Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | September 26, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Overview

• Bitcoin Hits $65K Amid Market Optimism
• Genesis Creditor Offloads 12,100 ETH for $31M
• U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Continue Strong Inflows
• Kamala Harris Backs U.S. Leadership in Blockchain

Regulatory and Legal Updates

• SEC's Gensler Stresses Investor Protection in Crypto
• South Korea Fines Worldcoin for Privacy Violations

Tokenization and Real-World Assets

• Guggenheim Tokenizes $20M Commercial Paper on Ethereum
• Taurus, Aktionariat Bring Tokenized Shares to Swiss SMEs

Crypto Platforms and Exchanges

• PayPal Enables Crypto Buying for U.S. Merchants
• Coinbase Supports ZKsync and Moonwell, Drives Volume Up
• WazirX Gets $230M Debt Repayment Extension

Stablecoins and New Tokens

• Ethena Labs Partners With BlackRock for New Stablecoin
• Hamster Kombat Token Launches, Faces Airdrop Controversy

Blockchain Ecosystem Developments

• Avalanche Announces $40M Retroactive Grant Program
• Core Blockchain's Total Value Locked Surges to $411M

Airdrops and Market Activity

• LayerZero Airdrop Sparks Daily Activity Surge
• Study Shows 88% of Airdrop Tokens Drop in Value

Hacks and Exploits

• Truflation Loses $5.2M in Malware Attack
• Onyx Protocol Exploited, Loses $3.8M

Innovations in Web3 and Music

• Audius Transforms Web3 Music With Stablecoin Payments

Community and Market Responses

• Moodeng Coin Soars Before Pullback on Insider Concerns

Industry Challenges and Withdrawals

• Revolve Labs Cancels Bitcoin Mining Facility Amid Protests
• SunPump Launches NFT Platform on TRON
• UK Gambling Commission Accuses Sorare of Unlicensed Gambling

Bitcoin Hits $65K Amid Market Optimism

Bitcoin surged above $65,000, marking its highest level since August 2. The rally was driven by favorable U.S. labor indicators and China's pledge to bolster its economy through additional stimulus measures. Analysts cautioned that sustaining the $65,000 mark is pivotal, with potential significant downward pressure if not maintained. Investor interest increased, with $496.7 million flowing into Bitcoin ETFs since last Wednesday. 

According to IntoTheBlock, over 90% of BTC holders are in profit, leading to potential sell-offs as experienced previously in July. Interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve contributed to the bullish sentiment. Short positions saw over $154 million liquidated. However, whale investors recently offloaded $1.28 billion worth of BTC, indicating possible price corrections ahead.

Genesis Creditor Offloads 12,100 ETH for $31M

According to Arkham Intelligence, the Genesis creditor at wallet address 0x999…46E sold 12,100 ETH for $31.4 million in three days, post receiving large repayment in August. Despite major liquidation events, Ethereum has remained stable above $2,600. Bullish sentiment is noted in the futures market, hinting at an anticipated ETH price surge to $3,000. 

U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Continue Strong Inflows

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their fifth consecutive day of net inflows, totaling $105.8 million, with BlackRock's IBIT leading the way. Ether ETFs also experienced inflows of $43.23 million. Notably, the SEC delayed a decision on trading options for certain Ethereum ETFs. 

Kamala Harris Backs U.S. Leadership in Blockchain

Kamala Harris emphasized the U.S. leading in blockchain and AI to outperform global competitors, stressing innovation and consumer protection. Predictions vary from Bitcoin falling to $30,000 to reaching $90,000, influenced by the election outcome. Rising national debt could favor Bitcoin adoption regardless of the election results, creating a promising environment for its growth. 

SEC's Gensler Stresses Investor Protection in Crypto

SEC Chair Gary Gensler emphasizes that investor protection is critical for the survival of the crypto industry, citing collapses of firms like FTX and Celsius as cautionary examples. Gensler reiterates that most cryptocurrencies are securities, making an exception for bitcoin. He refrains from commenting on Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's stance on crypto.  

South Korea Fines Worldcoin for Privacy Violations

South Korea fined Worldcoin and Tools for Humanity a total of $860K for violating privacy laws regarding iris data collection. Worldcoin owes $550K for handling sensitive information and overseas transfers, while TFH owes $287K for breaching biometric data obligations. Corrective orders include obtaining separate consent for iris data and ensuring transparency in data processing.  

Guggenheim Tokenizes $20M Commercial Paper on Ethereum

Guggenheim Treasury Services tokenized $20M of commercial paper on Ethereum with Zeconomy, citing "massive demand" for digital assets. This move aligns with the trend of real-world asset tokenization in the growing crypto sector. The P-1 rated issuance signals Guggenheim's venture into the $12B RWA market, leveraging its $300B AUM and previous crypto involvement.  

Taurus, Aktionariat Bring Tokenized Shares to Swiss SMEs

Taurus and Aktionariat have teamed up to enable trading of tokenized shares from Swiss SMEs on the Taurus Digital Exchange (TDX), projected to go live in November. The collaboration will improve liquidity access for Swiss SMEs, and the first issuer will be RealUnit Schweiz, aiming to enhance accessibility and liquidity for investors.  

PayPal Enables Crypto Buying for U.S. Merchants

PayPal introduced new functionality for U.S. business clients, enabling the buying, holding, and selling of cryptocurrencies. This supports U.S. merchants to transfer cryptocurrencies on-chain to external eligible wallets, reflecting the company's strategy to increase crypto utility for U.S. clients. The journey began in 2020, advancing to the launch of the PayPal Stablecoin (PYUSD) in 2023. 

