"Mr. Bitcoin About To Go Down Big" - Cramer

Plus a Bitfinex buyout

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
October 11, 2023

The Breakdown First Five - Wednesday October 11, 2023

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. Bitfinex Buyout

Bitfinex parent company, iFinex have offered to buy out shareholders at $10 per share, for a maximum value of $150M. The private offer was extended to shareholders that received equity in resolution of the 2016 Bitfinex hack. The move would allow iFinex greater control over the private company’s dealings, particularly on regulatory issues. Insiders were explicitly allowed to take part in the buyback.

4. Recovery Fund Not Deployed

An analysis of the Binance Industry Recovery Fund has revealed that only $30M of the $1B fund was ever invested. The fund was launched in November following the failure of FTX and featured big name commitments from Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto and other market makers. After pledging $1B by themselves, Binance quietly clawed back $985M in March. Binance claim to have funded 14 projects but the only publicly disclosed deal was the acquisition of Gopax.

3. Bitstamp Exits Canada

Bitstamp has joined a long list of crypto exchanges to exit the Great White North after tough new regulations came into force. Bitstamp will shut down services in Canada on January 8. In February, the Canadian Securities Administrators effectively banned stablecoins, claiming they constituted unregistered “securities and/or derivatives.” The regulator recently softened its view, suggesting it may allow fully backed stablecoins. It appears this is too little, too late for Bitstamp.

2. Crypto Industry Blamed for Hamas

The articles are already being published claiming that Hamas received $41M since 2021 via crypto payments. Below the headline, journalists are acknowledging that large crypto firms like Binance have broadly been cooperating with law enforcement in swiftly seizing funds. Binance has already acted to freeze multiple Hamas accounts linked to donation drives this week. Regardless of the scope of the problem, the narrative is being picked up in mainstream circles.

1. Cramer: Mr Bitcoin Going Down

Mad Money host Jim Cramer thinks that “Mr. Bitcoin is about to go down big.” Cramer said he’s staying away from Bitcoin in light of geopolitical uncertainty and regulatory concerns. “Mr Bitcoin” may have been an oblique reference to Sam Bankman-Fried, who does appear to be about to “go down big”. Paul Tudor Jones is taking the inverse Cramer approach, suggesting a combination of gold and Bitcoin positions represents safety in an uncertain world.

Thanks for reading -NLW