Fear, uncertainty and doubt. Have you picked up on it? You can taste it in the air. Metrics aren’t looking great and the market keeps grinding down. Silvergate banking thing is a bit worrisome. I’ve felt for a while that our upside was limited due to the macro/inflation narrative but that most big players who were forced to become forced sellers already did so. More regulatory/banking fud could bring out more forced sellers out of the woodwork. Stay safe, and don’t forget to focus on personal growth. You’ll have plenty of time for it :3
- Time moves differently in crypto. Crypto is an intricate game filled with various players operating across multiple time frames and with varying agendas. Day in, day out, the pieces are moving all across the board. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The following is a look at the crypto landscape during the past week covering various sectors. Use these events like clues - let it tell you the larger overarching story of crypto -
Data:
Bitcoin:
Buttcoin spent the whole week grinding inside a tight range of $23k and then pooped itself. We’ve now lost the meme EMA lines.
Ethereum:
Pretty similar story to Buttcoin. As opposed to most of 2022 where Bitcoin was leading and outperforming, we’ve returned to Bitcoin being the star of the show and calling the shots. When Bitcoin is happy, the market is happy. And when Bitcoin poops itself, everyone gets covered in poop.
Crypto Market Cap:
$1.028T, down from last week’s $1.09T - It sure would be not great if we fell below $1T again.
Stablecoin Exchange Reserves:
$22.702, down from last week’s $23.159B - like a falling stone. People just keep taking their stables off exchanges.
Stablecoin Total Market Cap:
$134.98B, down from last week’s $135.57B - Stablecoins, the lifeblood of crypto. Crypto market isn’t going anywhere until capital starts flowing into stables. We’re just flatlining for now still.
DeFi TVL:
$48.48B, down from last week’s $49.62B. Pretty weaksauce. Honestly more concerned about stablecoin market cap starting to see signs of life return than DeFi TVL.
Exchange Volume:
$878.42B for the month of February vs $797.23B total in January. Higher volume in February than January even though January saw that nice pump. Guess it was sell volume.
Dex Volume:
$77.23B for the month of February vs $61.31B total in January. Same story. Volume increasing but market ranged all of February and moved downwards. Sell volume.
Ethereum NFT Volume:
$1.51B for the month of February vs $744.48M total in January. Everyone has been talking about this. Crazy impressive volume coming out of Blur but most of it is wash trading.
Thoughts/Observations:
Monday:
Relatively quiet day. Bitcoin ranged ~23k, ETH $1600s. Sentiment feels like it’s shifting uncertain again as people remember/realize the macro/Fed isn’t clearing up soon
Tuesday:
Relatively quiet day. Bitcoin ranged in the $23k zone and flirted with losing this area. ETH flirting with losing $1600. Yuga Labs getting into Ordinals. Ordinals, Ordinals, Ordinals everywhere. LQTY pump. AI coins pumping. IMX up
Wednesday:
Bitcoin small mini pumperino that retraced then pumped again, still stuck within $23k. ETH same in mid $1600s. Heavy midweek news cycle day as usual but nothing major. Regulation theme still prevalent.
Thursday:
Crab, crab, crab. Bitcoin continues locked in its $23k range and ETH within $1600 - seems to be struggling.
Friday:
Market finally gave way Thursday evening. BTC and ETH dropped 4-5% losing the range they’d been in all week. Silvergate banking fud adds to Fed/inflation fud and overall the market seems unsure. Previous hot narratives aren’t so hot anymore. Markets move up and they move down.
