Bitcoin price has been travelling sideways over the last 24 hours, just on top of major support at $20,000.
Top-20 altcoins have mostly fallen over the last day of trading, as Ethereum drops 4%, BNB falls 1% and FTX token enters the top 20 with a small 2% gain.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares (GBTC) are trading at a 33.75% discount relative to the spot price of Bitcoin – the largest discount in the instrument's entire history, which began in 2017.
The trust provides a way for institutional investors to acquire exposure to Bitcoin, however the underlying coins come with a 6-month lockup period. The only way for investors to exit their positions is to sell GBTC shares.
Grayscale has been attempting to turn the trust into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which they believe would solve the issue and erase the discount. The SEC, however, has been unfriendly to spot Bitcoin ETFs citing a potential for market manipulation.
Positions held by crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital have been liquidated by several major exchange including FTX, Deribit and BitMEX, according to several sources.
The fund reportedly received several margin calls amid the market downturn and is currently facing significant solvency issues. It was also confirmed today that Three Arrows suffered heavy losses from the collapse of LUNA last month.
Babel Finance, a cryptocurrency lending platform, has suspended withdrawals and redemptions in a move eerily mirroring that of Celsius last week.
Comments made by the company did not reveal much, with a spokesperson telling The Block that Babel is "taking action to best protect the interests of our clients". The platform had an outstanding loan balance of more than $3 billion at the end of last year.
