Tether Attains SOC 2 Compliance and Adds to Bitcoin Holdings, Telegram Enables Ad Purchases with TON
Market Update
- The ISM Manufacturing Survey was released this morning, exceeding expectations and showing the first expansion since September 2022. The data has helped the DXY (+0.48%) surpass $105 and cause treasury yields to surge across the curve as investors rethink the potential timing and amount of rate cuts this year. Crypto assets are selling off to start the month, with BTC (-3.28%) dropping to $68.8k and ETH (-5.38%) falling below $3,450. After outperforming last week, meme coins are cooling off, with WIF, BONK, and PEPE declining over 10% today. Equity indices are holding up, with the SPY (-0.32%) showing modest declines and the QQQ (+0.05%) being roughly flat. It is a busy macroeconomic week, with multiple Fed speeches dispersed throughout the week and JOLTs, ADP Employment, and Non-Farm Payrolls data set to be released.
- Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced a significant security update, completing the System Organization Control (SOC) 2 Audit Type 1. SOC 2 Type 1 is the gold standard of security compliance developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The standard includes pillars around security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, ensuring Tether has robust IT controls. Tether has committed to undergoing annual SOC 2 examinations to provide the highest standards and demonstrate its commitment to transparency and building trust in the community. In addition to Tether’s security update, Tether acquired 8,888 BTC throughout the first quarter, raising its holdings to approximately 75.3k Bitcoin, worth about $5.2 billion. This is the first time Tether has eclipsed $5 billion in Bitcoin holdings, making it the seventh-largest holder of Bitcoin.
- Over the weekend, Telegram enabled purchases of in-platform advertisements using Toncoin (TON). Users purchasing ads can choose which channels they would like their ads to be shown in, and channel owners allowing ads are entitled to 50% of revenue, paid in TON. Telegram channels generate over 1 trillion views per month, but only 10% of them are currently monetized. The integration of blockchain payments should boost that number. Telegram has become a part of crypto culture, with trading bots and influencer groups, and it is a medium for project updates. Many projects or large trading groups may choose to enable ads to gain a revenue stream that’s easily withdrawable to their wallets and can be used on-chain. TON (-1.82%) gained over the weekend following the announcement, but is declining with the broader market today.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
Toncoin has gained a lot of visibility over the last few weeks given its partnership with Telegram to help users purchase in-platform advertising. The breakout of $3.00 back on 3/12 successfully exceeded a meaningful base going back since early 2022 and has resulted in a near-doubling of price in just the last two weeks. Current structure remains quite bullish technically, making minor pullbacks buyable for a push back to new highs in the weeks ahead. Key areas of upside importance lie near $6.50, then $7.05 which likely will could represent technical resistance upon gains into late April. Until/unless TON makes a move to new weekly lows (which would involve a decline under $4.77, it's right to expect a further push back to new highs, as momentum and price trends remain strong. Any move under $4.77 would postpone the rally but offer attractive support near $3.78 which should cushion price declines in the weeks ahead.
Daily Important Metrics
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All metrics as of April 1, 2024 2:45 PM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
| Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
 BTC | $1.35T | $68,849 | ↓ -3.28% | ↑ 63% | |
 ETH | $413B | $3,439 | ↓ -5.82% | ↑ 51% | ↓ -12% |
 SOL | $84B | $189 | ↓ -4.78% | ↑ 86% | ↑ 23% |
 DOGE | $29B | $0.2022 | ↓ -7.55% | ↑ 127% | ↑ 64% |
 ADA | $22B | $0.6112 | ↓ -5.48% | ↑ 3.12% | ↓ -60% |
 DOT | $13B | $9.03 | ↓ -5.79% | ↑ 11% | ↓ -52% |
 LINK | $11B | $17.95 | ↓ -5.87% | ↑ 20% | ↓ -43% |
 MATIC | $9.2B | $0.9327 | ↓ -6.75% | ↓ -2.87% | ↓ -66% |
 NEAR | $7.0B | $6.63 | ↓ -8.68% | ↑ 84% | ↑ 21% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
| Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
| BITW | ↓ -32% | $33.76 | ↓ -0.79% | ↑ 45% | ↓ -18% |
| ETHE | ↓ -23% | $24.94 | ↓ -4.63% | ↑ 29% | ↓ -34% |
News
QUICK BITS
The Block FTX bankruptcy estate aiming to begin repaying creditors by the end of 2024 Claims will likely be due in June, according to a meeting of FTX's Bahamian liquidators, with repayments to start about six months later. |
MARKET DATA
The Block Liquid restaking platforms jump to near $8 billion in total value locked Increases in deposits have been observed in protocols like Etherfi, Renzo, Kelp, and Puffer, attributed to the integration with EigenLayer. |
CoinDesk Trading Volume on South Korean Crypto Exchange Upbit Crashes 75% Upbit's 24-hour crypto trading volume stood at $3.79 billion at press time, down 75% from the high of $15 billion on March 5, CoinGecko data show. |
BTC Manager Tether adds 8,888 Bitcoins to its reserves, holding more than 75K Bitcoin Stablecoin issuer Tether made headlines on March 31, as it acquitted 8,888 Bitcoin, valued at $618 million. The recent acquisition significantly boosts Tether’s... |
DOSE OF DEFI
CoinDesk Meme Coins on Degen Chain Flourish as New Layer 3 Racks up Millions in Volumes Degen Chain was released last week as a specialized network that sits atop Base, which itself is an Ethereum layer 2. |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
The Block Web3 infrastructure firm Xion secures $25 million in funding Animoca Brands, Laser Digital, Multicoin, Arrington Capital, Draper Dragon and others participated in the round. |
PRODUCT UPDATES AND PARTNERSHIPS
Decrypt.co Telegram to Enable Ad Purchases Using Toncoin Telegram users will be able to purchase in-platform advertisements with budgets starting at "a handful of Toncoins." |
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