ETH Deposits Exceed Withdrawals, GALA Breaking Out
Market Update
- Despite the VIX reaching its lowest point since January 2022 and the DXY moving lower, the NDQ and SPX traded flat on the day, reflecting a market on unsure footing following a morning of resilient earnings reports. In contrast, the overall crypto market is trading up 1.8% as both $BTC and ETH strongly rebound from yesterday's pullback. Arbitrum ($ARB) continues its impressive run, climbing another 5% today. GALA is outperforming following an announcement that Gala Games will airdrop v2 tokens to users on May 15, upgrading smart contracts and introducing burn mechanisms for enhanced security and potential value increase. Notably, staked ETH deposits have surpassed withdrawals less than a week following the Shapella upgrade, confirming that the upgrade should be viewed as a de-risking event for the network rather than a supply-driven headwind for investors.
ETH Staking In/Outflows (Source: @hildobby on dune.xyz)
- This week, Polygon has hosted high-profile NFT issuances from two consumer brands outside the crypto space. Nike is launching its first NFT sneaker collection, Our Force 1 (OF1), on the .Swoosh platform using the Polygon network. The launch aims to create new ways for users to express themselves, engage with the community, and access exclusive products and experiences while exploring the potential of digital collectibles in the sportswear industry. Meanwhile, Starbucks is launching its second NFT series, "The Starbucks First Store Collection," on the Polygon network. The collection features artwork inspired by the company's first store. 5,000 "The First Store Collection Stamps" will be available for $100 each, with early access for those owning two or more unique "Journey Stamps" from Starbucks' previous NFT collection. Starbucks is expanding its web3 initiatives to provide users exclusive content and benefits, aiming to enhance brand loyalty in the virtual world. Last month, Starbucks launched its first paid NFT collection, "Siren Collection," which sold out in under 20 minutes.
- Yesterday, the SEC filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange Bittrex and its ex-CEO for allegedly conducting business as an unlicensed exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The SEC's complaint identified six specific assets, including OMG Network ($OMG), Dash ($DASH), TokenCard ($TKN), Naga ($NGC), I-House Token ($IHT), and Algorand ($ALGO), as securities. The regulator also hinted at the possibility of further tokens being classified as securities in the future. Interestingly, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had previously commended Algorand's technology in a video, highlighting its performance and potential applications, such as facilitating ride-sharing services. Despite Gensler's earlier praise, the SEC's recent lawsuit includes Algorand as one of the tokens deemed security, drawing attention to the regulatory complexities surrounding digital assets.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
$GALA seems to have jump-started another rally with Tuesday's breakout above 0.045. This constitutes an official breakout of the triangle consolidation that had been in place since late January and Tuesday's 11% gain should help volume rise to the highest levels since mid-March. That's encouraging towards thinking this might start to play catch-up on some of the recent gains which have happened in larger market-capitalization coins like $BTC or $ETH. Resistance levels lie initially near mid-March intra-day peaks at 0.051, it's expected that last month's highs will be surpassed, leading up to test 2023 highs near 0.063 before consolidation sets in. The act of making such a huge one-day low to high range rally on above-average volume is typically healthy towards helping prices show a clear break from the recent consolidation that's caused a slowdown in recent weeks. Bottom line, near-term trends have turned more bullish and minor pullbacks likely are buyable ahead of further gains over the next week.
Daily Important Metrics
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All metrics as of April 18, 2023 10:28 AM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
| Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
 BTC | $583B | $30,112 | ↑ 1.99% | ↑ 82% | |
 ETH | $248B | $2,076 | ↓ -0.36% | ↑ 73% | ↓ -8.54% |
 ADA | $15B | $0.4382 | ↑ 0.16% | ↑ 78% | ↓ -4.26% |
 DOGE | $13B | $0.0927 | ↑ 1.45% | ↑ 32% | ↓ -50% |
 MATIC | $11B | $1.16 | ↓ -0.20% | ↑ 53% | ↓ -29% |
 SOL | $9.6B | $24.56 | ↓ -0.98% | ↑ 148% | ↑ 66% |
 DOT | $8.1B | $6.86 | ↑ 2.08% | ↑ 58% | ↓ -24% |
 LINK | $4.5B | $8.62 | ↑ 5.74% | ↑ 55% | ↓ -26% |
 NEAR | $2.1B | $2.32 | ↑ 1.66% | ↑ 82% | ↑ 0.36% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
| Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
| GBTC | ↓ -37% | $17.14 | ↑ 1.96% | ↑ 107% | ↑ 25% |
| BITW | ↓ -57% | $11.70 | ↑ 1.30% | ↑ 118% | ↑ 36% |
| ETHE | ↓ -47% | $10.80 | ↑ 0.28% | ↑ 127% | ↑ 45% |
| BTCC | ↑ 0.00% | $5.55 | ↑ 2.21% | ↑ 83% | ↑ 1.40% |
News
MARKET DATA
The Block Agility protocol sees value locked surge fivefold as incentive program coincides with Shapella The DeFi platform has drawn more than $276 million in user deposits in the past week, according to data analytics provider Nansen. T... |
The Block Staked ether deposits surpass withdrawals for the first time since Shapella upgrade Over the past 24 hours, the amount of ether staked exceeded that of ether withdrawn for the first time since Ethereum's Shapella upgrade made withdrawals possib... |
Decrypt.co Bitcoin Fund Inflows Top $100M in One Week as Investors 'Flee to Safety' Big investors continue to feel optimistic about Bitcoin, according to a Monday CoinShares report, with over $104 million of inflows. |
CRYPTO INFRASTRUCTURE
CoinDesk Cubist Launches Bank-Grade Ethereum Key Management Service Cubist also announced that Web3 staking provider Ankr is its first key management customer. |
REGULATION
Decrypt.co UK ‘Moving Fast’ on Crypto Regulations, Says Coinbase CEO Amid the latest crypto crackdown in the United States, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong appears to be turning to the UK and Europe. |
The Block SEC sues yet another crypto company — this time it’s Bittrex — in latest challenge for industry Today's lawsuit is the latest regulatory move against a U.S.-based crypto exchange. The post SEC sues yet another crypto company — ... |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
The Block Crypto transparency: Fractal raises $6 million to reshape market structure after FTX, 3AC The firm—which is led by co-CEOs Aya Kantorovich and Alex Elkrief—raised $6 million from Hack VC, 6 Man Ventures, CMT Digital, and a long list of crypto market ... |
CoinDesk Bitcoin Financial Services Firm Unchained Capital Raises $60M The Series B fundraise comes about five months after the company cut 15% of its staff amid the pressures of crypto winter. |
NFTS
Decrypt.co Nike Unveils First .Swoosh NFT Collection for Members of Its Web3 Community The “Our Force 1" collection will potentially consist of hundreds of thousands of virtual pairs of the brand’s iconic Air Force 1 sneaker. |
The Block Starbucks brews a new NFT collection on Polygon Coffee giant Starbucks is launching its second paid NFT collection on Polygon: "The Starbucks First Store Collection." The post Star... |
HIRING
CoinDesk Pantera Alum Joey Krug Joins Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Krug has moved from co-CIO at a crypto-focused fund to building a crypto strategy at a generalist venture capital giant. |
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