Collective Shift

Join Matt and Nick as they break down the ongoing crypto rally, soaring demand for Bitcoin ETFs, Reddit’s crypto investments, and why Uniswap’s fee proposal is such a big deal for the broader altcoin market.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) continues to rally, hitting a fresh two-year high of $56,700 early this week. Strong demand for ETFs is seemingly helping drive prices higher, with Monday seeing record daily volume ($2.4B) across the new nine ETFs.
• Ethereum (ETH) has returned to the spotlight as the ‘Dencun’ upgrade draws nearer and speculation over a potential spot ETF in the U.S. continues.
• Reddit revealed that it holds BTC and ETH as investments on its balance sheet and that it may buy more in the future.
• The Uniswap Foundation proposed to upgrade Uniswap’s fee mechanism so that UNI stakers and delegators can earn a portion of protocol fee revenue. It’s hard to understate the significance of this proposal and how it could affect the performance of the DeFi sector.
• Among the other altcoin updates covered: Ethena’s USDe controversy and Blast’s mainnet release.

Join Matt and Nick as they explain why the crypto market, led by Bitcoin and Ethereum, keeps soaring higher. They also cover the Ethereum ETF race, the importance of token unlocks, and more.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $52,000 for the first time since late 2021, while Ethereum (ETH) hit a 19-month high above $2,850.
• Demand for the new spot Bitcoin ETFs remains stronger than expected, and is likely a major reason for BTC’s strong price action.
• A bankruptcy judge approved fallen crypto lender Genesis to liquidate roughly $1.3B worth of GBTC as part of its efforts to reimburse creditors. Importantly, this potential sell pressure on BTC is not as bad as the news headlines lead on.
• The Starknet Foundation announced an airdrop for Starknet (STRK) in what was one of the most controversial and divisive airdrop announcements to date. Claims open February 20.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down Bitcoin’s rise to two-year highs and why all crypto investors should monitor Ethereum’s big upgrade in March. They also cover Solana’s outage, EigenLayer restaking mania, and more.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) closed at its highest price since December 2021 as it nears $50,000. Strong demand for ETFs has likely been one of several reasons for this latest rally.
• Ethereum (ETH) is set to undergo its ‘Dencun’ upgrade on March 13. This will slash the cost of using L2s (e.g. Optimism, Arbitrum, Base).
• Solana (SOL) suffered a five-hour outage, its first in nearly a year. While sentiment was not materially damaged in this instance, it likely would be if Solana were to experience repeat outages over the coming weeks. (Read the post-mortem.)
• EigenLayer saw a near tripling in total value locked (TVL) after the restaking protocol lifted its deposit caps temporarily. TVL is now worth $6.1B.

Matt and Leon break down Bitcoin’s price growth, the controversial Jupiter token airdrop that made people several thousands of dollars, why Ethereum’s major ‘Dencun’ upgrade could come next month, and much more.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) finished January higher, posting its fifth straight monthly gain—a streak that hasn’t happened since late 2020. Don’t be surprised to see BTC trade sideways for a while.
• U.S. interest rates are no longer expected to fall in March after public comments from the Fed chair and stronger-than-expected economic data. Rate cuts are generally good for crypto.
• Jupiter (JUP) executed one of the largest-ever airdrops, with many early users receiving thousands of dollars worth of JUP. The launch mechanism was widely misunderstood and criticised. Matt and Leon both hold JUP.
• Ethereum’s upcoming major upgrade (‘Dencun’) was successfully deployed on a second testnet. Third and final testnet deployment is on February 7. If all goes well, a mainnet release date should be revealed next week. Will likely be mid to late March.

Join Matt and Nick as they cover why so many large Bitcoin holders are selling (e.g. U.S. government, Celsius, FTX) and when it will end. They also cover exciting altcoin updates that they looking forward to.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. government filed its intent to sell roughly $117M worth of BTC. Importantly, this is just a slither of its total BTC holdings worth roughly $9 billion, which will presumably be sold in time.
• This week, the U.S. Federal Reserve meets for the first time in 2024. No rate change is expected. Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference will be a must-follow.
• A bug in a popular Ethereum execution client (i.e. Nethermind) sparked some concerns last week about client diversity, resulting in a push to improve Ethereum’s client diversity.
• The ‘Dencun’ upgrade will be deployed on the final two Ethereum testnets by February 7. If they go smoothly, expect a mainnet release date to be finalised and increased anticipation over the upgrade.
• The JUP airdrop is happening on January 31. This will be one of the biggest airdrops in 2024. Be extra mindful of attempted scams.

