Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | May 25, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Insights and Whale Movements

• Bitcoin Whales Signal Bullish Market with Massive Purchases
• Ethereum ETF Optimism Holds Despite Market Skepticism
• Spot Ethereum ETF Trading Anticipated Despite Delays
• BlackRock Spurs Bitcoin ETF Rally with Major Inflows

Ethereum and Related Developments

• Chainlink Price Surge Amidst Market Caution
• Ethereum Foundation to Tackle Developer Conflicts of Interest

Bitcoin and Regulatory Dynamics

• Bitcoin Laundering Leads to Significant Prison Sentence
• Coinbase Challenges SEC Regulation with New Legal Appeal
• Investment Giants Bet Big on Bitcoin ETFs

Crypto Exchanges and Trading Platforms

• PEPE Token Hits Record High Amid Whale Movements
• Uniswap Price Boost: Whales and Positive Market Trends
• Coinbase Expands Futures with SHIB, FLOKI, and BONK
• Hodl Hodl Excludes US Users Amid Regulatory Challenges
• FTX Sells Solana Holdings, Eyeing Creditor Repayment

Art and NFTs

• Damien Hirst's NFT Controversy Questions Art Authenticity

Bitcoin Whales Signal Bullish Market with Massive Purchases

Bitcoin whales have acquired $1.34 billion worth of BTC, with whale activity surging, indicating strong confidence in a bull market. Significant BTC accumulation by whales is reported, with long-term holders (owning BTC for over 3 years) increasing. These holders currently possess over 7.6 million BTC, suggesting market strength and reduced selling pressure.

Ethereum ETF Optimism Holds Despite Market Skepticism

Ethereum balances in centralized exchanges hit a three-month low after investors withdrew 56,089 ETH, while the price remained stable post-ETF approval. Traders are skeptical about a significant selloff following the launch of spot Ether ETFs, unlike Bitcoin's 15% drop post-ETF approval. Analysts argue Ethereum lacks a simple elevator pitch for boomers, which could impact ETF adoption. Despite this, Ethereum's price surged 19.56% over the past week, trading at $3,753, with 91% of investors profiting from their positions.

Spot Ethereum ETF Trading Anticipated Despite Delays

Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton stated Ethereum ETF trading is inevitable, despite unresolved questions. Approval for trading awaits SEC's decision on fund registration statements. Traders are optimistic about the delay, expecting it to lead to substantial price action and initial daily net spot inflows of $20-40M. Bloomberg analysts predict spot ETH ETFs will see 20-25% of Bitcoin ETF demand, with significant launches expected before November.

BlackRock Spurs Bitcoin ETF Rally with Major Inflows

As of May 24, 2024, Bitcoin ETFs saw significant inflows, with spot market ETFs attracting over $1.68 billion over ten days, including $252 million on May 24 alone. Bitcoin's price rose to $69,000, spurred by BlackRock's IBIT ETF, which led with $182 million inflows. ETFs now hold 4.36% of total Bitcoin supply. 

Chainlink Price Surge Amidst Market Caution

Chainlink (LINK) has experienced a six-week high, with 62% of holders "in the money" as the price surges. While LINK's price rally is fueled by strong profit-making transactions, a bearish divergence in the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) suggests that the buying pressure may not be sustainable, potentially signaling a future price decline.

Ethereum Foundation to Tackle Developer Conflicts of Interest

The Ethereum Foundation acknowledged concerns over potential conflicts of interest involving core developers taking roles and receiving tokens from projects like the restaking protocol EigenLayer. The executive director, Aya Miyaguchi, stated that relying solely on culture and individual judgment has proven insufficient as guardrails. The Foundation is working on a formal policy to address this issue. 

Two core developers, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, confirmed receiving significant EigenLayer token incentives worth millions of dollars for advisory roles, raising questions about potential undue influence on their work. Miyaguchi said the Foundation is preparing an update on how it plans to handle ethics and conflicts of interest going forward.

Bitcoin Laundering Leads to Significant Prison Sentence

A British-Chinese woman, Jian Wen, has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for her involvement in laundering Bitcoin derived from an alleged £5 billion fraud scheme in China. In 2018, London police seized devices containing 61,000 Bitcoin, worth over £3 billion, during a raid on Wen and her former boss's mansion.

Coinbase Challenges SEC Regulation with New Legal Appeal

Coinbase filed a motion to appeal a judge's ruling in its case against the SEC, citing the recent bipartisan vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the FIT21 Act, which would limit the SEC's jurisdiction over crypto. The exchange argues there is a division between lawmakers and the SEC over the agency's claimed authority to regulate crypto transactions.

Investment Giants Bet Big on Bitcoin ETFs

In the first quarter, several major investment firms disclosed multi-million dollar positions in spot Bitcoin ETFs. Farallon Capital Management, a prominent San Francisco-based hedge fund, reported an $85.2 million investment in Grayscale's GBTC, making it one of the top 10 firms with the largest GBTC holdings. Independent wealth management firm Cetera Investment Advisers disclosed a $22.6 million stake in GBTC as well, ranking among the top 25 GBTC investors. 

Additionally, BigSur Wealth Management revealed a $3.3 million investment in BlackRock's IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF, placing it in the top 80 firms with IBIT positions. While none of these firms reported holdings in other spot Bitcoin ETFs, Cetera did disclose an 83% quarterly increase in its position in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO).

PEPE Token Hits Record High Amid Whale Movements

PEPE charted a new all-time high of $0.00001538 after a 12% surge. Simultaneously, a mysterious whale withdrew nearly $8 million (592 billion tokens) from Binance, capitalizing on the recent price rise. The overall cryptocurrency market saw a $200 billion increase in total market capitalization, influenced by potential SEC approval of Ethereum ETFs.

Uniswap Price Boost: Whales and Positive Market Trends

Uniswap's price surged over 20% to $10.99, driven by whale activity, positive Ethereum ecosystem developments, and Uniswap Labs’ response to the SEC's Wells Notice. UNI's bullish momentum, bolstered by whale withdrawals and technical indicators, points towards short sellers facing over $1 million in liquidations as bullish sentiment strengthened.

Coinbase Expands Futures with SHIB, FLOKI, and BONK

Coinbase announced the addition of SHIB, FLOKI, and BONK to its Perpetual Futures service. FLOKI's trades surged by 18%, while SHIB faced an 11% monthly deficit. BONK dropped 10.7% amid market correction. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's tribute to Kabosu, the Shiba Inu behind the Dogecoin meme, caused a brief spike in DOGE (4%) and SHIB (3%) prices.

Hodl Hodl Excludes US Users Amid Regulatory Challenges

Hodl Hodl, a non-custodial Bitcoin exchange, has updated its terms of service to exclude residents of the United States and United Nations-embargoed countries from accessing its lending platform. The move was made due to "regulatory uncertainty" and maintaining high standards of security and integrity on the platform. Existing users in restricted jurisdictions can finalize current loans but cannot engage in new ones.

FTX Sells Solana Holdings, Eyeing Creditor Repayment

FTX concluded the sale of $2.6 billion worth of Solana tokens at deeply discounted prices to major buyers like Figure Markets and Pantera Capital. Despite the steep discounts resulting in a drop in Solana's price, FTX's surplus cash reserve of $16.3 billion boosts prospects for fully repaying creditors through its bankruptcy recovery plan.