Market Update

Yesterday’s FOMC meeting resulted in the Federal Reserve reducing interest rates by 50 bps, and Fed Chair Powell striking an optimistic tone about the state of the U.S. economy. Risk assets are rallying today, with crypto leading the charge. BTC has gained to $63.7k and ETH is approaching $2,500. Altcoins are seeing outsized rallies, with TIA and DYM outperforming, with both gaining over 14% today. APT has similarly gained over 10% as Foresight Ventures has announced a multi-million-dollar strategic investment into the L1 to enhance its infrastructure. Equities are also surging, with the SPY 0.09%  surpassing $571, QQQ reaching $485, and the IWM attempting to break its July highs.

Solana Seeker

Solana Mobile, a mobile device subsidiary of Solana Labs, has revealed its second-generation phone called “Solana Seeker.” Solana Saga was the first-generation phone and launched in January of this year. Seeker is a cheaper alternative to Saga and is expected to ship in mid-2025. Solana Seeker features include a Seed Vault Wallet, a natively integrated self-custodial wallet specifically designed for mobile, and a new version of the Solana app store to improve the discovery and accessibility of projects within the Solana ecosystem. It will also include the Seeker Genesis Token, a non-transferrable NFT that unlocks exclusive access and rewards throughout the Solana ecosystem. The Saga phone saw a surge of demand after users learned it came with a BONK allocation that, after Bonk skyrocketed in value, was worth more than the cost of the phone.  Seeker is seeing a similar phenomenon, with Seeker devices coming with both MANEKI and MEW allocations, which at current prices cover about half the cost. The phenomenon has also encouraged other projects to reserve token allocations or product features specifically for Seeker purchasers, leading to Solana Seeker receiving over 140,000 presale orders already.

Ethereum Developers Set to Split Pectra Upgrade in Two

Ethereum developers have decided to split the network’s next upgrade into two packages instead of one. The Pectra upgrade was set to be Ethereum’s largest upgrade ever, striving to implement account abstraction, new validator operations, and improve network performance. After some deliberation, the Ethereum development team decided that the scope of Pectra was becoming too ambitious and that it would be more prudent to split into two upgrade packages. They confirmed that the first upgrade would include eight EIPs, including EIP-7702, which will introduce account abstraction into wallets, vastly improving the user experience. The second package is still subject to changes but will include changes to the Ethereum Virtual Machine and a new feature called PeerDAS, a data availability sampling solution. The first upgrade is set to be implemented in early 2025, and the second package sometime after that. ETH is gaining today but ETHBTC has continued its downtrend stemming back to December 2021, currently trading at .039.

Technical Strategy

The “TOTAL3” (Cryptocurrency Market cap which excludes Bitcoin and Ethereum) shows that interest in Altcoins could be starting to build.  While the Bitcoin dominance chart remains in a parabolic uptrend following its most recent breakout two weeks ago, the TOTL3 shows that the broader cryptocurrency space has begun to stabilize and could be readying for a coming breakout.   The downtrend from April 2024 highs remains intact, having held three prior rally attempts thus far since the Spring.  However, the pattern in the last month has improved given the formation of a “higher low” in early September following the pullback attempt holding at much higher levels.  Subsequently, price has begun to lift and looks to challenge this five-month downtrend yet again into next week.  Any signs of price exceeding $603 would constitute the first successful breakout attempt following three prior failed attempts.  Such a development should help the Altcoin market begin to turn higher following a period of largely Bitcoin dominance in recent months.

