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The planned rescue package was discussed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation. A central player in the deal was Rodgin Cohen, a veteran lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, two sources familiar with the matter said. A First Republic Bank branch is pictured in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., March 13, 2023. Other lenders including BNY Mellon, PNC Bank, State Street, Truist and U.S. Bank channeled $1 billion of deposits into the San Francisco-based lender. Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed was always ready to provide liquidity through its discount window.

☆ First Republic Bank tumbles, drags down shares of other regional lenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 16 (Reuters) - First Republic Bank (FRC.N) fell about 30% on Thursday, leading shares of other regional lenders lower, as fears of a banking crisis loomed large. "Short sellers are attacking banks they think are weak, unfortunately First Republic has not done a very good job of pushing back. The regional banking sector has been reeling from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on worries that nervous customers may rush to withdraw their deposits, potentially triggering a liquidity crisis. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that First Republic was weighing options to shore up its liquidity and that larger rivals might show interest in taking over the bank. "So when you're looking at regional banks, this net interest margin situation is much more damning."

Just when you thought crypto couldn't get any stranger, bitcoin accidentally births a new breed of NFTs. "I think this is really the start of a fundamental shift in what you can do with bitcoin," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Nonetheless, bitcoin NFTs have built up a head of steam in a short space of time. Satoshis inscribed with NFTs are involved in about 7% of the total number of bitcoin blockchain transactions, according to Glassnode data. "But NFTs on bitcoin are a distraction from the network's core purpose, which is to serve as a permissionless network that is globally available, 24/7, and uncensorable."

March 14 (Reuters) - Imagine digitally inscribing 3D images of objects such as multi-colored spheres onto a tiny fragment of bitcoin. Just when you thought crypto couldn't get any stranger, bitcoin accidentally births a new breed of NFTs. "I think this is really the start of a fundamental shift in what you can do with bitcoin," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro. Nonetheless, bitcoin NFTs have built up a head of steam in a short space of time. Satoshis inscribed with NFTs are involved in about 7% of the total number of bitcoin blockchain transactions, according to Glassnode data.

MarketVector's Smart Contract Leaders Index (.MVSCLE), which tracks major tokens of this kind - including ether, dot and solana - is up 36% in 2023, outpacing even bitcoin's 33% rise. Bundeep Rangar, CEO of crypto-focused asset manager Fineqia, said he expected the biggest crypto returns to come from smart contract tokens on platforms that support decentralized finance (DeFi) apps. Around seven of the top 20 biggest crypto assets are smart contract tokens, including ether and dot , solana and cardano . BofA analysts also pointed to smart contract tokens and the blockchain-based applications they power as similar to growth stocks in the equities world, typically technology shares. They caution, though, that the global macro outlook and central bank policy could hit the growth of crypto projects and their associated tokens.

[1/2] A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken October 19, 2021. Crypto payment specialists have also seen strong volumes. Nonetheless, proponents say bitcoin offers lower transaction costs and quicker speeds than traditional cash, especially for cross-border transfers. For others, though, growing interest in CBDCs is evidence that blockchain payments tech is here to stay. Traditional finance firms looking to embrace crypto payments have also shrugged off recent market volatility.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File PhotoFeb 21 (Reuters) - The world of stablecoins is suddenly looking shaky. "There's way too much demand for dollar-based stablecoins for them to go away," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro. Market leader tether (USDT) has been a big beneficiary, adding $1.9 billion to its market capitalization to hit $70.3 billion since the news. It now commands 52.6% of the stablecoin market, up from just over 51%. Traders also use these tokens to hedge their positions, and hence dwindling market value is associated with falling liquidity and leverage in the broader crypto market.

It's looking that way, if crypto options traders are anything to go by. The volume of bitcoin options traded on Deribit, one of the leading exchanges for crypto-focused derivatives products, jumped 82% in January versus December, according to crypto market maker OrBit Markets. Ether options swelled 38%. Calls commanded 71.1% of total bitcoin futures open interest, and 77.5% for ether, according to Deribit data. Yet the surge in volumes also indicates investors are in two minds about the direction of crypto markets, preferring low-risk, low-reward options to actually buying bitcoin or ether.

Jan 31 (Reuters) - Big investors are dipping their toes into crypto waters again after a bumper month for bitcoin. Bitcoin was far and away the biggest draw, with funds tracking it responsible for $116 million of that. They said shorter-term investors were selling their bitcoin at a profit, while longer-term "HODlers" were still sticking with their coin and not contributing to selling pressure. Additionally, bitcoin's "dominance" or share of the total crypto market has hovered around 41% this month, levels not seen since last July. Analysts at Citi said this mimicked a similar jump in bitcoin dominance in April 2019, when a bitcoin rally marked a crypto market bottom.

