Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | May 29, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Updates

• Bitcoin Consolidates at $68K Amid Market Manipulation
• Ethereum Spot ETFs Drive Market Volatility
• Bitcoin Spot ETFs See Significant Net Inflows
• Hashdex Withdraws Ether ETF Application

Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Platforms

• Gemini Returns $2.18 Billion to Earn Users
• NYSE Plans to List Bitcoin Index Options
• Mastercard Launches Crypto Credential Service
• Hidden Road Blocks Access to Bybit
• PayPal Expands Stablecoin to Solana

Regulatory and Government Developments

• Israel Launches Digital Shekel Challenge
• SEC Ordered to Pay Legal Fees in Debt Box Case

Investment and Funding

• Fortunafi Raises $9.51 Million in Funding
• API3 Raises $4 Million for DeFi Data Feeds

Token and Protocol Developments

• Ripple Supports Pro-Crypto US Politicians
• Uniswap Proposes Cross-Chain Trading Standard
• Ethena Labs Expands Synthetic Dollar Protocol
• Sei Foundation Announces SEI Token Airdrop
• Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Merge Tokens

Blockchain and Technology Advancements

• Ethereum Surpasses $1 Billion in Tokenized Treasuries
• First Leveraged Ethereum ETF Set to Trade
• Crypto Unicorns Migrates to Xai Network

Community and Safety Concerns

• Pump.fun Adds Livestreaming, Sparks Safety Concerns

DeFi and Trading Platforms

• ZKasino Reopens Ether Bridge

Memecoins and NFTs

• PolitiFi Memecoin Market Cap Surges
• Shiba Inu Flips Cardano in Market Cap
• Iggy Azalea's MOTHER Token Surges
• Trump NFT Collection Sees Surge After Pro-Crypto Stance

Bitcoin Consolidates at $68K Amid Market Manipulation

Bitcoin consolidated around $67.5K following a rally to $70K, dropping 3% amid discussions of Trump’s potential incarceration. Long-term holders resumed accumulation after a 5-month hiatus, with spot ETFs driving market resurgence. Whales manipulated liquidity, pushing Bitcoin into a narrow range. Research revealed long-term holders cut selling by nearly 50% at $73.8K, indicating a reduced sell pressure and a potential for sustained upward momentum. 

Ethereum Spot ETFs Drive Market Volatility

The SEC approved several Ethereum spot ETFs, causing significant market volatility, with ETH whale activity surging 27% in 14 months, leading to 21.39 million ETH valued at $83 billion. Analyst predictions suggest Ethereum ETFs could capture only 20% of Bitcoin ETF inflows, but with potential to rise to $15,000 driven by institutional interest and reduced circulating supply. Liquid staking derivatives platforms saw a 110,000 ETH inflow over 12 days, totaling $417.59 million. Layer 2 Ethereum solutions have grown rapidly in 2024, raising concerns about liquidity fragmentation and market inefficiencies despite increased transaction volume and total value locked.

Bitcoin Spot ETFs See Significant Net Inflows

On May 28, 2024, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a significant net inflow of $45.1432 million, marking the 11th consecutive day of positive inflows, with BlackRock's IBIT leading at $103 million and Fidelity's FBTC at $34.3451 million. Despite this, Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) faced a $105 million outflow, indicating a shift towards newer ETF options with better liquidity and lower fees. IBIT's holdings were reported at 288,670.86 BTC, just shy of GBTC's 288,993.14 BTC. This trend suggests increasing investor confidence and competitive dynamics in the Bitcoin ETF market.

Hashdex Withdraws Ether ETF Application

Hashdex withdrew its application for a spot Ether ETF on 24, a day after the SEC approved eight similar products. Hashdex's application differed by combining spot Ether holdings with Ether futures contracts to mitigate potential manipulation.  Unlike other applicants, Hashdex's ETF sought to mirror daily fluctuations in the Nasdaq Ether Reference Price.  Hashdex is among the issuers of spot Bitcoin ETFs approved in January and uses a unique strategy for sourcing spot Bitcoin. 

Gemini Returns $2.18 Billion to Earn Users

Gemini has returned $2.18 billion to Earn program users, representing 97% of the owed assets. This follows an 18-month withdrawal freeze after Genesis, a former Gemini Earn partner, suspended withdrawals. The distribution is the result of a settlement with Genesis and other creditors, marking a significant recovery for users.  

NYSE Plans to List Bitcoin Index Options

The New York Stock Exchange plans to list index options tracking the price of Bitcoin,  the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) as its benchmark. The XBX is currently the benchmark for $20 billion in ETF assets under management. This move brings another traditional finance giant into the cryptocurrency space and provides another TradFi-friendly onramp to crypto. 