Highlights:
Ethereum developers push back Shanghai upgrade to early april
In the last week prosecutors laid out new details and allegations against SBF
Former FTX Director of Engineering Nishad Singh pleaded guilty to six criminal charges
Jump Crypto and Oasis.app ‘counter exploits’ Wormhole hacker for $225M
Silvergate bank didn’t file annual financial report on time and may be less than well-capitalized
Kraken pulling back from using Signature Bank for some significant financial transactions
Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Gemini, Crypto.com, Bitstamp, MicroStrategy distance from Silvergate
Signature bank now servicing multiple crypto companies in the wake of Silvergate distress
Mt. Gox early repayments starting March 10, with a deadline to be paid out by September 30
Machi Big Brother, dumped 1,010 NFTs for 11,680 ETH or $18.6M, in the space of 48 hours
At least $577M of Blur-linked NFT sales are wash trades
The SEC subpoenaed Robinhood in December regarding crypto listings and custody of assets
Digital Currency Group saw a loss of $1.1B in 2022
Binance refutes transferring $1.8B in client collateral
Voyager Digital customers voted in favor of Chapter 11 restructuring plan with Binance US
Visa denies it is looking to slow down partnerships with crypto companies
Puerto Rico extended its 4% tax incentive to crypto assets and blockchain activities
Starbucks's web3 Odyssey that seeks to expand brand loyalty is seeing early signs of success
Jane Street wallet may have been linked to UST depeg
Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative Bluesky hits the App Store as an invite-only app
Deloitte and Sinclair Broadcast Group launching a new metaverse sports fan community
Coinbase launches grassroots campaign to influence US lawmakers
Drama - Sui Foundation disinvited from MoveCon conference hosted at Aptos house
Mobile payments processor Cash App integrated crypto tax and accounting software TaxBit
Roobet, a crypto casino, added Snoop Dogg as chief ganjaroo officer
Derivatives platform LedgerX no longer using Silvergate Bank for domestic wire transfers
Developers can integrate ChatGPT and Whisper models into apps and products through API
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange plans to let customers of its non-bank members trade crypto
$650M in token unlocks scheduled for March
Coinbase delisted BUSD due to liquidity concerns
Second Ethereum Sepolia testnet successfully simulates Shanghai hard fork
Polygon zkEVM mainnet launch on 27 March
Testnet Goerli ETH spikes as traders jump on opportunity meant for developers
Solana network outage after ‘forking’ incident
Binance NFT marketplace launched “Bicasso,” a new AI-powered NFT generator
On March 15, the STG token will migrate to a new address
Illuvium launching new game "Beyond" on March 7th
Yuga Labs first Bitcoin NFT project TwelveFold - limited series of 300 generative Ordinals
Chainlink launches dev platform, Functions - connects web3 apps with traditional cloud software
Winning Yuga Labs Dookey Dash key sold for 1,000 ETH (~$1.6M)
Lido Finance largest ever daily stake inflow - more than 150,000 ETH from Justin Sun
Polygon launches web3 identification service, Polygon ID, using zero-knowledge proofs
Fan token project Chiliz launches $50M incubator, Chiliz Labs, backed by Jump Crypto
IOST strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services to drive the advancement of Web 3.0
Ethereum deployed ERC-4337, account abstraction, via a smart contract called EntryPoint
Prime launch
Robinhood Wallet, which supports Polygon and Ethereum, now available to iOS customers
Illuvium DAO votes against NFT contest with disgraced 3AC founder Su Zhu
Coinbase lists Circle's euro stablecoin, EUROC
The Blockspace Race, Celestia’s incentivized testnet program, starting March 7
Unity supporting Algorand, Aptos, Flow blockchain, Immutable X, MetaMask, Solana and Tezos
Move2earn project Sweat Economy to launch its web3 elements in the U.S. in September
Aave governance discussion to deploy on upcoming Polygon zkEVM mainnet
Crypto News:
Monday:
Republic cancels $75M Metaverse Fund following crypto collapse and SEC guidance
Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins is now making NFT games
Adidas hinted at unique ways to integrate crypto beyond simply adding a payments option
Playboy expected to launch MetaMansion Virtual World this year
Peloton launching Swagger Society, a Web3 lifestyle membership club
Fujitsu and Mitsubishi look to create Japanese 'metaverse economic zone'
Alchemy Pay obtains license from Central Bank of Indonesia
Crypto exchange CoinEx will stop serving users in the United States
The Rock Trading, one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the world, pausing its operations
South Korea’s Lotte Group partners with Polygon for global NFT drive
Tuesday:
Voyager Digital has been selling off its crypto holdings
Institutional DeFi startup Hashnote first to emerge from incubator Cumberland Labs
Ethereum developer conference, Devcon 7, will be held in Southeast Asia in 2024
Price charts for DEX tokens on EtherDrops will now be drawn up with GeckoTerminal
Cointelegraph partners with Phaver mobile Web3 social app
Huobi will join the BTTC ecosystem and support the development of a layer 2 network
Wednesday:
Voyager Digital customers voted in favor of Chapter 11 restructuring plan with Binance US
Ohio joins $22.5M multistate settlement against crypto lender Nexo
Marathon Digital will reissue financials due to accounting mistakes
OKX froze 5 malicious accounts involved in the market manipulation of CELT token price
UAE to create exclusive free zone for digital, virtual asset companies
The French National Assembly passed a set of licensing rules for crypto firms
Thursday:
Australia announces CBDC pilot and study for the eAUD - taps Mastercard and others
Lawsuit against Nexo, citing harm from “fraudulent inducement” to take out loans
Puerto Rico extended its 4% tax incentive to crypto assets and blockchain activities
The founders of Hodlnaut proposed selling the business rather than liquidating the firm
Binance launching presale of Cloud Mining products for BTC mining
CoinDesk and Art Blocks release Microcosms for IRL events with NFTs
German court denies attempt to claim $3.6M in crypto gains as not taxable income
Hashed co-founder Alex Shin & Sandeep Ramesh joining Mysten Labs CEO’s new venture fund
More Than Gamers - building web3 gaming ecosystem abandoned by founders
Quantum Temple enters NFT partnership with Indonesian Ministry of Tourism
Indian exchange Bitbns admits it was hacked for $7.5M in February 2022
Friday:
FTX stakeholder report shows shortfall of assets
HSBC, bans customers from purchasing crypto with credit cards
Trader makes error in XMON unlock strategy — loses 100% of trade in slippage
Latin American crypto exchange Bitso and Mastercard launch debit card in Mexico
Coin/Project Updates:
Monday:
Proposal for Uniswap v3 to launch on Avalanche
Police arrested and summoned 2 suspects who reportedly exploited Platypus Finance
$700,000 drained from BNB Chain-based DeFi protocol LaunchZone
Near released update on decentralized funding, DAOs, and accelerator
Super Puma drop and reveal plans
The Stacks Network upgrade on March 20 to strengthen its connections with Bitcoin
Alchemy launches dApp builder that can spin up apps in 4 minutes
Bounce will provide auction infrastructure to Base network incubated by Coinbase
A large amount of SHIB tokens moving to exchanges
Mars Protocol to launch Farm Vaults on Osmosis Outpost
Trezor assumes control of silicon chip production for flagship Model T hardware wallet product
Binance Futures will launch USDⓈ-M CKB perpetual contracts
Hashed Network wins Polkadot Parachain Auction #40
Parallel Closed Alpha launches - PRIME becomes transferrable
Rollbit exploited - losses were minimal and all funds are safe
The co-founder of SpankChain and Reflex Labs, teased a revival for Tornado Cash
Mantle and Mirana proposed to deploy a $200M fund pool in the next 3 years
ZigZag identified 12k industrial sybil farming with 10+ accounts
Thala Lab’s testnet now live - two core products: the Move Dollar CDP vaults and ThalaSwap
Blueshift cross-chain incentivised testnet is live
Introducing NitroSwap, an AMM DEX built on the Nitro Testnet
