Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | June 18, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Crypto Market Updates

• Bitcoin drops to one-month low at $64,300
• Factors driving recent crypto market downturns
• Hashdex plans US ETF with Bitcoin and Ethereum
• Renzo raises $17M to expand liquid restaking services

Tokenomics and Protocol Updates

• Ethena Labs introduces new tokenomics for ENA token
• ZK token airdrop causes major sell-off
• BNB Chain to launch BEP-336 protocol
• Massive PEPE token transfer to Binance
• RISC Zero launches zkVM 1.0 for DApp development

Regulatory and Market Activities

• Brazil's tax authority targets foreign crypto exchanges
• Ronin launches zkEVM for blockchain gaming
• Cosmos Hub's Valence enhances web3 interoperability
• Bing Ventures supports The Open Network (TON) ecosystem
• Router Protocol raises funds for L1 blockchain

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

• Uphold delists stablecoins ahead of EU's MiCA regulation
• Infineo tokenizes $9.4M in life insurance policies
• Fox and Time use blockchain to combat fake news
• Avara seeks $50M for Lens Protocol
• FTX legal battle over seized assets continues
• Sonic raises $12M to expand gaming on Solana
• Trump-related meme coins drop due to DJT token rumors
• Andrew Tate's DADDY coin plummets despite new plans

Market and Trading Developments

• Cleanspark acquires bitcoin mining facilities in Georgia
• Bitcoin NFT sales surpass Ronin, hitting $4.278 billion

Bitcoin drops to one-month low at $64,300

Bitcoin touched a one-month low of $64,300 amid a market sell-off driven by high US borrowing costs and economic uncertainty. Bitcoin dominance reached 56%, while Ethereum underperformed, with the ETH/BTC ratio at a cycle low of 0.052. Despite the downturn, top traders and miners remain cautiously optimistic. US Bitcoin ETFs experienced a $146 million outflow, with Fidelity and ARK facing significant withdrawals. Bitcoin's reduced volatility points to market maturity, with institutional influence growing. Analysts warn that failure to hold the $66,000 support level could lead to further capitulation, potentially dropping to $61,000 or $56,000.

Factors driving recent crypto market downturns

Recent crypto market downturns are driven by several factors. Significant Bitcoin ETF outflows were noted, including a 1,384 BTC outflow from Fidelity. Miner capitulation, a 55% revenue drop, and stagnant stablecoin issuance also contribute to decreased market liquidity. Altcoin crashes are linked to a lack of compelling narratives and delayed Ethereum ETF trading. Additionally, South Korea announced a review of 600 tokens, contributing to a sell-off. A whale reportedly sold $35.4M in Ethereum, leading to price drops below $3,500. This combined with high Ethereum liquidation volumes and ongoing sell-offs by ICO whales.

Hashdex plans US ETF with Bitcoin and Ethereum

Hashdex, a Brazilian asset manager, is seeking to launch a US ETF that would hold both Bitcoin and Ethereum. This would be a first for the US market, following the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the impending launch of spot Ethereum ETFs. The fund would track an index with a 70% weighting for Bitcoin and 30% for Ethereum, with the potential to add other crypto assets meeting certain criteria. Hashdex intends to use a passive investment strategy, tracking the index regardless of market movements. 

Renzo raises $17M to expand liquid restaking services 

Renzo, a liquid restaking protocol built on EigenLayer, raised $17 million from Galaxy Ventures and Brevan Howard Digital Nova Fund. The funds will be used to expand its restaking services, including support for ERC-20 tokens. Renzo offers a higher yield than ETH by securing "actively validated services" (AVSs) and minting its liquid restaking token, ezETH. The fundraising follows Renzo's recent airdrop of its $REZ token,  with 9.5% distributed to its community. 

Ethena Labs introduces new tokenomics for ENA token

Ethena Labs has updated its roadmap, introducing new tokenomics for its ENA token. This includes a 50% locking requirement for airdrop recipients, with unvested ENA redistributed to compliant users. Ethena is also introducing ENA staking capabilities and plans to build a financial infrastructure on its upcoming Ethena Chain.  Despite controversy surrounding the update, Ethena has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing $3.5 billion in total value locked. 

