Today Bitcoin and ether are in the red By double digits to end the month of August former FTX exec Ryan Salem drops His bid to vacate his conviction and Alex Thorne of Galaxy digital discusses Crypto's weak performance in August and Where markets could be headed in September welcome to cnbc's crypto world I'm Brandon Gomez cryptocurrencies in The red to end this week with Bitcoin Falling nearly 4 1.2% as of noon back to The $58,000 level now ether dropped Nearly 5% and salana sank a whopping 8.76% to $133 now for the week major Cryptocurrencies are moving lower with Bitcoin down more than 8% on Pace for Its fourth weekly loss in the past five Ether was down more than 10% on Pace for Its worst week since the first full week Of the month and as we wrap up August Let's take a look at how major Cryptocurrencies perform this month Bitcoin was in the red by 11% and ether And salana more than doubled bitcoin's Monthly losses at more than 24% now that Marks bitcoin's second monthly loss in Three and the cryptocurrency is worst Month since April when it fell nearly 16% ether is on Pace for its third Monthly loss in a row and worse monthly Performance since June of 2022 when it Fell more than 47% okay let's talk about the top
Stories for today Ryan Salem a former Top Lieutenant at the failed crypto Exchange FTX has withdrawn a petition to Vacate his guilty plea for campaign Finance and money transmitting Violations in a court filing yesterday Salem's legal team told the court that He is withdrawing his petition to allow The facts to be developed in his Longtime partner Michelle Bond's case Bond who is the mother of Salem's 8-month-old child is now also facing Criminal charges last week in a court Filing Salem's lawyers said the Manhattan us attorney's office in an Effort to get him to plead guilty last September told Salem in April of 2023 That they would stop investigating bomb For campaign Finance violations if he Pled guilty the lawyers asked Manhattan US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan for Either an order setting aside Salem's Guilty plea on the basis of the Government's breach or an order that Prosecutors abide by their promise not To pursue criminal charges against Bond A spokesperson for the US attorney's Office declined to comment on Salem's Filing in an order published last night Judge Kaplan ruled that he would still Hold a hearing on the original petition Regardless of Salem's motion to withdraw It the judge also said that Salem must Attend the hearing which was a condition
Of his bail Salem is due to begin Serving a 7 and 1/2 year prison sentence On October 13th he was also ordered to Pay more than $6 million in forfeiture And more than 5 million in restitution Next Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump announced that he was Proposing a plan to quote ensure that The United States will be the crypto Capital of the planet the announcement Came yesterday morning on X hinting at a Plan roll out later in the day by Yesterday evening though after a rally In a town hall in two Battleground States Trump did not yet reveal the Crypto plan and there was no formal Update as of this morning a campaign Spokesperson did not reply to cnbc's Questions about the announcement what we Do know is that the Trump organization's New crypto platform which is a private Family-owned entity not officially Connected to his campaign has been Rebranded to World Liberty Financial From the defiant ones Trump promoted the New platform last week on Truth social And earlier this week Trump also Announced the release of new nft trading Cards also a private business now crypto Remains a Hot Topic this presidential Race with reports of Democratic Candidate kamla Harris also warming her Stance on crypto last the latest release Of the chainalysis mid-year crime update
Shows that pig butchering scams remain Lucrative now in this new report Released yesterday chainalysis revealed That pig butchering is the largest Revenue generating scam type year-to Date The Firm points to one mear BAS Scam compound which was first observed On chain in 2022 netting at least $11 Million so far this year chainalysis Describes Pig butchering as a romance Scam which got its name because of the Way Bad actors fatten up their victims By building trust to then get them to Invest in a fake investment opportunity The new report notes that for the most Part scammers have been moving away from More broad-based schemes to more Targeted campaigns like Pig butchering Chainalysis notes that there has been a Steady increase in crypto sent to Services that sell social media accounts To Target victims in the last 2 years Totaling $1.5 million from 2022 to 2024 That could translate to between 525,000 and more than 2 million social Media profiles purchased a analysis says That the increase in crypto used to pay For social media accounts involved in Pig butchering and romance scams Suggests that scammers are changing Their methods and infrastructure in Response to a stronger enforcement Environment which could make it more Difficult to achieve victim
Restitution all right back to the Markets for our main story today August Is a seasonably weak month for crypto in 2024 is no different but what is Different about this year is that there Are plenty of things crypto investors Should be excited about interest rates Are likely to come down and the 2024 Presidential candidates have been Showing support for the crypto industry So why are prices stuck right now well Crypto worlds Jordan Smith spoke to Alex Thorne of Galaxy digital to find Out I want to start with with this week And August specifically I mean we we Came out of last weekend riding pretty High for Bitcoin we've had a pretty Rough week and now we're we're coming Back a little bit um but overall Bitcoin's down about 11 and a half Percent this month ether's down 25% talk about the August that we've had So far and what you think is driving Prices in this Direction yeah it's been a rough one uh This month uh Jordan and by the way Thanks for having me on and yeah I mean I have it as you know down 10 to 24% but That was just about an hour ago it's We're trading pretty heavy right now Today on Friday um look we have a big Overhang following the Bitcoin Nashville Conference right I mean I shouldn't even Say an overhang almost a hangover um
