Crypto Market Update

May CPI data was soft across the board, with headline inflation coming in at 0.0% MoM vs. 0.1% expected and MoM core inflation at 0.2% vs. 0.3% expected. The data has fueled a significant decline in rates and the dollar, erasing the gains following Friday’s NFP data. Markets have begun pricing a higher likelihood of a September rate cut, with futures implying a 61.3% chance of a cut compared to a 46.8% chance yesterday. Risk assets are surging in light of the soft inflation data, with the SPY 0.85%  and QQQ 1.55%  both gaining over 1% to new all-time highs. Crypto is following suit, with BTC 0.51% trading slightly below $70k and ETH -0.79% hovering near $3,600. Market participants are still awaiting the Fed’s interest rate decision, combined with a renewed dot plot and Chair Powell’s comments. Many expect the dot plot to imply two rate cuts for 2024, but if the median projection implies three, it could provide a further tailwind to risk assets.

Ripple Leverages Axelar as EVM Sidechain Bridge

Ripple, the development company behind XRP 3.79% , announced its EVM-compatible sidechain called XRPL EVM Sidechain. XRPL EVM Sidechain is built using evmOS, a modular tech stack built by Evmos. EVM compatibility will allow developers to easily port Ethereum applications to the sidechain, unlocking new opportunities for growth within the XRP ecosystem. Axelar (AXL -2.35% ) will be the exclusive bridge between XRPL and XRPL EVM Sidechain so users can bridge their XRP into eXRP, which will serve as the native gas token on the sidechain. Axelar can also facilitate bridging between the XRP ecosystem and 55 other blockchains, vastly improving the interoperability of XRP. Ripple applauded Axelar as a stellar interoperability solution that simplifies the user experience without compromising security. With the Axelar partnership, Ripple is putting the development of XLS-38, a proposal to develop an in-house cross-chain bridge, on the back burner as they monitor whether it’s worth the time, effort, and cost.

MetaMask Unveils Pooled Staking Service

MetaMask has introduced a new pooled staking service where Ether holders can stake any amount of ETH with Consensys’ validators. Previously, MetaMask users would need 32 ETH to delegate to Consensys validators. Now, MetaMask Pooled Staking allows smaller owners to earn a share of staking rewards and secure the network with any amount. More than 99% of ETH holders have less than 32 ETH, so MetaMask hopes the feature will increase participation in Ethereum staking. MetaMask Pooled Staking is built on top of Consensys’ 33,000 hosted Ethereum validators in a multi-cloud, multi-region, and multi-client infrastructure. It also leverages Stakewise’s modular architecture to power its smart contracts. MetaMask users can unstake at any time but are subject to the Ethereum exit validator queue. Additionally, the pooled staking service will not be accessible to U.S. and U.K. customers due to regulatory uncertainty. Consensys hopes to offer the feature to all jurisdictions in the future.

Technical  Strategy

Today’s sharp reversal to multi-day highs in Avalanche likely could mark a meaningful low following the last few weeks of consolidation.  AVAX 5.52% experienced a false breakout into the end of May, and since has backtracked to a level of support which has proven important on multiple occasions over the last few months.   The area near $30.45 stands out as having significance for AVAX, and is considered a “line in the sand” for longs after several retests.   Gains back to test trendline resistance at $35.50 is important in the weeks to come, and the ability to exceed that could allow for a push higher to challenge and exceed May peaks at $41.78.  Until then, AVAX requires a bit more strength to have confidence that a continued rally can occur.  Any violation of $30.45 in the weeks and/or months to come would prove problematic to the bullish thesis, and likely drive a decline to challenge and break early January 2024 lows at $27.21.

Daily Important Metrics Crypto Size Bullish signal is tied to the crypto market growing Market cap 2.46T +$18B (0.74%) BTC Dominance 54.32 % (0.64%) Stablecoins Increase in circulating stablecoins is a Bullish signal In Circulation +$112B (0.00%) In Exchanges +$20B (-0.17%) BTC Metrics A decrease in Bitcoin on exchanges is bullish, indicates investors are moving coins to cold storage # BTC Exchanges +$2.3M (-0.68%) Funding Rates Positive funding rates indicate traders are Bullish Aggregate +0.4851 (-0.3020) Binance +0.9961 (-0.0008) Bitfinex -0.0290 (-0.0001) Bitmex +1.0000 (0.0000) ByBit +0.4474 (-0.5526) Deribit +0.0375 (0.0154) Huobi +1.1999 (1.1999) Kraken +0.3520 (-0.9525) Mean +0.4851 (-0.3020) OKex -1.0734 (-0.9483) Sentiment BMI : 31 (100.00%) Futures A positive spread between Futures Prices and Spot Prices is Bullish CME Price $68,175 (1.50%) Spot Basis +$174 (0.26%) Volume 771,825 (164.59%) Open Interest 299,542 (-0.10%) Options all exchanges Higher open interest change in a bull market is bullish for the sector Volume 37,420 (221.27%) Open Interest 261,742 (4.46%) Vol. Put/Call Ratio 0.6620 (-7.88%) OOI Put/Call Ratio 0.4463 (1.94%) All metrics as of 2024-06-12 12:00:25 All Funding rates are in bps Crypto Prices Symbol Market Cap Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BTC $1.37T $69,628 5.05% 64.86% ETH $435B $3,617 4.63% 58.96% -3.58% SOL $73B $158 7.38% 55.75% -5.53% DOGE $450,475 $0.0005 9.61% -99.49% -99.69% All prices as of 2024-06-12 11:51:17 Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) Symbol Prem. to Nav Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BITW -32.38% $38 1.73% 61.55% -2.01% ETHE -2.23% $34 4.06% 73.08% 4.98% News Quick Bits CoinDesk Trump: We Want All Remaining Bitcoin to Be Made in USA Early Tuesday Trump met executives from Nasdaq-listed bitcoin mining firm CleanSpark Inc. and Riot Platforms. Decrypt.co Bitcoin ETF Net Outflows Hit $200 Million Ahead of FOMC Meeting Market participants are expecting the Federal Reserve to keep the interest rate unchanged, but investors still seem cautious. The Block MoonPay and PayPal crypto purchasing integration expands to include UK and EU customers By teaming up with PayPal, MoonPay is attempting to ease the onboarding process by making it easier to buy crypto. Market Data The Block Bitcoin price gains after US consumer inflation gauge comes in cooler than expected Bitcoin's price surged above the $69,000 mark following Wednesday morning's U.S. inflation report, which came in cooler than expected. Dose of DeFI The Block MetaMask launches pooled staking for Ethereum, excluding US and UK users MetaMask has rolled out a pooled staking service, enabling ether holders to stake any amount with validators operated by Consensys. Crypto Infrastructure CoinDesk Protocol Village: Biconomy's 'Delegated Authorization Network' for AI Agents Relies on EigenLayer The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For June 10 – June 17. Fundraising and M&A The Block CMT Digital looks to raise $150 million for fourth crypto fund: report CMT Digital hopes to raise $150 million in capital for its fourth fund, which will reportedly focus on longer-term crypto investments. The Block Irys raises a total of $8.9 million in Lemniscap-led funding round Irys develops scalable on-chain storage, with infrastructure to help trace and verify digital information.  Product Updates and Partnerships Bitcoinist Ripple And Axelar Partner For Ethereum Virtual Machine Sidechain Launch RippleX, the development wing of Ripple Labs, has unveiled a major update to the XRPL EVM sidechain, facilitating Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility with the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This major development is set to enhance interoperability and open up new avenues for decentralized finance (DeFi) and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization on XRPL. Ripple Partners With […]