Grayscale Withdraws ETH ETF Application, BitMEX Launches Options
Market Update
- The crypto market declined overnight, with BTC -0.98% dropping from $63k to $61k, SOL -1.65% from $150 to $145, and ETH -1.60% dipping below the $3k mark once again. The likely cause of the drawdown was upward pressure on the DXY 0.00% and a lack of follow-through in flows. Among the few outperformers of the day were RUNE -3.50% , the native token of the cross-chain swapping protocol Thorchain, and Ethereum Classic (ETC -3.59% ), possibly driven by traders speculating on the SEC chair's critical comments toward ETH and its PoS mechanism. Major equity indices opened lower but are nearing flat performance for the day. Adding to the relative USD strength today was the interest rate cut by the Swedish central bank, accompanied by some reversion to the mean from the JPY. We will have to wait until the CPI data next week to see if we follow in Sweden's footsteps at some point this calendar year. Meanwhile, rates are rising at the long end of the curve, with the 10Y and 30Y each up 22 bps ahead of what should be an interesting 10Y note auction this afternoon and a 30Y auction tomorrow.
- In a surprising turn of events, Grayscale has withdrawn its application for an Ethereum futures ETF, which was originally filed with the SEC last September. The specific reasons for Grayscale's decision remain undisclosed. Many had anticipated that Grayscale might employ a similar strategy to that used with its BTC ETF, involving a lawsuit against the SEC to compel approval of a spot ETF. However, this move not only reinforces the expectation that the SEC will ultimately deny the spot ETH ETF but also suggests that Grayscale wishes to avoid any legal challenges associated with securing approval for a spot ETH ETF and will allow another party to carry that torch instead. This decision might also indicate that Grayscale anticipates the SEC's denial might be based on factors other than the correlation analysis that bolstered their case in the BTC ETF lawsuit. The discount to NAV on ETHE 0.00% has now widened to 23%, having increased sharply from its year-to-date low of 8% in March.
- Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, in collaboration with PowerTrade, has launched options trading to challenge the market leader, Deribit, and gain market share. Known for pioneering 100x leverage on perpetual swaps, BitMEX now offers a suite of institutional-grade options for various assets, including Bitcoin and Ether. The company aims to achieve $500 million in trading volume within three months across all regions where BitMEX is operational. Initially, the platform will feature zero trading fees, along with incentives such as cash rewards to attract users. By integrating PowerTrade's trader-centric options and leveraging BitMEX's extensive liquidity, the platform seeks to provide a user-friendly, secure, and capital-efficient trading experience. It boasts innovative features like multi-asset margining and no minimum requirements for executing complex strategies.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
The last few days of gains in TRON look to be forming the head of a possible Reverse Head and Shoulders patter that's been building since March. Gains since mid-April have officially recouped the technical damage that had occurred since early March, setting up for a coming breakout in the weeks ahead. Patterns of this sort aren't officially confirmed until the movement back over the highs of the recent pivot point, which at this stage lies at $0.12428. Exceeding this level on a weekly close would be quite bullish technically, resulting in gains back to challenge and exceed 2024 highs at $0.144. Overall, TRX appears like an attractive risk/reward, as patterns of this sort normally are resolved by a breakout to new monthly highs, and at current levels, TRX has not yet begun its rally above its multi-month neckline of this pattern. Pullbacks should find strong support near $0.118 before pushing higher to begin trending back to 2024 highs.
Daily Important Metrics
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All metrics as of May 8, 2024 10:25 AM
All Funding rates are in bps
Crypto Prices
| Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
 BTC | $1.23T | $62,306 | ↓ -1.97% | ↑ 48% | |
 ETH | $361B | $3,003 | ↓ -2.40% | ↑ 32% | ↓ -16% |
 SOL | $65B | $146 | ↓ -5.82% | ↑ 43% | ↓ -4.22% |
 DOGE | $653,902 | $0.0007 | ↑ 9.81% | ↓ -99% | ↓ -147% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
| Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
| BITW | ↓ -32% | $29.25 | ↓ -1.52% | ↑ 26% | ↓ -22% |
| ETHE | ↓ -24% | $21.60 | ↓ -2.75% | ↑ 11% | ↓ -36% |
News
QUICK BITS
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The Block FTX creditors could recover 118% of their money in bankruptcy plan With FTX claims estimated at 118% recovery in dollar terms, secondary market trading has been similarly boosted. |
CoinDesk Crypto Trading Firm Wintermute to Provide Liquidity for Hong Kong Bitcoin and Ether ETFs Looking to strengthen its market share in the Asia region, Wintermute will become a liquidity provider to the recently launched Hong Kong-listed spot bitcoin an... |
REGULATION
CoinDesk UK Minister Says Government Only Has Time to Implement Stablecoin, Staking Legislation Economic Secretary Bim Afolami said that the government could put through stablecoin and staking legislation in the coming weeks but will outline was is coming ... |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
The Block Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund leads $13.2 million seed round in cryptography startup Lagrange Labs Lagrange Labs develops infrastructure that scales big data for cross-chain interoperability, particularly through its ZK Coprocessor. |
The Block ZkSync ‘hyperchain’ Sophon raises $60 million via node sale Sophon, a zkSync "hyperchain" or a Layer 2 network being built using Matter Labs' ZK Stack, has raised around $60 million via a node sale. |
The Block Arbelos Markets raises $28 million, amid growing institutional interest in crypto derivatives Arbelos Markets on Wednesday said it raised $28 million in a recent seed funding and debt financing round. |
WEB 3.0
CoinDesk LRT holders can tokenize any yield-bearing strategy to generate an annualized percentage yield of 10% to 50%. |
CoinDesk Injective, Underperforming in Crypto Markets, Now Plans Layer-3 Chain on Arbitrum Injective’s "inEVM," which connects the Ethereum, Cosmos, and Solana networks, will rely on Arbitrum's Orbit toolkit. |
The Block Call of Duty-style crypto shooter ‘Shrapnel’ enables token purchases via credit and debit card Blockchain game Shrapnel hoping to boost transaction volumes by enabling token buying using credit and debit cards. |
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