Mastercard Launches Crypto Credential Service

Mastercard has launched its crypto credential service, allowing users to send and receive digital assets using aliases instead of complex blockchain addresses. The service is currently available in Latin America and parts of Europe, with integrations on exchanges like Bit2Me, Lirium, and Mercado Bitcoin. This simplifies cross-border and domestic transfers across multiple blockchains and currencies, with built-in security measures to protect users from potential losses. 

Hidden Road Blocks Access to Bybit

Hidden Road, a Citadel Securities-backed prime brokerage, has stopped allowingts access to Bybit, a cryptocurrency trading platform, due to disagreements over KYC and anti-money laundering requirements. This move follows Bybit's announcement of a comprehensive compliance review of its prime brokerage business, aimed at ensuring regulatory compliance and improving customer onboarding processes. Hidden Road is also reportedly seeking to raise $120 million in a series B equity round. 

PayPal Expands Stablecoin to Solana

PayPal expanded its PYUSD stablecoin to Solana, enhancing commerce use cases due to Solana's speed and low transaction costs. Solana, the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is already a leading blockchain for stablecoin transfers, including PYUSD, which is also available on Venmo. Concurrently, LayerZero, a crypto bridging protocol, connected to the Solana blockchain, enabling asset transfers between Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, and 70 other chains. LayerZero moved $6.7 billion worth of crypto in Q1 2024, generating $11.5 million in revenue.

Israel Launches Digital Shekel Challenge

Israel is launching a Digital Shekel Challenge to explore payment use cases fotential digital currency. The Bank of Israel has built a technological prototype and will allow payment service providers to access it for developing advanced payment options, including micropayments, split payments, and multiparty signatures. The challenge will run from June 6 to September and is inspired by the BIS Innovation Centre's Rosalind Project, which focused on API functionalities for secure CBDC payments. 

SEC Ordered to Pay Legal Fees in Debt Box Case

A District Judge ordered the SEC to pay $1.75 million in legal fees and costs for misleading conduct in the Debt Box case. The judge found the SEC misrepresented evidence, leading to a TRO and asset freeze against Debt Box, and criticized the SEC's actions as a "gross abuse of power." The case highlights concerns about the SEC's approach to crypto regulation and its impact on the reputation of the agency. 

Fortunafi Raises $9.51 Million in Funding

Fortunafi, a real-world asset tokenization platform, raised $9.51 million in funding, achieving a $48 million valuation.  They launched their own tokenization platform, TAP, and are expanding into new tokenized assets.  Fortunafi also unveiled Reservoir, a stablecoin protocol expected to launch in June, offering yield-bearing products backed by digital and real-world assets. 

API3 Raises $4 Million for DeFi Data Feeds

API3, a decentralized data feed provider for DeFi smarttracts, raised $4 million in a funding round led by DWF Labs. The funding will be used for marketing, business development, and liquidity. API3's total secured value has increased from $20 million to over $1 billion. The company has integrated with new chains including Optimism, X-Layer, and Worldcoin. The crypto market saw a surge in fundraising in Q1 2024, reaching $2.4 billion. 

Ripple Supports Pro-Crypto US Politicians

Ripple is doubling down on its support for pro-crypto US politicians by contributing $50 million to Fairshake, a super PAC. This investment is part of a broader effort by the crypto industry to shape policies that encourage financial innovation in the US. The industry is pushing for comprehensive legislation to secure a promising future for American innovation, while also educating voters about the potential of crypto and the risks of anti-crypto policies. 

Uniswap Proposes Cross-Chain Trading Standard

Uniswap and Across Protocol have teamed up to propose a new API standard, ERC-7683, for cross-chain trading. This standard aims to address the fragmentation of liquidity across multiple blockchains by creating a universal filler network for cross-chain swaps. The system offers reduced gas fees for traders and lowers barriers for fillers, promoting interoperability and sharing of infrastructure. The number of blockchains continues to grow, posing challenges in the form of fragmented liquidity, with L2beat tracking 55 active chains and 43 upcoming projects.  

Ethena Labs Expands Synthetic Dollar Protocol

Ethena Labs, a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum, has launched on the Blast Layer 2 network, expanding USDe and sUSDe adoption to various Web3 platforms. This integration brings benefits like increased liquidity, leverage, and rewards for users. Notably, Juice Finance enables borrowing against USDB, while Orbit Protocol offers leverage for USDe suppliers. Ethena Labs expects the launch to boost Blast's total value locked (TVL). 

