Cryptocurrency

According to Kaiko Research, meme tokens have been resilient during the recent market correction, continuing to perform strongly despite historically being underperformers during downturns. Year-to-date (YTD) returns for these tokens range from 80% to 1800%, with trade volumes remaining strong.Kaiko Research reports that the weekly trade volume for meme tokens surged by more than 200% YTD, reaching around $11 billion. This can be attributed to the tokens’ accessibility and their ability to adapt to market trends, which has attracted community interest.”Meme tokens have shown an unexpected resilience in the face of market corrections, maintaining strong trade volumes and performance,” said an analyst from Kaiko Research. “Their popularity is largely driven by their accessibility and the strong community interest they generate.”However, meme coins tend to have higher leverage compared to most altcoins and are thus more influenced by speculative appetite. Interestingly, the correlation between meme tokens and other retail-driven speculative assets, such as meme stocks, has been relatively weak and highly volatile. For instance, the 60-day rolling correlation between the largest meme token, Dogecoin (DOGE), and the video game retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) has mostly remained below 0.3 over the past year.Over the past week, meme stocks received an unexpected boost, with GME and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) seeing a surge on May 13-14. This caused the correlation between DOGE and GME to reach its highest level in over a year.”Meme stocks saw a notable uptick last week, which also affected the correlation between Dogecoin and GameStop,” Kaiko Research added. “This spike in correlation highlights the interconnected nature of retail-driven speculative assets.” More

The intention of the Pups Token team was not so benevolent as the goal was to sacrifice an Ordinal by sending it to Satoshi. In the process, they moved the funds in their treasury unknowingly. Considering the fact that Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, retrieving the funds remains almost impossible for the team.While Satoshi’s address cannot be classified as a dead wallet, the inaccessibility of the funds, worth about $7,000 at the time of the transfer, remains impossible. There are some upsides to this unexpected twist as the remaining Pups Token might gain additional value over time.At the time of writing, PUPS Ordinals has recorded a 7.6% drop in its price in 24 hours to $15.9 per token. While the outlook for the team itself looks bleak, the project might survive this blunder considering that the gifted amount is a negligible fraction of the market capitalization worth around $122,885,856.Meme coin projects are fond of giving gifts to the leaders in the domiciled ecosystem. This practice began with Shiba Inu (SHIB), which gifted Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin a significant portion of its circulation supply at inception. The tokens, worth over $7 billion at their peak, were burnt by Buterin, helping to boost the valuation of the assets.This gesture by Buterin set a major precedent that other projects have tried to emulate to date. In the case of PUPS, the precedent set served as another reminder to innovators and users alike to be cautious with transactions, as many are irreversible.This article was originally published on U.Today More

Despite the recent success of spot bitcoin ETFs issued by financial giants such as BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity, and VanEck, the suggestion is that the regulatory body is unlikely to approve similar products for ether at this stage.In a recent interview with CNBC, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that while crypto is a small piece of the overall markets that the SEC oversees, it is “an outsized piece of the scams and frauds and problems in our markets because without prejudging any one token, much of this field is noncompliant with the protections of our securities laws.”When asked by the host whether Ethereum is a commodity or a security and whether one day there will be an ETF, Gensler was non-committal, stating that the fundamental question is “How do we ensure that the American investor is protected?”“Right now, they’re not getting the required or needed disclosures,” he added. “The intermediaries in the center of this rather centralized market generally are conflicted and doing things we would never allow the New York Stock Exchange to do.”Again, when questioned about a potential Ethereum ETF, Gensler kept his cards close to his chest, saying that “those filings will take up at the appropriate time.”Overall, Gensler’s vote is seen as pivotal in potentially approving Ethereum ETFs. However, some companies that issued spot bitcoin ETFs are not optimistic the SEC will do the same for ether, according to a CNBC report. VanEck CEO Jan van Eck told CNBC that they were first to file for Ethereum in the U.S., and they believe they will “probably be rejected.”Elsewhere, speaking to Investing.com, Roshan Shah, Co-founder and CEO of Decimal Digital Currency, said Bitcoin ETFs “only exist today because their approval was effectively forced by the courts in the Grayscale conversion decision in August 2023” and that “no such precedent or ruling exists for Ether.”“The markets are only just beginning to understand Bitcoin, and a position in Ether is far more complex,” stated Shah. “The SEC wants to keep people’s pensions, 401ks, and retirement accounts away from that for as long as possible.”He believes regulators are also wary of a slippery slope, which started with Bitcoin ETFs because Ethereum ETFs “could open the door for many other digital assets to access public markets.”“Protecting precedent is critical to the SEC because their argument for rejecting crypto assets in an ETF becomes weaker with each ETF they do approve,” Shah adds. “We expect the SEC to perpetually delay Ether ETFs, perhaps even until or unless forced to approve by courts, like with Bitcoin.”Meanwhile, Charles d’Haussy, CEO of dYdX Foundation, told Investing.com that he would be surprised if the SEC said yes at this stage despite his optimistic view about the future approval of a spot Ethereum ETF.“Ethereum ETFs may mirror the path taken with Bitcoin ETFs. Since futures-based Ethereum ETFs have already been approved, if the SEC denies approval for spot Ethereum ETFs, it is likely to face legal challenges and eventually lose, similar to what happened with Bitcoin ETFs,” d’Haussy told us.“Ethereum ETFs may be less profitable than directly holding Ether (ETH) due to the absence of staking reward distributions.”Ethereum has risen around 3.8% in the last seven days of trading after a dip between mid-March and mid-May.Even so, after a rally between October 2023 and March 20204, the cryptocurrency is still on a strong footing, climbing over 35% this year and more than 69% over the past 12 months as the general crypto market surged, of course, led by Bitcoin, and investors had been anticipating potential Ethereum ETFs.While Ethereum looks increasingly likely to be left by the wayside when it comes to ETFs, investors can still explore the top cryptocurrency Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to maximize portfolio potential. Dive into our comprehensive list of the top Bitcoin Crypto ETFs, carefully curated to provide you with diversified exposure to this exciting asset class, without the complexities of physical ownership More

