Today Bitcoin sinks below 21 000 again FTX tries to track down half a billion Dollars in stolen crypto to pay back Debts and Alex Adelman of Lolly shares His outlook for crypto this year [Music] Welcome to cnbc's crypto worlds I'm Pippa Stevens cryptocurrency spent yet Another day in the red as investors Weigh fresh economic data Mass layoffs In Tech and the latest headlines in Crypto we'll get to those in just a sec But first buy noon Eastern Bitcoin Slipped below the 21 thousand dollar Mark ether dipped to fifteen hundred Dollars and Dogecoin ticked lower Trading around 8 cents while crypto Prices are hovering near their highest Level since the collapse of STX back in November many experts are still Cautiously optimistic you have some Signs of easing and inflation which does Better for crypto assets risk assets uh Two you have some excitement around Staking which is set to come up here in 2023 with the Shanghai upgrade around Ethereum that actually kind of kicked Off this rally before Bitcoin and some Of these other large cap asked crypto Assets removing some of the staking Protocols we're seeing price action First so uh there's that impact and then The last thing is just a lot of the Force selling you had whether that was
Tax selling or for selling from Bitcoin Miners funds around the FTX collapse That happened so November and December Were actually some of the the highest Volume months ever for Bitcoin miners Selling their BTC Holdings Um so with a lot of that poor selling Out of the market it formed a an Attractive bottom for for a number of Market participants I think it's a local Bottom right um you know there's some Credence to this being a bold trap I Think if you extend this rally a few More weeks though there's still a lot of Capital uh that is sitting on the Sidelines that hasn't entered the space Um and so if if you do start to see the Rally extend a few more weeks you're Going to see some of that Capital come Back into the space so for the near term It's a positive outlook but that being Said I don't necessarily think we've Started a whole new crypto cycle All right let's talk about those top Stories first up digital currency group Is suspending its dividend in an effort To keep cash on hand Bloomberg reports That the company sent a letter to Shareholders on January 17th saying the Business was focused on strengthening Its balance sheet by quote reducing Operating expenses and preserving Liquidity dcg's Genesis trading was hit Hard by the FTX collapse the company
Warned it would have to file for Bankruptcy if it couldn't raise funds in Turn Gemini's customers lost access to Nearly a billion dollars in funds on the Genesis platform at the same time Grayscale's Bitcoin trust which is the Biggest crypto Fund in the world has Been trading at a huge discount Grayscale halted redemptions which led To a class action lawsuit claiming quote Mismanagement on grayscale's part next Bankrupt crypto firm FTX says nearly Half a billion dollars worth of assets Were stolen in hacks FDA X total liquid Assets stand at around five and a half a Billion dollars according to a report Called maximizing FTX recoveries put Together by lawyers and advisors for FTX Debtors but that total includes around 323 million dollars in quote Unauthorized third-party transfers out Of FTX and 90 million dollars out of FTX U.S another two million dollars was Stolen from Alameda bringing the total To around 415 million dollars The Exchange says it owes its top 50 Creditors around 3.1 billion dollars Which is to say nothing of its thousands Of customers last coinbase plans to wind Down operations in Japan in a blog post The company blamed market conditions for The change in strategy and said it would Halt deposits on January 20th customers Now have until February 16th to withdraw
Their Holdings the move comes as part of A larger effort from coinbase to right Size its business in the crypto bear Market including cutting 20 percent of Its Workforce just last week All right for our main story we are Turning back to the markets crypto World's Talia Kaplan spoke with Alex Adelman of Lawley about bitcoin's Outlook for 2023 given the industry wide Uncertainty Okay let's talk markets Bitcoin has been Trading above the 21 000 Mark for the Past few days that's the highest level Since early November before the FTX Bankruptcy what do you attribute this Rally to is it the recent CPI data that Showed signs inflation is easing or is There more to the equation a few things Are contributing I think to the to the Bitcoin price increase Um I think we hit a a floor Um after the FTX Catastrophe is probably the best way to Describe it and uh there's nothing Really holding Bitcoin back at this Point Um I think it was sort of an artificial Dip uh based on completely uh complete Outlier so I think we're gonna see Um Bitcoin continue to Rise Um as there is increased adoption and Demand for a very scarce asset so what Does this rally signal to you you
