Optimism Completes Bedrock Upgrade, CBOE Receives Margined Futures Approval
Market Update
- Traditional markets are stumbling today as the National Bank of Canada unexpectedly raised interest rates by 25 bps, sparking fears that the U.S. will potentially follow suit. The $SPX (-0.31%) failed to break through $4,300, while the $NDQ (-1.36%) has taken a pause on its recent outperformance. Crypto markets are still digesting the repercussions of the SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, with $BTC (-3.15%) trading around $26.3k and $ETH (-2.26%) hovering near $1,850. Binance Coin ($BNB) has fallen over 8% today amid rumors that the U.S. Department of Justice will bring further legal action against the exchange. In contrast, Stacks ($STX) is one of the top performers today, rising 4.55% as investors acknowledge the company’s prior efforts to launch its token with regulatory approval from the SEC.
- Layer-2 network, Optimism successfully completed its “Bedrock” upgrade yesterday afternoon. The upgrade is an important step in Optimism’s goal of creating a “superchain” of scalable Web3 networks. The upgrade implemented a new optimistic rollup architecture and gas pricing model, resulting in quicker deposit times, gas optimizations, lower user transaction fees, and increased network security. Additionally, the Bedrock upgrade supports modular proof systems, which will enable developers to easily create new blockchain networks using Optimism’s technology stack. The foundation is now set for Optimism to build a network of interoperable and composable blockchains. Coinbase previously announced plans for its own layer-2 network built on Optimism, with one of the prerequisites being a successful Bedrock upgrade. With the upgrade now completed, Coinbase will be one of Optimism’s key partners in furthering the superchain vision.
- CBOE Global Markets has received CFTC approval to offer leveraged derivative products for digital assets, making it the first U.S.-regulated crypto exchange and clearing house to offer such products. The derivative products include physically and financially settled margined future contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Prior to the CFTC approval, traders were required to trade futures contracts on a fully collateralized basis. The new rules offer traders increased flexibility and more trading strategies. Trades will be executed and cleared via an approved list of commission merchants, while CBOE’s clearinghouse will act as the central counterparty, reducing default risks for investors. The approval is a regulatory bright spot in an otherwise dark picture, as other large crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase received lawsuits from the SEC this week.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
Ethereum's Market dominance chart has just broken out from a four-month period of triangle consolidation in the last week. This is constructive towards expecting further relative strength in $ETH and its market capitalization vs other coins, mirroring the recent breakout which occurred in $ETHBTC over the past week. While it was expected that the recent stock market surge might lead to a comeback in Alt-coins, this has not yet materialized. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have continued to show better relative strength, but $ETH is the clear favorite. Its Dominance chart breakout should be encouraging towards expecting further strength in the weeks to come, and recent SEC rulings have not taken away from its ongoing bullish trend which has proven resilient. Gains back over 1930 look likely in the near-term, which should lead to rallies back to new highs for 2023 and July targets near $2400.
Daily Important Metrics
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All metrics as of June 7, 2023 1:18 PM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
| Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
 BTC | $512B | $26,390 | ↓ -0.25% | ↑ 59% | |
 ETH | $221B | $1,841 | ↓ -1.22% | ↑ 54% | ↓ -5.70% |
 ADA | $11B | $0.3212 | ↓ -8.88% | ↑ 30% | ↓ -29% |
 DOGE | $9.4B | $0.0674 | ↓ -1.81% | ↓ -3.88% | ↓ -63% |
 SOL | $7.5B | $18.81 | ↓ -6.34% | ↑ 90% | ↑ 31% |
 MATIC | $7.1B | $0.7688 | ↓ -5.66% | ↑ 0.87% | ↓ -58% |
 DOT | $6.0B | $5.02 | ↓ -2.02% | ↑ 15% | ↓ -44% |
 LINK | $3.1B | $5.96 | ↓ -4.47% | ↑ 7.35% | ↓ -52% |
 NEAR | $1.3B | $1.42 | ↓ -5.96% | ↑ 12% | ↓ -48% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
| Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
| GBTC | ↓ -41% | $13.80 | ↓ -4.60% | ↑ 67% | ↑ 7.22% |
| BITW | ↓ -57% | $10.12 | ↓ -3.16% | ↑ 88% | ↑ 29% |
| ETHE | ↓ -54% | $8.04 | ↓ -5.23% | ↑ 69% | ↑ 9.53% |
| BTCC | ↑ 0.41% | $4.85 | ↓ -3.00% | ↑ 60% | ↑ 0.76% |
News
MARKET DATA
Bitcoin.com Bitcoin Trading at Premium on Binance US Amid SEC Lawsuit and Asset Freeze Motion As of June 7, 2023, recent data reveals that the value of bitcoin (BTC) is experiencing a premium on the Binance US exchange. The statistics show that on the Am... |
BTC Manager Cathie Wood boosts Coinbase holdings amid escalating SEC crackdown Amid the SEC’s allegations of Coinbase operating an illegal exchange, Cathie Wood’s managed funds have increased their stake in the company’s stock. Coinbase sh... |
REGULATION
The Block Circle obtains Major Payment Institution license in Singapore Circle can offer digital payment token services and cross-border and domestic money transfer services in Singapore. The post Circle ... |
BtcEthereum Cboe Receives CFTC Approval to Launch Leveraged Crypto Derivatives Crypto exchange and clearinghouse Cboe Digital will be able to offer margined bitcoin and ether futures contracts with the approval of the U.S. derivatives mark... |
BTC Manager Circle receives digital token license in Singapore Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is expanding its presence in the Asian market with a new license to operate in Singapore. The Monetary Authority of S... |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
BtcEthereum Bitcoin Life Insurance Startup Raises $19M in Seed Rounds Led by Sam Altman and Gradient Ventures Meanwhile, a life insurance company that uses bitcoin, has accumulated $19 million through two seed funding rounds. The first round was led by Openai CEO Sam Al... |
CryptoPotato Blockchain Pioneer Acquires International Fashion House Blk DNM [PRESS RELEASE – Stockholm, Sweden, June 7th, 2023] ChromaWay to Integrate Blockchain Capabilities into BLK DNM, Pioneering Connected Fashion, and Inspiring Res... |
The Block Informal Systems raises $5.3 million in first funding round Cosmos-based developer Informal Systems raised $5.3 million in its first funding round, led by CMCC Global. The post Informal System... |
PRODUCT UPDATES AND PARTNERSHIPS
The Block Optimism completes upgrade of its Layer 2 network Optimism's Bedrock update went live during a scheduled migration on Tuesday. The post Optimism completes upgrade of its Layer 2 net... |
The Block Ethereum Name Service to bring blockchain to browsers with .box web domain name rollout in September Ethereum Name Service is set to support a web domain called .box that will have the capability to be routed on web browsers. The pos... |
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