First Mover Americas: Fantom Surges 20% as Sparkster Questions Fly

The latest moves in crypto markets in context for May 23, 2022.

AccessTimeIconMay 23, 2022 at 1:56 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:19 p.m. UTC
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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. I’m Lyllah Ledesma, here to take you through the latest in crypto markets, news and insights.

  • Price Point: Bitcoin and ether prices had a flat weekend with little movement. Fantom's FTM token surges 20% on the day.
  • Market Moves: Bitcoin’s four-hour time frame price chart signals upside, according to one analyst.
  • Feature: The seemingly dormant blockchain project Sparkster's apparent conversion of $22 million of ether into the stablecoin USDC – visible in blockhain data – is raising suspicions among some community members, CoinDesk’s Shaurya Malwa reports.
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  • Price Point

    Bitcoin (BTC) is stuck trading in the $29,000-$30,000 range after an uneventful weekend. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization dipped to lows of $28,900 on Saturday.

    Ethereum (ETH) is up 2.8% on the day, trading at around $2,000 after experiencing a relatively flat weekend.

    Altcoins mostly traded in line with BTC’s flat performance over the weekend, apart from layer 1 project Fantom (FTM), which is outperforming.

    In traditional markets, stocks and the Chinese yuan advanced after President Joe Biden signaled he’d reconsider China tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. U.S. stock futures make a jump start to the week, with the Dow Futures up 340 points, S&P 500 Futures up 1.1% and the Nasdaq Futures up 1% on the day.

    Market Moves

    Until the next U.S. Consumer Price Index data is released (in three weeks) and the next Federal Reserve meeting, sideways movement is expected in the crypto market, according to Florian Giovannacci, head of trading at Covario AG.

    Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at the U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, said in an email to CoinDesk that bitcoin has printed a higher high and higher low on the four-hour time frame, which is considered a bullish indicator for continuation to the upside.

    Bitcoin's four-hour price chart. (TradingView)
    Bitcoin's four-hour price chart. (TradingView)

    Fantom’s FTM was up 20% over the last 24-hours, making it the top performer amongst major digital assets on the day.

    FTM is also up 48% over the last seven days.

    Some analysts have attributed the uptick in Fantom to rumors that decentralized finance (DeFi) developer Andre Cronje might be returning to the project.

    Fantom has risen more than 20% over the last 24 hours. (Messari)
    Fantom has risen more than 20% over the last 24 hours. (Messari)

    Latest Headlines

    Feature: ICO-Funded Project Sparkster Converts $22M in Ether to USDC After 3 Years, No Product

    By Shaurya Malwa

    The conversion in recent days of nearly $22 million of ether (ETH) into the stablecoin USD coin (USDC) by the seemingly dormant blockchain project Sparkster has got some observers crying foul and calling on the funds to be blacklisted.

    Bizarre narratives and ideas claiming world-changing potential peaked at the height of the initial coin offering (ICO) boom in early 2018. While some projects went on to build legitimate products and ecosystems, others have yet to deliver.

    Sparkster looks to be in the latter camp. The project raised over $30 million in July 2018 in an ICO for what it described as a "no-code" software creation platform. The final tweet from the project’s Twitter account was in 2021 – a link to a demonstration of a supposedly upcoming product. Nothing has been communicated from that account since.

    The wallets holding the proceeds from the ICO suddenly became active this weekend, however, and by Monday they were sitting on over $22 million of the stablecoin USDC. The move is seen as unusual and is raising suspicions among some community members – especially in the absence of a public explanation from the Sparkster team.

    Today’s newsletter was edited by Lyllah Ledesma and produced by Parikshit Mishra and Stephen Alpher.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Lyllah Ledesma

    Lyllah Ledesma is a CoinDesk Markets reporter currently based in Europe. She holds bitcoin, ether and small amounts of other crypto assets.

    Shaurya Malwa

    Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.

    Parikshit Mishra

    Parikshit Mishra is CoinDesk's Deputy Managing Editor responsible for breaking news coverage. He does not have any crypto holdings.

    Bradley Keoun

    Bradley Keoun is the managing editor of CoinDesk's Tech & Protocols team. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.


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