This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

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CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) 911 +26.0 ▲ 2.9% Bitcoin (BTC) $18,883 +663.8 ▲ 3.6% Ethereum (ETH) $1,407 +12.4 ▲ 0.9% S&P 500 futures 3,983.00 −20.5 ▼ 0.5% FTSE 100 7,831.79 +37.8 ▲ 0.5% Treasury Yield 10 Years 3.45% ▼ 0.1 BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk Indices, as of 7 a.m. ET (11 a.m. UTC)

Top Stories

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss' crypto exchange Gemini and crypto lender Genesis Global Capital sold unregistered securities in a lawsuit filed late Thursday. The regulator took aim at Gemini Earn, the troubled interest-bearing product that hundreds of thousands of U.S. investors entrusted with their crypto. Gemini generated yield on billions of dollars in crypto by loaning deposits to Genesis, which loaned them out again. (Genesis is owned by Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk.)

Crypto.comis cutting its workforce by around 20% as the industry continues to reel from the effects of the crypto winter. The firm cited economic headwinds from the downturn in the crypto market and the implosion of crypto exchange FTX. "We grew ambitiously at the start of 2022, building on our incredible momentum and aligning with the trajectory of the broader industry. That trajectory changed rapidly with a confluence of negative economic developments," Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO, wrote in a post.

Noted growth investor Cathie Wood isn't backing away from her crypto conviction as her firm, ARK Invest, purchased more shares of exchange Coinbase (COIN) on Thursday. Coinbase is now the 12th-largest holding for the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), making up 3.87% of the fund's weight. Overall, the fund has a cost average of $254.65 for the shares, which closed at $47.55, up 8.6%, on Thursday. Analysts on average have a price target of $61.46, according to data compiled by FactSet.

Chart of the Day

• The chart shows the daily dollar value of short bets in the bitcoin futures market liquidated since August.
• On Thursday, centralized exchanges liquidated short positions worth $61.8 million, the highest since Sept. 9, taking out overleveraged bears from the market as bitcoin jumped to a two-month high of $19,097.
• Liquidations happen when traders cannot fulfill margin requirements for holding long/short positions and often exacerbate bullish/bearish moves.

– Omkar Godbole

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