Bitcoin price hits $25K in new 2023 high

February 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

$25

Despite macroeconomic headwinds and regulatory crackdowns on crypto, Bitcoin is made a new high for 2023.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has reached a new 2023 high of $25,000. The milestone comes after a surge in Bitcoin's price over much of January.

The last time Bitcoin’s price was around $25,000 was near mid-June 2022 on its way down to between $19,000 and $21,000, where it had hovered for several months, according to data from CoinGecko.

*The price of BTC has increased double digits over the last 24 hours to reach the $25,000 milestone.*

The price of BTC however took a big dip in November following the FTX crisis, which saw it drop to a 2022 low of $15,742 on Nov. 10. 2022.

The price began to surge in early January, when the price of BTC increased over 14 consecutive days between Jan. 4-17.

That daily green candle streak was its second longest in the cryptocurrency’s 14-year history — having fallen one day short of its 15-day record in November 2013.

While BTC has had an impressive start to 2023, it is still down 63% from its all time-high (ATH) of $69,044, which was reached on Nov. 10, 2021.

Some economists such as Lyn Alden however believe that BTC’s current price surge may be relatively short-lived. The Bitcoin bull believes actions from the U.S. Federal Reserve will likely impose “considerable danger ahead” for BTC in the second half of 2023.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz is more bullish over the short term.

Speaking at a Bank of America conference on Feb. 15, Novogratz reportedly said there’s a chance BTC could hit $30,000 by the end of March.

Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz Says Institutions Waiting for Key Indicator To Flash Before Eyeing Crypto

January 29, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Skybridge eyes stake buyback from FTX, as Galaxy CEO says he would like to ‘punch’ SBF

January 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Anthony Scaramucci

Anthony Scarammuci also noted that there was "clearly fraud" in the SBF and FTX debacle, while Mike Novogratz said there’s a side of him that would like to “punch” SBF in the face.

SkyBridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci said that his firm can buy back the stake of the company it sold to FTX back in September last year. While Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has indicated that he would be tempted to “punch” SBF right in the jaw.

SkyBridge and FTX

FTX Ventures acquired a 30% stake in the alternative asset manager SkyBridge for an undisclosed fee on Sept. 9, just a couple of months before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November.

Speaking to CNBC on Jan. 13, Scaramuci noted that in light of FTX’s troubles, SkyBridge is making progress in buying back that stake, but suggested the move wouldn’t be able to get sorted “until probably the end of the first half of this year.”

“We’re waiting for the clearance from the bankruptcy people, the lawyers and the investment bankers to figure out exactly what we’re going to be buying back, and when,” the CEO said, adding that "I think it will resolve itself favorably."

Speaking on former FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Scaramucci outlined his thoughts that there has likely been some foul play there.

“I think it’s very clear now that there was fraud. We’ll of course have to let the legal system determine all of those things. But for Sam, he's got three of four of the principles that have worked alongside him have already pled guilty, and explained to prosecutors what they did,” Scaramucci said.

Caught up with @Scaramucci today. FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried bought a 30% stake in Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital before FTX collapsed. Now Scaramucci says that he's confident he'll be able to buy that stake back. Given new facts, he also alleges SBF committed fraud pic.twitter.com/jxltXdjCKW
— Arjun Kharpal (@ArjunKharpal) January 13, 2023

The CEO’s comments provide a stark contrast to his previous statements to CNBC from November, in which Scaramucci refused to use the “fraud” word due to its legal ramifications, and urged “Sam and his family to tell the truth to their investors, get to the bottom” of the whole debacle.

According to SkyBridge’s website, it had $2.2 billion worth of assets under management as of Sept. 30, 2022, with roughly $800 million of the figure comprised of digital-asset-related investments.

Galaxy CEO looking for a smackdown

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz says there is a side of him that would like to punch both SBF and Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert for their reported antics during crypto winter.

In an interview with Bloomberg posted on Jan. 13, Novogratz noted that the FTX ordeal ended up directly costing Galaxy around $77 million. As such he’s not a huge fan of SBF and other alleged misbehavior in the space over the past year.

“The toxic masculine side of me would like to punch them both in the jaw,” he said of SBF and Silbert, before adding specifically on SBF: “You’ve got to be f---ing kidding me. Like, really, you a------?”

Novogratz ultimately admitted that he is still a crypto proponent despite 2022 being such a wild year for the industry.

