Cryptocurrency roundup for January 23: Brett Harrison raises $5 million for new startup, Bitcoin evangelist predicts value at $220,000 and more

Financial expert, trader, podcaster and Bitcoin evangelist Max Keiser has predicted that the world’s largest digital currency has bottomed out in this cycle and is well on its way to crossing the $220,000 ceiling. Speaking with journalist Daniela Cambone, he said billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has already set a target of $250,000 for Bitcoin this year, and he concurred with the prediction entirely. “Investments in the Bitcoin network have never been higher, that means the security has never been higher and the price will take care of itself. Tim Draper reiterated his $250,000 call for Bitcoin in 2023 and I concur with that entirely,” he said. More here.

Three men in a car recently drove into a metal barricade outside of the house of FTX co-founder Samuel Bankman-Fried's parents, according to court documents filed by lawyers, Bloomberg reported. The lawyers wrote, “When the security guard on duty confronted them, the men said something to the effect of: ‘You won’t be able to keep us out.’” The security guard was unable to get the licence plate of the car before it drove away. The lawyers argued that this incident highlights the need to keep secret the identities of two individuals willing to put up money to secure Bankman-Fried's bond. Continue reading.

Former FTX US President Brett Harrison has successfully raised $5 million in funding for his new crypto software startup, Architect. The company aims to make centralised and decentralised crypto markets more user-friendly and accessible for large investors such as institutions. Investors including Coinbase Ventures and Circle Ventures have backed the venture. In an interview with Bloomberg, Harrison stated, "Our goal at Architect is to rebuild trust in the crypto industry. The market has seen its fair share of scandals in the past year and it's important that we create a platform that instills confidence in traders." He added that with the funding raised, he planned to launch his product in the second quarter and eventually see it integrated into platforms like Coinbase Global Inc and Circle. Continue reading.

According to court documents signed by interim CEO Derar Islim, crypto lending firm Genesis had $5.1 billion in liabilities in the weeks following its freeze on withdrawals last November. In his First Day Motion in the Southern District of New York's bankruptcy court, Islim provided a detailed breakdown of Genesis' financial state prior to its restructuring. Three of its entities - Genesis HoldCo, Genesis Global Capital LLC, and Genesis Asia Pacific PTE. LTD - filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday night as a result of the fallout from FTX's collapse and the subsequent "run on the bank" that occurred. More here.

Cameron Winklevoss, who is one of the founders of the crypto exchange Gemini, has threatened to take legal action against Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its CEO Barry Silbert. This is because DCG's lending unit, Genesis, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Winklevoss said that unless DCG and Silbert make a fair offer to the customers of Gemini's Earn program, legal action will be taken against them immediately. Gemini is the largest creditor of Genesis, with a claim of $766 million. Winklevoss stated that they have been preparing to take direct legal action against Barry, DCG, and others who share responsibility for the fraud that has caused harm to the 340,000+ Earn users and others who were misled by Genesis and its associates. Details here.

This year, the Slamdance Film Festival, a prestigious film festival that is an Oscar-qualifying platform for independent filmmakers, will showcase the premiere of a psychological thriller called Fuzzy Head, the funding for which has been obtained through the use of blockchain-based crowdfunding platform, Untold.io, a crowdfunding platform that focuses on impact content. According to Ali Aksu, CEO of Untold.io said that having a platform to invest in carefully-vetted entertainment projects with impact-driven agendas that would otherwise not have access to Hollywood screens is a unique opportunity. “We are all about using film and entertainment as an educational and healing tool to improve the condition of our world, and we’re grateful to have the added support of Dapper Labs to support exciting indie projects like Fuzzy Head,” he said. Full report here.

Crypto payments and Web3 infrastructure company, MoonPay, has acquired creative agency Nightshift, which will enable it to provide a complete set of services to its current and future clients, offering “world-class, end-to-end support.” The Toronto-based Nightshift will rebrand as Otherlife, but current clients will not experience an interruption of services as the agency will continue to serve them under this new name. “With the addition of Otherlife, we can provide companies, brands, and creative agencies with world-class, end-to-end support to unlock new revenue through groundbreaking Web3-based products, experiences, and ideas,” Adweek reported Soto-Wright as saying. Continue reading.

In the past week, the prices of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance's BNB, Polygon's MATIC, and XRP have continued to increase. Specifically, Bitcoin rose by 16.8 percent and reached above $23,000, Ethereum went up by 14.3 percent to around $1,663, Binance's BNB increased by 3.7 percent, Polygon's MATIC by 9.2 percent, and XRP by 6.8 percent. However, not all crypto stocks performed well, with Silvergate dropping by 1.7 percent and Galaxy Digital declining by 4 percent. In contrast, shares of Coinbase and MicroStrategy increased by 13.3 percent and 13.1 percent respectively, despite being downgraded by Moody's.