Here's Why Everything's Down

GM Readers!📪 It's BitDegree Insider, and it's Friday here.

⭐️Today's selection:

• 📉Crypto Repressions + Recent Crash
• 😓Huobi Token 90% Down
• 🧩️Answer To Yesterday's Puzzle
• 👌Selected Meme of The Day
• 📰Bite-Sized News

CRYPTO REPRESSIONS + RECENT CRASH

Uff, today isn't an easy day for crypto! Once again, it serves as a reminder that we are here for the long term!

Nevertheless, let's take a look at today's stories that are lurking in the shadow of the most recent crypto crash.

1. Silicon Valley Bank (or the first signs of an incoming banking panic)

Several major venture capital funds are advising their portfolio companies to withdraw deposits from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after a 60% drop in the parent company's stock price.

The bank attempted to reassure investors by issuing additional shares, but this move was met with disapproval and accusations of insolvency.

This situation, combined with the recent liquidation of Silvergate, another major financial counterparty, has added to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Many cryptocurrency companies rely on these financial institutions for banking services, making them vulnerable to disruptions or losses in these systems.

2. KUCOIN In Trouble (ETHEREUM AS WELL?!?!) 

Uh oh, KuCoin is in trouble! The New York Attorney General is suing them for "illegal activity in its jurisdiction", which, as she put it, is her eighth attempt to curb shady cryptocurrency platforms that put New Yorkers at risk.

Looks like Ethereum, LUNA, and UST (does anyone still remember those) are also in the crosshair of the New York Attorney General's latest lawsuit against KuCoin.\

The AG is claiming they're "unregistered securities" that promise future profits to investors.

While the lawsuit could mean trouble for the future of Ethereum, it's worth noting that the opinion of the New York prosecutor's office has no legal force.

3. Binance and Voyager deal under scrutiny

Despite receiving court approval for selling its assets to Binance.US just a few days ago, the future of Voyager's deal now appears to be under scrutiny.

In a blow to the struggling crypto lender, the US Department of Justice has filed an appeal against the decision.

The Ministry of Justice cited concerns about the unprofitable nature of the proposed restructuring plan, which would result in a reduced payout for platform clients compared to the initial deal with FTX.

This is a significant setback for Voyager, which had hoped that the deal with Binance would speed up the restructuring of the organization and allow creditors to receive compensation faster.

4. CRYPTO TRADERS BEWARE: HARSH NEW TAXES PROPOSED IN US BUDGET PLAN

Cryptocurrency traders, investors, and miners, get ready: the US government has proposed a budget that will hit the industry hard.

President Joe Biden's plan includes a 10% phased excise tax on mining activity for three years, meaning miners will eventually have to pay 30% of their electricity costs to the government.

Additionally, the government aims to raise $24 billion through taxes on crypto asset trading and will ban traders from selling assets at a loss for tax deductions.

This move is intended to prevent accounting tricks such as those used by Microstrategy last year, when they sold bitcoin to gain tax breaks on losses and then bought the coins back.

TL;DR: There's a storm in the crypto sea. A lot is happening which has a negative effect on the market. Among notable events are: Silicon Valley Bank acts suspiciously, which raises rumors of insolvency. KuCoin just got sued for "illegal activity". The US Department of Justice has filed an appeal against the decision to approve the sale of Voyager's assets to Binance. And, finally, the US government has proposed a rather harsh budget that has a lot of attention to crypto taxation.

HUOBI TOKEN 90% DOWN

The fall of bitcoin this night took many market participants by surprise.

But there was something even more surprising.

The $HT token, owned by the Huobi crypto exchange, suddenly collapsed.

The exchange rate dropped from about $5 to $0.5. And this is a drop of as much as 90%.

Buyers instantly used this opportunity and rushed to buy tokens.

True, then the price began to level off. The current rate of the $HT coin is about $4 (15% loss per day). It looks like the token is slowly stabilizing.

People are scratching their heads, trying to understand the reason for such an incident.

There have been many different theories, starting with Huobi being insolvent or traders learning some insider information.

Later, Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain and a major holder of HT tokens, commented on the situation. He stated that the Huobi exchange, as well as customers' wallets, are completely safe.

According to Sun, the incident was caused by market fluctuations, as well as mass liquidations using leverage.

To prevent this from happening again, Huobi will set up a $100 million fund to improve multi-currency liquidity.

TL;DR: Overnight, $HT, the Huobi crypto exchange native token, suddenly collapsed. Its value decreased by 90% but has now recovered a bit. It's an incident that has not yet been properly explained.

TO SUM UP WHAT IS GOING ON

CZ is showing us an example. He ends up the tweet with a positive note about Bitcoin still doing its thing. That's the right way of looking at life!

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY'S PUZZLE

And... talking about Bitcoin. Remember yesterday's puzzle? Well, here's where the super-secret-bitcoin-holder was hiding:

To make it even more precise:

Congrats to those who found our lil' guy!

SELECTED MEME OF THE DAY

BITE-SIZED NEWS

• Jimmy Fallon Wants to "Quash" the Subpoena Requiring Him to Testify in BAYC Case. It's the case of Ripps et al. and Yuga Labs Inc., And he doesn't want to do anything with that.
• Mt. Gox has Extended the Compensation Registration Deadline by One Month. The registration deadline for Mt. Gox creditors has been extended from March 10th to April 6th.
• Alameda Research is Set to Sell its $45M Stake in Venture Capital Firm Sequoia. Yet another piece of the gigantic puzzle.