Observations & Insight

Lead Stories

Genesis Says ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Owes Millions From Trades; Bankrupt lender is seeking $20.9 million from Roger Ver; Long-time crypto advocate said failed to settle transactions
Emily Nicolle – Bloomberg
A Genesis unit is seeking more than $20 million from Bitcoin Cash backer Roger Ver, alleging that he failed to settle cryptocurrency options transactions that expired in December. Ver, known to some as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his evangelistic role in the early days of crypto, was named in a court summons in New York on Tuesday by GGC International Limited. The filing included a notice seeking no less than $20.9 million in monetary damages, in addition to legal costs and expenses.
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Adani Weighing Legal Options Against U.S. Short Seller
Ben Otto – MarketWatch
Adani Enterprises Ltd. is evaluating taking legal action against Hindenburg Research, the U.S. short-selling firm that released a report alleging fraud at the Indian conglomerate.
Jatin Jalundhwala, Adani’s group head of legal, said in a statement Thursday that the company is examining provisions under U.S. and Indian laws “for remedial and punitive action” against Hindenburg, whose report he said was “designed to have a deleterious effect on the share values of Adani Group companies.”
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Explainer: Who is behind Hindenburg, the company that is shorting Adani?
Carolina Mandl – Reuters
Short-seller Hindenburg Research disclosed on Wednesday short positions in India’s Adani Group, citing potential stock manipulation and accounting fraud in a report. The allegations sent bonds and shares in the conglomerate’s companies down.
Hindenburg has a track-record of finding corporate wrongdoings and placing bets against the companies.
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U.S. durable-goods orders jump 5.6% — but the details paint a more dismal picture
Jeffry Bartash – MarketWatch
The numbers: Orders for manufactured goods jumped 5.6% in December because of a flush of new contracts for Boeing passenger planes, but business investment was weak again in another sign of a corroding U.S. economy.
If transportation is set aside, new orders fell 0.1% last month. What’s more, a key measure of business investment also declined for the second time in four months.
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Bank of England set to hike to 4% as rate peak looms
David Milliken – Reuters
The Bank of England looks on course to raise its main interest rate by half a percentage point to 4% on Feb. 2, but economists will be looking keenly for signals that this 10th consecutive rate rise will be one of the BoE’s last.
The BoE was the first major economy central bank to begin tightening after the COVID-19 pandemic, lifting rates from a record-low 0.1% in December 2021.
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Why bitcoin is up 40% in January despite crypto industry carnage
Frances Yue – MarketWatch
It is not only crypto – most markets tend to perform well in January, as fund managers rush to deploy money at the start of a year, according to Ivan Ivanchenko, managing partner at Phinom Digital. In fact, most risk assets rose so far this year, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite logging a 8.8% gain, according to FactSet data.
Meanwhile, bitcoin was heavily shorted in November and December after FTX’s collapse. As the crypto’s price rose unexpectedly in January, some short sellers were forced to close their positions and buy bitcoin, pushing the crypto’s price even higher.
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Exchanges

Crypto Options Exchange Deribit Plans Move to Dubai: Report
Elizabeth Napolitano – CoinDesk
Bitcoin and ether options exchange Deribit — the world’s largest by volume and open interest – is eyeing a move to Dubai as regulators begin to provide greater clarity on crypto regulatory guardrails there.
The exchange plans to open a Dubai office staffed by a team of 10 people composed of both local hires and the company’s existing talent, Deribit Chief Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Officer David Dohmen told Bloomberg. The move could take place as soon as this summer.
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Eurex FX update
Eurex
FX futures volumes continued to the positive momentum, setting another trading record in Q4 2022 – for the sixth time in a row.
During the period spanning from September to December 2022, market participants traded over 500,000 FX futures on Eurex.
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Regulation & Enforcement

Libor Is Still Due to Die, but Companies May Use Extensions
Mark Maurer – WSJ
Companies that have yet to switch over from the London interbank offered rate before a June phaseout deadline may have ways to hang on to the borrowing benchmark—at least temporarily.
Libor, which underpins financial contracts such as corporate loans, mortgages and interest-rate derivatives, is set to phase out on June 30 in response to a yearslong manipulation scandal. While some businesses have already transitioned to a version of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, U.S. regulators’ preferred alternative to Libor, many other firms haven’t, particularly in the leveraged-loan market.
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Strategy

This Options Strategy Can Help You Outpace the Market
Steven M. Sears – Barron’s
Most people are rational in their nonfinancial lives. They don’t believe in leprechauns or expect to throw a football like Tom Brady, write poetry like T.S. Eliot, sing like Nina Simone, or cook like Alain Ducasse.
Yet many of those same people are outrageously delusional about the markets. They try to constantly maximize profits while ignoring powerful forces that are within their control, like dividends and compound returns. Dividends, after all, account for about 45% of historical stock returns.
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Increased GDP
Cboe (Video)
Scott Bauer @cboesib covers the GDP data drop, big $VIX trades and #earnings action in today’s #Vol411
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Education

Covered Call ETFs: What Are They & What Kind Of Dividend Yields Can You Expect?
TheStreet
Investors are increasingly using covered call strategies and ETFs as a strategy to make money in current market conditions. One of these methods is to sell call options on a stock or ETF, which can bring in money through option premiums. Investors looking to increase their income may find it appealing, as many covered call strategies and ETFs now offer 10 – 12% yields. In this article, we will discuss covered call techniques, ETFs, their advantages and disadvantages, and how investors can utilize them to make money in the current market.
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