Quick Take

• Solana is dominating new token launches in 2024; the National Bank of Bahrain launched its first bitcoin investment fund; Stripe allows customers to pay US businesses in USDC

• US spot Ether ETFs saw a US$2 million net inflow last week, while spot Bitcoin ETFs had a weekly net inflow of $349 million.

• On the macro side, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2% in September and 2.4% annually, both 0.1% higher than the Dow Jones consensus. Weekly jobless claims reached 258,000 in the week ending 5 October, the highest since August 2023, which may be attributed to the hurricane in Florida. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed an 89% probability of a November rate cut in the US. South Korea’s central bank cut interest rates by 0.25% to 3.25%, the first time since mid-2020.

• Notable updates: Uniswap (UNI) launches Unichain. 

• Notable events in the coming week: ECB Interest Rate Decision, US Retail Sales, and China Q3 GDP announcement. 

Weekly Market Index

All three indices decreased last week. Price, volume, and volatility indices decreased by -0.72%, -19.00%, and -7.07%, respectively. Volume drop was led by ONDO (-80.75%) and XRP (-50.38%).

Check price

Chart of the Week

Solana is dominating token launches on decentralised exchanges (DEXes) this year, accounting for 71% of new tokens year-to-date, according to data from the Block and Dune. Out of the 3.3 million tokens launched year-to-date, 2.3 million were launched on Solana. From 7 to 13 October, Solana accounted for 86% of new tokens launched on DEXes. This is largely attributed to the popularity of meme coins on platforms like pump.fun.

Weekly Performance

BTC and ETH decreased by -2.1% and -1.8%, respectively, in the past seven days. Prices for all other selected top market capitalisation tokens decreased except AVAX (+6.5%). ICP (-9.5%) and ATOM (-9.2%) led the drop. 

This coincided with Avalanche Foundation reaching a deal to repurchase the 1.97 million tokens sold to Terra's Luna Foundation Guard in April 2022, pending court approval.

Key categories were mixed in market capitalisation change in the past seven days. The Layer-2 (L2) category led the decrease, while the meme category led the increase.

Notable Token Updates

News Highlights

Investment Vehicles

• The National Bank of Bahrain launched the first bitcoin investment fund in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. It will provide institutional investors with exposure to bitcoin gains capped at a predefined threshold while providing 100% capital protection on the downside. 

• Crypto investment company Canary Capital filed to create a spot XRP ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is the second XRP ETF filing and came after Bitwise’s filing a week prior. 

Adoption

• Stripe introduced a new payment option to allow customers to pay US businesses in USDC. Users from 70 countries adopted this new option on the day-one rollout. The stablecoin will be converted into fiat currency and sent to the business accounts.

Regulations

• The US SEC delayed its decision on permitting Cboe Exchange to list options on several US spot ETH ETFs to 3 December. 

• The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) plans to approve more cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong by the end of 2024, according to its CEO. 

• Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is reportedly preparing to launch an institutional trial of crypto custody services through local banks. Applications are set to open in Q1 2025. 

• The Thailand SEC is proposing to allow mutual and private funds to invest in crypto products. Retail mutual funds will have a 15% allocation cap on crypto investments, while there will be no cap for institutional and high-net-worth investors.  

Others

• Crypto.com has filed a suit against the US SEC. The lawsuit contends that the SEC has unilaterally expanded its jurisdiction beyond statutory limits and separately that the SEC has established an unlawful rule that nearly all crypto asset trades are securities transactions no matter how they are sold. This followed Crypto.com’s receipt of a Wells notice from the SEC. 

• Ripple launched digital asset custody services for banks and fintech firms. This is part of the company’s intention to consolidate custody products under Ripple Custody. The features include integration with Ripple’s blockchain, XRP ledger, operational and policy settings, and anti-money laundering risk monitoring. 

Recent Research Report

• AI Agent in Crypto: This report looks into AI agents within the cryptocurrency realm, including agent creation, trading, smart wallets/payments, gaming, art/NFT, and security.

• Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [September 2024]: Cryptocurrencies, equities and fixed income were all up in September and BTC led the rise. US and Eurozone reduced interest rates; Australia, China, Japan and UK kept interest rates unchanged.

• Research Roundup Newsletter [September 2024]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into AI agent in crypto and pair trading.

Recent University Articles

• Popcat: What It Is and How to Buy POPCAT: Find out how POPCAT, a cryptocurrency based on a popular cat meme, became one of the best-performing meme coins in the Solana ecosystem.

• Solana vs Ethereum: An In-Depth Comparison: Ethereum or Solana? In this detailed comparison, find out which chain exceeds the other in transaction speed, fees, dapps, and interest from investors.

• Top Solana Projects: A Guide to the Blockchain’s Ecosystem: The Solana ecosystem has rapidly become a thriving hub for innovation, boasting a diverse range of projects. Here are ten projects to watch.

Catalyst Calendar

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