Like any other week, this week also saw a significant amount of activities take place in the crypto space. From Spanish rehabs introducing therapy sessions for crypto addiction to the SEC pouncing on Kraken, not forgetting LocalBitcoins’ closure after a decade of service, here are some of the top stories that went around the crypto space this week.
Spain rehabs to offer crypto addiction therapy
A posh treatment facility in Spain has expanded its offerings to include therapies for treating crypto trading addiction, a relatively new type of addiction. According to the referenced treatment facility, 1% of cryptocurrency traders will have an “extreme” addiction to trading cryptocurrencies.
Luxury rehab centres now offer therapy for 'crypto addiction' https://t.co/LGkjiPjSPe
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 5, 2023
The Balance is a wellness center that was established in Switzerland. Its primary location is on the Spanish island of Mallorca, which also has outposts in London and Zurich.
According to a BBC article, the facility has long treated addictions like those to narcotics, alcohol, and mental health but has just lately started providing treatments to help those who are addicted to cryptocurrency trading.
SEC action against Kraken sees Lido, Frax, and Rocket Pool skyrocket
Staking as Kraken has discontinued service, and Coinbase may soon be obliged to do the same. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is exerting more pressure on the cryptocurrency industry. On February 9, the SEC and Kraken struck an agreement for a $30 million settlement over the centralized staking service Kraken provided to its customers.
As investors grew anxious about the regulatory action, the news of the crackdown caused the price of Bitcoin to drop to a three-week low. The announcement caused a correction in the price of Ether, making the day 2023’s worst day for the coin.
After the SEC statement, the crypto market declined, but there were some bright spots, such as the decentralized liquid staking tokens LDO, RPL, and FXS, which soon recovered from their steep corrections.
According to Crypto Twitter analyst Korpi, Kraken and Coinbase account for 33% of all staked Ether. If U.S.-based centralized exchanges are “forced” to stop providing staking-as-a-service programs, liquid staking derivatives providers might capture that market share.
Robinhood to buy back FTX shares
A proposal to repurchase the $578 million interest in Robinhood that was acquired by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang in the previous year was given the go-light by the board of directors of Robinhood late during the week.
It was verified in Robinhood’s report for the fourth quarter, which was released on February 8, that the company had gotten authority from the board to buy back the shareholding.
We just announced our financial results for the fourth quarter. Find information on our performance at https://t.co/3l82Sx3F7d
— Robinhood Comms (@RobinhoodComms) February 8, 2023
The planned acquisition of shares demonstrates the Board of Directors and management team’s faith in our company. In May, the co-founders of FTX purchased 55 million shares of Robinhood stock via Emergent Fidelity Technologies. These purchases were funded by loans from FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research. Based on the stock’s current price, these purchases were worth $578 million.
As investors grew anxious about the regulatory action, the news of the crackdown caused the price of Bitcoin to drop to a three-week low. The announcement caused a correction in the price of Ether, making today, 2023, ‘s worst day for the coin. After the SEC statement, the crypto market declined, but there were some bright spots, such as the decentralized liquid staking tokens LDO, RPL, and FXS, which soon recovered from their steep corrections.
LocalBitcoins shuts down
Customers of LocalBitcoins have a year to withdraw their cryptocurrency from the LocalBitcoins wallet. However, it is recommended that they do so right away. After servicing its clients for more than ten years, the peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin platform LocalBitcoins, located in Finland, ceases operations.
— LocalBitcoins (@LocalBitcoins) February 9, 2023
On February 9, LocalBitcoins formally announced that the company was ceasing operations due to the challenging market conditions brought on by the continuing bitcoin winter.
According to LocalBitcoins CEO Nikolaus Kangas, “despite our attempts to overcome difficulties and bring our transaction volumes and sliding market share back to growth, we have sadly determined that LocalBitcoins can no longer operate its Bitcoin trading service.” Fifty people were working for the LocalBitcoins team at the time of the announcement.