HALO’s token airdrop proportions
Tuesday:
Solana outage still unsolved
Scroll launched zk-EVM on the Goerli testnet as it moves out of pre-alpha phase
MakerDAO community rejects $100M loan to Cogent Bank. Previously approved similar loan
Proposal to deploy Compound v3 on Arbitrum
Hardfork of Optimism Goerli planned for March
Sui successful Testnet Wave 2
Axelar Virtual Machine brings 1-click inter-chain dApp deployment via AI-powered zk-proofs
TUSD stablecoin becomes the fifth-largest stablecoin by market cap, passing Frax
Binance will list Liquity (LQTY) in the Innovation Zone
Volt Inu releases alpha version of NFT-focused battle royale game
Ethereum Foundation Account Abstraction Grants 2023
Algorand wallet MyAlgo $9.6M exploit - users should remove funds
Arbitrum-Based FactorDAO releases staking service amid code controversy
Gamium will work with Meta and Telefonica on the Metaverse Activation Program
Klaytn Foundation unveils ambitious 2023 vision map to achieve mass adoption trifecta
Decentraland is hosting its second annual Metaverse Fashion Week next month
Shutdown of Quix Marketplace is no longer happening
Introducing Firm protocol v1 - open source protocol to power on-chain companies
OasisSwap V1 is live
Introducing Project Hyperdrive - an "L2 for Rocket Pool"
Release of Orbis V2
Nibiru Incentivized Testnet #1 is live
Wednesday:
Tokenized house listed for sale on Solana
Prime launch
Solana plans to improve network upgrades
Sushi boosts Treasury to $30.6M after Kanpai implementation
Security protocol Forta released delegated staking for FORT
ComposeDB Beta is now live on Ceramic Mainnet
Kill-to-earn zombie game 'Undead Blocks' releases on ImmutableX
Reserve Protocol introducing the Electronic Dollar (eUSD)
Metaverse-focused blockchain MultiversX launched xPortal super app
Bluzelle (BLZ) listed on KuCoin
Introducing Patch Wallet
Privacy network Iron Fish mainnet launch March 14
Launch of RPCh - private RPC provider
Spool live on Arbitrum
The Cat-in-a-Box Finance protocol now fully launched
Phoenix limit order book DEX live (beta) on Solana mainnet
Thursday:
Lido Finance V2 preliminary voting for staked token withdrawals
The Sandbox discloses unauthorized third party access of user emails and malware
Safe - Self-custody infrastructure, previously Gnosis Safe, launched Core, open-source stack
Decentralized betting protocol Thales’ staking model deploys to Arbitrum
Newly-launched ArbiSwap DEX rug pulls users for over $100K
Emmy award-winning, Disney-backed Baobab Studios launches ‘Momoguro’ Ethereum NFTs
Cosmos-based Noble XYZ paused integration with Interchain Security due to slashing concerns
Conic Finance is live - Omnipools
Celer Network launching Pantheon of zero knowledge proof development framework
CollabLand Marketplace beta goes live
Magic Eden Launches 'Mint Madness' With Free Web3 Gaming Mints
BridgeTower Capital to onramp Lido and offer security token for Avalanche’s staking rewards
Binance completed the integration of JOE on Arbitrum One Network
Revolut now supports ACH
Layer 1 blockchain Algorand hires its first CFO
Pocket Network partners with Google cloud, bringing cloud infrastructure innovations to web3
Nouns DAO 3D-printed fashion collection apparel based on the NFT-based open-source IP
0x launches Tx Relay API in beta on Polygon and Ethereum - Robinhood Wallet first partner
Nubank, a Brazilian digital bank, launched digital currency Nucoin, developed by Polygon
DeFi protocol StaFi reduces 19% fee on its Liquid staking derivatives products to 10%
Web3 protocol Koii Labs and software company Idexo launch middleware bridge
SIS token launched on the BNB Chain
Friday:
Uniswap DAO new committee for evaluating crypto bridge providers for future deployments
New entity dubbed “c=” aims to improve liquidity and routing on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network
OpenSea Seaport 1.4 allows listing multiple NFTs with just a single signature
Magic Eden to host more than a dozen free gaming NFT mints in March
Native USDC is Going xChain: Wormhole integrates Circle’s CCTP
Launch of Atlantic, a closed testnet for StakeWise V3