Daily Important Metrics Crypto Size Bullish signal is tied to the crypto market growing Market cap 2.17T +$117B(5.70%) BTC Dominance 57.34 % (0.05%) Stablecoins Increase in circulating stablecoins is a Bullish signal In Circulation +$119B (0.04%) In Exchanges +$22B (-0.40%) BTC Metrics A decrease in Bitcoin on exchanges is bullish, indicates investors are moving coins to cold storage # BTC Exchanges +$3.0M (0.04%) Funding Rates Positive funding rates indicate traders are Bullish Aggregate +0.6116(0.3429) Binance +0.9231(-0.0484) Bitfinex 0.0000(-3.7168) Bitmex +0.4246(0.2799) ByBit +0.9678(0.8803) Deribit +0.1792(0.1311) Huobi -0.1583(-0.1583) Kraken +0.8732(0.4944) Mean +0.6116(0.3429) OKex +1.0983(-0.4659) Sentiment BMI : 46 (100.00%) Futures A positive spread between Futures Prices and Spot Prices is Bullish CME Price $63,205(6.30%) Spot Basis +$436(0.69%) Volume 794,946(6.36%) Open Interest 298,164(0.46%) Options all exchanges Higher open interest change in a bull market is bullish for the sector Volume 27,932(13.07%) Open Interest 294,760 (1.50%) Vol. Put/Call Ratio 0.9890 (-1.54%) OOI Put/Call Ratio 0.5010 (-0.99%) All metrics as of 2024-09-19 13:52:16 All Funding rates are in bps Crypto Prices Symbol Market Cap Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BTC $1.25T $63,256 6.33% 49.77% ETH $294B $2,445 6.29% 7.46% -28.25% SOL $67B $143 12.20% 40.78% -6.01% HNT $1.2B $7.24 12.90% -80.81% -87.19% DOGE $183,352 $0.0002 6.47% -99.79% -99.86% All prices as of 2024-09-19 12:08:55 Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) Symbol Prem. to Nav Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BITW -40.32% $28 5.42% 21.89% -18.62% ETHE -2.61% $21 6.35% 7.12% -28.48% News Quick Bits Coin Telegraph DZ Bank partners with Boerse Stuttgart for crypto trading The partnership will bring cryptocurrency trading and custody solutions to around 700 cooperative banks, with an initial rollout planned for late 2024. Germany’s second-largest financial institution, DZ Bank, has partnered with Boerse Stuttgart Digital to provide customers with cryptocurrency trading and custody services to its cooperative bank network.The collaboration will enable approximately 700 cooperative banks under DZ Bank’s umbrella to provide retail customers with an option to access digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).The regulated platform’s move is part of a phased roll-out plan to begin later this year, initially enabling select retail clients to test the new crypto trading offering.Read more CryptoSlate New Solana phone branded ‘Seeker’ unveiled with special Genesis Token Solana Labs subsidiary, Solana Mobile, has unveiled the Seeker, its second-generation web3 smartphone set for release in 2025 during Token2049. Emerging from its “Chapter Two” stealth phase, the device has secured over 140,000 pre-orders across 57 countries. “We needed to make Seeker more accessible, more affordable, and ensure its hardware and software are even more deeply […] The post New Solana phone branded ‘Seeker’ unveiled with special Genesis Token appeared first on CryptoSlate. Fundraising and M&A CryptoPotato CertiK Ventures Announces $45 Million Investment Plan, Including Free Access to Community Security Tools [PRESS RELEASE – New York, US, September 19th, 2024] On September 19, 2024, leading Web3 security firm CertiK, CertiK Ventures, OKX Ventures, and OKX Wallet hosted the “New Round, New Path” event during Token2049. During this event, CertiK announced a comprehensive upgrade of its products and services, which cover the entire life cycles of Web3 […] The Block Foresight Ventures announces multimillion-dollar investment in Aptos to accelerate ecosystem growth The funding will be used to accelerate product development and support the advancement of Aptos' Layer-1 blockchain infrastructure. CoinDesk Solana-Based Drift Raises $25M Toward Goal of Becoming 'Robinhood of Crypto:' Report The DeFi platform plans to build an array of financial services tools, including spot and derivatives trading and a predictions market. Product Updates and Partnerships Coin Telegraph Puma partners with Web3 mobile game in ‘pivotal moment’ for mainstream adoption Puma’s latest partnership could be a “pivotal moment for mainstream crypto adoption” and play-to-earn gaming. Puma, the global sports brand giant, continues its journey into blockchain with its latest partnership in Web3 gaming.The German footwear conglomerate has partnered with Web3 mobile game UNKJD Soccer to leverage Puma-licensed content within the game.Through the partnership with Puma, UNKJD hopes to unlock more player experiences, according to Tal Friedman, CEO of UNKJD. Read more The Block Worldcoin testing facial recognition for its World App World App users in select locations may begin testing facial recognition as an added security layer for accessing the application. The Block Crypto exchange Bitget inks eight-figure deal with LaLiga Bitget will be LaLiga football league’s official crypto partner in Eastern, Southeast Asia and Latin America regions. Hacks, Exploits, and Scams The Block Banana Gun team currently investigating reports of user wallets being drained, Telegram bot offline The Banana Gun team said it is currently investigating the issue and the Telegram bot is currently offline. The Block WazirX hacker moves latest batch of $12 million in ether to launder via Tornado Cash The attacker has transferred more than 42,500 ETH ($100 million) to Tornado Cash so far, according to the on-chain analytics platform Arkham.