Meta’s Cryptocurrency Project Diem Could Go for Sale (Report)

The Diem Association – a cryptocurrency initiative backed by Meta – is reportedly considering the sale of its assets to return capital to its investors. The project is also in discussions with investment bankers about how best to sell its intellectual property and help the developers find new places to work.

Diem Might Sell Its Assets

During its relatively short time of existence, Diem has sparked some controversy. Established in 2019 under the name Libra, it aimed at revolutionizing global monetary services by launching a stablecoin pegged to the American dollar. The project’s backer is Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook).

The initiative was a rather complicated one, and to have a better chance of success, Meta partnered with dozens of other companies. The alliance, though, was not strong enough to protect the project from regulatory scrutiny.

While some of the partners abandoned the collaboration, Mark Zuckerberg (Co-Founder and CEO of Meta) defended the idea behind Libra at a Congressional hearing. Despite this support, the project remained an issue for the watchdogs. As a result, it changed its name to Diem to distance itself from the original concept.

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the Diem Association is seeking to sell its assets to return funds to its investors. Meta owns about a third of the venture, while other prominent association members include Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures, and Temasek Holdings Pte.

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In November last year, the head of the US Senate Banking Committee – Senator Sherrod Brown – called upon stablecoin issuers and platforms to disclose their operations.

Diem Secured Licenses Across The USA

Despite the recent reports, last year, Meta’s stablecoin payment system gained an approval to operate in nearly all states in the USA. Back then, David Marcus – the former board member of the project – opined that stablecoins could fix several problems within the current international financial network. Thus, he backed up Meta’s concept to support the Diem Association:

“I strongly believe if there was ever a chance to create an open, interoperable protocol for money on the internet and truly change the game for people and businesses around the world, it is now. The fact that we’re participating, as members of the Diem Association, and in other ways, can help bring more companies around a standard, and I don’t want us to waste our shot.”

Subsequently, Marcus concluded that Novi – a digital wallet created by Meta – is “ready to come to market” while strictly abiding by the regulators’ rules.

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Markets Slump In Wake of Fed Meeting

Key Takeaways

  • Crypto markets briefly rose today before taking a sharp dive in the wake of the Fed’s FOMC meeting today.
  • Bitcoin and Ethereum enjoyed significant gains on the day before they were erased this afternoon.
  • The Fed’s insistence on rate hikes may have put fear in some investors.


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The Fed will stick to its plan of raising interest rates in March, according to the report from this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, released today. Although the move comes as no surprise, markets are rattled all the same.

Fed Rate Hikes On the Way

Crypto and traditional markets alike have slumped in the wake of today’s FOMC meeting report and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s corresponding press conference.



The Federal Open Market Committee announced that while it would not be recommending a raise in interest rates immediately, it would stick with the tapering plan it publicized last December—effectively ending its asset purchases in by early March and raising interest rates. 

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum ticked up in price in the minutes leading up to the 2:00 PM EST FOMC announcement, and then jumped more in the minutes after. Bitcoin jumped from just shy of $38,000 at 1:59 to nearly $38,750 at 2:09—Ethereum’s price action told a similar story. 


However, the positivity was short lived, as both assets started to fall in the lead up to Fed Chairman Powell’s Q&A session set for 2:30 EST. At press time both coins had erased their gains for the day. Stocks followed a similar pattern: both the Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average took sharp dives after Powell spoke.

Chair Powell emphasized that the Congressionally-mandated monetary goals for the Fed were full employment and price stability. He stressed that its primary way of achieving those goals was to modulate interest rates. The question of how much rates will rise (0.25% seems expected), though, seems to have spooked investors.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies. 

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Bitcoin Leverage: Lack Of Liquidations Could Indicate Another Wave Of Selling

Bitcoin finally broke below the $40K point this past weekend. This had sent the cryptocurrency back towards six-month lows. One thing though was that liquidations or the digital asset remained lower than expected. The current liquidation volumes lay well below the volumes that have accompanied previous crashes like this one. This could be a very important indicator for the market.

Bitcoin Liquidations Remain Low In Shakeout

Previously, whenever the price of bitcoin had dumped this hard, liquidation volumes have quickly risen. This is due to the massive sell-offs that follow such crashes as investors try to get out of a bleeding market. This time around, bitcoin liquidation volumes have not jumped. They remain really low, indicating that maybe investors were not done selling their holdings.

Related Reading | Has Bitcoin Reached Its Bottom? Analyst Says It Still Has A Long Way To Go

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If this is the case, then there may be more downside coming as the week runs toward the end. Massive sell-offs have already sent the digital asset to lows not seen since mid-last year. Another round of sell-offs could end up pushing the cryptocurrency’s value down below $30K.

