ARP's Crypto Digest

ARP's Crypto Digest

General Digital Asset Market View:

This week has witnessed significant activity in Bitcoin ETFs, with a total inflow of $1.25 billion. BlackRock’s $IBIT led the pack, accumulating an impressive $707 million, which underscores its growing dominance and market strength. Fidelity’s $FBTC also saw substantial inflows, totaling $245 million, further establishing its position in the market. Grayscale’s $GBTC, however, experienced notable outflows, particularly highlighted by a $53 million outflow in the middle of the week, contrasting sharply with its otherwise stable or minimal activity. 

Overall, this week’s flows indicate strong bullish sentiment towards Bitcoin ETFs, particularly those from major players like BlackRock and Fidelity. The cumulative purchase of over $2 billion in Bitcoin spot ETFs for July so far signals Bitcoin’s increasing investment appeal.

More Crypto:

Bitcoin just had one of its least volatile three months in history. But the same thing happens every cycle. In every halving cycle you can find long periods of time where Bitcoin stays in a relatively narrow price range. Then suddenly the price explodes one way or another. 

The current cycle is not different.

CME Group futures now represent over 83% of the calendar futures market for Bitcoin and 65% for Ethereum, highlighting CME’s growing influence in institutional trading. Both assets’ dominance has seen consistent growth, reflecting a strong institutional interest and a shift towards CME Group’s futures in the crypto market. The data highlights the CME Group’s pivotal role in shaping the futures market for these leading digital assets, driven by increased adoption and trading volume among institutional investors.

Bitcoin futures volume on major exchanges shows varied trends throughout 2024. The charts illustrate a significant shift in futures trading activity. From the start of the year, the volume fluctuated, peaking in early March with almost 1.2 million BTC traded daily.

This peak coincided with Bitcoin’s price reaching over $70,000, suggesting a strong correlation between trading volume and price movements at the time. However, the volume declined sharply post-March, ignoring Bitcoin’s rally in June and following the descent to around $55,000 by mid-year.

Since the start of July futures volume started to increase again prior to Bitcoin’s weekend rally to $63,000.

What Happened This Week:

• Heroes of Mavia has announced the upcoming launch of the Web Marketplace for MAVIA and Ruby exchange, enabling real money earning soon.

• Worldcoin has extended the lock-up period for 80% of its investors’ and team members’ $WLD tokens from three to five years.

• Sei Foundation has announced a $50M Japan Ecosystem Fund to boost the gaming, social, and entertainment sectors.

• IoTeX unveiled details of v 2.0 and updated tokenomics.

• Polygon will migrate MATIC to POL token on Sept 4.

What to Look Out For:

• The SEC has told spot Ethereum ETF issuers they can start trading on July 23.

• GSR Market’s token holdings of $ZRO have increased from $9.53M to $14.53M.

• Kraken Exchange to Distribute $BTC and $BCH to Mt. Gox Creditors.

• SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said staking and in-kind creation/redemption for Ether and Bitcoin ETFs are open for reconsideration​.

• Coinbase International will launch trading perpetual contracts $TAO, $TON and $TRB on July 25.

What we enjoyed reading and listening to:

• Rerun: Morgan Stanley Chair and CEO: Succession, culture, stress, and leadership — Link

• Reason to be bullish on BTC next months — Link

• How Ai Is About To Transform The World’s Economy — Link

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