Sei Foundation Announces SEI Token Airdrop

The Sei Foundation has announced a 27 million SEI token airdrop to reward active users following its v2 upgrade, which features a parallelized EVM and sub-second transaction finality. Over 43,000 addresses will receive tokens based on their activity, including holding SEI, liquid-staked tokens, and NFT ownership. The upgrade aims to enhance user experience and compete with other parallelized EVMs. 

Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Merge Tokens

Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, and Ocean Protocol will merge their crypto tokens on June 13th, creating a single token called ASI. The merger aims to build a decentralized AI infrastructure. Fetch.ai's FET token will be renamed ASI on June 11th, and users can swap their FET for ASI. The merger will complete on June 13th, when AGIX and OCEAN tokens will also be integrated. 

Ethereum Surpasses $1 Billion in Tokenized Treasuries

Ethereum has surpassed $1 billion in tokenized US Treasuries, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund with $473 million, holding 71% market share. Ondo and others add significant amounts, with Stellar being the closest competitor. Additionally, Blocksquare has tokenized over $100 million in real estate assets across 21 countries, launching its Oceanpoint v0.5 DeFi platform to support real estate tokenization startups using its BST utility token. These developments underscore the growing adoption of blockchain for traditional asset investment.

First Leveraged Ethereum ETF Set to Trade

The Volatility Shares 2x Ether Strategy ETF (ETHU) will be the first leveraged Ethereum ETF to trade on the CBOE by June 4th. The launch of this ETF has reignited speculation about when recently approved spot Ethereum ETFs will begin trading. Experts believe the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs could occur within weeks or months, with the SEC's decision being the key factor. 

Crypto Unicorns Migrates to Xai Network

Crypto Unicorns, an Ethereum game, is migrating from Polygon to Xai, an Arbitrum layer-3 gaming network.  The move is due to high gas fees on Polygon, making it unsustainable for the developers. A "play-to-airdrop" campaign will reward players with tokens based on their in-game achievements.  The game will be paused during the migration, but players can earn tokens by playing Unicorn Bingo.  The migration is expected to be completed in June. 

Pump.fun Adds Livestreaming, Sparks Safety Concerns

Pump.fun, a Solana meme coin creation platform, has addevestreaming, sparking concerns about potential for harmful content. This follows a trend of devs using livestreams to promote their tokens, often engaging in risky and even dangerous stunts. While Pump.fun claims to have NSFW tagging, there are no age verification measures, and support has confirmed that users can engage in explicit content, including self-harm, without repercussions. This has led to criticism from users who prioritize safety and security over media attention. 

ZKasino Reopens Ether Bridge

ZKasino has reopened its ether bridge, allowing users to retrieve their ded ETH at a 1:1 ratio.  Over 10,000 users deposited $33 million last month, anticipating a return of their ETH after a bridging period. However, ZKasino later announced the conversion of all deposited funds to its native ZKAS token, leading to user frustration. This decision followed the transfer of the $33 million to staking platform Lido. 

PolitiFi Memecoin Market Cap Surges

As of May 29, 2024, the PolitiFi memecoin market cap surged 14% to $1.58 billion, outpacing the broader cryptocurrency market, which fell by 0.4%. Top gainers included BODEN, up 18%, and TRUMP, up 16% in one day. Meanwhile, PEPE’s market cap exceeded $6.2 billion, with a daily trading volume of $1.3 billion, surpassing major NFT collections. A trader purchased 2 million Dogecoin call options, expiring June 14, betting on a 31% price rise from $0.166 to $0.22. The meme coin market, nearing a $69 billion cap, grew 10% weekly, with PEPE rising 111% in one month.

Shiba Inu Flips Cardano in Market Cap

As of May 29, 2024, Shiba Inu (SHIB) has seen significant market activity. SHIB flipped Cardano (ADA) in market cap after a 16% price surge, reaching $16.82 billion. SHIB's marketing lead, Lucie, announced an upcoming airdrop for Shibarium users. A long-time SHIB holder gained 419x after selling 48 billion SHIB. Another trader who lost $2.55 million with SHIB now invested $1 million in PEPE. The memecoin frenzy also saw Dogecoin (DOGE) and SHIB in the top 10, with SHIB currently trading at $0.00002867.

Iggy Azalea's MOTHER Token Surges

Iggy Azalea's new memecoin, MOTHER, surged to a market cap of $28 million, eclipsing the scandal-ridden IGGY token launched by Sahil Arora.  Arora has been accused of fraudulent activities, including pump-and-dump schemes and presale scams. Azalea's token, built on Solana, has seen strong performance despite initial controversy, while IGGY's value plummeted.