Last Friday, when the price of BTC had successfully broken below $40,000, the bitcoin futures and perpetual markets were rocked by liquidation. By the time the beginning of the weekend rolled around, over $854 million in long liquidations were already recorded. This may seem like a lot but compared to previous iterations of this type of shakeout, liquidations have fallen short.

Chart showing bitcoin liquidations across exchanges

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BTC liquidation volumes fall short of expectations | Source: Arcane Research

May 2021 was the last time that BTC’s price had taken a similar plunge. In total, the market saw $4.8 billion worth of liquidated longs across the market. Indicating that the sell-off in May was more intense than those recorded in January of 2022. One explanation for the low liquidation volumes is that traders were able to re-allocate and add collateral to underwater trades, given that they’ve had more time to reassess their positions.

Where Are The Liquidations Happening?

Another reason for the low liquidation volumes could be the data available for analysis. Back in May 2021, crypto exchanges like Binance and ByBit had their bitcoin liquidation data out for anyone who wanted to have a look. Since then, there has been a change by both exchanges where they now restrict their liquidation. Now, analysts are having to guesstimate liquidation volumes using historical data from the exchanges.

Bitcoin price chart on TradingView.com

BTC price begins uptrend | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Binance still retains dominance of the market, thus, not having access to the crypto exchange’s bitcoin liquidation data could severely affect the volumes of liquidations being reported. The crypto exchange’s dominance in the market has risen since before its data was restricted, suggesting an even larger pool of liquidations that are not being reported correctly.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Whales Take Advantage Of Market Crash To Gobble Up Millions In BTC

Nevertheless, the liquidations have spilled into other spaces in the industry. Decentralized finance (DeFi) did not escape the onslaught in the least as it was also rocked by liquidations.

Featured image from Bitcoin News, charts from Arcane Research and TradingView.com

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Ethereum bulls aim to flip $2.8K to support before calling a trend reversal

The dire predictions calling for the onset of an extended bear market may have been premature as prices appear to be in recovery mode on Jan. 26 following a signal from the U.S. Federal Reserve that interest rates will remain near 0% for the time being. 

After the Fed announcement from, prices across the cryptocurrency market began to rise with Bitcoin (BTC) up 4.11% and making a strong push for $39,000. This sparked a wave of momentum that helped to lift a majority of tokens in the market, but at the time of writing BTC price has pulled back to the $37,000 zone.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the top smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH) also responded positively to the rise in bullish sentiment as its price climbed 8.11% on the 24-hour chart to hit a daily high at $2,723.

ETH/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Here’s a look at what several analysts in the market are saying about the price action for Ethereum and where the top altcoin could be headed in the short term.

Ether had a “nice 12% bounce” from the recent lows

Short-term analysis of Ether’s price action was provided by crypto trader and pseudonymous Twitter user ‘CryptoAmsterdam’, who posted the following chart outlining one possible path the price of Ether could take in the near future.

ETH/USDT 1-hour chart. Source: Twitter

After noting the “nice 12% bounce” in the price of Ether “since the flip,” CryptoAmsterdam gave the warning that they “wouldn’t chase the green here.”

CryptoAmsterdam said,

“Will look for a potential short-term flip of bias if we get back under the lower time frame range high and break that little trendline.”

A bottoming pattern on the Ether chart

Further insight into the state of Ether was offered by options trader and pseudonymous Twitter user ‘John Wick’, who posted the following chart highlighting the formation of a bottoming pattern on the Ether chart.

ETH/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Twitter

Wick said,

“Ethereum showing the same bottoming pattern trying to break out of the resistance zone. Needs to see more upside from BTC to breakout.”

Related: Altcoins book 40% gains after Bitcoin and the crypto market enter a relief rally

Ether bulls need to reclaim support at $2,850

A final bit of analysis on key levels to keep an eye on moving forward was shared by crypto trader and pseudonymous Twitter user ‘TheCryptoCactus’, who posted the following chart outlining a key support and resistance zone, as well as an area of heavy accumulation.

ETH/USD 2-day chart. Source: Twitter

According to TheCryptoCactus, those that “longed the bottom” are in a good position for an “easy hedge” at these levels, but the trader cautioned that what is needed next is “to get a valid support/resistance flip of $2,850.”

TheCryptoCactus said,

“Personally, would rather wait till we flip $3,000 into support again and then just ape a huge position.”

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.734 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 41.5%.