume MM and every other wallet is next. I'm ready to dump the Apple ecosystem. The 30% tax is an abuse of monopoly. @tim_cook has donned the Big Brother screen,”. Our view: Don’t be evil Apple, you don't need to take a 30% cut from everything.


Signal Beyond the Noise 🔊

In this section, we go beyond the main headlines: 

Bitcoin correlation to tech stocks drops: BTC price has been heavily correlated with tech stocks and usually runs in tandem with risk-on assets. However, over the past 30 days, the correlation between BTC and QQQ, the tech-heavy ETF, has dropped to a 3-year low.

Ethereum reverses post-merge censorship trend: One of the concerns around Ethereum’s shift to proof of stake was that it could become more susceptible to censorship. While that may prove to be true in the long run, tracking site MEV Watch reveals that the percentage of censored blocks has dropped from its all-time high of 79% to roughly 70% over the past month.

Stablecoins on the rise: Analyst Will Clemente pointed out in a tweet that stablecoin use is rising. Currently, stablecoins are at an all-time high in terms of total volume, and active addresses are back at peak 2021 levels. Note: CoinMENA supports the two major stablecoins of USDT and USDC.


CoinMENA News 🗞

🎁End of the Year Giveaway: To mark the end of 2022, we are doing a HUGE Giveaway! Here’s what you can win and how you can qualify: 1 ETH for 2 users: Trade (buy/sell) for $500 or more. Zero Trading Fees + ZeroMoney Withdrawal Fees to 2 users: Trade for $250 or more. CoinMENA Merch to 10 users: Trade for $50 or more. 

⚽️Win exciting prizes with #CoinMENA_GOAL: This World Cup season, we are hosting fun contests on Instagram and Twitter, which include $1,500 worth of CHZ airdrops, CoinMENA Merch, and more in prizes! Visit our social media accounts to learn how you can participate and win!


Tweet of the week 🐥


Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s riddle: I'm a decentralized digital ledger of all the transactions ever made in a particular cryptocurrency. I’m repeatedly copied and saved onto thousands of computers all around the world. What am I?

Answer: Blockchain

This week’s question: What is a node?

  1. A type of cryptocurrency

  2. A type of blockchain

  3. A computer on blockchain

  4. An exchange

See the answer in next week’s newsletter.

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