First Mover Asia: Crypto Flat as Markets Await Tech Earnings

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:Prices: Crypto markets are playing the waiting game as tech’s expected mixed bag of earnings may push things down as the week progresses.Insights: Do Kwon is in a Montenegro jail on charges he sold unregistered securities, but his attorneys raised a reasonable point about the SEC quest for unlimited jurisdiction over the asset class.Prices

CoinDesk Market Index (CMI)

1,192
−11.8 ▼ 1.0%

Bitcoin (BTC)

$27,514
−335.0 ▼ 1.2%

Ethereum (ETH)

$1,845
−37.6 ▼ 2.0%

S&P 500

4,137.04
+3.5 ▲ 0.1%

Gold

$2,007
+27.5 ▲ 1.4%

Nikkei 225

28,593.52
+29.2 ▲ 0.1%
BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk Indices, as of 7 a.m. ET (11 a.m. UTC)

Good morning, Asia.

Markets in the region are opening flat, with both crypto and TradFi markets not doing much.

Bitcoin is currently at $27,514 down 1.2% while ether is down 2% to $1,845.

Ether’s relatively stagnant position comes as the protocol’s Shanghai upgrade brings record-breaking inflows into the ecosystem as stakers reinvest their rewards.

Data from Coinglass shows that while the market is still relatively flat, the majority of liquidations are coming from short positions, suggesting the market has legs.

Around Asia, the Nikkei 225 opened slightly in the green at 28,714 while Korea’s KOPSI is flat at 2,521.

In the U.S., Wall Street is awaiting earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet which are scheduled for April 25.

Crypto remains tightly correlated with the NASDAQ, as CoinDesk reported earlier this month, which reiterates the narrative that it’s another risk asset rather than a safe haven from economic malaise, thus making tech earnings as important as ever.

Biggest Gainers

InsightsDo Kwon Has a Point

Do Kwon is back in court in the U.S. – via his lawyers as he’s in jail in Montenegro – asking for the Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against him alleging he sold unregistered securities to be dismissed. UST is currency, not a security, is the argument being presented.

The SEC lacks a “clear congressional authorization” to regulate digital assets, the docket reads, pointing out that the CFTC chairman has changed his mind “about whether cryptocurrencies are securities, and currently asserts that stablecoins (like UST) are not.”

Kwon isn’t the only target here. The SEC is continuing its campaign of regulation by enforcement: attempting to get insider trading charges added to a case of a fired Coinbase product manager, thus vis-a-vis having a wide net to call everything a security; or sneaking in allegations that all exchange tokens are securities in a complaint against former Alameda COO Caroline Ellison which went uncontested as she submitted a plea deal to prosecutors.

“Backdoor rulemaking” is one way to describe it.

In contrast, many jurisdictions in Asia are moving in the opposite direction: creating legal frameworks to properly define crypto – not apply frameworks from the mid-twentieth century – and regulate it as the unique asset class it is. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has this already set up, Hong Kong is working on its own framework, and even Taiwan is rolling out a rulebook.

Kwon is no saint, and is in a lot of trouble after being caught in Montenegro with a fake passport. But his counsel is putting forward a good argument about crypto regulation in the U.S, and the SEC’s quest for unlimited jurisdiction over the asset class.

Perhaps in his fall, he’ll create an important precedent for the future of crypto regulation in the U.S., and in the end, we’ll thank him for accelerating a push for regulatory clarity.

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