Quick Take

• BTC and ETH’s seven-day at-the-money volatility spiked on 5 Aug; multiple US spot Ether ETF issuers seek SEC approval for options trading on the ETFs; Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX launched on Arbitrum.

• US spot Ethereum ETFs saw a US$105 million net inflow last week, while spot Bitcoin ETFs had a weekly net outflow of $167 million.

• On the macro side, Australia’s interest rates are unchanged, attributed to inflation remaining “too high” and requiring time before it decreases back to the target range. In the US, weekly jobless claims fell to 233,000 for the week ending 3 August, the largest drop in 11 months, which is a positive sign for the labour market. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed a 100% probability of a September rate cut in the US. 

• Notable updates: Cronos (CRO) zkEVM public mainnet (alpha) launch date is targeted for 15 August; Stacks (STX) developers announced the final Nakamoto code will be delivered on 28 August; Jupiter (JUP) approved its supply reduction proposal; Compound (COMP) Head of Growth shared the potential design of the stakedCOMP token.

• Notable events in the coming week: Interest rate decision from New Zealand, US Consumer Price Index.

Weekly Market Index

All three market indices increased last week. Price, volume, and volatility indices increased by +0.35%, +45.27%, and +93.85%, respectively. The increase in volatility was due to the cryptocurrency market first dropping at the start of the week in line with a dip in equity markets. Subsequently, the market increase towards the end of the week coincided with the US releasing better-than-expected jobs data. The volatility increase was led by ARB (+440.02%).

Check price

Chart of the Week

BTC and ETH’s seven-day at-the-money (ATM) implied volatility spiked on 5 August. ETH volatility increased to an all-time high since January 2023. 

ATM volatility measures the market's forecast of a likely movement in the price of the cryptocurrency. This came as BTC and ETH briefly fell below $50,000 and $2,200, respectively, on 5 August, which coincided with a drop in the broader equity markets and weaker-than-expected US jobs data announced the week before. 

Weekly Performance

BTC increased by +2.2% while ETH decreased by -6.8% in the past seven days. Price action for other selected top market capitalisation tokens was mixed. CRO (+13.2%) led the increase while LDO (-17.3%) led the drop.

Key categories were all down in market capitalisation in the past seven days. The DeFi category led the drop.

Notable Token Updates

News Highlights

ETFs and Funds

• BlackRock and Nasdaq submitted a filing to the US SEC to allow options trading for BlackRock’s US Spot Ether ETF (ETHA). In addition, Grayscale, Bitwise, and NYSE American LLC also submitted a similar filing for their ETFs - namely Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH, as well as Bitwise’s ETHW. 

• Franklin Templeton’s OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, FOBXX, launched on Arbitrum. It is currently accessible through digital wallets on the Arbitrum network and is part of the company’s effort to widen the fund’s access among retail investors. 

• Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) approved a Solana-based ETF, the first of its kind in Brazil. It’s currently in the pre-operational stage and pending approval from the Brazilian stock exchange, B3. 

• Grayscale launched cryptocurrency investment products for Sui and Bittensor. Grayscale Bittensor Trust will focus on investing in TAO, the native token of the Bittensor protocol. Grayscale Sui Trust will focus on investing in SUI, the native token on the Sui blockchain. The two products are only available for eligible individuals and accredited institutional investors. 

• Valour, a cryptocurrency fund issuer, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and financial instrument issuance platform SovFi to issue digital asset ETPs on the NSE in Kenya. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Hedera ETPs from Valour may be the first offerings on the NSE.  

• Morgan Stanley’s financial advisers were authorised to recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients from 7 August. According to a CNBC report, the two eligible ETFs are currently BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC). 

• US regulators postponed the listing decision on Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. If approved, the ETF would be the first diversified US spot crypto ETF, holding Bitcoin, Ether, and various other altcoins like Chainlink and Uniswap. 

Regulations

• UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released another round of guidance for cryptocurrency companies that advertise crypto services. The regulations were first introduced in October 2023 and the FCA subsequently examined how companies implemented the requirements, identifying good and poor practices.

Others

• Ripple began testing its USD-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum mainnet. The stablecoin is going to be overcollateralised; each RLUSD is backed by USD reserves or short-term cash equivalents at a ratio of 1:1 with USD. 

Recent Research Reports

• Alpha Navigator (July 2024): Cryptocurrencies showed mixed performance in July. Fixed Income was up while Equities were down. US and EU maintain interest rates, UK cuts rates, and Japan hikes rates for the second time since 2007.

• Ethereum L2 Interoperability – The Super Chains: Our latest report looks into how Ethereum L2-based solutions like ZKsync’s Elastic Chain, Polygon’s AggLayer, and Optimism’s Superchain address scalability and interoperability challenges.

• Exploration of Web3 Socials: We have seen a surge in interest in decentralised Web3 Socials in 2024. Our report looks into its recent developments, including Solana’s Actions and Blinks, as well as Farcaster and Lens on Ethereum.

Recent University Articles

• Stop-Loss and Take-Profit Levels in Crypto Trading: Learn how stop-loss and take-profit levels are used to manage crypto trading risks.

• What Is Milady Meme Coin (LADYS) and How to Buy LADYS: Find out why Milady Meme Coin (LADYS), a cryptocurrency paying homage to the Milady Maker NFT collection, is generating buzz in the meme coin space.

• What Is Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV)?: Fully diluted valuation (FDV) is a key metric to look into before buying cryptocurrency — here’s what it means and how to gauge it.

Catalyst Calendar

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