Introduction
The SEC has approved the Form 19-b4 of 8 ETH spot ETFs. Although the trading launch still awaits the approval of the S-1 registration statement, the market has higher expectations for the ETH price trend and has already started to heat up in advance.
1. Investment Observation
Last week, there were a total of 33 investment events in the cryptocurrency market, a 26.9% increase compared to the previous week. The total funding exceeded $270 million, a significant increase of 58.8%. With the market rebounding, there was evident expansion in scale:
In the DeFi sector, 8 investment events were announced, with Ethereum liquidity repledging platform Kelp raising $9 million, led by SCB Limited and Laser Digital.
In the GameFi sector, there was 1 investment event, with RPG blockchain game Aria completing seed funding, led by Folius Ventures, Spartan Group, and Merit Circle.
In the NFT sector, there was 1 investment event, with Singapore collectible design company Mighty Jaxx raising another $11 million in an extended Series A funding round.
DePIN announced 1 investment event, with DePIN project Blockless, focused on providing computational power support, raising $8 million in two early-stage funding rounds.
In the infrastructure and tools sector, there were 8 financing events, including zero-knowledge hardware startup Cysic raising $12 million in a pre-A funding round, led by HashKey Capital and OKX Ventures.
In other Web3/crypto applications, there were 8 financing events, including Web3 social media platform Farcaster raising $150 million in funding, led by Paradigm and participated by a16z crypto, among others.
From a week-on-week perspective, the number of cryptocurrency market investment events saw a significant rebound, and the total funding rapidly expanded, indicating that institutions increase their leverage and investment frequency when the market is warming up. Among them, there were 6 funding events of tens of millions of dollars, including Fracmaster, Cysic, Dora Factory, Plume Network, Fantom, and StripChain, indicating market enthusiasm in the DeFi, RWA, and SocialFi fields. As for VC, Paradigm was the most active institution this week, followed by OKX Ventures and Animoca Brands.
2. Industry Data
Net inflows into US BTC spot ETFs for 10 consecutive days
SoSoValue data: As of the closing on May 24 (Friday) Eastern Time, BTC spot ETFs have seen net inflows for 10 consecutive days. As of May 27, the total net asset value of global BTC spot ETFs is $61.203 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of total BTC market value) of 4.53%.
In the past two weeks, the net assets of BTC spot ETFs have shown a positive growth trend, and the net asset ratio has been continuously increasing. The ETF growth rate is significantly higher than the BTC output, indicating that buying pressure is greater than supply, and it is expected that the BTC market will exhibit slow and fluctuating upward trends.
Significant increase in trading volume of Hong Kong ETH ETFs
As of the closing on May 24, the total trading volume of 6 Hong Kong virtual asset ETFs is approximately HK$45.3323 million, with significant increases in the trading volume of 3 ETH ETFs. This occurred after the approval of the US ETH spot ETF 19-b4 form, indicating the strong influence of US policies and economic trends on the cryptocurrency market, as well as the need for more force to guide and drive the Hong Kong ETF market.
Selling pressure eases as whales increase holdings by 20,000 BTC
May 23 IntoTheBlock data: In the past week, whale addresses holding 1,000 to 10,000 BTC collectively increased their holdings by 20,000 BTC. This indicates that long-term holders are returning to a bullish buying phase. Compared to the significant sell-off that occurred after BTC reached a high of $73,000 in March, the recent market selling pressure has significantly eased, providing more room for bullish sentiment.
Farcaster user data reaches a new high
Dune data: Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol, has continuously reached new historical highs since May 21:
On May 22, Farcaster recorded 69,901 Unique Reactions and 60,387 Unique Casts.
On May 25, Farcaster’s total revenue exceeded $1.45 million and currently stands at $1.4579 million, with a total user count of over 400,000.
Farcaster positions itself as the infrastructure of the social field, closer to the concept of a “Layer” rather than a single Dapp application. This allows Farcaster to have the potential for more diverse and extensive application scenarios, and its growth performance differs significantly from other SocialFi products, making it worth focusing on.
3. VC Holdings
Note: The above data is sourced from https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/, as of May 27, 2024, 15:00 (UTC+8).
4. This Week’s Focus
May 27:
Solana Mainnet V1.18 version will be released to address the congestion issue on the mainnet.
Bitlayer will kick off the two-week Mining Gala mining event from May 27 to June 10.
Sei has voted in favor of the proposal “Upgrade to V2 version,” and the mainnet upgrade will take place on May 27.
YGG will unlock approximately 16.69 million tokens worth about $16.94 million, accounting for 4.49% of the circulating supply.
May 28:
US May Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.
London Stock Exchange accepts listing applications for BTC and ETH ETNs, with the first batch expected to be listed on May 28.
Blast will upgrade to support blobs at 5:00 on May 28.
The Open Beta testnet of blockchain game Illuvium is expected to launch on May 28.
