Coin360 Weekly Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | September 21 - September 27, 2024

Crypto Weekly Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Movements and Trends

• Crypto Weekly Recap

Banking and Regulatory Updates

• Visa, PayPal, BNY Expand Crypto Services
• TrueUSD Faces SEC Charges for Investor Fraud

Project Launches and Developments

• Hamster Kombat Faces Airdrop Controversy
• Blockchain Funding Surges With $100M Celestia Raise

Crypto Investments and Strategies

• Grayscale’s Top 20 Cryptos for Q4 2024

Privacy and Policy Changes

• Telegram Shares User Data for Legal Requests

Stablecoin and Token Developments

• Ethena Launches BlackRock-Backed Stablecoin UStb

Memecoins and Market Trends

• MOODENG Memecoin Surges, Faces Liquidity Concerns

NFT Market and Platforms

• SunPump and APENFT Launch NFT Platform on TRON
• STEPN GO, adidas Expand NFT Sneaker Partnership
• CryptoPunks Debuts Luxury Hoodie Collection

Crypto Weekly Recap

Bitcoin:

• Weekly performance: +5.09%
• BTC broke $66,000 on Friday, on track to see its best September in history.
• Key notes this week: China’s monetary stimulus, Fed's rate cut, BlackRock.
• U.S. spot BTC ETFs had record inflows: +$365.57M on Sept 26, the highest since July 22, totaling $611.91M for the week.
• Digital asset funds had $321M pouring in, marking its second consecutive week of inflows.  
• Monday started positively, soaring above $64,500, but traded sideways below $64,000 until Tuesday's high at $64,600 due to PBOC's $140B stimulus package and a 50 basis points RRR cut, though reactions were muted.
• The direct impact of Chinese liquidity on BTC was less clear due to the 2021 mining ban. Still, China's easing measures influenced global liquidity conditions and risk appetite.
• BTC broke $65,000 resistance on Thursday, driven by positive U.S. jobs data and continuous China stimulus expectations. BlackRock's IBIT options approval also contributed.
• Friday’s bullish momentum continued: BNY Mellon got SEC non-objection to expand crypto custody; CZ might be released early; spot BTC ETF’s highest inflow since July; US PCE inflation fell to 2.2%; BlackRock’s BTC holdings neared $23.7B.
• As per Arkham, BlackRock purchased more Bitcoin than any ETF issuer sold in the past three weeks.  
• The SEC’s approval of options for BlackRock’s spot BTC ETF shifts institutional engagement with Bitcoin. This could boost "paper" supply, potentially reducing physical Bitcoin demand. However, like gold, physical demand still plays a key role despite heavy "paper" trading. For Bitcoin, participants may prefer U.S. dollars for these contracts due to better liquidity and wider acceptance in traditional markets.
• Bitcoin dominance is at ~57.5%, down slightly from previous levels, showing fluctuation but still a dominant position in the market.  
• Gold hit new highs, surpassing $2,670 on Sept 26, sparking investor interest in BTC for similar gains.
• CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju predicted that as soon as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) announces his return, the cryptocurrency market will surge.

Ethereum:

• Weekly performance: +10.09%
• ETH outperformed BTC, peaked at above $2,700.
• It was the first positive inflow week for U.S. spot ETH ETFs since mid-August, but weak: $201.52M exited since mid-August; this week's inflow was only +$25.86M.
• Price soared near $2,700 on Monday, held until Tuesday, then saw an ETF outflow of $79.21M (Sept 23).
• Dropped to $2,566 on Thursday, but rebounded to $2,720 at the time of writing.
• On Sept. 24, the SEC delayed its decision on approving options trading for spot Ethereum ETFs.
• ETH struggled to maintain momentum, consolidating between $2,700 and $2,600. 85% on Polymarket users bet no new all-time high this year.
• New Ethereum addresses dropped 43% in 3 months, falling below 79,000.
• Ethereum transaction fees surged 498% over the 30-day average, with median costs rising to $1.69 from $0.09. Drivers included a 9% rise in DEX volumes and a 17% growth in ether transfers.
• Despite the price increase, several whales sold off ETH (e.g., this Genesis creditor).
• ETH's weekly performance lagged top 10: BNB +8% (CZ's return, ecosystem updates, Telegram app integration), SOL +9% (Coinbase’s cbBTC, ecosystem updates), DOGE +21% (memecoin hype, whale boost, resistance broken).
• Other updates impacting altcoin prices:
  • VP Kamala Harris promoted AI and crypto, causing AI tokens led by TAO to soar.
  • Arthur Hayes dumped PENDLE, shifting to ATH & PEPE (DePIN & Meme).
  • XRP saw minor gains as traders considered the possibility of SEC appealing Ripple ruling.

Altcoins:

• Circle sought to legitimize USDC and EURC as official EU currency.
• Investor worries led BlackRock to demand quicker Coinbase withdrawals.
• Bitfarms and Riot settled a dispute by making board changes.
• Kraken expanded its European reach by acquiring a Dutch crypto broker.
• Arbitrum DAO planned to allocate $145 million for partnerships.
• Former Alameda CEO Ellison received a two-year sentence for her role in FTX's collapse.
• WalletConnect opened WCT token airdrop registration to boost engagement.
• Banana Gun confirmed a $3M loss and planned user refunds.
• Vitalik Buterin praised Celo Blockchain for outperforming Tron.
• Chainlink projected the tokenized asset market to reach $10T by 2030.
• South Korea fined Worldcoin $860K for data collection non-compliance.
• Report revealed most airdrop tokens crashed within 15 days of listing.
• LayerZero activity surged 433% after a second airdrop announcement.
• Avalanche announced a $40M grant program before the Avalanche9000 upgrade.
• WazirX received a 4-month, $230M debt repayment extension from a Singapore court.
• Coinbase’s Base surpassed $2B in TVL, becoming the second-largest optimistic rollup.
• Floki and BNB Chain launched the GraFun meme coin launchpad.
• U.S. authorities charged two Russians with crypto money laundering, offering a $10M reward.
• Prominent Listings/Trading Support:
  • Hamster Kombat (HMSTR): All major exchanges
  • Binance: Aavegotchi (GHST) - Margined perpetual, Worldcoin (WLD) - Futures, REI Netowrk (REI) - Futures
  • Coinbase: CoW Protocol (COW), ZKsync (ZK), Moonwell (WELL)
  • Coinbase International: Catizen (CATI) - perpetual futures

