 | 6/20/24 |
In a recent survey, a majority of Fortune 500 executives said they are integrating onchain, crypto-powered projects.
What’s up? It’s Coinbase Bytes
There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:
- Bitcoin dipped below $65K. Plus, Australia’s main stock exchange listed a BTC ETF, and the market cap of U.S. miners hit an all-time high.
- Fortune 500 companies are embracing crypto use cases. Coinbase’s latest State of Crypto report examines how America’s top public companies are moving onchain.
- This week in numbers. The size of Drake’s NBA Finals bitcoin bet, the value distributed via “airdrops” so far this year, and more stats to know.
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Price changes are for the past week, ending on Jun 20, 2024 at 11:24 PM UTC
 | MARKET BYTES |
Crypto prices slip, ETH ETFs get a launch timeline, and more
Crypto markets began this week in the red and have remained subdued, potentially reflecting investors’ cautious mood after the Federal Reserve last week forecasted just one rate cut during 2024, despite new data showcasing cooling inflation.
Since setting new all-time highs north of $73,000 in March, bitcoin has consistently traded between $60,000 and $72,000. But after nearly four months of consolidation, some market watchers are anticipating a breakout move for BTC, while new ETFs launch globally and bitcoin miners see rising valuations.
Here’s what you need to know.
BTC and ETH dipped early in the week
The two largest cryptocurrencies both fell by around 5% to start the week, with bitcoin dropping to around $64,000, and ether slipping below $3,400. By Thursday morning, BTC hovered near $65,000 and ETH recovered slightly to $3,500.
After reaching highs of around $69,000 last week, nearly $200 million in forced liquidations of leveraged positions dragged bitcoin’s price downward over the weekend, a trend that continued on Monday and Tuesday. Nearly $600 million in outflows from bitcoin investment products such as spot ETFs and an uptick in BTC profit-taking by bitcoin miners added additional selling pressure over the last week.
- Could pain turn to gain? Since its last all-time high, bitcoin has approached near-record low levels of volatility, an indicator that has often historically preceded swings to the upside for BTC. Bitcoin’s annualized 30-day volatility is currently around 25%, its lowest point of the year. The last two times BTC’s volatility was near 30% were in October 2023 and February 2024 — and both instances were followed by significant moves to the upside. Of course, past performance is never a guarantee of future results.
Australia’s largest stock exchange lists its first spot BTC ETF
Asset manager VanEck received approval this week to list a spot bitcoin ETF on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), with the ETF going live on Thursday.
Australia has had a smaller spot BTC ETF since 2022, but VanEck’s new fund is the first listed on the ASX, which accounts for around 90% of the country’s trading volume. VanEck’s approval could be the first of multiple spot ETFs coming to the ASX this year — two other Australia-based firms have also applied.
Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have already seen massive inflows since launching in January, and similar products recently launched across Asia, highlighting the growing appetite for crypto investment products globally.
- Ethereum ETFs are on deck. Last week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler clarified that ETH ETFs — which saw initial approvals in May — are expected to be fully approved and listed within the next three months. While many analysts are not anticipating that ETH ETFs will have the same level of demand as bitcoin ETFs, the funds are still expected to attract billions of dollars in inflows.
U.S. bitcoin miners reached an all-time high market cap
The 14 publicly listed bitcoin miners in the U.S. have collectively set a new record for market value, hitting a high of $22.8 billion on June 15, according to JPMorgan.
The majority of bitcoin mining stocks also outperformed bitcoin in the first half of June, led by Core Scientific’s 117% gain, compared to bitcoin’s 3% loss in that same span.
- Stock prices are up, but revenues are down. Despite rising stock prices, miner revenues are still down more than 50% since April’s halving slashed the amount of new BTC created by mining. That revenue decline is partly why miners have been forced to trim their bitcoin stockpiles, selling about $200 million of bitcoin in June.
| TUNE IN |
How crypto is expanding financial inclusion
On the latest episode of “Evolving Money,” Coinbase’s podcast with Bloomberg Media Studios, Coinbase Co-Founder and CEO Brian Armstrong shares his perspectives on the challenges that financial markets face with borders — and how crypto can reduce friction, improve global commerce, and expand financial inclusion.
| STATE OF CRYPTO |
Fortune 500 companies are increasingly moving onchain
For America’s biggest companies, onchain is fast becoming the new online, according to Coinbase’s latest “State of Crypto” report.
