Evergrande And Chinese Regulators Pummel Crypto Markets

THE EVERGRANDE RECKONING

Cryptocurrencies got caught up in fears of the potential collapse of Evergrande, one of China’s largest real estate developers, which swept through global markets on Monday . The troubled property firm alerted banks that it would be unable to make debt payments, worth a total of $300 billion, due this month, sparking a sharp drop in the Chinese real estate sector. The losses quickly spread to broader markets as experts started warning its default could potentially create a Chinese “Lehman moment,” market analyst Tom Essaye wrote in a note last week. More than $1.2 billion worth of crypto futures got liquidated in just one day, according to analytics platform Bybt. Bitcoin had plunged more than 10%, hovering near 41,000 on Tuesday, pulling the rest of the market with it.

CHINA TIGHTENS SCREWS ON CRYPTO

As if that wasn’t enough, in another blow from the East, cryptocurrency prices tumbled again Friday morning after China’s central bank reiterated a sweeping ban on digital asset transactions , prompting some experts to warn the harsh rhetoric may encourage more nations to take similar measures, while others pointed out that prices have quickly recovered from such announcements in the past. The value of the world’s cryptocurrencies tanked to a low of about $1.8 trillion by 7:15 a.m. EDT on Friday, falling roughly 9% and losing $188 billion in market value within just three hours of China’s announcement, according to crypto-data website CoinMarketCap. Crypto investor Mike Novogratz, a staunch bitcoin bull, issued a warning that the world’s largest cryptocurrency may continue its struggle to once again break through a price of $45,000 but that the “secular story is as strong as ever.”

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NFTS GET NEARLY A $1 BILLION BOOST

Two leading NFT startups raised a combined $930 million this week, showing a sign of incessant appetite from venture investors for cryptocurrency companies. On Tuesday, Sorare, the Paris-based fantasy soccer platform that integrates non-fungible tokens registered on the Ethereum blockchain, announced that it had raised $680 million in Series B financing, led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, at a valuation of $4.3 billion. Europe’s biggest ever Series B as well as the second-largest private fundraise among blockchain startups, the round will help Sorare accelerate growth within soccer, expand into other sports, hire new talent, and open its first office in the U.S. (accounting for more than 20% of the firm’s revenue) in the coming months, co-founder and CEO Nicolas Julia told Forbes.

The following day, Dapper Labs, most famous as the creator of the $683 million online marketplace NBA Top Shot, where basketball fans can buy and sell video highlights of their favorite players, said it raised $250 million in a funding round led by Coatue at a valuation of $7.6 billion. Both will soon compete for the same user base, as the French firm aims to dabble into other professional sports while Dapper Labs just partnered with LaLiga, the Spanish football association, which has recently signed a deal with the Sorare.

Source: Messari. Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on September 24, 2021.

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ELSEWHERE

Big investors are dumping bitcoin futures and pivoting to Ethereum as expectations for the world’s largest cryptocurrency soften, JPMorgan says [Insider]

Twitter Adds Bitcoin Tipping, Pushes Further Into NFTs [Bloomberg]

Kentucky Files Emergency Cease and Desist Order Against Crypto Lender Celsius [Decrypt]