There's some political I think Correlation here as well with with Trump's you know deep Embrace I mean Even launching his own projects and and Selling his own nfts let alone his Embrace of crypto and what I would call Harris's ambivalence and so as uh you Know Harris's election odds and polls Have improved and trumps have receded I Think that's part of the story August Seasonally is also one of bitcoin's Worst months I think eight out of the Last 11 augusts it traded down um and so There's a seasonality aspect you also Had a significant Supply uh overhang Events right you had Mount goau finally Start making its distributions in July Starting July 4th um we think those are Mostly over now you also have the US Government selling coins you had Germany Selling Coins um I think most of that overhang Is passed um both Mount gaw Germany's Out of out of coins I think most of what The US government still holds uh was Recovered from theft and is likely to be Returned to the victims particularly Bitfinex The Exchange so perhaps not Sold um but you know that's all Contributed to weakness I think um Obviously there have been macroeconomic Events this unwind of the Japanese Yen Carry trade impacted all markets sent Bitcoin tumbling all the the way down to
49k um so I I think if you take a step Back though um you're looking at a Market that has basically traded Sideways since March I mean yes with a Decent amount of volatility inside a Relatively high range but even if you Take out that that J Japan Yen carry Trade we're talking about like 50k to 70k for for months um 58k to 70k with That it's 50 to 70k so you know I think Um it it's been a tough month it's a low Liquidity month I think people are Looking for the next Narrative yeah to your point we have Been stuck in this range for for a while And I want to go back to something you Said about the political environment Specifically because I think if you went To crypto enthusiasts five years ago and Said that we were having a conversation During an election cycle about which President is going to buy more Bitcoin Or or going to be more supportive of the Crypto industry it would be a huge Catalyst for crypto markets and we're Just not seeing that right now even if You talk about Wall Street I mean you Have Wall Street buying crypto ETFs it Seems like that would be major Enthusiasm for the crypto industry and It's just not there what do you make of That that we're stuck here despite all Of this good News I think there's a lot of
Uncertainty about the political Situation right I mean I think it is True I mean you saw Bitcoin trade all The way up to 70k basically on the Precipice of Trump's speech in Nashville In July I think there there are folks Who view I I think it's fair to say that Most people view a trump Victory as very Bullish for the crypto industry in America um and and so yeah I mean I I Think that the mere if we take that Biggest step back Jordan and think about How far we've come that it's even Potentially a political issue in a US Presidential election it is it is I Think a little surprising to to that People are so complacent about that um Even getting the meager statements we've Gotten from the Harris campaign which Are quite light I should point out um is Is would still have been almost Unthinkable you know merely years ago I I think the way to think about the Election is that it's you know even as a Trading perspective like on bitcoin Specifically you're meant to own wingy Upside in the event of a trump Victory I Think it's very possible we we run quite Higher even you know to 100K or Beyond This year if Trump wins solely because Of the reg the the shifts in the Regulatory landscape that are likely to Occur and we've gotten a taste of that Brian Brooks at the OCC when when Trump
Was previously president eased all the Regulations specifically guided that Banks could touch cryptos and use Blockchain networks I mean so whole Whole swaths of the regulatory regime Would be likely to change for the Positive for crypto if you were to win I Think conversely if Harris um wins I Think it's probably neutral basically as Far as I can tell there is no Meaningfully meaningful demonstrated Difference between the Harris campaign's Positions on crypto and the Biden Administrations um and when you look at The people advising her they're all They're all from the Biden Administration on crypto policy so I I Think if anything that's positive Because it's not likely to be like a net New negative um but you know you just Sort of wait and see so I feel like Downsides relatively capped on the Election outcome but there's still the Potential for you know big Upside let's let's look ahead to September specifically you've got some Pretty big events coming up we've Obviously seen economic data that shows That the economy is somewhat resilient Um the FED looks like it's about to Start cutting rates in September um Despite that optimism that we'll see Rate Cuts we'll see the FED thread this Needle of a soft Landing do you still
Expect us to be range Bound in this 58 To 70k that you were talking about Earlier yeah I mean September seasonally Also quite a weak month for Bitcoin I Think seven out of 11 of the last Septembers it was also down um October November December some of bitcoin's most Bullish months right so I think as you Get further into the fall just purely on Seasonality and those of us who've been Watching this Market for a long time we We know why because right October last Year is when the the Bitcoin ETF Anticipation really heated up like November was the uh 2021 all-time high December was the 2017 alltime high so we Recall these these moments I think September was pretty weak last year it's There's not a lot on the horizon I would Say you know to your specific question About the the rates environment I think It is true that Global liquidity is set To expand around the world and that's Been a pretty strong indicator uh in Support of bitcoin's price at the same Time you know that needle does need to Be thread I mean you know monetary Easing if it's also in the face of Significant employment problems that Create a major drag on the economy that That will also harm financial markets Right so I think it's it's unclear I Mean markets feel like they've mostly Priced in these Cuts so I think it it it
Isn't going to be negative I think the Hope is that you know you get some Monetary easing that can be supportive Of risk assets without the actual Employment picture truly Deteriorating okay that's all we have For crypto world today we'll be back Here on Tuesday after the Labor Day Holiday we'll see you then [Music]
