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- Crypto Alpha, Week 30 2024
Crypto Alpha, Week 30 2024
All things Crypto, Web3 and Blockchain to keep you updated
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TL;DR
China Rate Cuts Cause Market Instability
Ferrari Expands Bitcoin & Crypto Payments to Europe
Ethereum ETFs Launch Amid Market Uncertainty
Ethereum ETF Launch Triggers Sell-Off, Signals Market Shift
Jito Unveils Solana Restaking Code
Franklin Templeton Eyes Solana ETF
USDY Launches on Cosmos via Noble
Cosmos (ATOM) Down 56% Despite Advances
Solo Leveling: Unlimited Debuts on Avalanche L1
Avalanche (AVAX) Active Addresses Rise Amid Price Decline
Crypto Reacts to Biden’s Withdrawal
Mark Cuban: Kamala Harris More Crypto-Friendly Than Biden
And much more!
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Bitcoin Highlights of the Week
Bitcoin and broader equities tumbled on Thursday as China's surprise rate cut intensified market instability. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) slashed its one-year medium-term lending facility rate to 2.3%, injecting 200 billion yuan to support a weakening economy. This unexpected move, alongside earlier rate cuts, exacerbated concerns over China's economic health, leading Bitcoin to drop nearly 2% and ether to fall over 5%.
European equity markets also declined, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC both losing more than 1.5%. The steepening of the U.S. Treasury yield curve added to market anxieties. The spread between 10-year and two-year Treasury yields increased, reflecting rising long-term yields and persistent short-term inflation fears. This shift has historically signaled risk aversion, as investors adjust their expectations for Federal Reserve policy and inflationary pressures.
Ferrari will soon accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at its European dealerships, starting this month. This expansion follows the introduction of crypto payments at its U.S. dealers last year. The rollout, which Ferrari plans to complete by the end of July, will be facilitated through its partnership with BitPay, which converts Bitcoin into fiat currency to mitigate volatility.
The move is aimed at offering more flexibility and convenience to customers and aligns with the growing trend of mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. This initiative reflects Ferrari's strategy to cater to its tech-savvy, high-net-worth clientele and reinforces the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies as a viable payment method.
Proton has introduced early access to its new Proton Wallet, a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet featuring end-to-end encryption. This open-source wallet is designed for enhanced security, incorporating advanced features like 2FA and Proton Sentinel to protect users from cyber threats.
It supports Bitcoin transactions in over 150 countries and integrates seamlessly with Proton Mail, allowing users to send Bitcoin directly to other Proton accounts. Currently available only to Proton Visionary and Lifetime users, the wallet is set to expand its public access soon, enhancing Proton's suite of privacy-focused tools. This launch marks a significant addition to Proton's offerings, aligning with its mission to provide secure, privacy-oriented solutions.
Bitcoin miner MARA has invested an additional $100 million in Bitcoin, raising its total holdings to over 20,000 BTC, nearly 0.1% of Bitcoin’s total supply. This acquisition reflects MARA's strategy to adopt a full "HODL" approach, retaining all mined Bitcoin and making periodic purchases to capitalize on favorable market conditions.
The recent purchases, estimated to be around 1,500 BTC, were made at prices between $54,000 and $68,000. MARA's CFO Salman Khan highlighted that the company strategically benefited from current market conditions, while the CEO, Fred Thiel, emphasized Bitcoin's value as a reserve asset. MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital, plans to continue this strategy, leveraging its balance sheet and capital markets for future operations.
OKX has introduced "OKX Racer," a Telegram mini-app that invites users to guess short-term Bitcoin price movements in five-second intervals. This move marks OKX as the first major centralized crypto exchange to develop a Telegram mini-app, joining the growing trend of interactive, blockchain-linked games on the platform. Players can predict whether Bitcoin’s price will rise or fall, earning points and rewards for accurate guesses. The game also offers referral incentives and in-game upgrades.
The launch of OKX Racer aligns with Telegram's expanding blockchain initiatives, including plans for a mini app store and web3 support. As Telegram evolves into a hub for crypto engagement, OKX’s game aims to capitalize on this trend, enhancing user interaction and participation within the crypto community.
Daily Alphas of the Week
Ethereum Highlights of the Week
Spot Ethereum ETFs have officially launched, with major players like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale entering the market. This debut follows months of SEC deliberation and informal approval in May. Nine ETFs are now available, managed by firms with over $15 trillion in assets. Despite initial excitement and a brief surge in Ether’s price, some analysts remain skeptical about immediate impacts.
While Ethereum ETFs could potentially boost Ether's value, especially with predictions of a 60% rally, others caution that expectations may be overly optimistic, given the complex regulatory landscape and varied market sentiment. The launch of Ethereum ETFs reflects a significant step in mainstream adoption, driven by major financial institutions embracing crypto assets.
