Huobi plans layoffs, sees outflows; SBF seeks to retain his Robinhood shares

On Jan 6, 2023

The biggest news in the cryptoverse for Jan. 6 saw Huobi announce mass layoffs. Meanwhile, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has insisted on controlling his shares of Robinhood. Plus, developments around Mt. Gox, Gopax, and Poolin and research on Bitcoin’s implied volatility.

CryptoSlate Top Stories

Huobi confirms lay-offs amid rampant FUD over operational stability

Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun plans to lay off roughly 20% of Huobi’s staff, Reuters reported on Jan. 6.

According to the report, the exchange is planning a “structural adjustment” expected to be completed within the first quarter. An internal memo from Sun described the move as a “short-term pain” that could bring more advantages to the exchange in the long run.

Justin Sun previously denied rumors of impending layoffs at the exchange, saying they were false.

Huobi sees net outflows of over $60M in 24 hours

Crypto exchange Huobi saw $94.2 million in net outflows over the last seven days –$60 million (63.8%) of the outflows were recorded in the previous 24 hours — according to Nansen data.

DeFillama’s data shows that the exchange’s outflow in the last 24 hours had exceeded $70 million as of press time. The data shows that the exchange saw significant inflows of $87.9 million on Dec. 15 and $46.04 million on Dec. 28 –since then, the firm has recorded outflows exceeding $200 million.

Sam Bankman-Fried wants to retain ownership of Robinhood shares worth $450M

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried wants to retain control of Robinhood shares worth $450 million on the basis that the bankrupt exchange has no “legal claims” over the assets, according to a Jan. 5 court filing.

SBF said he and Gary Wang originally owned the shares. He added that the shares are not owned by Alameda Research or any other entity implicated in the FTX bankruptcy.

Mt. Gox extends deadline for BTC repayment registration

Bankrupt Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has extended the registration deadline for its BTC repayment process from Jan. 10 to March 10.

On Oct. 6, 2022, the Japanese-based exchange announced that it has opened a registration portal for all affected creditors to register their payee information and select a repayment method in view of distributing about 137,000 BTC.

Initially, the deadline for the registration process was set for Jan. 10, 2023. However, in a Jan. 6 update, Mt. Gox said it has extended the registration and distribution deadline.

BTC second-worst YTD since 2011, expected to remain flat through 2023

Bitcoin (BTC) saw its second-worst year to date (YTD) in 2022 since launch — predicted to remain flat through 2023, according to Arcane Research (AR).

Down 65% by the end of 2022, BTC performed worse on only one other occasion — in 2018, down 73% on the YTD. Compared to gold and S&P 500, cryptocurrencies took the biggest hit to value in 2022 — falling sharply in May 2022 and mid-June 2022, according to AR data.

Gopax investors could face $471M loss if Binance acquisition fails

South Korean exchange Gopax needs to repay customers roughly $471 million in deposits locked up in Genesis Trading — which could be lost if a Binance acquisition falls through.

Poolin Bitcoin mining hash rate share falls by 94% from ATH

China-based Bitcoin mining pool, Poolin, registers a record decline in hash rate share to 1% from its all-time high of 18% – a 94% decline, according to data from Glassnode.

Research Highlight

Research: Implied volatility shows only sideways movements for Bitcoin

The crypto derivatives market has grown so big in the past few years that it can be used as an indicator of future price movements. Bitcoin options have captured the crypto industry and have quickly turned into mature products whose movements have the power to sway the rest of the market.

Implied volatility (IV) is often used by investors to estimate future volatility in a security’s price. However, while IV can predict price swings, it can’t predict the direction in which the price will go. High implied volatility means there’s a high chance of a large price swing, while low IV means that the price of the underlying asset most likely won’t change.

As such, IV is considered a good proxy of market risk.

Looking at the implied volatility for Bitcoin shows that the market sees little risk in BTC.

Bitcoin’s implied volatility currently stands at a two-year low. The sharp drop in IV has historically followed aggressive spikes caused by black swan events — spikes were seen during the 2021 Defi Summer, the Terra collapse in June 2022, and the FTX downfall in November 2022.

However, the drop in implied volatility seen at the end of 2022 shows that the derivatives market sees no major price movements in the near future.