Hand over your Solana
Hand over your Solana
In today’s edition, MicroStrategy bleeds, Robinhood’s in trouble, and BTC’s wholecoin moment.
Welcome to The Daily Moon. Match Group, the super dating company, which owns Tinder, OKCupid, and 45 others, is not happy. Tinder’s earnings have been underwhelming, and it has put all the metaverse-dating plans on hold. You could say, the metaverse and Tinder are going to see other people now.
The markets recovered with Bitcoin above $23,500 and Ethereum above $1,600. Nasdaq gained in early trade. Back home, Sensex and Nifty rose on gains in IT stocks.
Gimme Your SOLs
The Solana ecosystem has been hacked and over 7,600 wallets were affected. Even as the losses are being ascertained, crypto exchanges have started flexing their security measures. Binance, OKX, and KuCoin want investors to move their Solana and USDC to their platforms because they’re safer.
So, are they safe?
Crypto exchanges have faced their share of hacks. In fact, crypto thefts on exchanges beat bank robberies in total losses in 2021.
Binance has faced criticism over the usage of anonymous accounts by hackers on its platform. Its Binance Smart Chain has also been a target for theft, even in 2022.
Similarly, KuCoin had a $250 million hack in 2020. While the exchange said that it has strengthened its security, it admitted that some hacker attacks need coordination across exchanges to freeze accounts. In simple terms, KuCoin alone cannot blacklist hackers.
It’s not just about hacks, but also about stolen money from hacks being held on the exchanges. Binance and OKX have been advised by a UK court to ensure theft-related funds don’t leave the exchanges.
Then what is the alternative?
For now, exchanges such as Bybit have suspended all trading on Solana. Exchanges advise clients to keep cold wallets as added security. This is useful for investors who have crypto investments upwards of $500.
FYI Hot wallets are connected to the internet at all times, while cold wallets are offline for safer storage.
MicroStrategy Bleeds In BTC
Business software firm MicroStrategy took a $918 million hit from Bitcoin’s fall in Q2. With heavy crypto losses, the company’s co-founder Michael Saylor will step down from the CEO post. He will, however, continue to be an executive chair.
The crypto bear effect
Unlike Tesla, MicroStrategy bought more Bitcoin in Q2. So when crypto prices crashed, the company bled. Between May and June, the company bought Bitcoin worth $10 million. Overall losses from crypto exposure zoomed to $1.09 billion compared to $619 million a year ago.
Headhunting mode
Talking of management changes, bankrupt crypto lender Celsius wants to re-hire its CFO at a pay of $92,000 per month. This is when its clients have struggled to get their cash back. Celsius has claimed that the ex-CFO Rod Bolger will help tide over the crisis faster.
Robinhood Isn’t A Saviour
It bulged during 2021’s meme-stock mania. Now Robinhood is left with very little value. The crypto crash reduced trading volumes and total assets fell. The stock trading platform’s crypto arm has been fined $30 million. To recoup the losses, it will lay off 23% of the total staff.
What happened?
Things have gone haywire for the company. It started in 2022, with the assumption that the crypto and stock frenzy would continue. On the contrary, 7 million retail investors left the platform. Meanwhile, Robinhood Crypto allegedly violated compliance regulations in New York.
It gets worse
Its employees bore the brunt of the crisis, with 340 job cuts in April and another ~800 to be moved on soon. FTX showed interest in buying Robinhood simply to get more users, but that isn’t a done deal yet.
It’s The Time To Wholecoin
The crypto market crash in May and June wiped billions. But for many, this gave an opportunity to own one whole Bitcoin. Wholesalers, wallets that hold at least one Bitcoin, rose by 40,000 since June.
What’s special
Owing one Bitcoin was unaffordable till the crypto bear market began. Bitcoin fell to $19,100 levels in June. The crypto asset’s price fell 27% in May and 40% in June. As of July 31, a total of 891,154 addresses held one Bitcoin.
It looks bad
There is no larger recovery in sight. Wallets holding over 10 Bitcoins stayed stagnant, while those holding above100 Bitcoin and above 1000 Bitcoins have declined since May.
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