Near Protocol launched a product-first operating system
Aurora Cloud - a turnkey business solution
Pendle Finance expands to Arbitrum
Cross-Chain swaps on Arbitrum live on Squid
Audius names Sirius XM/Pandora exec as chief business officer
Crypto wallet Giddy lets Polygon users pay gas fees in USDC
Trezor warns users of new phishing attack
HyperPlay, a Web3-native game launcher with a built-in crypto wallet, early access launch
Swing Platform launches March 4th - no-code tool
Dynamic public beta live
Pawa, a pure client-side pathfinding algorithm that aggregates on top of Starknet's AMM
Introducing Karma3 Labs - building an open reputation protocol
Fundraises:
Monday:
Factor, an on-chain asset management platform based on Arbitrum, raised $7.6M from over 4,000 unique wallets in its token offering
Lifeform raised $5M Series A at a $100M valuation
AI-powered NeoSwap raised $2M in pre-seed funding
Tsunami Finance raised $1.3M in pre-seed funding to accelerate our growth on Aptos
Web3 fashion startup DE Star raised $700k to bring asian heritages into the metaverse
Tuesday:
Blockchain Founders Fund, a VC supporting adoption of Web3 and blockchain, raised $75M
DigiFT, Singapore-based digital asset DEX, raised $10.5M in Pre-Series A
Mangrove raised $7.4M Series A to enable market makers to operate without locked capital
Ether.Fi raised $5.3M to help decentralize staking
Term Labs raised $2.5M to build out fixed-rate product for DeFi led by Electric Capital
BEBO LAB raised $2.3M led by Hash9 Fund and ACF Fund
Reunit wallet token presale raised $1.1M
Wednesday:
Binance Labs invests in venture fund Nomad Capital
DeFi trading platform Aurox seeking funding at $75M valuation
REALLY $18M seed round brings the sharing economy to mobile phone service
Ex-Electronic Arts, Sony Game developers raised $13M for 'Avalon' digital universe
Conflux, a Layer 1 blockchain developer, raised $10M from DWF Labs in token round
Wallet ZenGo raising $10M in a Series A extension via convertible notes at a $100M valuation
Web3 startup Orange Comet focused on NFT and metaverse experiences raised $7M in equity
Web3 wallet infrastructure startup, Portal raised $5.3M from Slow Ventures and Haun Ventures
FilSwan raised $3M to revolutionize & simplify building dApps led by Binance Labs
Term Labs raised $2.5M seed round led by Electric Capital
NFT infrastructure protocol Wakweli raised $1.1M seed round
Gosleep investment led by Foresight Ventures
FLUUS raised $600K pre-seed round to expand its crypto payment solution
GreeksLive pre-A round investor agreement
Thursday:
Polychain Capital eyes $400M raise for fourth fund
Podcast and newsletter Bankless raising $35M VC fund to invest in seed-stage Web3 companies
Impossible Cloud, a decentralized cloud platform, raised $7M seed led by HV Capital and 1kx
Web3 gaming and NFT analytics platform Helika raised $4M seed led by Diagram Ventures
Connectivity layer, Redeem raised $2.5M to enable transferring NFTs over text message
Figment Capital, subsidiary of staking infrastructure provider Figment, launching second fund
Friday:
Few and Far raised $10.5M led by Pantera Capital
Hong Kong's Mapxus raised $5M in series B funding led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries
REPUBLIK raised $3.5M in seed funding, raising valuation to $75M
VitalXP raised $3M for Web3 shooter Lowlife Forms
NFT finance protocol Insrt raised $2.2M in SAFT round
Research/Reads:
Blur airdrop on OpenSea's market dominance | NFT Trading Professionalizes - source
Solana and Cosmos | MEV Series Part I: Blockspace Markets Across Ecosystems - source
EigenPhi Research | MEV Outlook 2023 - source
Chainlink | What Is a zkEVM? - source
Innovations | Stablecoins part 2: Can on-chain stablecoins break through a fiat-dominated market - source
Opinion | Is the SEC’s action against BUSD more about Binance than stablecoins? - source
Vitalik Buterin | Some personal user experiences - source
Is it Just a Matter of Time Before Major BSC DeFi Applications Emerge from this Bustling Ecosystem? | Binance Smart Chain: Sleeping Giant - source
Exploring crypto valuation frameworks | Fundamental Value in Crypto Part II: Valuing Smart Contract Platforms - source