ZK token airdrop causes major sell-off

The ZK token airdrop caused significant market reactions, with over 71% of top holders transferring or selling their tokens, amounting to over 500 million tokens. This sell-off led to a 30% price drop, with the token trading around $0.20. Approximately 41% of airdrop recipients sold their entire allocations. Controversies arose, including complaints from ZeroLend about exclusion despite significant activity and eligibility. Sybil attacks further complicated the distribution, leading to criticisms of zkSync's handling of the airdrop process. Data from June 2024 indicates ongoing debates about the fairness and transparency of the distribution.

BNB Chain to launch BEP-336 protocol

BNB Chain is launching BEP-336, a protocol inspired by Ethereum's EIP-4844, on June 20th. This update introduces Blob-Carrying Transactions, which can reduce transaction costs by up to 90% by streamlining data verification. The update will benefit BNB Greenfield's decentralized storage, improve network performance, and make the BSC ecosystem more accessible to developers and users. 

Massive PEPE token transfer to Binance

A massive 1.16 billion PEPE tokens, worth $12.34 million, were transferred to Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The transfer was later confirmed to be an internal move between Binance's own wallets, not from an external investor. Despite the transfer being an internal administrative action, it attracted significant attention to PEPE, which has experienced a decline of more than 16% since the beginning of the week. 

RISC Zero launches zkVM 1.0 for DApp development

RISC Zero has launched zkVM 1.0, a general-purpose zkVM designed for DApp development. The platform uses zk-STARKs to offload computation off-chain, increasing scalability and reducing gas costs. It suinteroperability across multiple blockchains and has undergone a trusted setup ceremony and third-party audits. 

Brazil's tax authority targets foreign crypto exchanges

Brazil's tax authority is requiring foreign crypto exchanges to disclose their operations within the country despite the lack of a clear regulatory framework. This move aims to ensure compliance with local tax regulations and prevent money laundering. The demand comes amidst a surge in crypto activity in Brazil, with Brazilians holding 133.6 billion reais ($24.6 billion) in crypto assets in the first seven months of 2023, a 36.6% increase from the previous year. 

Ronin launches zkEVM for blockchain gaming

Ronin has launched its zkEVM, a zero-knowledge layer-2 blockchain built using Polygon's CDK, to enhance its blockchain gaming ecosystem. The zkEVM aims to scale Ronin's capacity and cater to a growing user base, currently boasting 1.4 million daily active addresses. The initiative will allow game studios to deploy appchains, creating dedicated blockchains for their games while addressing concerns about fragmented ecosystems. The Ronin zkEVM, with its cross-chain relayer service, promises seamless token transfers and NFT trading across the ecosystem. 

Cosmos Hub's Valence enhances web3 interoperability

Cosmos Hub (ATOM) has launched Valence, a cross-chain protocol designed to enhance web3 interoperability by expanding the capabilities of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. Valence enables programmatic economic relationships between crypto-native organizations, facilitating token swaps, treasury adjustments, and liquid restaking. This launch aims to drive mass adoption of the Cosmos ecosystem, which already boasts over $108 billion in connected web3 projects. 

Bing Ventures supports The Open Network (TON) ecosystem

Bing Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on Web3 anypto, has announced comprehensive support for The Open Network (TON) ecosystem. This includes investments, resource sharing, and project advisories. Bing Ventures believes TON's integration with Telegram will drive mass adoption of Web3. Notably, TON's Total Value Locked has surpassed $500 million, representing a growth rate of over 2,000% since March 2024. 

Router Protocol raises funds for L1 blockchain

Router Protocol, an Ethereum and BNB Chain bridge, has raised funds to build its own L1 blockchain.  The protocol aims to simplify cross-chain interactions and has seen significant growth with projects like FolioX and StakeEase.  Router Nitro, a new cross-chain bridge, has facilitated over $350 million in volume and attracted nearly 300,000 users. Router Protocol will soon launch an Ecosystem Grant for projects built on its new chain. 