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency moved little in the past 24 hours and steadied at $67,085.1 by 09:13 ET (13:13 GMT). It still remained well within a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range established since mid-March, with few catalysts on tap for an immediate breakout.Appetite for Bitcoin was also overshadowed by a stellar rally in metal markets. A mix of safe haven demand and long positioning saw gold hit a record high on Monday. Focus this week was squarely on more cues from the Federal Reserve, which are likely to factor into the outlook for interest rates.The minutes of the Fed’s late-April meeting are due this Wednesday, while a string of Fed officials- chiefly the members of the rate-setting committee- are set to speak this week. Any more cues on interest rates will be largely in focus, after some soft inflation readings for April put market focus squarely on a September rate cut. But Fed officials warned that the bank needed more convincing that inflation was easing.The dollar also steadied from last week’s losses, limiting any major upside in Bitcoin. Fears of potential geopolitical instability in the Middle East, after Iran’s President and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash, also kept risk appetite subdued and traders biased towards safe havens such as gold and the dollar. This came amid dwindling capital inflows into crypto investment vehicles, as hype over spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched earlier this year ran dry.Most major altcoins also moved in a flat-to-low range on Monday, tracking muted moves in Bitcoin as sentiment remained subdued.World no.2 token Ethereum rose 0.4% to $3,090.91, while XRP fell 0.3%. Solana rose 5.1%.Memecoins saw mixed performance, with DOGE and SHIB up 1.2%, while SHIB remained flat.Altcoins have struggled for traction in recent months as a bulk of crypto capital flows remained biased largely towards Bitcoin. Potential regulatory moves against Ethereum, by the Securities and Exchange Commission, have also dampened appetite for altcoins.The number of new Bitcoin wallets has plummeted to the lowest level since 2018, pointing to waning interest and reduced activity within the Bitcoin ecosystem.According to The Block’s data, only an average of 275,000 addresses were added to the Bitcoin network each day in the past week, compared to 625,000 six months ago.Other closely watched metrics have also declined, including miner revenue measured by hash rate, which has hit record lows. Transaction fees and on-chain volume metrics are in the red as well.Meanwhile, despite the current downturn in on-chain metrics, novel protocols on the Bitcoin network are drawing record levels of interest from venture capital firms, potentially setting the stage for a future resurgence. More

Mintzberg has over 20 years of experience across the world’s leading asset managers, with a proven track record as a c-suite executive for developing and leading growth strategies.“Peter is an exceptional strategic leader with global expertise across the most prominent asset managers, which are critical ingredients as we position Grayscale for its next phase of growth,” said Barry Silbert, Founder & CEO, DCG. “I’m excited to see what he accomplishes at Grayscale in its next chapter as the firm continues to expand its future-forward investment product suite.”“I’ve long admired Grayscale’s position as the leading crypto asset management firm, and I am honored to join the most talented and pioneering team in the business. This is an exciting time in Grayscale’s history as it continues to capitalize on the unprecedented momentum in the asset class,” said Mintzberg.“I want to thank Michael for his stewardship of Grayscale, having joined the team in 2014 and serving as CEO since 2021. Michael guided Grayscale from $60 million to ~$30 billion of assets under management and through its historic court victory against the Securities and Exchange Commission, which enabled Grayscale to uplist the first spot Bitcoin ETF to NYSE Arca alongside the largest players in traditional finance,” said Silbert. “We wish him the best.”“It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside such smart, passionate people to grow Grayscale into an industry titan over the last decade,” said Sonnenshein. “In particular, I would like to thank Barry Silbert for his vision and partnership, and for entrusting me to lead Grayscale’s business. The crypto asset class is at an important inflection point and this is the right moment for a smooth transition. I wish the Grayscale team every success in its next chapter.”Mintzberg joins Grayscale from Goldman Sachs where he currently holds the position of Global Head of Strategy for Asset and Wealth Management. Prior to that, he held a number of global leadership roles in Strategy, M&A and Investor Relations at BlackRock, OppenheimerFunds, and Invesco. Mintzberg has over two decades of experience and has deep knowledge across a broad-base of client types and asset classes, developing and executing strategy and innovating to drive growth. Mintzberg started his career working at McKinsey & Co. in New York, San Francisco and São Paulo, focused on the financial services and technology sectors.In 2018, Mintzberg was recognized as a Latino leader in Finance by The Alumni Society. Mintzberg was also selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow in the 2016-2017 Class by the Partnership for New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Universidade Federal Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Harvard University.Over the last decade, Grayscale has launched a suite of nineteen crypto investment products enabling access to the crypto asset class in a familiar, transparent wrapper, while serving as an educational resource to the investing public, working with policymakers and regulators to bring crypto assets further into the regulatory perimeter, and growing the firm’s business capabilities and best-in-class team. More