He did note however, that he wished he had taken more capital off the table earlier in 2022 before FTX and even the Terra/LUNA ecosystem went bust. Still, he says he managed to get more than $1 billion out before that year began.

Argo Blockchain mines 25% less Bitcoin due to winter storm at Helios

January 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

Argo Blockchain mined less Bitcoin than expected in December due to the firm curtailing mining operations at Helios amid extreme weather conditions.

Publicly-listed Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Argo Blockchain saw a significant drop in mining activity in December 2022 due to a winter storm in Texas.

On Jan. 11, Argo released its first operational update since selling its flagship mining facility Helios to Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. The company said it mined 147 Bitcoin or BTC equivalents in December, compared to 198 BTC in November 2022.

The firm said that as of Dec. 31, Argo held 141 BTC, with its December mining revenue amounting to $2.49 million. Argo’s total debt was approximately $79 million and its bank balance was about $20 million.

According to the announcement, the decrease in the amount of mined BTC was mainly due to Argo curtailing mining operations at Helios in response to a major winter storm in Texas.

In late December, the United States Department of Energy declared a power emergency in Texas, citing a shortage of electricity due to the impact of severe winter weather. Amid a massive temperature drop accompanied by high winds, the demand on the Texas power grid reached an all-time winter peak in excess of 74,000 megawatts (MW).

Argo CEO Peter Wall pointed out that the company’s mining results were lower than expected because the firm had to reduce power usage on the grid due to extreme weather conditions.

During the winter storm, Argo joined other Texas Bitcoin miners in reducing power usage by an estimated 1,500 MW, Wall said, adding:

“After the winter storm and associated freezing temperatures had subsided, we safely brought Helios back online and resumed operations.”

Wall mentioned that Argo eventually decided to sell its Helios facility to Galaxy Digital, announcing the $65 million deal on Dec. 28. The transaction aimed to reduce Argo’s total debt by $41 million and improve liquidity and operating structure.

Despite the sale, Argo will still continue mining at the Galaxy-owned Helios facility. Argo’s total hash rate capacity continues to be 2.5 exahashes-per-second, the announcement notes.

It’ll be OK: DCG crisis likely won’t ‘include a lot of selling’ — Novogratz

January 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bankruptcy

Digital Currency Group’s ongoing financial distress isn’t likely to cause much further strain on crypto prices, according to Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz.

Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz has hosed down fears over the crisis facing Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Genesis, saying while it’s “not good news,” it won’t “include a lot of selling.”

In a Jan. 10 interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Novogratz said he expects the current debacle facing DCG and its related companies to “play out” over the next quarter.

"The outlook for #crypto is not horrible but it's not great. We've got regulatory headwinds we didn't have before. People are going to cut costs and survive this transition period," says @novogratz. "Crypto is not going away. It's a pretty clean market right now." pic.twitter.com/k57ITlRFOV
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 10, 2023

“There are still some overhangs — DCG and Genesis and Gemini — that will play out in the next quarter. That’s not going to be great,” said Novogratz, adding:

“I don’t think it will include a lot of selling, it’s just not good news.”

DCG is a major crypto conglomerate known as the owner and operator of Grayscale Investments, the world’s biggest digital asset manager.

It also owns institutional lending company Genesis, advisory company Foundry, crypto exchange Luno and crypto media company CoinDesk.

Novogratz’s opinion is in stark contrast to a Jan. 4 report from Arcane Research warning investors to pay attention to the “ongoing financial distress” at DCG as the outcome “could severely impact crypto markets.”

It argued if DCG were to enter bankruptcy the company could be forced to liquidate assets and sell sizeable positions in its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and other crypto-related trusts, which would put pressure on crypto prices.

Investors should pay attention to the ongoing financial distress related to Digital Currency Group (DCG) as the outcome could severely impact crypto markets.

Read more:https://t.co/5syXBpEw7q
— Arcane Research (@ArcaneResearch) January 4, 2023

However, Novogratz argued that both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) have held “pretty steady” despite “a lot of bad news” over the last few months and have even seen an uptick over the last few days.

“It’s a pretty clean market right now,” said Novogratz, referring to investors who have sold or reduced leverage in recent months.

Alarm bells first began ringing for DCG and Genesis late last year, after Genesis halted withdrawals on Nov. 16 citing “unprecedented market turmoil” caused by the collapse of FTX and Three Arrows Capital.