Indeed, holders big and small are taking "self-custody" of their funds, moving them from crypto exchanges and trading platforms to personal digital wallets. As a percentage of total bitcoin supply, wallet addresses holding under 10 bitcoin now own 17.4%, up from 14.4% a year ago. "If you're just going buy and hold for the next 10 years, then it's probably worth making the investment and learning how to custody your assets really, really well." The stampede has been turbocharged by the FTX scandal and other crypto collapses, with large investors leading the way. David Wells, CEO of Enclave Markets, said trading platforms were extremely cautious of the risks of storing the investors' assets with a third party.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Kenya's central bank expects inflation to fall within its target range during the first quarter of 2023 and is comfortable with its trajectory, Governor Patrick Njoroge said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Kenya's inflation in December dipped to 9.1%, still above the bank's target range of 2.5% to 7.5%. With that in mind, the bank expects the Kenyan economy to grow 6.2% this year, Njoroge said, and does not expect a potential global recession to be "unmanageable". The bank is also not worried about depreciation of the Kenyan shilling, and expects more external financing to support the government budget, Njoroge said. The Kenyan shilling has slipped 0.54% against the U.S. dollar this year after falling over 9% in 2022.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expects a record loss in 2022, primarily due to losses from its portfolio holdings in Russia and Belarus, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said on Wednesday. The bank earlier reported record investments in 2022 of about 13.1 billion euros ($14.1 billion), and expects to continue investments targeted around food and energy security, Renaud-Basso said. It may make record investments in Tunisia. Renaud-Basso reiterated the bank's commitment to send 3 billion euros to Ukraine by the end of this year, particularly to help rebuild infrastructure. That would mean an expected deployment of around 1.3 billion euros in 2023, following last year's disbursement of 1.7 billion euros.

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Bitcoin is on the charge in 2023, dragging the crypto market off the floor and electrifying bonk, a new meme coin. Few crypto tokens have benefited more than bonk, which was launched at the end of December on the Solana blockchain and had rocketed 5,000% by early January. Other meme tokens are also up, with dogecoin and Shiba Inu up 19% and 27% respectively in 2023. The Solana token has now indeed jumped as bonk has gained traction: it's up 131% in 2023, the biggest gainer among major cryptocurrencies. The dollar value of bitcoin trading volumes on major exchanges over a 7-day period jumped to $151 million, the highest in nearly two months, according to data from Blockchain.com.

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Major markets such as the United States need new statutory definitions of digital assets to provide regulatory clarity for the sector, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle said on Monday. Allaire said blockchain technology itself should be viewed similarly to an operating system, while individual use cases should be regulated separately. "New definitions ... would help provide more clarity on which regulators are involved in what activity," Allaire told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos. The European Union is leading in developing digital asset regulations, he said, with the region's Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) rules expected to come into effect in 2024. "We're quite optimistic that MiCA will create the conditions for a thriving competitive market in the EU," Allaire said.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters) - SkyBridge Capital is betting on a sustained turnaround in cryptocurrency markets in 2023, the firm's founder Anthony Scaramucci said, while admitting this view was "overly bullish". "If bitcoin could trade back to $35,000, SkyBridge is going to have an amazing year," Scaramucci told the Reuters Global Markets Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Bitcoin is trading at around $20,800, a 26% gain so far this year after falling by more than 64% in 2022. SkyBridge has invested in bitcoin, ethereum , solana and altcoin algorand , and is also eyeing the structured credit market to drive 2023 returns after the firm's losses in 2022. "Structured credit, mortgage-backed securities, credit card debt, auto loans -- that's an attractive space again," Scaramucci said.

☆ Cryptoverse: Bitcoin digs in for a bumpy new year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Lisa Pauline Mattackal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Bitcoin are seen in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2017. The overall global crypto market cap has risen 5% to $871 billion since Jan. 1, but it's still down over 57% from this time last year. Bitcoin itself has gained 4.3% since the start of 2023, though stuck in a narrow range between $16,500 and $17,300. For some market players, though, subdued sounds pretty good after the bitcoin bloodbath of 2022. Reuters GraphicsTHE BULL'S TALEMarcus Sotiriou, analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, pointed to tightening Bollinger bands - a technical indicator tracking price and volatility - on bitcoin charts.

Ben McMillan, chief investment officer at IDX Digital Assets, said the rising popularity of blockchain-based tools including decentralized exchanges and decentralized finance had also been an important development this year. "We could see bigger allocations to digital assets once risk appetite resumes in 2023." Bitcoin and other tokens took a hammering, slumping by over half in just 49 days from the end of May. On a single day in June, bitcoin fell over 15%, its worst day since March 2020 when COVID chaos roiled financial markets. Bitcoin fell by a quarter in less than four days as Bankman-Fried scrambled for funds to bail his exchange out.

