Biweekly Headlines 2024 Apr W2 – W3

“#Bitcoin block reward Halved to 3.125 #BTC!”

Biweekly News Roundup

1. Bitcoin and Halving Events
   • History of Bitcoin halvings and their historical performance impact
     • Bitcoin completed the fourth halving in its 15-year history. The system will continue until roughly 2140 when all Bitcoin is mined.
   • Recent price movements in relation to geopolitical events and macroeconomic conditions
     • BTC briefly went under $60,000 for the second time this week as Israel launched strike on Iran.
     • Crypto markets will be driven by macro factors in the short term, including rising geopolitical tensions, higher interest rates for longer, reflation and ballooning national debts.
     • BTC continues to outperform major assets, with a 130% increase in six months, and ETH is up 89%, surpassing Nvidia and the S&P 500.
       
2. Ethereum Network Developments
   • Ethereum’s profit, revenue growth, and transaction volume
     • Ethereum is on the path to $1B in annualized profits after it netted income of $365M in Q1, coming alongside a year-on-year quarterly revenue growth of 155%.
   • Impact of Ethereum liquid restaking on DeFi’s total value locked (TVL)
     • Ethereum liquid restaking drove DeFi TVL to $100B in the first quarter. DeFi total value locked surged from a Q4 2023 low of $36B to peak at almost $97B in the first quarter of 2024.
     • Since the beginning of the year, it has increased by 81% to a two-year high of $98B last week.
     • Messari reported slightly higher TVL figures on April 18, noting that DeFi collateral increased by 65.6% quarter-on-quarter to reach $101B.
       
3. Stablecoins Expansion
   • Growth in stablecoin supply and its impact on the crypto market
     • The supply of leading stablecoins USDT and USDC grew by $10B in the past 30 days, twice the inflows to bitcoin ETFs during the same time.
   • Stablecoin market shares and regulatory developments
     • Bernstein said the stablecoin market supply currently stands at $150B, with USDT and USDC dominating the market with shares of 75% and 22% respectively.
     • The U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry is bullish U.S. stablecoin law will pass this year.
     • U.S. senators introduced the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act prohibiting unbacked algorithmic stablecoins among other regulatory frameworks.
       
4. Institutional Involvement and Regulatory Updates
   • Investments by educational endowments and corporate asset managers in cryptocurrencies
     • Endowments at prestigious educational institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and MIT have all invested in crypto assets and Bitcoin starting at least in 2018.
     • Institutional investors, asset managers and banks are racing to bring financial assets on-chain in a market estimated to grow to $16T in value.
   • Developments in crypto regulations by various countries and their expected impacts
     • The European Securities and Markets Authority said that the announcement of the MiCA regulation has not caused an increase in euro volumes at the current juncture but could constitute a potential growth driver once implemented in 2024.
     • Canada is aiming to have the OECD standard for crypto asset tax reporting in place by 2027, as agreed with 46 other countries.
       
5. Crypto Markets and Investment Tools
   • Performance of major cryptocurrencies
     • The value of the cryptocurrency market could almost double to $5T by the end of the year, according to Ripple CEO. Bitcoin Bollinger Band signal suggests BTC could double to around $140K by July.
   • New financial tools and platforms, including crypto ETFs in various global regions
     • Hong Kong regulators approved bitcoin and ether ETFs on April 15. Matrixport expects Hong Kong-listed Bitcoin ETFs could unlock up to $25B in demand.
     • Europe, Singapore, Australia and Dubai also have approved bitcoin ETFs available in their respective regions.
     • The U.K. will soon allow crypto-traded notes to be traded on the London Stock Exchange starting in May, while Australia is expected to approve them in June this year.
     • New Zealand’s Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has proposed a series of measures to embrace crypto innovations and nurture the ecosystem’s growth in the island nation.
       
6. Blockchain Infrastructure
   • Role and growth of blockchain layers
     • Circle has expanded support for USDC to Ethereum zero-knowledge layer-2 solution zkSync.
     • Coinbase layer-2 network Base has seen a strong start to April with active addresses outpacing Arbitrum. It comes as Base recently surpassed the $4B mark in total value locked on the protocol.
       
7. Blockchain and Web3 Events
   • Notable blockchain and Web3 events and their key highlights, including predictions and new launches
     • From Tim Draper’s $250K BTC prediction to Ubisoft’s newest web3 game, PARIS BLOCKCHAIN WEEK, the leading blockchain and Web3 event in Europe, celebrated its 5th edition from 9 – 11 April 2024.
       
8. NFT Market Developments
   • Market dynamics of NFTs, including significant downturns and changes in buyer and seller protections
     • Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs are currently experiencing what may be the worst downturn in their history with the floor price falling over 90% from ATH, hitting its lowest level since 2021.
     • Effective May 20, 2024, PayPal will no longer offer buyer protection for NFT purchases and will limit seller protection for transactions involving NFTs valued at over $10,000.

April 20, 2024