Coinbase Supports ZKsync and Moonwell, Drives Volume Up

In the past few days, several listings popped up. Coinbase enhanced trading support for ZKsync and Moonwell, sparking volume surges. CoW Protocol rallied over 14% after its Coinbase listing on Tuesday. Catizen (CATI) perpetual futures launched on Coinbase International during a volatile phase post-airdrop, with CATI peaking at $1.11 before falling to $0.72. 

WazirX Gets $230M Debt Repayment Extension

WazirX was granted a 4-month, $230 million debt repayment extension by a Singapore court following a hack in July. The exchange must disclose wallet addresses, respond to user queries, reveal its accounts, and ensure independent voting. WazirX is in restructuring and negotiation discussions with potential partners. Users are unlikely to fully recover their assets. 

Ethena Labs Partners With BlackRock for New Stablecoin

Ethena Labs is launching a new stablecoin, UStb, in partnership with BlackRock's tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund, BUIDL. UStb will operate independently from Ethena's existing stablecoin, USDe, offering a distinct risk profile. USDe, backed by derivative hedging strategies, faced redemptions in August. Ethena intends for UStb to provide an alternative margin collateral on partnered centralized exchanges. The BUIDL fund, which UStb will be backed by, has quickly grown to become the largest tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund, with over $522 million in assets under management since its launch in March. UStb aims to mitigate risks associated with USDe and enhance its stability during challenging market conditions.

Hamster Kombat Token Launches, Faces Airdrop Controversy

Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token launched on September 26, trading on exchanges like Binance and OKX with a high of over $0.013. The airdrop faced controversy due to distribution issues, with some users receiving as little as $10. Despite the controversy, Tonkeeper wallet added support for HMSTR, allowing transaction fees via HMSTR starting October 1. The token's market cap is around $458 million. Only 60% of the total 100 billion HMSTR tokens have been distributed, with 15% reserved for future distribution.

Avalanche Announces $40M Retroactive Grant Program

Avalanche unveiled Retro9000, a $40 million retroactive grant program supporting its Avalanche9000 upgrade, encouraging developers to build Layer 1 networks or technical tooling on its testnet. This aims to bootstrap an L1 ecosystem, lowering financial and hardware barriers, fostering DeFi, real-world assets, and gaming appchains, and promoting interoperability through interchain messaging.  

Core Blockchain's Total Value Locked Surges to $411M

The Core blockchain, a Layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin, has seen a remarkable rise in Total Value Locked, reaching $411 million. This growth positions it as a leading Bitcoin L2 solution. Core's approach addresses Bitcoin's scalability issues, offering faster and cheaper transactions while leveraging Bitcoin's security, paving the way for innovation and competition in the Bitcoin scaling ecosystem.  

LayerZero Airdrop Sparks Daily Activity Surge

LayerZero's latest airdrop announcement spurred a 433% surge in daily activity to 98,000 messages. The strategic focus on rewarding committed users and excluding idle participants led to a 16.8% ZRO price increase, reaching $5.19. Surpassing $4.99 could trigger a rally to its all-time high of $5.60. 80.39% of addresses are currently in profit.  

Study Shows 88% of Airdrop Tokens Drop in Value

A recent study by KeyRock Trading reveals that 88.7% of airdrop tokens experience price declines after 90 days. Ethereum and Solana tokens show better resilience, with up to 25% maintaining or increasing in value. Larger airdrops foster stronger community ownership, outperforming smaller distributions and leading to long-term stability.  

Truflation Loses $5.2M in Malware Attack

Truflation, a Coinbase-backed blockchain inflation data platform, suffered $5.2 million malware attack. Approximately $5.23 million was lost from its treasury multisignature and personal wallets, with additional losses on other chains. The TRUF token fell 15.6% before partially recovering. No customer funds were compromised, and Truflation is working with industry partners and law enforcement to protect funds.  

Onyx Protocol Exploited, Loses $3.8M

Onyx Protocol, a Compound Finance fork, suffered a $3.8 million loss in a hack exploiting a known code vulnerability, highlighting widespread security concerns in DeFi projects. The attack leveraged a precision issue in the forked Compound V2 code, resulting in the siphoning of various digital assets. Similar vulnerabilities have affected other Compound forks, emphasizing the need for enhanced security measures in the crypto industry.  

Audius Transforms Web3 Music With Stablecoin Payments

Audius, a decentralized music streaming platform, revolutionizes Web3 music by offering stablecoin payments to artists and introducing a 10% community revenue-sharing model. Artists gain full control over pricing and revenue, with early successes exceeding traditional streaming models. Audius challenges Spotify and Apple Music, signaling a significant shift in the music industry.  

Moodeng Coin Soars Before Pullback on Insider Concerns

Moodeng, a Solana-based memecoin inspired by a viral Thai baby hippo, surged 42.34% in market cap to over $146M before pulling back. An early trader turned $800 into $3.5M within weeks. The coin’s value nearly hit $0.148, with trading volumes up 38%. Insider trading concerns arose as similar 1000x returns were noted in related projects.

Revolve Labs Cancels Bitcoin Mining Facility Amid Protests

Revolve Labs withdrew its plan for a Bitcoin mining facility in Windom, Minnesota after residents raised concerns about noise pollution and its impact on home values. The facility aimed to bring in a service fee of $35,000 per month, but faced objections due to noise pollution issues. Similarly, a Norwegian facility was shut down due to noise complaints, causing a 20% increase in energy bills.