☆ Retail investors turn to ETFs as recession fears knock down meme stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Retail investors are doubling down on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) as rising interest rates and volatile markets curb their appetite for risky assets such as meme stocks, SPACs and cryptocurrencies. On average, retail investors' portfolios are down about 39% in 2022 after recording gains of 18% in 2021, JPMorgan analysts Peng Cheng and Emma Wu said. The investment trend, however, is leaning more toward ETFs tracking broader markets and away from the meme stock frenzy of 2021 that saw retail investors banding together on social media forums to fuel eye-popping gains in GameStop (GME.N), AMC (AMC.N) and others. Retail investors' average daily trading volume in U.S. stocks has amounted to $13.8 billion so far in 2022, compared with $14.2 billion a year earlier, which was the peak of meme stock trading frenzy, according to the report. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday voted to propose some of the biggest changes to American equity market structure in nearly two decades, aimed at boosting transparency and fairness while increasing competition for individual investors' stock orders.

Bitcoin balances on crypto exchanges - where retail investors typically transact - have fallen to around 2.3 million from its 2020 all-time high of 3.1 million, exchange Bitfinex said. "There are signs that a significant number of retail investors have been discouraged to the point of exiting crypto entirely," Bitfinex analysts said. DAVID VS GOLIATHCrypto retail investors losing money is nothing new. A study from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), conducted between 2015 and 2022, estimated that 73% to 81% likely lost money on their investments in cryptocurrencies. Eloisa Marchesoni, a trader who said she had about $2,000 on FTX she was unable to withdraw, is sure crypto will retain its attraction for smaller investors.

Interest in this niche breed of cryptocurrencies, typically linked to sports teams like Barcelona or Brazil, has been charged up by the soccer World Cup which began on Nov. 20. The token of Lionel Messi's Argentina side slumped 25% to $5.26 following the team's shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup game. The broader crypto market malaise is partly to blame for price drops, according to researchers who said the flighty assets were wilting as investors shunned risk. "But the first perception should never be that you're buying the fan token from a profit-generating standpoint." It facilitates trading of most fan coins, describing buying such tokens as joining a loyalty scheme with exclusive benefits and prizes.

Nov 22 (Reuters) - As the crypto castle crumbles, some true believers say the answer is to double down on DEX. Decentralized exchanges, that is. "It is now clear that there can be risk associated with holding assets in a centralized entity," said Varun Kumar, CEO of decentralized crypto exchange Hashflow. "Data is showing that users are turning to decentralized trading solutions." Many market participants see both centralized and decentralized exchanges coexisting.

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Investors are increasingly eyeing U.S. corporate credit offering attractive valuations and yields after steep declines in 2022, fund managers told the Reuters Global Markets Forum (GMF). "We are at the beginning of a rotation as investors come back into credit. iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD.P) and iShares High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG.P) are on track for quarterly gains of more than 3% in the fourth quarter after falling 20% and 14% respectively this year. "If we're at this turning point then the entry level you get by buying investment-grade credit in the (United) States looks really attractive." The jump in bond yields, which move inversely to prices, has also made corporate credit more attractive to investors looking for income after years of low interest rates, Ramji said.

☆ Grayscale Bitcoin Trust falls as cryptocurrencies slide again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC.PK), the world's largest bitcoin fund, fell almost 7% on Wednesday, as investors dumped more digital assets after last week's high-profile unraveling of crypto exchange FTX. The trust is a close-ended fund, whose short-term price is driven by supply, demand and market sentiment unlike an exchange traded fund that generally trades in line with its value. In June, Grayscale sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for nixing the digital asset manager's proposal to convert bitcoin trust into a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund. Grayscale bitcoin fund, which has $10.7 billion worth of bitcoin under management, has slumped about 75% in the past 12 months. Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE.PK), which has $3.8 billion assets under management, shed 81% in the past year.

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Solana, a poster coin of the crypto future, is in trouble. "In the current crypto shakeout, the most unfortunate innocent victim is the Solana ecosystem," said Stefan Rust, CEO of blockchain wallet company Laguna Labs. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko tweeted that development company Solana Labs didn't hold any assets on FTX and had enough financial runway for around 30 months. Ether's market cap has fallen 21% to $150.7 billion, while bitcoin's has fallen 18% to $319 billion. The collapse of the company has seen more than $190 billion wiped from the value of the overall crypto market.

Nov 10 (Reuters) - Trading volumes in bitcoin futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) has exploded as investors scrambled to hedge their positions after this week's slump in digital tokens triggered by turmoil at crypto exchange FTX. CME bitcoin futures November contracts traded at $17,250, with a volume of 13,292 at 11:24 a.m. EST (1624 GMT), which was a 3% discount to the spot price of $17,770. Trading volumes soared on Tuesday and Wednesday as FTX's woes worsened, touching 48,554 and 32,168 contracts respectively, significantly higher than volumes over the past two months which hovered between 4,902 and 27,309. The ProShares short bitcoin strategy ETF (BITI.P), a bearish play on CME bitcoin futures, witnessed record trading volume on Wednesday as investors hunted for "regulated, transparent futures market," ProShares Global Investment Strategist Simeon Hyman said. Meanwhile, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO.P), which was halted for trading on Wednesday, has witnessed a 300% jump in trading volume in the from its previous high on October 21, 2022.

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