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Controversial YouTube crypto blogger Ben Armstrong, also famous under alias BitBoy, has taken to Twitter to share that today could be a "panic day" for flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
If BTC manages to hold above $15,000, BitBoy tweeted, the chances of the bottom being in would rise dramatically.
Today could be a panic day. So much news in last 12 hours it’s honestly hard to keep up or cover it all.
If Bitcoin holds $15k in the midst of DCG/Genesis/Silvergate debacle on top of unemployment going the wrong way (from ADP)… chances the bottom is in dramatically goes ⬆️— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) January 5, 2023
Negative news for crypto
The crypto blogger wrote that there has been so much negative crypto news over the past 12 hours that it is hard to keep up with all of it. In particular, he mentioned three major pieces of news that, he believes, might force Bitcoin to drop below the $15,000 level.
Unemployment rate expected to worsen
The first is DCG's trouble and that of its lending arm Genesis, the fall of deposits at crypto-oriented Silvergate bank and the U.S. unemployment rate, which is predicted to hit 4.6%. Employers are predicted to create around 43,000 new jobs per month in 2023.
This is a much worse situation on the jobs market than in 2022, when the unemployment rate was 3.7%. In the past year, over 400,000 new jobs have been created by businesses.
Winklevoss-Silbert dispute
In the meantime, head of Gemini exchange Cameron Winklevoss is striving to reclaim $900 million in customers' funds that were lent to DCG's Genesis. Initially, this sum close to $1 billion was lent to Barry Silbert's company in order to make high profits for lenders on Gemini. But now Winklevoss cannot seem to get this money back as Genesis is having bad liquidity issues and is close to going bankrupt.
Silvergate bank run, staff layoffs
Prominent crypto-focused bank Silvergate has faced massive withdrawals of approximately $8.1 billion after the collapse of the FTX exchange in early November and the arrest of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. The bank has been selling its assets at a loss to compensate for the withdrawals and has fired around 40% of its staffers.
Vladislav Sopov