Gas optimizations, developer experience | Solidity vs. Vyper | EVM Smart Contract Language Comparisons - source
Impact of tokenomics on price for infrastructure economies | Simulating Token Economies: Motivations and Insights - source
Crucial for success | The six phases to product-market fit in Web3 - source
80% of recent trades on Blur flagged as inorganic | How Much Wash Trading Is Really Happening on Blur? - source
Arthur Hayes rubbed success in the Feds’ face and got busted. Now he’s returning to a shell-shocked industry | The Original King of Crypto Is Back - source
The NFT marketplace is evolving | Beyond Hype: Understanding the Impact of Airdrops on NFT Marketplace Performance - source
New money, digital transition and degeneracy | The Decade Long Thesis For Digital Assets, v2.0 - source
6thman Ventures | Simulating Token Economies: Motivations and Insights - source
Geopolitical shifts playing out on the regulatory landscape | The Future of Crypto Markets Will Be Driven by Developments in the East - source
Imaginative and inclusive Metaverse | What Kind of Culture Are We Building in Web3? - source
Landmark ruling potentially opening up securities concerns for other NFTs | Dapper Labs Ruling Dunks on Private Networks - source
Breaking Down Businesses | AAVE: DeFi Money Market Juggernaut - source
Ongoing series on Uniswap liquidity pools, concentrated liquidity, and fee dynamics | Discrimination of Toxic Flow in Uniswap V3: Part 3 - source
Philosophical perspective to investigate Nouns DAO’s ramifications | Nouns DAO and the Philosophy of Governance - source
Crypto's current PR problem is owed to its association with capitalism—but industry shouldn’t shy away | Crypto Can Save the Capitalist Narrative - source
The crypto community weighs in | Do ‘Ethereum killers’ have a future? - source
Solana experiencing crisis | Solving the MEV Problem on Solana: A Guide for Stakers - source
Route 2 FI | An Overview Of Crypto Bridges - source
Focus shift to developing products and services that optimize and provide access to blockspace | Beyond Extraction: The Role of Block Building in the Future of Ethereum - source
What would happen to $BTC if the oil price 2x - 3x overnight? | Curve Ball - source
Termination of $BUSD minting means liquidity and circulating supply of the token will gradually decline | BUSD Risk Recap - source
Creator royalty dilemma, taking zero platform fees and building long-term value for traders | Founder of Blur, the Pro NFT Marketplace Driving Billions in Trades, Reveals What's Next - source
Twitter:
Upcoming DeFi releases - source
Lido’s Staking Rate Limit explained - source
Finding gems using DefiLlama - source
How and why Market Makers manipulate the crypto market - source
Data-driven deep dive on a16z investments - source
Machi Big Brother can crash the NFT market in one click - source
Basics of narratives - source
Projects With Upcoming Catalysts - source
Whale token investors - source
Threads on narrative/news trading - source
Under radar early airdrop gems - source
CZ - They don’t know how an exchange works - source
The scalability of a zkRollup is not limited by the prove - source
On-chain analytics indicates Jane Street played a large role in UST depegging - source
how to profit from cults in crypto - source
More possible insider trading or suspicious behavior behind LQTY Binance listing - source
Potential 100xs on Arbitrum - source
EigenLayer report - source
Aptos/Sui/Pontem drama - source
Blur founder on wash trading vs market makers - source
More promising projects with potential airdrops - source
How to use trend continuation - source
CT wallets leaked - source
Interesting projects on Polygon - source
Next potential narrative BTCFi - source
Comprehensive Guide on where you can find yield opportunities to put your assets to work - source
Future of ETH Liquid Staking - source
Macro and Key data, Expected outlook, Crypto market and predictions - source
Did Binance plagiarize Bicasso? - source
February Data summary from The Block - source
Optimism vs Arbitrum breakdown - source
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