Touched on this but is this potentially The beginning of the end of this crypto Winter we're currently in what do you Think I think it's a healthy um increase And I I wouldn't be surprised if we sort Of had a new Um happy price uh point at 21. Um but it does seem a little bit Early to say that we're going to go back To Historic highs Um just given the the global macro right Now Um we're seeing you know Consumer Credit Um at all-time highs uh meaning retail Is probably not going to be continuing To to adopt Um I do think that a lot of the Institutions that were set up Um you know a year ago to get into the Bitcoin and larger crypto space they've Been ready to deploy and I think they're Looking for that bottom so I think That's more what we're seeing here so We've seen some very large buys by uh Some whales uh less so retail and I Think that um that it I think we're Seeing is institutions starting to Accumulate so a lot of the funds that Have been set up a lot of the Um you know banks that have been set up Are now High net worth individuals Um are starting to come in but not so Much retail right now so here on crypto World we have reporting about many
Layoffs in the space especially Following the collapse of FTX and Because of that failure a lot of crypto Investors lost trust in the industry so How's your company doing amid this Backdrop have you noticed a lack of Trust in crypto and have you had to Downsize or are you considering cutting Staff to curb costs in this environment We've always been very cognizant of what We're spending and we've been you know Quite conservative because we're playing A very long game uh we have not done any Layoffs fortunately we're very much in a Position of power right now Part of our business that is Differentiated from other crypto Companies is that we give Bitcoin away For free through a cash back business Model so for us there's way less risk For consumers to get into it and while Overall consumer spend is I think I Think retail is is getting a little bit More conservative with uh their spending Behavior and what we're seeing across Our data and Acro across the more macro Data people still need to buy groceries They still want to buy you know things And they want to earn on their everyday Purchases on gas on their coffees so People are going to keep spending and Our our user behavior is more tied to Spending that it is investing so while Retail is you know really kind of
Scaling back their investing Behavior Uh They're scaling Um up their their saving behavior and They're still going to be shopping so as Long as people are shopping and wanting To save I think they're going to want to Still use Lolly and Um I think you know our real thesis is Like we're immune or hopefully immune to Um a uh troubled economy Um I think that as people are sort of Leave this age of opulence and go into This moment of saving Um Behavior I I think that's that's what We're really like waiting for so peop People that want to save money uh they They want to say they want to earn cash They want to earn Bitcoin we let them Earn both they choose and so we may see Um an increase in the adoption of our Cash back product maybe over our Bitcoin Product over time Um and maybe over the next couple years But right now you know we're we're Growing while the times are kind of Tough right now on the on the macro uh We're we're very excited about our Personal growth so Congress is back in Session and this week we learned that House Republicans are launching a new Subcommittee to take on crypto Regulation how do you think regulation Will change how crypto companies operate Here in the US and how will it impact
Your business I'm personally excited for Regulation I I think that's like a Little bit of a contrarian take amongst The you know the felt my fellow Bitcoiners Um but I think we see things like FTX And ftt and Terra Luna Um and a lot of these stem from having Little to no regulation so we operate You know we as a collective industry Operate in this gray area where We're piecing together rules uh that ex That are archaic and The U.S government which you really like Sets a precedent for the entire world's Regulate regulatory uh stance Um have been laggards in even addressing The crypto industry and so I think that The the you know I've always been a Proponent that we that the crypto Industry needs to talk with The Regulators to help steer them in the Right direction so that America doesn't Get left behind I think one of the Scariest things that could potentially Happen is if we break that communication Or do not if the government is not Working with leading companies like us In coinbase and and you know other other Uh industry leaders and that world Scares me where they're just making Decisions in these silos that hurt the Industry and ultimately give other Countries and Founders and other
Countries CEOs and other countries the Ability to uh outpace American Innovation so when you look at the Entire crypto industry many of these Companies are are built in the U.S and And I think we have such a a culture of Innovation but I do not want to be Personally Left Behind as a company or As an individual I think we we have such Potential to really build the the most Innovative products in this industry and Drive it forward Okay that's all for crypto world today But we are back again tomorrow and we Will see you then [Music]