An Ethereum Foundation-associated wallet has moved 92,500 ETH, valued at approximately $290 million, for the first time since 2017. The transfer, recorded on July 25, has sparked speculation due to the funds' long period of inactivity.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported the transaction, although it remains unclear if the Ethereum Foundation directly orchestrated the move. The wallet's previous lack of movement has led to widespread curiosity and analysis within the crypto community, given the substantial value and the timing of the transfer.
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The debut of Ethereum spot ETFs, anticipated with high hopes, has led to an unexpected sell-off and price drop for Ether. According to 10x Research, this reaction follows a pattern seen in previous crypto ETF launches, including Bitcoin.
The report highlights that despite expectations of capturing significant inflows, Ethereum ETFs have faced substantial outflows, with Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust alone losing $807 million in the initial days. This sell-off is compounded by seasonal market weaknesses and a broader skepticism about Ethereum’s long-term value compared to Bitcoin, signaling potential further declines in Ether’s price.
BlackRock's head of digital assets, Robert Mitchnick, highlighted at the Bitcoin2024 conference that client interest in crypto ETFs is overwhelmingly focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to Mitchnick, BlackRock does not anticipate a significant demand for ETFs beyond these two digital assets.
This sentiment aligns with the asset manager's offerings, including the popular iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and the recently launched iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which have garnered substantial assets under management. Contrasting views come from Franklin Templeton, which expresses optimism for additional crypto ETFs, such as a potential Solana product.
On their second trading day, U.S.-based spot Ethereum ETFs experienced net outflows of $113.3 million, largely due to significant withdrawals from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust. Seven of the eight new ETFs saw net inflows, with Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund leading at $74.5 million, followed by Bitwise’s Ethereum ETF at $29.6 million.
However, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust, recently converted to a spot fund, saw $326.9 million in outflows, impacting the overall performance of the ETFs. Since its conversion, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust has faced $811 million in outflows, indicating a sell-off of over 9% of its holdings. The market reaction to the new ETFs mirrored past trends seen with Bitcoin ETFs, where initial trading days also showed net outflows.
Solana Highlights of the Week
Libre, a tokenization startup backed by Brevan Howard and Nomura, is introducing the Hamilton Lane SCOPE senior credit fund on the Solana blockchain. This move marks the first institutional alternative RWA fund on Solana and also includes the Brevan Howard Master Fund and Blackrock ICS Money Market Fund.
Prior to its public launch, Libre's Solana expansion has already attracted close to $20 million in total locked value. The addition of Libre’s tokenization gateway to Solana will provide users access to significant financial services with enhanced transaction throughput and reduced latency. This aligns with the growing trend of tokenizing real-world assets, as major asset managers like BlackRock embrace public blockchains.
Franklin Templeton, known for pioneering spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, is now exploring more cryptocurrency ETFs, including those based on Solana. The firm highlighted Solana's major adoption and technological advancements, showing potential in high-throughput, monolithic architectures.
This statement came alongside the launch of Franklin Templeton's second spot cryptocurrency ETF, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET), on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The Ethereum ETF launch follows the success of their spot Bitcoin ETF introduced in January 2024. With a growing interest in Solana ETFs, industry analysts expect the first spot Solana ETF applications to receive decisions from the US SEC by mid-March 2025.
The Solend protocol on Solana has rebranded to Save and introduced new offerings, including a decentralized stablecoin (SUSD), a liquid staking token (saveSOL), and a memecoin shorting platform (dumpy.fun). Save aims to establish itself as Solana’s permissionless savings account, with SUSD enabling 0% interest borrowing against Solana (SOL).
Additionally, saveSOL will allow trading while earning from Solana staking and serve as collateral for SUSD. The newly launched dumpy.fun platform will enable users to short memecoins, profiting from market corrections. As of now, Save holds $395 million in deposited assets and $92.9 million in borrowed assets.
Solana's blockchain is enhancing cross-border agricultural trade through the AgriDex platform. Recently, AgriDex facilitated a trade between a South African farm and a London importer, using Solana to streamline the payment process. The trade, involving olive oil and wine, showcased Solana's efficiency with near-instant settlement and significantly reduced fees, totaling just 5 British pounds ($6.45) compared to traditional methods.
AgriDex’s approach not only cuts costs but also simplifies cross-border transactions by tokenizing contracts and reducing paperwork, benefiting farmers by ensuring faster and more profitable payments. The success of this trade highlights Solana's potential in global agriculture. AgriDex aims to support small-scale farmers, improving their profitability and productivity by leveraging blockchain technology for faster payments and transparent transactions.
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