Matt, Nick, and Leon discuss whether the Bitcoin ETF launches were successful. They also share updates on Ethereum’s upcoming catalysts as well as various altcoins.

Key Takeaways

• The recently launched Bitcoin ETFs already have nearly $30B in assets under management, surpassing the $11B held in silver ETFs.
• As expected, the SEC delayed a decision on Fidelity’s spot Ethereum ETF application. The dates to watch are May 23 and May 24 because the SEC must approve or deny two active applications.
• Testing of Ethereum’s upcoming ‘Dencun’ upgrade continued with some minor hiccups. While there is no official mainnet launch date yet, many expect Dencun in late March or early April.
• Jupiter confirmed its JUP token will launch on January 31. In a year that will feature many airdrops, JUP is one of the most highly anticipated.

Join Matt, Nick, and Leon as they dissect last week’s Bitcoin ETF approval, one of the most important milestones in Bitcoin’s 15-year existence. They also discuss a potential Ethereum ETF, upcoming airdrops, and more.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. securities regulator approved a spot bitcoin ETF, ending a decade of rejected applications.
• All ETFs started trading on Thursday. Too early to confidently assess investor demand. Expect anticipation to continue growing over a potential spot Ethereum ETF.
• BlackRock’s CEO spoke positively about asset tokenisation and a spot Ethereum ETF.
• Upcoming airdrops for Jupiter (JUP) and Dymension (DYM). Claim window for DYM ends on January 21.

Join Leon and Nick as we take a step back and review the year that was, diving into the lessons, surprises, wins and losses in what proved to be another action-packed year.

Key Takeaways

• The SEC sets the last date for amendments to ETFs, with industry experts estimating a 90% approval rating.
• A significant year for crypto; SBF jailed, Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock enters, Solana’s shifted narrative and Ethereum’s protocol upgrades.
• What surprised us; Bitcoin inscriptions, Coinbase with L2 Base, major sentiment changes and fierce competition for volume between CEXs & DEXes.
• What we got right; L2 tokenisation & adoption, Solana and appropriate portfolio management.
• What we got wrong; DeFi & stablecoins and artificial intelligence underwhelming Leon.
• What we learnt; Crypto development still takes a long time, banks continue to enter crypto & not using rational thought to analyse an irrational market. The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

The team discusses the latest Ledger security issue and whether they still trust the company’s hardware wallets. They also break down the U.S. central bank’s new outlook to cut rates multiple times in 2024—which should help cryptocurrency prices—and other key events from the past week.

Key Takeaways

• Cryptocurrencies and other risk-on assets jumped on the news that the U.S. central bank expects to cut rates three times in 2024, more than previously expected.
• Ledger suffered a security breach impacting users of various dapps. The issue was fixed within an hour, with some users losing funds. Ledger’s internal security practices continue to attract criticism. Ultimately, the hardware wallet itself was unaffected by this news.
• Bitcoin ETFs continue to dominate the crypto news and market’s attention. We still expect the SEC to approve most or all spot ETF applications by January 10.
• Senator Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto bill continues to threaten the U.S. crypto industry. Monitoring this bill’s progress will be important for investors in 2024.

The team discusses why Bitcoin surpassed and is staying above 40k. They also discuss banks and their continued experimentation with crypto while Airdrop season on Solana is starting to heat up.

Key Takeaways

• BTC surged above $44,000, its highest level in nearly 20 months.
• Catalysts include: Upcoming ETF denial or approval, diminishing supply on exchanges and a general consensus of BTC being accepted as a separate asset class.
• More major banks (Societe Generale and Nubank) announced further pushes into crypto, while the CEO of JPMorgan expressed his negative view of crypto once again.
• Airdrop season is kicking off, particularly in the Solana ecosystem after last week saw Jito (JTO) become one of the largest airdrops to date.