In an open letter directed to DCG CEO Barry Silbert on Jan. 2, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss alleged that DCG-owned Genesis was yet to pay back a $900 million loan it owes to Gemini, which was due to DCG owing Genesis $1.675 billion.

On Jan. 10, Winklevoss penned a second letter, this time toward DCG’s board of directors, claiming Silbert and DCG only “pretended” to fill a $1.2 billion hole in the Genesis balance sheet. He said Silbert was “unfit” to run the company and called for his removal, effective immediately.

Earn Update: An Open Letter to the Board of @DCGco pic.twitter.com/eakuFjDZR2
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) January 10, 2023

Coinbase layoff was ‘the right thing’

The Galaxy CEO also commented on Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s recent decision to cut another 20% of its workforce in a bid to further reduce operating costs.

Last year “was a grand washout for growth stocks and for crypto, and so anything associated with it [...] that had big costs and revenue shrinking — got hammered,” said Novogratz.

“I think CEOs [including] Brian at Coinbase, and any rational CEO, is doing the right thing.”

Novogratz said the outlook for crypto isn’t horrible, but it’s also “not great.”

“We’ve got regulatory headwinds that we didn’t have before. We’ve got time to heal and rebuild narrative and so people are going to cut costs and survive this transition period,” he said, adding:

“2023 is a year you want to survive and catch the uptick.”

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz Says 2023 Will Be Year ‘To Survive’ for Crypto Industry – Here’s Why

January 10, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Mike Novogratz calls Helios a ‘transformative acquisition’ for Galaxy

December 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Argo Blockchain

The Galaxy CEO seems unfazed by the carnage in the BTC mining sector this year, and outlined that the firm is looking to significantly ramp up its mining initiatives.

Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz has called the Helios mining deal a “transformative acquisition” for the firm as it works to increase its exposure to the Bitcoin mining sector.

The crypto investment firm’s $65 million acquisition of Argo Blockchain’s flagship mining facility was announced on Dec. 28 as part of Argo’s drastic action to stave off bankruptcy.

Tweeting about the deal on Dec. 29, Novogratz emphasized that Galaxy is a “strong believer” in the long-term future of Bitcoin (BTC) and the company will continue to ramp up its mining initiatives:

“Bear markets are for building. We’re long-term believers in BTC and expect the lowest-cost miners to win over time. Helios is a transformative acquisition that will expand our mining capabilities and services as we continue to build for the decentralized future.”

Since we started mining bitcoin in Q1 2021, we outsourced our miners to hosting providers. But we always had the idea that we would vertically integrate our mining capabilities.
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) December 28, 2022

Explaining the deal in further detail, the Galaxy CEO outlined that the firm has a specific “thesis” on how to approach the mining sector:“low-cost electricity, a very efficient team” and “buying ASIC miners cheap.”

“That’s a recipe for success in mining, even when the hash rate rises,” he said.

Recent data from Hashrate Index found that Bitcoin ASIC miner prices are hovering at lows not seen since at least 2021, with the most efficient ASIC miners seeing their prices fall 86.8% from their peak in May 2021.

Galaxy has five business lines across trading, asset management, crypto mining, venture investments and investment banking. According to its website, it currently has $1.9 billion worth of assets under management.

As it stands, Galaxy has mainly utilized hosting services for its mining operations. However, Novogratz notes that owning 200 megawatt (MW) capacity Helios will not only let the company run miners on its own site but host for others as well.

Helios potentially has a lot of scaling ability to make it one of the biggest miners on the market. Argo Blockchain previously outlined in May this year that it had plans to increase electrical capacity to 800MW in “the coming years.”

At the time, the firm also said it expected Helios to reach a BTC mining capacity of 5.5 exahashes per second by the end of the year, with the potential to eventually hit 20 EH/s.

It appears that Galaxy has some cash to splash amid the 2022 bear market, considering that it also gave Argo Blockchain a $35 million equipment finance loan alongside the acquisition.

The move also adds another coup from earlier this month, when Galaxy snapped up crypto self-custody platform GK8 for an undisclosed fee.

GK8 was being auctioned off as part of the Celsius bankruptcy process, after the defunct crypto lender snapped up the firm for $115 million in 2021.

Novogratz called the acquisition a “crucial cornerstone in our effort to create a truly full-service financial platform for digital assets.”

Mike Novogratz