Bitcoin Price
This month the Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark interest rate unchanged in the range of 5.25-5.50%, emphasising that there has been little progress on lowering inflation in 2024. The Fed acknowledged that inflation is not moving "sustainably" towards its 2% target, indicating that rate cuts are unlikely in the near future. This decision led to heightened volatility in the crypto markets, with Bitcoin breaking below the $60,000 resistance level and dipping to around $56,600. Since then we have had a resurgence in the market as Bitcoin shot back up over $65,000. Many believe the recent dip was the end of the market correction and Bitcoin is preparing to go higher. Furthermore, Bitcoin's network achieved a significant milestone by processing its 1 billionth transaction, showcasing the growing adoption and resilience of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Weekly Price Chart
Tether's Record Profit:
Tether posted a record $4.52 billion profit in Q1 2024, driven primarily by Bitcoin and gold investments. This shattered its previous net profit record for a single quarter.
Coinbase Financial:
Coinbase, the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, reported a strong financial performance in Q1 2024. The company's adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) surpassed $1 billion, exceeding its total adjusted EBITDA for the entire previous year. This remarkable achievement showcases Coinbase's growing strength and ability to take advantage of its .
Furthermore, Coinbase's net income also surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time since early 2022, reaching nearly $1.2 billion. This highlights the company's profitability and underscores the potential for crypto exchanges to generate substantial revenue streams as the industry matures.
Bitcoin ETF Resurgence
Bitcoin ETFs have made a significant comeback, with inflows totaling $378 million on Friday the 3rd of May, marking the best day in over a month. All 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs saw positive inflows for the first time since January's launch. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) also ended its 80-day streak of negative flows with its first positive daily inflow.
Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, has expressed scepticism about the launch of Ethereum ETFs, and some fund issuers share this view, doubting it will ever happen.The primary concern is the regulatory uncertainty surrounding Ethereum's classification as a security or commodity in the U.S. While Hong Kong has approved spot Ether ETFs, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet provided clear guidance on whether Ether is considered a security.
Bitcoin ETF Flow Table (US$m)
Hong Kong ETF Struggles
Hong Kong's spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs have struggled to gain traction, highlighting the challenges faced in international markets.
The spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that debuted in Hong Kong on April 30, 2024, have underperformed compared to the U.S. In the first week of launch, the three Bitcoin ETFs attracted only around $18.1 million in inflows, while the three Ethereum ETFs saw inflows of just $9.3 million. This is significantly lower than the billions that flowed into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs when they launched in January 2024.
Factors contributing to the underwhelming performance:
1. Smaller market size: The Hong Kong equities market, with a total market cap of $4.5 trillion, is relatively small compared to the $50 trillion U.S. market.This limits the potential investor base for the new crypto ETFs.
2. Restrictions on mainland Chinese investors: The Hong Kong crypto ETFs are currently not accessible to investors from mainland China unless they also possess Hong Kong residency.
3. Higher fees: The management fees for Hong Kong's crypto ETFs range from 0.85% to 1.99% annually, much higher than the 0.25% average charged by U.S. issuers.This makes the Hong Kong products less attractive for long-term institutional investors.
Institutions Are Buying
Susquehanna International Group, a major asset manager with an estimated $438 billion in assets under management, has disclosed investments totaling $1.3 billion in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through its latest 13F filing.
The firm's Bitcoin ETF portfolio includes investments in 9 out of the 10 currently available spot Bitcoin ETFs:
- $1.1 billion invested in 17.3 million shares of Grayscale's GBTC
- $83.7 million in 1.3 million shares of Fidelity's FBTC
- $23.6 million in 583,049 shares of BlackRock's IBIT
- $21.7 million in 560,832 shares of Bitwise's BITB
- $36.1 million in 508,824 shares of Ark 21Shares's ARKB
- $20.6 million in 256,354 shares of VanEck's HODL
- $19.3 million in 255,814 shares of WisdomTree's BTCW
- $11.8 million in 166,200 shares of Invesco's BTCO
- $3.9 million in 192,391 shares of Valkyrie's BRRR
Susquehanna's $1.3 billion investment in spot Bitcoin ETFs is one of the largest investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs by a single firm disclosed so far.
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1. Solana (Infrastructure)
- One of the fastest-growing layer 1 blockchains, with over a 250% increase in TVL QoQ.
- Dominates memecoin volume and offers lucrative airdrop opportunities, making it a safe bet poised to outperform ETH and BTC.
2. Ondo (RWA)
- Leading protocol in the Real World Asset category, offering U.S. Treasury bill tokenisation and stable USD yield.
- Supported by Blackrock's Larry Fink, Ondo revolutionises access to traditional assets like treasuries, real estate, and funds.
3. Stacks (BTC DeFi)
- Stacks' Nakamoto Upgrade unlocks DeFi opportunities on Bitcoin and enhances network security via Bitcoin finality.
- Recognised as the most mature Bitcoin layer 2 solution, it aims to tap into the untapped capital tied up in Bitcoin
4. PRIME (GameFi/AI)
- Utility token for Echelon Foundation's ecosystem, including flagship game "Parallel" and AI survival game "Colony."
- Backed by Coinbase, it's launching Wayfinder, an AI tool for blockchain navigation, and PRIME stakeholders can gain 40% of its token $PROMPT
5. Aerdrome (DeFi)
- Top DEX and protocol on the Base ecosystem, with a TVL of $650M, and recently generated over $25M in monthly revenue.
- With Base being the fastest-growing ecosystem, Aerdrome is set to thrive due to its strong flywheel effect.
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