ARP's Crypto Digest

ARP’s Crypto Digest

General Digital Asset Market View:

Throughout the week, Bitcoin ETFs experienced notable flows amid the macro and crypto markets downturn. Grayscale’s $GBTC consistently faced substantial outflows, peaking at -$182M. Conversely, Blackrock’s $IBIT attracted significant inflows, with a notable $157M. Fidelity’s $FBTC displayed mixed activity, including a $65M inflow, overall neutral. Ark’s $ARKB had varied flows, with initial outflows but later saw a $33M inflow maintaining equilibrium. 

Despite the recent BTC downturn, some ETFs, particularly Blackrock’s, continued to see increased interest.

More Crypto:

BTC perpetual futures open interest, which indicates the total number of open contracts at any given time, soared to near all-time highs in the lead-up to the crash. Growing open interest suggests that more traders are actively trading the market and that new capital was entering the markets before the crash. Open Interest on Binance, Bybit, Bullish, and Kraken rose to over $11 billion on July 28. It has since fallen to around $9 billion as traders were liquidated during the fall in prices.

The balance of Bitcoin on over-the-counter (OTC) desks has surged to 328,000 BTC, the highest level since June 2022, following a brief stagnation around 300,000 BTC in early July. This 30,000 BTC increase in the past week has coincided with a decline in Bitcoin’s price to $49,000, contrasting with the OTC balance trend in 2024 starting at 180,000 BTC and the June 2022 drop from 430,000 BTC to 288,000 BTC amid a sharp Bitcoin price decline.

The 30-day change in OTC desk balance shows a peak of 90,000 BTC in early July, one of the highest increases since data collection began in 2017, despite the current price declines.

What Happened This Week:

• Franklin Templeton has launched its OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund on Arbitrum.

• A new “Fake official Trump coin” called $RTR launched, reached a $150M market cap, then dropped 90% after being proven unofficial.

• The SEC v. Ripple case has concluded with Ripple fined $125 million and an injunction against future securities law violations.

• Ronin Network was notified by white-hats about a potential exploit on the Ronin bridge. All user funds are safe, and the bridge will undergo an audit before reopening.

• Ripple announced the allocation of $10M in tokenized U.S. Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger.

What to Look Out For:

• Enjin is set to launch Relaychain v1.3 and Matrixchain v1.1, named Kampong Glam, on Sep 9.

• Celestia will launch the Mainnet Beta ‘Lemongrass’ in early to mid-September.

• Russia’s State Duma approved two bills legalizing crypto mining, set to take effect on Nov 1, 2024.

• Japanese public company Metaplanet secures ¥1 billion loan to buy more Bitcoin, and MicroStrategy will be buying $2 billion soon.

What we enjoyed reading and listening to:

• The Yen Carry Trade & Its Consequences — Link

• Unveiling Macro Mysteries: Why the Fed’s Policy is a Gamble — Link

• The Recent Leverage Unwinding — Link

• How Crypto Markets Are Reacting Post-Selloff, With Election/Fed Uncertainty Ahead — Link

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