Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC) hit new month-to-date lows on Dec. 7 as Asian markets fell during trading.

$16,500 stands as support as BTC price wobbles

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to lows of $16,736 on Bitstamp, a level not seen since Nov. 30.

The pair thus began to erase the ground it had reclaimed into the November monthly close, showing heavy influence from Asian equities prior to the Wall Street open.

The mood was nervous on the day, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 3.2% at the time of writing and the Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite Index 0.7% and 0.4% lower, respectively.

“Welp, there we go with Bitcoin, couldn't hold support and started falling down, just like indices have been showing weakness,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, reacted.

A federal judge overseeing Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC’s) bankruptcy proceedings has signed an order approving subpoenas to be delivered to 3AC’s former leadership, including co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies.

The subpoenas require the founders to give up any “recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers” in their custody that relates to the firm’s property or financial affairs.

The infamous hedge fund, worth $10 billion at its peak, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy on Jul. 1 with its troubles tied up in too much leverage and the collapse of Terra Luna (LUNA), known now as Terra Classic (LUNC), and its algorithmic stablecoin formerly known as TerraUSD (UST).

Since then, the liquidators — advisory firm Teneo — have been trying to hunt down the firm’s assets and pin down the 3AC's co-founders.

The latest order allowing for the subpoenas will require recipients to give up any and all account information, seed phrases, and private keys for its digital and fiat assets, details about the securities and unregistered shares, and any accounts held on centralized or decentralized exchanges, along with any other tangible or intangible assets.

Cryptocurrencies tied to national soccer teams have failed to keep the attention of 2022 FIFA World Cup fans, with many soccer-linked fan token prices plummeting since the tournament began.

Between Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Argentina, the associated digital fan tokens have fallen between 60% to 88% percent in price since the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, according to CoinGecko.

This is despite Brazil, Argentina and Portugal reaching the quarter-finals, while Spain was a strong contender up until they were knocked out on Dec. 6. 

The tokens do generally react to immediate results, with Spain's SNFT token down 39.1% over the past 24 hours following the team's loss against Morocco, however, Portugal's POR token is also down 6.1% over that same time frame, despite them beating Switzerland 6-1 on Dec.6. Such suggests that the tokens are becoming less reactive to the associated teams’ success.

Notably, these cryptocurrencies saw their peaks well before any of the teams even walked on the soccer field in Qatar, suggesting a classic “buy the rumor, sell the news” event took place.

Ether (ETH) rallied 11.3% between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, peaking at $1,300 before facing a 4.6% rejection. The $1,300 resistance level has been holding ground for twenty-six days and is the most likely explanation for the correction to $1,240 on Dec. 6. 

So from one side, traders are relieved that Ether is trading 16% above the $1,070 low reached on Nov. 22, but it must be frustrating to fail at the same level the entire week. In addition to the price rejection, investors' mood worsened after three members of the United States Senate reportedly requested information from Silvergate Bank regarding its relationship with FTX.

The lawmakers raised questions after "reports suggesting that Silvergate facilitated the transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda'' and gave the bank until Dec. 19 to issue a response.

On Dec. 5, NBC News reported that Silvergate claimed to be a "victim" of FTX's and Alameda Research's "apparent misuse of customer assets and other lapses of judgment."

Newsflow remained negative after the Financial Times reported that the United Kingdom Treasury is finalizing some guidelines to restrict cryptocurrency sales from abroad. The changes would enable the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to monitor the crypto companies' operations in the region. The guidelines are being prepared as a part of the financial services and markets bill.

Ether (ETH) rallied 11.3% between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, peaking at $1,300 before facing a 4.6% rejection. The $1,300 resistance level has been holding ground for twenty-six days and is the most likely explanation for the correction to $1,240 on Dec. 6. 

So from one side, traders are relieved that Ether is trading 16% above the $1,070 low reached on Nov. 22, but it must be frustrating to fail at the same level the entire week. In addition to the price rejection, investors' mood worsened after three members of the United States Senate reportedly requested information from Silvergate Bank regarding its relationship with FTX.

The lawmakers raised questions after "reports suggesting that Silvergate facilitated the transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda'' and gave the bank until Dec. 19 to issue a response.

On Dec. 5, NBC News reported that Silvergate claimed to be a "victim" of FTX's and Alameda Research's "apparent misuse of customer assets and other lapses of judgment."

Newsflow remained negative after the Financial Times reported that the United Kingdom Treasury is finalizing some guidelines to restrict cryptocurrency sales from abroad. The changes would enable the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to monitor the crypto companies' operations in the region. The guidelines are being prepared as a part of the financial services and markets bill.