Crypto Markets Today: Sam Bankman-Fried Hearing Tops Another Troubling Day

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried told a Bahamas judge on Tuesday that he was not waiving his right to fight extradition to the U.S.

This article originally appeared in Crypto Markets Today, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter diving into what happened in today's crypto markets. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

• The former titan of industry appeared in a Nassau, Bahamas, courtroom on Tuesday morning to face an extradition order from the U.S. on federal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and other allegations.
• Bankman-Fried was arrested in Nassau on Monday evening after a magistrate judge signed an emergency warrant for his arrest at the request of prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York.
• Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, were seated in the third row behind members of the press. They appeared to oscillate between dejection and defiance, at times holding their heads in their hands and clasping their hands. Bankman-Fried’s mother audibly laughed several times when her son was referred to as a “fugitive” and his father occasionally put his fingers in his ears as if to drown out the sound of the proceedings.
• Bankman-Fried's lawyers have requested bail, according to Reuters.

Token Roundup

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH): The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization climbed 4% to the $17,700 level after the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation slowing more than expected in November. The report signaled progress in the Federal Reserve's campaign to stem soaring inflation. BTC was trading as high as $17,954 over the past 24 hours. Ether followed a similar pattern, trading up 4% to $1,310. Equity markets also turned green, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closing up 1.01%. The S&P 500, which has a strong technology component, was up 0.73% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 0.3%.

Algorand (ALGO): The layer 1 technology's token was trading up about 3% to 22 U.S. cents on Tuesday after it was selected to be the blockchain to support a digital guarantees platform in Italy. It will be the first time a European Union member state enables the use of blockchain technology for bank and insurance guarantees.

USD coin (USDC): Early Tuesday, surging outflows prompted Binance to halt user withdrawals in USDC stablecoin temporarily, adding to speculation and anxiety among crypto investors already rattled by this year’s market turmoil. Withdrawals of the stablecoin USDC have now resumed. USDC is an Ethereum-based stablecoin whose value is pegged 1:1 with the U.S. dollar.

Latest Prices

Crypto Market Analysis: Bitcoin Holds Initial Move Higher Following Unexpectedly Strong Inflation Report

By Glenn Williams Jr.

Bitcoin's price pushed higher following better-than-expected inflation data on Tuesday. The report showed U.S. inflation rising 7.1% versus the 7.3% projected by economists responding to a FactSet survey. November marks the second consecutive month that inflation has risen at a slower pace than expected.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) prices jumped immediately after Tuesday's CPI announcement and were recently up 3.3% and 3.5%, respectively.

A screen for high trading activity shows BTC and ETH appearing on a list of more than 10 cryptocurrencies whose trading volume exceeded its 20-day moving average by more than 50%.

Read the full technical take here.

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