First Mover Americas: Network Update Lifts AVAX

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Layer 1 Avalanche’s AVAX rallied 15% on Thursday following the protocol’s network update called “Banff 8” that went live. AVAX also witnessed a strong uptick over January, posting gains of 80%. The token was trading at around $22 at the time of writing. The protocol has also seen a number of announcements this week with IntainMarkets, a platform for trading tokenized asset-backed securities building as an Avalanche subnet and decentralized exchange, Dexalot, also launching as a subnet.

Bankruptcy-focused investment firm Cherokee Acquisitions has started offering what it calls “put options” to crypto investors to protect their funds from potential bankruptcy of major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, CoinDesk learned Wednesday from the company. The put options will protect account holders’ deposits on the above listed exchanges, paying back 100% of the assets in the account if the exchange files for bankruptcy protection within the contract period.

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis is cutting headcount as it reorganizes to adjust to challenges in the crypto market. The New York-based firm, which specializes in analyzing and tracking crypto transactions for risk-management purposes, said the reorganization will primarily affect its "go-to-market" team. The cuts will affect less than 5% of Chainalysis' staff, the company said. The firm said it employs over 900 people, meaning the cuts would amount to 40-50 jobs.

Chart of the Day

• The chart compare the Fed funds rate, the Federal Reserve's benchmark borrowing cost, with the U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) from 2000 to date.
• The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, lifting the borrowing cost above the core PCE, or core inflation, for the first time since 2019.
• It shows the central bank has moved closer to a move away from liquidity tightening that roiled the crypto market last year.
• Historically, borrowing cost has been 6% points above core PCE when the Fed cuts rates.

– Omkar Godbole

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