March 06, 2024 | Read Online

IBIT Shatters Inflow Records with $788M Surge

Plus Do Kwon Wins Third Extradition Appeal

The Breakdown First Five - Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

IBIT Shatters Inflow Records with $788M Surge

5. Rough New High

Bitcoin made a new all time high, rising a few hundred dollars above $69,000. The coronation turned into a bloodbath, with an immediate rejection into a drawdown. Bitcoin bottomed 14% down off the new alltime high, hitting prices not seen in three days. It’s all probably fine, with Bitcoin recovering above $66,500 overnight, perhaps gearing up for another shot at a breakout.

Mike Novogratz @novogratz

Well that was fun🤔 Not!! I can’t find one chart in the universe where a market rallies 350% to a 3 year old high and takes it out on the first try. I believe we end the year much higher but now we will chop around. Be safe!! $BTC

Mar 5, 2024

1.1K Likes 71 Retweets 76 Replies

4. Liquidity Becomes Liquidations

The volatile day led to a massive wave of liquidations. $320M for Bitcoin, $1B across broader markets, frothy memecoins rinsed a ton of leverage. Funding rates reset by 20% and $3B worth of Bitcoin open interest was taken down. This was the largest liquidation cascade since at least August, with most of the pain on the long side. Leverage is quickly rebuilding, suggesting that traders have reloaded for another run at the highs.

Hsaka @HsakaTrades

$1b in liquidations today.

Highest since the prev cycle top.

The majority were longs, on the day BTC inched above its ATH.

There is no second best market.

Mar 5, 2024

4.79K Likes 451 Retweets 147 Replies

3. Shapeshift Pays the Fine

The SEC has circled back for enforcement action against Shapeshift almost three years since the service shut down in the US and decentralized into DAO ownership. Shapeshift paid a $275M fine, admitted no fault and agreed not to breach securities law. The action specifically targeted pre-decentralization operations, suggesting the SEC didn’t want to pick a fight on that issue. No tokens were named as securities specifically. Sounds like a parking ticket.

Erik Voorhees @ErikVoorhees

"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

CoinDesk @CoinDesk

.@SECGov filed a cease-and-desist against @ErikVoorhees' crypto exchange @ShapeShift, barring it from operating as an unregistered securities dealer in the U.S.

@nikhileshde reports

trib.al/jWzvTMy

Mar 6, 2024

796 Likes 80 Retweets 71 Replies

2. Do Kwon Wins Third Appeal

Terraform Founder and apparently cunning defendant Do Kwon has once again won an appeal to avoid extradition to the US. The appeal court found there were defects in the lower court decision regarding which order extradition requests had been made by the US and South Korea. Kwon is adamant that he should be sent to South Korea. The case will be returned to the lower court for a retrial. Maybe one day the extradition will actually stick.

Novacula Occami @OccamiCrypto

Looks like SBF will have to wait a bit longer for a crypto buddy to join him. Do Kwon staying in Montenegro for the moment as his extradition to the US was halted.

Mar 5, 2024

16 Likes 3 Retweets 1 Reply

1. IBIT Record Inflows

Earlier in the day ETF volumes showed a massive spike, coming in 20% higher than the previous record. Most assumed this was paper-handed boomers getting out during the crash. Turns out ETF buyers have diamond hands. Blackrock’s ETF notched up $788M worth of inflows, blowing the previous record out of the water. Other flows were mild, GBTC recorded $332M in outflows. Total flows at $662M, good enough for the third highest day.