The report — which was released last week and examines the growing number of ways that the top public companies in the U.S. are integrating crypto and blockchain use-cases — found that a majority of Fortune 500 executives surveyed say their companies now have “onchain” projects.
What are some crypto themes driving Fortune 500 adoption? Let’s take a closer look at some of the key points from the research.
Onchain activity is rising among America’s largest public companies
The number of onchain initiatives announced by Fortune 100 companies increased 39% year-over-year and hit a record high in the first quarter of 2024, the report found.
The launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in January set the tone for the year
The BTC investment products accelerated the pace of adoption among Wall Street’s biggest firms, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck. Spot BTC ETFs now have more than $63 billion in assets under management (AUM), and in May, the SEC approved spot ether ETFs, which are expected to go live sometime in the next three months.
Tokenization is a massive growth opportunity for all kinds of traditional markets
The tokenization of real-world assets — in which gold, U.S. treasury bills, and more can be represented on a blockchain — is enabling global, 24/7 access to traditional 9-to-5 markets. Tokenized U.S. treasury funds from BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are worth a cumulative $750 million, and are already being used by crypto hedge funds as collateral for crypto trading.
Today, tokenized government securities (including U.S. T-bills) are a $1.5 billion market. By 2030, the tokenized asset market is projected to be worth $16 trillion, the size of the EU’s current GDP. As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has put it, tokenization represents “the next generation for markets.”
Stablecoin settlement volumes hit $10 trillion in 2023
Despite a lack of clear rules for stablecoins — crypto assets pegged to another asset like the U.S. Dollar or Euro to maintain a stable price — a growing number of U.S. payment firms, including PayPal and Stripe, are supporting these assets and their growing list of use-cases.
Stripe recently announced it would allow merchants to accept USDC payments, which would automatically convert into traditional currency. Meanwhile, PayPal is supporting cross-border money transfers for stablecoin users across about 160 countries — without transaction fees. The typical fee for a traditional international payment? Between 4.45% to 6.39%.
Stablecoins, says PayPal exec Jose Fernandez da Ponte, are the “killer application for blockchains right now.”
The bottom line…
Last Thursday in New York City, Coinbase held its second annual State of Crypto Summit, which brought together leaders from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the wider crypto community.
Speakers including Mark Cuban, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong discussed everything from crypto’s economic benefits for giant firms and small businesses alike, to the U.S.’s growing bipartisan support of clear crypto regulations, and what could come next for crypto amid a pivotal election year.
But if the summit had one key takeaway, it was, as Coinbase’s CEO put it during a CNBC interview at the event, “Crypto is here to stay, and the biggest companies in the world are all integrating it.”
| NUMBERS TO KNOW |
$4 billion
The estimated amount in airdrops that have been distributed to the crypto ecosystem so far this year. Airdrops are free tokens granted to early adopters of a protocol, and the tokens received can often be used to vote on governance proposals related to the operations of the protocol.
$900 million
The approximate value of assets managed by the Brazil-based fund manager Hashdex. This week, Hashdex filed an application with the SEC for a new ETF that would hold bitcoin and ether, at a roughly 70/30 split.
$500,000
The amount of bitcoin rap superstar Drake reportedly lost betting on the Dallas Mavericks to beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. (Boston clinched the championship on Monday). Drake had posted his wager on Instagram earlier in June, explaining he was going for “Dallas cause I’m a Texan.”
300,000
The pieces of sports, news, and business content that the Fox Corporation — which oversees outlets such as Fox News and Fox Sports — has added to Verify, the Polygon-based content verification and licensing protocol it launched in January. This week, TIME was onboarded as Verify’s first external publishing partner.
| TOKEN TRIVIA |
What is the name of the medical device company that recently acquired a substantial amount of BTC?
| A | Semler Scientific |
| B | Core Technologies |
| C | Super Micro Devices |
| D | Medtronic |
Find the answer at the end of the email.
Trivia answer
| A | Semler Scientific |
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