5 Things to Know in Crypto Today – Genesis and the NASDAQ Index Weigh

Key Insights:

• Genesis announced the suspension of redemptions and new loans.
• Binance CEO CZ talks of significant interest in the recovery fund.
• US retail sales beat expectations, while Target (TGT) delivers a grim holiday season forecast.

Genesis Announces Suspension of Crypto Lending and Redemptions

The collapse of FTX took another bite out of the crypto market today. This afternoon, Genesis Trading announced the temporary suspension of redemptions and new loan originations in the lending business.

Genesis blamed the collapse of FTX for the unprecedented market turmoil, leading to irregular withdrawal requests that exceeded the platform’s available liquidity.

Despite the cushion of the Binance recovery fund, investors responded adversely to the news that preceded US retail sales figures for October.

Following the news of BlockFi and FTX-Linked Liquid freezing withdrawals, the latest announcement raises the possibility of more platforms suspending withdrawals.

After enjoying a two-day winning streak, the crypto market was down $17.1 billion to $785.7 billion in response to the news and market reaction to the latest US retail sales figures.

US Retail Sales Overshadowed by Target Q4 Sales Forecast

US Retail Sales jumped by 1.3% in October after stalling in September. Economists forecast a 1.0% increase.

However, Target Corp (TGT) weighed on investor sentiment, forecasting slowing demand over the holiday quarter. The unexpected forecast followed a Q3 earnings miss, leaving TGT down 13.06% for the session.

Adding to the bearish mood was news of Micron Tech (MU) reducing memory chip supplies and plans to make more cuts to its capital spending plans. The NASDAQ Composite Index ended the day with a 1.54% loss, which added to the crypto market’s bearish mood.

Binance CEO CZ Tells of Significant Interest in the Recovery Fund

On Wednesday, Binance CEO CZ updated the markets on the recently launched Recovery Fund. Attending a conference in Abu Dhabi, CZ reportedly said,

“There are players that have strong financials and we should band together; we’ve got significant interest so far.”

CZ did not provide names of institutions or exchanges or details of the recovery fund. Details such as the size of the fund and the qualification criteria remain vague.

However, CZ did say that more details about the fund will be available over the next two weeks.

Amidst the current market turmoil, the FIFA 2022 World Cup show must go on.

Today, Binance also announced the November 18 first-ever Christiano Ronaldo NFT drop on Binance.

FTX Fallout Hits Celebrity Endorsers

This week, Plaintiff Edwin Garrison filed a class action lawsuit against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and a group of individuals accused of endorsing FTX. The class-action suit lists Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Naomi Osaka, and Kevin O’Leary as co-defendants.

In October, Kim Kardashian settled with the SEC on charges of touting a crypto asset security by paying $1.26 million in penalties.

Senate Banking Committee Targets Former FTX CEO

According to news reports, the Senate Banking Committee is following in the footsteps of the House Financial Service Committee with plans to hold a hearing on FTX, which will involve Alameda and Bankman-Fried.

According to Reuters, the Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters said,

“The fallout of FTX has posed tremendous harm to over one million users, many of whole were everyday people who invested their hard-earned savings into the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, only to watch it disappear within a matter of seconds.”