Uphold delists stablecoins ahead of EU's MiCA regulation

Uphold, a New York-based crypto exchange, is delisting several stablecoins, including USDT, DAI, FRAX, GUSD, USDP, and TUSD, ahead of the EU's new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which takes effect on June 30th. This move follows similar actions by other exchanges like Binance, Kraken, and OKX, as they prepare to comply with the new regulations. Uphold users have until June 27th to convert their holdings to avoid automatic conversion to USDC. 

Infineo tokenizes $9.4M in life insurance policies

Infineo, a blockchain-based life insurance company, has tokenized $9.4 million worth of life insurance policies on the Provenance network, marking the first instance of tokenized life insurance policies. This move signifies the growing integration of traditional finance with blockchain technology, aiming to increase efficiency, transparency, and accessibility in the $3 trillion life insurance market. 

Fox and Time use blockchain to combat fake news

Fox Corporation and Time have partnered to use Fox's Verify protocol, a blockchain-based system, to combat fake news and ensure content authenticity. The protocol, initially launched on Polygon's proof-of-stake network, will transition to its own zero-knowledge blockchain using Polygon's Chain Development Kit and Gelato. This move will enhance security and open-source capabilities, allowing developers to create verifiable projects and content. 

Avara seeks $50M for Lens Protocol

Aave's parent company, Avara, is seeking $50 million for its Lens Protocol, aiming to establish a stronghold in the Web3 social media market. Despite this, AAVE token has experienced an 8% decline in the past 24 hours. The protocol's valuation is expected to exceed $500 million, with competitors like Farcaster securing significant funding. AAVE's trading volume has increased, but its market capitalization remains at $1.18 billion. 

FTX legal battle over seized assets continues 

The FTX saga continues with a legal battle over seized assets from Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX debtors seek control of these assets, arguing they should be used to repay creditors. However, FTX customers have filed a counterclaim, demanding the assets be returned directly to them, bypassing the bankruptcy process. The outcome of this legal battle will have significant implications for both FTX customers and the broader crypto ecosystem. 

Sonic raises $12M to expand gaming on Solana

Sonic, a Layer-2 gaming infrastructure on Solana, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by BITKRAFT. The funds will be used to expand Sonic's gaming protocol, which includes customizable gaming primitives and extensible data types. Sonic aims to attract new developers to Solana's gaming ecosystem with grants and acceleration programs, ushering in a "Solana gaming summer." The recent raise brings Sonic's total funding to $16 million. 

Trump-related meme coins drop due to DJT token rumors

On June 17, 2023, Trump-related meme coins experienced significant drops due to rumors of a new official DJT token on Solana. The TRUMP token (MAGA) fell over 50%, wiping out more than $150 million from its market cap. Other PolitiFi tokens like Doland Tremp (TREMP) and Jeo Boden (BODEN) also saw declines. A major Trump token holder, identified as '0x52C0', sold over 171,000 TRUMP tokens for 414 ETH, netting a 1,428% ROI. Despite the turmoil, skepticism about the DJT token's legitimacy remains, with 67% of its supply held in one cluster and no confirmation from Trump's team.

Andrew Tate's DADDY coin plummets despite new plans

Andrew Tate's DADDY meme coin has plummeted 60% despite plans to increase its utility and value. Tate aims to convert DADDY into NFTs, reducing supply and boosting exclusivity. However, investor skepticism persists, with concerns surrounding insider trading and market manipulation. The coin has faced controversies and a volatile market, despite its listings on major exchanges and Tate's promotional efforts. 

Cleanspark acquires bitcoin mining facilities in Georgia

Cleanspark Inc. has acquired five bitcoin mining facilities in Georgia for $25.8 million, increasing its operating hashrate to over 20 EH/s by month's end. The acquisition adds 400 MW of infrastructure in Georgia, bringing the total to over 400 MW. The facilities will use S21 pro miners, contributing a combined hashrate of 3.7 EH/s. This deal is part of Cleanspark's broader strategy to analyze nearly one gigawatt of new opportunities.