Visa, PayPal, BNY Expand Crypto Services

This week, major financial entities expanded their crypto initiatives. Visa launched the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP) for banks to issue fiat-backed tokens on Ethereum, with BBVA as an early adopter. PayPal enabled U.S. businesses to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies, excluding New York. BNY Mellon received SEC approval to extend crypto custody services beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Guggenheim tokenized $20M commercial paper on Ethereum, gaining Moody’s highest rating. Revolut is exploring stablecoin issuance, while Robinhood has postponed similar plans. eToro introduced direct crypto trading in Germany, partnering with DLT Finance and Tangany for asset custody.

TrueUSD Faces SEC Charges for Investor Fraud

The SEC charged TrueCoin and TrustToken, the entities behind TrueUSD (TUSD), for misleading investors and selling unregistered investment contracts. From November 2020 to April 2023, they invested TUSD's reserves in a risky offshore fund, with over $500 million involved by March 2022, and 99% of reserves by September 2024. Despite knowing the risks, they marketed TUSD as fully dollar-backed. The companies settled, paying $700K in fines. TUSD's market cap dropped to $495 million, sparking DeFi platforms like Curve Finance to reconsider using TUSD as collateral to mitigate risk.

Hamster Kombat Faces Airdrop Controversy

On September 26, 2024, Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) launched its token on several major exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin, and OKX. Despite initial excitement, the token's price dipped from $0.013 to $0.007, with analysts projecting a range between $0.004 and $0.01. An airdrop distributed 60 billion tokens to 131 million users, sparking backlash as only 43% qualified, and 2.3 million were banned for violations. The project faced criticism over disqualifications, changes in eligibility criteria, and dissatisfaction with rewards. Despite the controversy, Hamster Kombat announced a roadmap featuring NFT integration and a Season 2 community distribution.

Blockchain Funding Surges With $100M Celestia Raise

This week, we saw significant funding in blockchain and crypto projects. On September 27, 2024, Celestia raised $100M to scale blockchain capacity, targeting 1 gigabyte blocks to exceed Visa's 24,000 TPS. Initia secured $14M in Series A funding, focusing on Layer 1 blockchain and acquired Celatone. Citrea raised $2.7M, leveraging Bitcoin as a financial settlement layer through BitVM. AminoChain, backed by a16z, gathered $7M to pioneer decentralized biobanking. Polymarket considers a token launch to raise $50M for its prediction platform. Mawari Network raised $10.8M for Solana-based spatial computing, while Coral secured $3M for AI-powered carbon management solutions.

Grayscale’s Top 20 Cryptos for Q4 2024

Grayscale, a leading crypto asset manager, has updated its investment strategy, unveiling the top 20 cryptocurrencies set for significant outperformance in Q4 2024. The quarterly rebalance process, concluding on September 20, introduced six new altcoins and reaffirmed faith in established names. 

Notable newcomers like Sui, Bittensor, and Optimism, focus on decentralized AI and blockchain scalability. The list is diversified across crypto sectors and includes factors like network growth/adoption, upcoming catalysts, sustainability of fundamentals, token valuation, supply inflation, and potential tail risks. Grayscale emphasized the high volatility and risks associated with crypto investment, cautioning investors about the assets' suitability due to their high risk nature and volatility.  

Telegram Shares User Data for Legal Requests

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced a new policy allowing the app to share user IP addresses and phone numbers with authorities for valid legal requests, targeting those violating app rules. This update follows Durov's arrest in France in August for alleged non-cooperation over illicit activities on the platform. The shift raises privacy concerns, as it contradicts Telegram's foundational principles, though it aims to curb criminal activity. This move aligns Telegram with other apps like WhatsApp and Meta's Messenger, which already comply with law enforcement data requests.

Ethena Launches BlackRock-Backed Stablecoin UStb

Ethena announced the launch of UStb, a stablecoin by BlackRock's BUIDL fund. UStb's reserves will be invested in BUIDL, which holds U.S. dollars, Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. This new stablecoin complements Ethena's existing USDe, offering a distinct risk profile. UStb aims to support USDe during challenging market conditions by allowing asset reallocation. With a focus on stability, UStb signifies Ethena's strategic move to diversify its stablecoin offerings and ensure resilience. Moreover, UStb is set to be listed on major centralized exchanges to further enhance Ethena's presence in the crypto market.  

MOODENG Memecoin Surges, Faces Liquidity Concerns

As of September 27, the Solana-based memecoin MOODENG's market cap has surpassed $216 million, surging 81% in 24 hours and reaching $0.225 per token with an initial price of just $0.085. The coin is based on a viral Thai baby hippo. A trader turned 6 SOL (around $800) into $3.5 million, sparking insider trading accusations. Despite Moodeng's rise, its most liquid liquidity pool, as per Dexscreener, only has $3.2 million, making cashing out challenging. Moodeng's market success contrasts with other Thai memecoins.