[Daily] Lido got FUD

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. Yuga’s TwelveFold NFTs on Bitcoin don’t have a set price. Yep. The top 288 highest bidders will get the digital artwork. But to qualify you’ll have to send the entire bid amount in BTC to a special wallet. If rejected, the BTC will be manually credited back to your account. Sounds like a scammer’s dream.

As of Monday, 8PM IST

The markets were in the red due to high volatility. Bitcoin was stuck below $22,500 over crypto bank Silvergate's uncertain future. Ethereum was bearish as Voyager sold ETH worth $2 million. S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw brisk buying in early trade. Back home, Sensex and Nifty ended higher on a rally in auto, banking, and IT stocks.

BTC’s HODLers Cheer

Bitcoin may be bearish due to Silvergate and after short-term investors made abrupt exits. But HODLers, who held firm, have made money. In fact, those who held BTC for one to five years have an opportunity to book profits.

Will they, won’t theyThat fear remains. If there is a profit to be made, there could be a temptation to sell, which will cause a further price slide. Barring these long-term HODLers, most BTC investors are in losses.

It’s a chop zoneBitcoin turned bullish in January, however, the rally didn’t continue. February was mixed because of SEC actions on stablecoins and staking. The king crypto entered something called a “chop zone” in March. In crypto parlance, it means that the token price is stagnant with no clear indication of how it’ll move. Bitcoin needs to cross $22,600 to indicate a bull move. Till then, we all wait.

The Powell factorThis is an important week for Bitcoin HOLDers. Fed chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to the US government on the state of the economy will impact crypto. Any mentions of the R word will cause another bear hug.

To sweeten the deal, here's an offer you cannot refuse! You can refer this newsletter to your friends, family and any amazing community. The top referrer every month wins a guidebook to upcoming potential airdrops and exclusive premier content! Click below to share your unique referral link!

FUD Hits Lido

Lido suffered over the weekend. Its token LDO fell ~10% after stories surfaced of SEC preparing to act against the company. The stories were fake but the damage was done.

What happened?Crypto podcaster David Hoffman claimed that “Wells notices” were recently sent to crypto firms. Wells is a formal notice sent by the SEC to companies that indicates that the regulator will initiate action soon. However, there was no confirmation from the regulator.

Why the fear?The SEC has cracked down on crypto tokens recently. So the market assumed that Lido was next. And just a few weeks ago, a staking ban elsewhere had brought investors to the DeFi platform. Lido can't afford to lose them, especially with the delayed Shanghai upgrade now just weeks away.

Australia’s Not Rushing It

Australia may be doing things differently, and dare we say correctly, but it is in no rush. Reports indicate that crypto regulation in the country will not be introduced before 2024.

The timelineThe broad government timeline is this:

• Consultation papers are likely to be released in the second quarter of 2023.

• Stakeholder roundtables on licensing and custody planned after the paper.

Other things have been happening. Like this token mapping consultation paper the country released in February.

What’s the big deal?Well, Australia’s been getting so many things right with crypto and CBDC. They just seem to “get it”. So the industry, in general, expected the country to move faster with regulation. Looks like it wants to be cautious, just like other countries.

Meanwhile, India’s central bank said it is planning to test the offline functionality of its CBDC. It launched its wholesale segment pilot for CBDC in November. As of February, about 800,000 transactions worth $134 million have been completed through the pilot.

Crypto Paying It Forward

It may not be the universal regulatory favourite, but crypto is stepping up to provide help for noble causes.

Stepping up for Turkey and SyriaUkraine received crypto donations worth $70 million since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war last year. The community is now stepping up to provide aid to earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria. Some decentralised autonomous organisations are working with the Turkish government to help where required.

Community pledgesThe devastating earthquake struck the two countries in February and claimed over 50,000 lives. An early estimate pegged the amount pledged through crypto at $10 million. Chainalysis had a list of legit places that received donations.

And that’s it for today. If this email was forwarded to you, please consider subscribing. It’s free. We’ll never show you an ad or charge you for this. We swear.

Who are we? This newsletter’s ambition is to educate (and to entertain). The world of money is changing everyday and we want to help you decode what’s happening in the world of crypto, public markets in the US and India.