Fahrenheit > Celsius

Good morning (is it really though?). Today we've got coverage on the Celsius meltdown, traditional financial asset tokenization, and Goldman getting involved in crypto derivatives. All that and more today!

Market Update (as of 9:18am ET):

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Top 5:

1. Celsius lending platform suspends withdrawals and transfers. On Sunday, lending platform Celsius suspended withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on the platform citing "extreme market conditions". The decision was made in order to “stabilize liquidity and operations". Celsius earns money by redeploying customer assets, but when demand for redemptions exceeds the company's reserves Celsius can be forced to liquidate their positions in order to remain liquid. Over the last couple of days Celsius has removed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets from other protocols like Aave and sold those assets on FTX. The halt of customer withdrawals has spooked markets and raised fears that Celsius may be insolvent.

2. Goldman Sachs executes its first trade of ether-linked derivative. The Wall Street firm is now trading a non-deliverable forward linked to the price of ether. The product offers institutional investors indirect exposure to crypto and indicates that there is still institutional appetite for crypto even during a significant market downturn. Marex Financial, a London-based firm, was the counterparty for Goldman's trade.

3. Abra introduces first crypto rewards card on American Express network. The first crypto rewards card on the American Express network will be offered by digital financial services company Abra. Rewards back on purchases will be available in more than 100 different cryptocurrencies and the card will have zero foreign transaction fees. The move follows similar product offerings by competitors Visa and Mastercard.

4. JPMorgan wants to bring trillions of dollars of tokenized assets to DeFi. Over the weekend at Consensus, Tyrone Lobban, head of Onyx Digital Assets at JPMorgan spoke on the massive opportunity to tokenize traditional assets like U.S. Treasuries or money market fund shares. The firm's goal is "to bring these trillions of dollars of assets into DeFi, so that we can use these new mechanisms for trading, borrowing [and] lending, but with the scale of institutional assets.” Institutional DeFi would require KYC checks in order to gain access to permissioned pools that adhere to existing regulatory requirements.

5. Great thread below from @Crypto_Joe10 on current market dynamics.

Updates and other stories:
- Nexo proposes buyout of Celsius assets as rival halts withdrawals...Read More
- Coin Center sues Treasury and IRS over tax-reporting rule...Read More
- Crypto.com cutting 5% of workforce amid digital asset downturn...Read More

Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Donna Y. - Nashville, TN
2. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
3. Forrest H. - Evansville, IN

External Resources:
1. Cryptopedia from Gemini - if you see a word, acronym, or phrase in this newsletter that you don't understand, there's a good chance you can find an explanation here
2. Crypto Explainer+ - intro level courses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, decentralized finance, NFTs, and more
3. Crypto Jobs! - looking for a new job? Check out this page from Anthony Pompliano with hundreds, if not thousands of listings

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.