Digital Assets: Crypto Winter Travails
Crypto prices plumb the depths of $20K.
Celsius turns to Citi
The Celsius Network, the source of a second shock to the crypto market after Terra/UST, is said to have hired Citigroup (NYSE: C) for advice. Celsius has barred all withdrawals, swaps and account transfers, attributing its steps to “extreme market conditions” a.k.a crypto winter. (CryptoNews)
According to The Block, Citi is acting in an advisory capacity including on “potential financing.”
Separately, a WSJ report had said that Celsius had hired law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld for help on potential restructuring.
El Salvador finance minister puts on a brave face
El Salvador finance minister Alejandro Zelaya brushed off media reports that said the country’s economy was weighed under by a US$40 million loss due to its dabbles in bitcoin.
“This is a clear criticism of bitcoin, not El Salvador. El Salvador is what interests them the least here. […] So when they say that El Salvador’s fiscal risk, due to bitcoin [adoption] is very high, all it does is make me laugh. And I think any serious economist would do the same, because it is an extremely superficial analysis. And they speak from ignorance.”
What crypto winter? MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor is unflappable in the face of bitcoin losses
Michael Saylor, crypto evangelist and CEO of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), which holds 129,218 bitcoin, appeared to be unmoved amidst market rumors that the company may face a margin call on a loan that it borrowed to invest in bitcoin.
“When MicroStrategy adopted a Bitcoin Strategy, it anticipated volatility and structured its balance sheet so that it could continue to HODL through adversity,” he wrote.
In an interview Saylor called the alleged margin call a “nothing issue,” and clarified:
“We started with $5 billion of unpledged collateral, we borrowed $200 million against it, so that’s a loan-to-value ratio of 4%. If Bitcoin fell 95% from that number the we’d have to post additional collateral.”
Related Story: Coinbase To Axe 18% Jobs; Downgraded By JPMorgan
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