Crypto Daily News from ZBG Exchange

2 min readJan 12, 2021

1. Market Wrap: Bitcoin Plunges to $30.3K as Options Traders Bet on Sub-$800 Ether

Bitcoin’s plunge to as low as $30,305 was intensified from leveraged long derivative liquidations; options traders are totally bearish on ether, the native asset of Ethereum.
Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $33,277 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 10.9% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $30,305-$38,947 (CoinDesk 20)
BTC above the 10-hour but well below the 50-hour moving averages on the hourly chart, a sideways-to-bearish signal for market technicians.

2. Bitcoin Bull Run: OGs on Why This One’s Different

Think back to 2017. Crypto was everywhere. The celebrities hawking ICOs included DJ Khaled, “Floyd Crypto Mayweather” and longtime blockchain enthusiast Paris Hilton. The most watched comedy on television, “Big Bang Theory,” named an episode “The Bitcoin Entanglement.” Long Island Iced Tea made the world’s most natural pivot, rebranding itself as Long Blockchain Corp. (The stock jumped 200%.)

3. GemCoin Founder Sentenced to 10 Years for $147M Crypto Scheme

Gemcoin founder Steve Chen was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison for defrauding tens of thousands of investors in one of the largest early cryptocurrency investment schemes.

4. Binance, Blockchain Firm Orbs to Sponsor New Accelerator for DeFi Innovation

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance and blockchain platform Orbs have announced they are teaming up to support a recently launched accelerator focused on research and development within decentralized finance (DeFi).

5. Babel Finance Is Letting Crypto Mining Firms Use Machines as Loan Collateral

Babel Finance is letting bitcoin mining firms put up their machines as loan collateral so the lender can offer them better terms.
The loan-to-value ratio (LTV) for these loans is 30%, in part because Babel keeps the freshly mined crypto until the borrower pays back the loan. The LTV is significantly cheaper than the 160% Babel normally charges, which means borrowers would need to put up $1.6 million worth of bitcoin in order to borrow $1 million in U.S. dollars.
In a bull market miners are increasingly uneasy parting ways with mined cryptocurrency. These loans allow the miners to cover expenses like paying electricity bills or purchasing new equipment while giving up less BTC or ETH.