Polimec’s debut features the first Evaluation Round with the project Apillon. Community members will then assess projects to determine which will proceed to the funding round.To participate in Polimec, users need to visit app.polimec.org and obtain a Deloitte KYC Credential using the code “FundingSeason”. After accessing the Data Room to review funding information, they can evaluate projects by bonding their transferable PLMC tokens.”The launch of Polimec represents a new era of decentralized fundraising, emphasizing access, community involvement, and regulatory compliance,” a spokesperson for Polkadot said. “We are excited to see innovative projects emerging from our community and look forward to widespread participation.”In late 2020, the creators of the KILT Protocol came up with a token issuance mechanism to improve liquidity in the Polkadot ecosystem, leading to the creation of Polimec. Incorporated in 2022, the Polimec Foundation brought this independent venture to life to tackle the challenges of traditional fundraising.Polimec creates a trustless framework for projects, enabling them to raise funds within a diverse community while managing the issuance, distribution, and conversion of tokens to the mainnet.The decentralized KYC mechanism, developed in collaboration with KILT and Deloitte, ensures pseudonymous participation while adding security and regulatory compliance.Polimec breaks down barriers to entry, allowing individuals from various backgrounds to participate in funding rounds with equal opportunities for retail, professional, and institutional participants. Its cost model operates with no upfront fees or fiat charges, with fees only applied upon successful fundraising. It also provides support beyond fundraising, including vesting schedules, community feedback, and in building ambassador programs. More

(Reuters) – Crypto startup funding rose for a second straight quarter to hit $2.4 billion in the first three months of 2024, PitchBook data showed, as expectations of lower interest rates and the debut of the first U.S. bitcoin spot ETF whetted investor appetite.Funding was spread across 518 deals and rose by 40.3% from the previous quarter, according to data firm PitchBook. Global venture capital investments dropped to a near five-year low in the same period.Investor bets on digital asset startups too have been on a slide since the peak of over $10 billion in the first quarter of 2022, hurt by a economic worries and the shutdown of key market players. However, the landmark U.S. regulatory approval of spot bitcoin ETFs, which are offered by heavyweights BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and Fidelity, boosted the legitimacy of the asset class and helped send bitcoin to a record high of $73,803 in March.”The recovery in publicly traded tokens and continued rise in institutional adoption will drive increased VC funding,” PitchBook analyst Robert Le said.Startups focused on building infrastructure for crypto and blockchain technology led the way in funding during the quarter, according to PitchBook.The largest deal was made by decentralized cloud platform Together AI, which raised $106 million in an early stage round led by Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Ventures that valued the company at $1.1 billion.”The investment rounds have become highly competitive, especially at the early stages,” PitchBook’s Le said.”This is compounded by the fact that early-stage deals are earning higher valuations than late-stage deals but.. we will see if this trend holds in the coming quarters.”Exits were still low, though. Le expects mergers to pick up later this year, particularly among crypto exchanges, custodians and infrastructure providers as the market matures. (This story has been refiled to capitalize ‘B’ in PitchBook in headline and text) More

Bitcoin has been consolidating between $65,000 and $67,000 in the last few days, trying to break above critical resistance levels. The 50 EMA has been the most important threshold for BTC to break, and the recent bullish momentum suggests that BTC might be able to overcome this barrier and leave it behind. A successful breach of the 50 EMA could set the stage for a rally toward $70,000.Analyzing the on-chain data, we see a substantial number of large transactions, which indicates increased activity among whales. Over the last 24 hours, there have been 11.8K large transactions, hitting the seven-day high of 17.89K on May 15, 2024. This surge in large transactions is a positive sign, as it shows that big players are still actively trading Bitcoin, potentially driving the price higher.Furthermore, the In/Out of the Money Around Price (IOMAP) data reveals that a significant number of addresses are “in the money” at the current price levels. Approximately 5.96 million addresses, or 71.14%, are profitable, which provides a solid foundation for bullish sentiment. These addresses could act as a support level if Bitcoin faces another downturn, as holders might be less likely to sell at a loss.The next major resistance levels are between $66,628 and $67,788. If Bitcoin can break through this zone, it will likely target the $70,000 mark. The data suggests that there is a strong chance of this happening, especially with the current bullish momentum and the increased activity among large traders.This article was originally published on U.Today More