Crypto Market Update

Crypto assets are trading lower ahead of today’s crucial FOMC press conference, with BTC -3.64% dipping back below $60,000, ETH -7.01% falling under $2,300, and SOL -6.69% down to $127. The only token among the top 50 in the green is SUI -9.58% , following its USDC -0.01% launch announcement. Major equity indices are also in the red after the release of relatively strong housing data this morning, which is contributing to growing uncertainty around the Fed’s decision. While the market had priced a 64% certainty of a 50 bps cut yesterday afternoon, that figure has now dropped to 53%, making it essentially a coin flip. Meanwhile, yields are rising in line with rate expectations and this week’s positive economic data.

Circle to Launch USDC on SUI

Circle is set to launch its USDC -0.01% stablecoin on the Layer 1 blockchain Sui (SUI), marking the company’s 15th network integration since USDC’s debut in 2018.  This move highlights Sui’s growing ecosystem, which is rooted in Meta’s former Libra project and utilizes the Move programming language. Sui’s native token, SUI -9.58% , received a minor boost following the news. Circle will employ its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) for seamless minting, burning, and transferring of USDC across blockchains. This integration is expected to strengthen Sui’s cross-chain functionality and provide a secure, capital-efficient means of transacting in a multi-chain environment. As demonstrated by the chart below, daily active addresses have moved significantly higher over the previous month, rivaling the surge we saw earlier in the year.

Revolut Planning to Launch a Stablecoin

Revolut is reportedly progressing on plans to launch its own stablecoin, aiming to enhance its crypto offerings while prioritizing compliance and security for its crypto users. The London-based fintech recently obtained a U.K. banking license and seeks to join other players in the growing stablecoin market, which includes notable companies like PayPal and Ripple. By tapping into this lucrative sector, which is primarily dominated by Tether’s USDT, and Circle’s USDC in a distant second place, Revolut hopes to establish itself as a trusted provider of stablecoin services.

Technical Strategy

Avalanche looks to have failed again in its recent breakout efforts, having been repelled by an ongoing downtrend line that has resulted in two prior rallies having reversed course after hitting resistance.  This area lies near $25 and will continue to be important over the next few weeks on any subsequent retest.  The ability to recover AVAX -8.17% ‘s September peaks at $25.66 will be the important technical area that would change this pattern from bearish to bullish, and given the recent constriction in this pattern over the last month, it’s thought that a coming resolution should happen in the weeks to come. Overall, it’s best to await the pattern resolution and above $25 would be encouraging as a technical breakout, while under $21.50 argues for a final retest of August lows ahead of recovery this Fall.

Daily Important Metrics Crypto Size Bullish signal is tied to the crypto market growing Market cap 2.05T $-12.0B(-0.58%) BTC Dominance 57.31 % (0.75%) Stablecoins Increase in circulating stablecoins is a Bullish signal In Circulation +$119B (0.12%) In Exchanges +$22B (0.12%) 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 +0.2688(-0.5296) Binance +0.9715(-0.0246) Bitfinex +3.7168(2.5624) Bitmex +0.1447(-0.7365) ByBit +0.0875(-0.7447) Deribit +0.0481(-0.1101) Huobi -1.5730(-1.5730) Kraken +0.3788(0.3869) Mean +0.2688(-0.5296) OKex +1.5641(1.0333) Sentiment BMI : 46 (100.00%) Futures A positive spread between Futures Prices and Spot Prices is Bullish CME Price $59,460(0.15%) Spot Basis $-41(-0.07%) Volume 747,418(30.05%) Open Interest 296,807(-0.05%) Options all exchanges Higher open interest change in a bull market is bullish for the sector Volume 24,704(40.91%) Open Interest 290,407 (2.16%) Vol. Put/Call Ratio 1.00 (40.37%) OOI Put/Call Ratio 0.5060 (3.05%) All metrics as of 2024-09-18 15:52:18 All Funding rates are in bps Crypto Prices Symbol Market Cap Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BTC $1.17T $59,358 -2.99% 40.54% ETH $276B $2,294 -3.91% 0.82% -28.26% SOL $60B $128 -5.27% 25.50% -10.70% HNT $1.0B $6.43 -7.63% -82.96% -87.88% DOGE $172,214 $0.0002 -5.60% -99.81% -99.86% All prices as of 2024-09-18 12:05:28 Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) Symbol Prem. to Nav Last Price Daily Change Year to Date Relative to BTC YTD BITW -36.80% $27 -0.85% 15.49% -17.82% ETHE 0.37% $19 -2.27% 0.05% -28.81% News Quick Bits The Block New ETFs offer high-stakes 2x exposure to MicroStrategy’s stock: ‘Hot sauce arms race in effect’ The launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. earlier this year has led to the rise of these much more high-risk crypto ETFs. CoinDesk Fintech Giant Revolut Said to Be Planning Stablecoin Crypto-friendly Revolut is said to be quite far along in creating its own stablecoin, according to two people familiar with the plan. Market Data The Block CME futures traders increase bitcoin short positions ahead of anticipated Fed rate decision volatility, analyst says CME bitcoin futures traders remain cautious increasing short positions ahead of today's U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate announcement. Fundraising and M&A CoinDesk Dragonfly Capital Aims to Raise $500M Fund: Bloomberg Dragonfly closed its third fund, worth $650 million, in April 2022, shortly before the onset of the crypto bear market. CoinDesk Borderless Capital Introduces $100M DePIN Fund Backed by Peaq, Solana Foundation DePIN refers to physical infrastructure networks built using blockchain technology and token incentives which other projects can use without having to buy and run their own equipment. The Block Draper Associates leads $5 million seed round for web3 AI wellness firm CUDIS CUDIS develops a ring monitoring health metrics, allowing users to access their data via the Solana blockchain and earn passive rewards. CoinDesk Hemi Labs Raises $15M to Launch Modular Blockchain in Round Led by Binance Labs The Hemi testnet is now live, with a mainnet launch planned for the fourth quarter. Web 3.0 The Block Monerium rolls out euro-backed stablecoin on Cosmos via Noble Monerium has introduced EURe, the first euro-backed stablecoin on the Noble blockchain within the Cosmos ecosystem.