Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | May 30, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Bitcoin and Ethereum Updates

• Bitcoin Surges Amid Positive U.S. GDP Data
• Ethereum Whale Activity Signals Institutional Confidence
• BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF Update
• Nansen Identifies $650M Ethereum Wallet Possibly Owned by DBS Bank

Cryptocurrency Market Movements

• Matter Labs Faces Backlash Over ZK Trademark Claims
• Solana Gains Against Ethereum Despite ETF Setback
• Notcoin's NOT Token Hits All-Time High
• Bitcoin-Based Meme Coin DOG Sees Significant Surge
• Upbit Lists Stargate Finance (STG), Price Surges 55% 
• Celebrity Memecoins Cause Market Frenzy

Stablecoins and DeFi Innovations

• Stablecoin Market Cap Hits 24-Month High
• Veda Simplifies DeFi Strategies with Tokenization
• DeFi Projects Remain Primary Target for Hackers

Regulatory and Legal Updates

• Terraform Labs Reaches Settlement with SEC

Industry Investments and Political Influence

• Andreessen Horowitz Donates $25M to Fairshake PAC
• Babylon Secures $70M for Bitcoin Staking Project

Blockchain Developments

• Galxe Launching EVM-Compatible Blockchain Gravity
• Orbs Launches Perpetual Hub for DeFi Futures Trading
• Vitalik Buterin Praises Layer 2 Protocols for Ethereum

Exchange and Platform Updates

• Telegram Wallet Implements Stricter KYC Rules

Market Performance and Analytics

• Eight Digital Asset Tokens Break ATHs Against Bitcoin

NFT and Gaming Innovations

• US Treasury Warns About NFT Fraud Risks
• Pudgy Penguins Developing Mobile Game with Mythical Games
• Sei Network Integrates with OpenSea for NFT Trading

Bitcoin Surges Amid Positive U.S. GDP Data

Bitcoin's price surged to $69,000 amid positive U.S. GDP data and rising jobless claims, while the U.S. dollar weakened and Treasury yields dropped. Before that, it was trading under $68,000 due to rising Treasury yields. BlackRock's IBIT overtook GBTC as the largest Bitcoin ETF, holding nearly $20 billion. Memecoins like BONK, FLOKI, and PEPE posted significant losses. Investors remain cautious about the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies, with expectations of no immediate rate cuts. Bitcoin futures open interest increased by about 1% to $34.54 billion.

Ethereum Whale Activity Signals Institutional Confidence

Ethereum (ETH) has seen a surge in whale activity, with addresses holding 10,000+ ETH increasing significantly, now controlling nearly 30% of ETH supply, valued at $83 billion. This trend, driven by factors such as the approval of spot ETH ETFs by the US SEC, suggests a shift from distribution to accumulation among large investors. Ethereum’s market cap has surpassed MasterCard, hitting $455 billion. Analysts predict a potential supply shock and price increase when the Fed pivots on interest rates, coupled with the anticipated Ethereum 2.0 transition, indicating strong institutional confidence in ETH’s future.

BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF Update

BlackRock updated its Form S-1 for the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, receiving $10 million from a seed investor who bought 400,000 shares at $25 each. This update follows the SEC’s approval of 19b-4 filings for several Ethereum ETFs. Analysts like Eric Balchunas foresee a possible launch by June’s end. Grayscale also updated its ETF filing, adding Coinbase as a custodian. Conversely, Hashdex withdrew its spot Ether ETF proposal. Notably, Fidelity and others removed staking support from their filings to meet SEC guidelines.

Nansen Identifies $650M Ethereum Wallet Possibly Owned by DBS Bank

On May 30, 2024, Nansen identified a $650 million Ethereum wallet as possibly owned by DBS Bank, the largest bank in Singapore, with assets totaling S$739 billion. Nansen's analysis indicated the wallet held 173.7K ETH and had generated over $200 million in profits. However, DBS Bank denied having such a position on its books. Speculations suggest that the wallet might belong to DBS's digital exchange, which provides custody services for clients' crypto assets rather than holding them directly. DBS has been an early adopter of crypto, offering trading, custody services, and supporting China's CBDC.

Matter Labs Faces Backlash Over ZK Trademark Claims

Matter Labs filed trademark applications in nine countries to claim "zero-knowledge" (ZK) as its intellectual property, causing industry backlash. Simultaneously, KuCoin delisted Polyhedra's ZK token amid a conflict over the ZK ticker with zkSync. Polyhedra criticized zkSync, branding them as "robbers," and Bybit adjusted the ticker symbol. Polyhedra decided to adopt the ticker ZKJ for its listings across exchanges, advocating for ZK technology to remain a public good. Industry figures like StarkWare and Polygon supported Polyhedra, demanding Matter Labs withdraw their trademark applications.

Solana Gains Against Ethereum Despite ETF Setback

Solana gained approximately 10% against Ethereum, reflecting significant capital rotation within the cryptocurrency market. However, hopes for a Solana ETF were dampened when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange denied plans for Solana futures, influenced by ongoing SEC enforcement actions against Coinbase and Binance, and the classification of Solana as a security.

Notcoin's NOT Token Hits All-Time High

Notcoin's NOT token has surged 35% in the past day, reaching an all-time high of $0.01244. This frenzy has made NOT the 7th most traded asset on Binance, surpassing Solana, Dogecoin, and XRP. The token's 24-hour trading volume reached $1.3 billion, with a market cap of $1.2 billion. The surge follows the launch of "earning missions" that allow players to passively earn NOT tokens.

Bitcoin-Based Meme Coin DOG Sees Significant Surge

Bitcoin-based meme coin DOG surged 85% in a week, reaching $0.007542, and a 216% rise in 30 days, now the ninth-largest meme coin with a market cap of $695 million. Despite a 7.5% dip from its ATH, DOG remains popular, with 70,292 holders and significant trading volumes on OKX and Magic Eden.

Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, listed Stargate Finance (STG) on May 30, 2024. The listing occurred at 16:45 KRW time on the Ethereum network.  Following the announcement, STG's price surged by 55%.  Upbit emphasized the importance of checking the network before depositing digital assets, as only Ethereum network deposits are supported. 

Celebrity Memecoins Cause Market Frenzy

Caitlyn Jenner launched her JENNER memecoin on Solana, followed by an Ethereum version, causing a market drop. Iggy Azalea launched MOTHER, seeing a 22,000% surge, while dismissing a fake IGGY token scam by Sahil Arora, who also scammed $380K. Nigerian singer Davido profited $500K from his DAVIDO memecoin. Celebrity memecoins, including ones from Rich the Kid and others, spurred debates about market cycles and potential scams, as most tokens suffered significant losses after initial peaks.

Stablecoin Market Cap Hits 24-Month High

The stablecoin market cap reached a 24-month high of $161 billion in May, driven by eight consecutive months of growth, according to CCData. Despite this rise, stablecoin market dominance decreased to 6.07%. Tether (USDT) reached an all-time high market cap of $111 billion, while USDC saw a sixth consecutive month of growth, fueled by increased on-chain trading activity.  Centralized exchange trading volumes, however, fell to a monthly low. 

Veda Simplifies DeFi Strategies with Tokenization

Veda, a platform that tokenizes complex DeFi strategies, aims to make yieducts more accessible to a wider user base. By simplifying interactions with DeFi protocols, Veda allows protocols to offer complicated yield strategies as simple products. Veda's technology has already been adopted by several leading DeFi protocols, and EtherFi's Liquid vaults, which utilize Veda's technology, have attracted nearly $750 million in total value locked since launching in March. 

DeFi Projects Remain Primary Target for Hackers

Despite a decrease in stolen funds, DeFi projects remain a primary target for hackers. In May, $52.4 million was stolen, representing a 28% decline from April, as per Immunefi. Ethereum was the most targeted blockchain, with 9 incidents. The Gala Games exploit accounted for a significant portion of the losses, with $240 million stolen. The decrease in losses suggests stricter legal action is deterring malicious actors. 

Terraform Labs Reaches Settlement with SEC

Terraform Labs, the company behind the collapsed LUNA and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies, has reached a tentative settlement with the SEC over fraud charges. The settlement comes after a jury found Do Kwon and Terraform Labs liable for defrauding investors in April. The settlement agreement is expected to determine the amount Kwon and the firm will pay and potentially address Kwon's future involvement with Terraform. 

Andreessen Horowitz Donates $25M to Fairshake PAC

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has donated an additional $25 million to the Fairshake PAC, which supports crypto-friendly congressional candidates. With Ripple's recent $25 million contribution, the crypto industry's political action committees have raised over $100 million this week. This substantial funding pushes the sector's political influence into rare territory.

Babylon Secures $70M for Bitcoin Staking Project

Babylon, a Bitcoin staking project, has secured $70 million in funding, making it the largest investment in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Led by Paradigm with support from Bullish Capital and Polychain Capital, the funding will accelerate Babylon's mission to integrate Bitcoin into Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems. Babylon aims to use Bitcoin as a staking asset to reduce inflation and enhance the security of PoS networks.  

Galxe Launching EVM-Compatible Blockchain Gravity

Galxe, a web3 digital identity and rewards platform, isnching its native blockchain, Gravity, in June. The blockchain will be EVM-compatible, offering near-instant transaction finality and high throughput using Reth for execution and Jolteon for consensus. Gravity aims to address scalability and efficiency issues with its existing platform, handling 60 million transactions per month, twice the volume of Ethereum. Galxe plans to migrate all its services to Gravity, including Galxe Passport and Score. 

Orbs Launches Perpetual Hub for DeFi Futures Trading

Orbs has launched Perpetual Hub, a new on-chain perpetual futures trading solution tha utilizes an intent-based model for maximized capital efficiency. This solution leverages Orbs' Layer-3 technology, bringing centralized finance (CeFi) execution to DeFi. Perpetual Hub features a Hedger, Liquidator, and Price Oracle, all powered by the Orbs Network, to provide a robust suite of decentralized services for perpetual futures trading.  

Vitalik Buterin Praises Layer 2 Protocols for Ethereum

Vitalik Buterin argues that Layer 2 protocols foster a die and collaborative Ethereum ecosystem. He emphasizes that L2s create distinct subcultures, each with its own values and goals, while contributing to the broader network. This cultural pluralism allows for specialization, with some focusing on core development and others on expanding the ecosystem's reach. This competitive and collaborative approach drives innovation and attracts developers and users, ultimately strengthening the Ethereum network. 

Telegram Wallet Implements Stricter KYC Rules

Telegram Wallet is implementing stricter KYC rules and switching service providers.  Users need to provide personal information for most features, with transaction limits based on KYC tiers. Wallet services will be provided by WOT Global Solution, and user data will be transferred to them. This change is designed to improve service quality and ease onboarding for new users. 

Eight Digital Asset Tokens Break ATHs Against Bitcoin

Since the collapse of FTX in November 2022, only eight digital asset tokens have broken their previous all-time highs (ATHs) against Bitcoin (BTC). BNB and Trust Wallet Token (TWT) were the first to achieve this milestone in late 2022. In 2023, AGIX, SSV, ASTR, INJ, and TRB followed suit by breaching their ATHs. Render Token (RNDR) is the sole token to have broken its ATH in 2024, accomplishing this feat in March, coinciding with Bitcoin hitting its own ATH.