Quick Take

• BlackRock’s ETHA became the first US spot ETH ETF to surpass US$1 billion in net inflows; Sony’s joint venture launched Ethereum Layer-2 Soneium; US SEC rejected two prospective US spot Solana ETFs.

• US spot Ether ETFs saw a $45 million net outflow last week, while spot Bitcoin ETFs had a weekly net inflow of $506 million.

• On the macro side, China kept key lending rates unchanged last week after an unexpected rate cut in July. In the US, Fed Chairman Powell mentioned that “the time has come for policy to adjust”. The timing of rate cuts would depend on the economy’s data, and the US has made good progress so far towards restoring price stability and maintaining a strong labour market. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed a 100% probability of a September rate cut in the US. 

• Notable Updates: Near (NEAR) launched Nightshade 2.0 on its mainnet, Astar Network (ASTR) announced the transition of its Astar zkEVM to Soneium, an Ethereum Layer-2 chain developed by Sony Block Solutions Lab; the Crypto.com App will support the Polygon (MATIC) token migration to Polygon Ecosystem Token (POL) for its Staking and Earn products.

• Notable events in the coming week: The release of the US core personal consumption expenditures index and EU core harmonised index of consumer prices.

Weekly Market Index

Price and volatility indices increased by +6.93% and +15.23%, respectively, last week. Volume index decreased by -4.16%. AVAX led the price increase, which coincided with news on Grayscale’s launch of the Grayscale Avalanche Trust and Franklin Templeton’s expansion of its Onchain US Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) on Avalanche.

Check price

Chart of the Week

BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, ETHA, surpassed $1 billion in net inflows on 20 August, becoming the first US spot ETH ETF to reach this milestone, according to data from Farside investors. 

As of 23 August, US spot ETH ETFs have a total net outflow of $465 million since launch. All the ETFs saw a cumulative net inflow except Grayscale’s ETHE, which saw a cumulative net outflow of $2.5 billion.

Weekly Performance

BTC and ETH increased by +7.0% and +3.6%, respectively, in the past seven days. Prices for all other selected top market capitalisation tokens increased, led by AVAX (+27.5%).

Key categories were all up in market capitalisation in the past seven days. The Artificial Intelligence category led the increase.

Notable Token Updates

News Highlights

ETFs and Funds

• US SEC rejected Cboe BZX’s 19b-4 filings for two prospective US spot Solana ETFs, according to sources familiar with the matter. This followed the SEC’s reported concerns that Solana should be classified as a security. 

• Grayscale launched the Grayscale Avalanche Trust to provide investors with exposure to AVAX token. The company currently offers more than twenty crypto investment products.  

• Franklin Templeton’s Onchain US Government Money Market Fund (FOBXX) is currently supported on the Avalanche network. Prior to this, FOBXX’s record of ownership was kept on the Stellar network and supported on Polygon and Arbitrum for certain accounts. 

• Bitwise expanded into Europe with its acquisition of ETC Group, a London-based exchange-traded product (ETP) provider. ETC Group offers nine Europe-listed ETPs, including a physical BTC product (BTCE) and a staked ETH ETP (ET32). 

• Brazil approved its second spot Solana ETF, after approving the first on 8 August. The ETF will be launched by Brazilian asset management firm, Hashdex. 

Regulations

• China’s Supreme Court revised anti-money laundering (AML) laws to recognize “virtual assets”. After the revision, regulations would cover any transfers and conversion of criminal proceeds through digital transactions. 

Others

• Sony Block Solutions Lab, a joint venture between Sony Group and Startale Labs, launched an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain named Soneium. Soneium leverages the Op Stack and Superchain developed by the Optimism Foundation. The testnet will be launched in partnership with Astar Network, and the blockchain aims to attract developers from sectors including entertainment, gaming, and finance.

• Tether minted another 1 billion USDT on the Tron network on 20 August, marking a total of $33 billion USDT minted last year, according to Lookonchain. As of 26 August, the total stablecoin market capitalisation amounted to $169.7 billion, a new peak since May 2022, according to DefiLlama. 

• Tether launched USDT on the Aptos blockchain to reduce transaction costs and leverage Aptos’s speed and scalability. In addition, Tether plans to introduce a stablecoin pegged to the United Arab Emirates  (UAE) dirham in collaboration with Abu Dhabi-listed Phoenix Group (PHX). It plans to seek licensing under the UAE’s Payment Token Services Regulation.

• US asset management company State Street announced plans for a digital asset platform for institutional clients. The platform will offer tokenisation and custodial services with Taurus, a digital asset infrastructure provider. 

• Mercado Libre’s digital bank unit, Mercado Pago, is introducing a stablecoin (Meli Dollar) in Brazil tied to USD. Mercado Pago’s users in Brazil will be able to buy and sell the Meli Dollar stablecoin using Brazilian reais without fees. 

• Mt. Gox moved 1,265 BTC (~$75 million) to an exchange last Wednesday, according to Arkham. 

Recent Research Report

• Crypto Market Sizing Report H1 2024: Global crypto owners reached 617 million in the first half of 2024.

• Ethereum L2 Interoperability – The Super Chains: Our latest report looks into how Ethereum Layer-2-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

• What Are Meme Coins and How Do They Work?: From Dogecoin and Shiba Inu to lesser-known variants, learn all about meme coins, what they are, and how to trade them.

• What Is Solana (SOL)?: One of the top market cap cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) is a high-performance blockchain platform known for its scalability, speed, and low transaction costs. Learn all the fundamentals here.

• What Is Cryptocurrency? A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners: Cryptocurrency is defined as digital currency based on blockchain technology and secured by cryptography. Here’s everything to know for beginners.

Catalyst Calendar

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