Decentral Block Post

Former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has signaled he's unwilling to testify before the United States Congress until he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened.”

Bankman-Fried was responding to a Dec. 2 tweet from U.S. Representative Maxine Waters inviting him to testify in a scheduled U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Dec. 13 to discuss "what happened" at FTX.

In a Dec. 4 response on Twitter, the former FTX CEO said he feels it is his “duty to appear before the committee and explain,” but only once he's “finished learning and reviewing what happened," adding he wasn't “sure” whether it would happen by the 13th. 

Some in the community pointed out the response appears out of line with his recent actions, including taking part in several media interviews and posting endless tweets about what led to the fall of FTX in November.

Blockchain Association Head of Policy and U.S. Attorney Jake Chervinsky suggested to his 120,500 Twitter followers that Bankman-Fried was reluctant to take part in the Dec. 13 hearing because '"lying to Congress under oath is less appealing."

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared some sage advice for traders feeling the blues of the crypto bear market: Focus on the tech rather than the price.

The Ethereum co-founder made the recommendation in response to a Dec. 3 post from self-described crypto investor CoinMamba, echoing what many crypto investors are likely feeling at the moment.

"After 9 years in crypto I’m kinda exhausted. I want to move on and do something different with my life. Tired of all these scammers and fraudsters," CoinMamba said.

The crypto industry has continued to be bombarded with unsavoury news since the collapse of FTX and the resulting contagion, which recently claimed crypto exchange BlockFi.

BNB Chain-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ankr recently confirmed it was hit by a multi-million dollar exploit on Dec. 1.

The United States equities markets shrugged off the hotter-than-expected labor data on Dec. 2 and recovered sharply from their intraday low. This suggests that market observers believe the Federal Reserve may not change its stance of slowing the pace of rate hikes because of the latest jobs data.

Although the FTX crisis broke the positive correlation between the US equities markets and Bitcoin (BTC), the recent strength in the equities markets shows a risk-on sentiment. This could be favorable for the cryptocurrency space and may attract dip buyers.

The broader crypto recovery may pick up steam after more clarity emerges on the extent of damage caused due to the FTX crisis. Until then, bullish price action may be limited to select cryptocurrencies.

Let’s look at the charts of Bitcoin and select altcoins that may be getting ready to start an up-move in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin has been trading near the 20-day exponential moving average ($16,963) for the past three days. This suggests a tough battle between the bulls and the bears to gain supremacy.

The United States equities markets shrugged off the hotter-than-expected labor data on Dec. 2 and recovered sharply from their intraday low. This suggests that market observers believe the Federal Reserve may not change its stance of slowing the pace of rate hikes because of the latest jobs data.

Although the FTX crisis broke the positive correlation between the U.S. equities markets and Bitcoin (BTC), the recent strength in equities shows a risk-on sentiment. This could be favorable for the cryptocurrency space and may attract dip buyers.

The broader crypto recovery may pick up steam after more clarity emerges on the extent of damage caused by FTX’s collapse. Until then, bullish price action may be limited to select cryptocurrencies.

Let’s look at the charts of Bitcoin and select altcoins that may be getting ready to start an up-move in the near term.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin has been trading near its 20-day exponential moving average, or EMA, of $16,963 for the past three days. This suggests a tough battle between the bulls and the bears to gain supremacy.

Bitcoin (BTC) trades 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a market that never sleeps, and the BTC price is constantly changing. It doesn’t matter which currency or commodity is used to measure how much a bitcoin is worth — BTC is always live and the market is always open.

It wasn’t always that way — in the beginning, before around 2010, there were no exchanges or even reliable price information, and BTC/USD traded at tiny prices — at one point even less than a single U.S. dollar cent. Since those days, however, the Bitcoin price has gone up millions of percent.

As of December 2022, one bitcoin is worth (BTC). It’s also easy to compare different prices across the crypto market — there’s no need to rely on a single source, and the market is always at work finding consensus. Want to know how much Bitcoin costs right now? Cointelegraph offers reliable real-time information for the current price of Bitcoin in dollars and other currencies.

There are also live price charts for a wide range of altcoins including Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Binance Coin (BNB). Check out the Cointelegraph crypto price indexes to get started with the current price of Bitcoin.

How much is 1 Bitcoin worth? How much is 5 Bitcoin worth?

Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million, and its scarcity is one of the largest cryptocurrency’s unique features. BTC newbies and those unfamiliar with crypto often encounter problems understanding how the Bitcoin supply works, however.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls attempted to retake $17,000 into the Dec. 4 weekly close as volatility looked set to return to the market.

Bollinger Bands demand BTC pricevolatility

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD crisscrossing the $17,000 mark — a focal point throughout the weekend.

With macro cues still to come, Bitcoin looked for catalysts as signs of volatility crept into low timeframes.

Among those eyeing a potential break of the status quo was popular trader Cheds, who noted that the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator was flashing on the 4-hour chart.

Bollinger Bands constricting signals that volatility is due soon, and on the day, 4-hour chart bands were at their narrowest since Nov. 27 — just before BTC/USD gained $1,000.