In 2014, Mt. Gox, at the time the world’s largest trading platform for cryptocurrencies, went bankrupt. The exchange was hacked and could no longer supply tokenholders with their tokens. The stolen bitcoins (BTC) have still not been returned to their rightful owners, but there are plans to refund part of the lost amount (in dollars). Coinbase writes in a research report that it could have an impact on the price of the largest crypto.
Bitcoins to stablecoin issuers?
It research is published on Coinbase’s webpage for institutions. The bitcoins that would be released once the lawsuit between former Mt. Gox members and the former company could be taken care of by stablecoin issuers. They buy bitcoin to add to the stablecoin’s currency reserves.
Terraform Labs does that, for example. That is the party behind the Terra Ecosystem (LUNA) and issues the UST stablecoin. That can be very dangerous once the price of bitcoin falls, but as long as it goes well it could bode well for UST’s growth.
Odevelopments at Ethereum
Coinbase is also positive about Ethereum (ETH). Of course, the switch to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), which shows the amount of ETH released for the network operators falls. That could turn Ethereum into a deflationary network. That thought has been around for more than a year, and the deadline for the switch is occasionally postponed. At the time of writing, the deadline is around the third quarter of 2022, according to a other Coinbase research†
Furthermore, the largest exchange in the US thinks that Ethereums layer 2 capabilities will continue to grow. That means new tokens and maybe even new categories within the crypto world.
On-chain and regulation
Furthermore, it is expected that the United States and its Treasury Department with clearer regulation shall come. Although the US is very loud when it comes to crypto, there are places in the world where crypto is officially ‘safe’ and where the business climate for HODLers and companies is more positive.
The developments on various blockchains are also positive. Coinbase emphasizes that Bitcoiners have more and more of their bitcoin in illiquid wallets. So they won’t just sell anymore, which is positive for the price.