SingularityNET (AGIX) will unlock approximately 8.71 million tokens worth about $8.4 million, accounting for 0.68% of the circulating supply.
Blockchain Week Rome will be held from May 28 to 31.
May 29:
Fed Governor Lisa Cook and 2024 FOMC voting member, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Daly, will give speeches on artificial intelligence.
The US SEC will make a decision on trading options for BTC spot ETFs.
The UK consultation on its implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) crypto report framework will end on May 29.
Bitcoin Seoul will be held in Seoul, South Korea from May 29 to 31.
Consensus 2024, hosted by CoinDesk, will take place in Austin, Texas, USA from May 29 to 31.
Binance will release the latest NFT collection of international football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on May 29.
Blockchain Economy Istanbul.
GenAI Summit San Francisco 2024.
May 30:
US weekly initial jobless claims.
Fed releases Beige Book on economic conditions.
FOMC permanent voting member and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Williams will participate in a roundtable discussion.
FOMC voting member and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Bostic will give a speech on economic prospects.
The US Department of Justice will hold a workshop on competition in the artificial intelligence industry at Stanford University on May 30.
Virtual asset trading platform VAEX begins to prohibit trading by Hong Kong users.
OKX HK will delist stablecoins and corresponding fiat pairs on May 30 and launch HKD fiat pairs on the “Spot Trading” platform.
CryptoPunks will hold an auction for the “Super Punk World” digital avatar series.
May 31:
US April Core PCE Price Index YoY.
EOS’s new tokenomics model is expected to be deployed on the mainnet by the end of May.
BNB Chain announces the winners of the Q2 2024 Hackathon and enters a one-month incubation period.
Uniswap Foundation will launch on-chain voting on May 31 to propose an upgrade to the fee mechanism to reward UNI holders.
Virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong that have not applied for a license must end their Hong Kong operations by the end of May.
Optimism token OP will unlock 31.34 million tokens worth about $79.61 million, accounting for 2.88% of the circulating supply.
Echelon Prime token PRIME will unlock 1.66 million tokens worth about $31.66 million, accounting for 4.23% of the circulating supply.
Tornado Cash (TORN) will unlock 92,000 tokens worth about $240,000, accounting for 2.41% of the circulating supply.
June 1:
Dogechain Wallet will be closed on June 1, and users need to withdraw DOGE in a timely manner.
dYdX token DYDX will unlock approximately 33.33 million tokens worth about $67 million, accounting for 11.91% of the circulating supply.
ZetaChain (ZETA) will unlock approximately 5.29 million tokens worth about $8.2 million, accounting for 1.99% of the circulating supply.
1inch (1INCH) will unlock approximately 98.74 million tokens worth about $42 million, accounting for 8.52% of the circulating supply.
Manta Network (MANTA) will unlock approximately 1.87 million tokens worth about $3.2 million, accounting for 0.74% of the circulating supply.
Sui token SUI will unlock approximately 65.08 million tokens worth about $68.07 million, accounting for 2.78% of the circulating supply.
June 2:
Ethena (ENA) will unlock approximately 53.6 million tokens worth about $46 million, accounting for 3.62% of the circulating supply.
5. Conclusion
Last week, the FIT 21 bill was passed in the US House of Representatives, marking a friendly shift in the attitude of US regulators towards cryptocurrencies. The positive policy has provided clear regulatory direction and political support for the cryptocurrency industry. Additionally, US BTC spot ETFs have seen net inflows for 10 consecutive days, driving the expectation of a slow and fluctuating upward trend in the BTC market phase. Furthermore, the number of cryptocurrency market investment events has seen a significant rebound, and the total funding has rapidly expanded, indicating that institutions increase their leverage and investment frequency when the market is warming up, with market enthusiasm focused on the DeFi, RWA, and SocialFi fields.
This week, 18 token projects will have their tokens unlocked, with the cumulative unlocking amount of PRIME, OP, Sui, DYDX, 1INCH, and ENA exceeding $300 million. As the total circulating supply of tokens in the market becomes more inflationary, it is necessary to remain cautious and carefully assess whether the cryptocurrency market can accommodate more buying pressure. Additionally, with the Trump team accepting cryptocurrency donations, positive information that favors the market is increasing, and it is expected that there will be more cryptocurrency-related topics surrounding the upcoming elections. The voting on the fee incentive mechanism initiated by UniSwap this week may bring stable positive effects to UNI and the industry.
We can see that with the positive attitude of US legislative authorities towards cryptocurrencies, the overall trend is favorable, and market confidence is recovering. Although the timing of the final implementation remains uncertain, a significant step has been taken on the path of regulatory challenges, laying a solid foundation for the future innovation and development of the industry.
Note: All the above opinions are for reference only and should not be considered as investment advice. If you have any objections, please feel free to contact us for clarification.
