An unlikely match – what moves crypto
Happy Friday everyone! 👋
With the merger approaching, Ethereum ETH/USD Name Service saw 378,000 new domain registrations last month. There are now over 1.8 million .eth addresses that are owned.
Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor is stepping down as CEO of MicroStrategy MSTR so he can focus more on the cryptocurrency. The software maker reported a loss of over $1 billion related to Bitcoin BTC/USD holdings in the 2nd quarter.
Solana SOL/USD The ecosystem was targeted by hackers on Wednesday, but the price of SOL has held support levels. The token was likely shielded by demand stemming from an announcement that the blockchain’s premier NFT market – Magic Eden – was expanding to Ethereum.
That being said…let’s get to it!
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An unlikely match
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Bank of America flags 2 catalysts for crypto
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Eurodeals
1. An unlikely match
Coin base COIN have had a tough 2022.
A year filled with insider trading schemes and SEC probes in the middle of a crypto winter has been reflected in COIN stocks down 65% YTD (vs. S&P -13% and Bitcoin -52%).
This week the stock rose after the crypto exchange announced a collaboration with the world’s largest asset manager.
The move is part of a larger strategy for BlackRock BLK – which has over $8 trillion in AUM – to expand its presence in the space and cater to a growing appetite for exposure to digital assets among institutional investors.
Coinbase will offer crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage and reporting capabilities to BlackRock’s Aladdin (institutional investor portfolio management platform) clients.
Institutional adoption continues to accelerate – hedge funds, government bonds and asset managers accounted for ~75% of Coinbase’s trading volume in Q1.
2. Bank of America flags 2 catalysts for crypto
“We disagree that blockchains and the applications that run on top of them have no intrinsic value – a comment we hear regularly.”
Bank of America (BoA)
Preach, BoA.
In its July Global Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets report, BoA not only informed the haters, but it also flagged a couple of catalysts for further bullish crypto momentum.
From June 29 to July 27, investors increasingly moved their crypto — especially Bitcoin, Ethereum and FTX’s token FTT) — off exchanges and into personal wallets.
In the same period, crypto exchanges experienced 3 straight weeks of inflows.
This movement suggests that investors are inclined to buy more crypto (with stablecoins) while holding – or HODLs – their current holdings.
However, it is worth noting that the buying in the last 2 weeks has been mainly driven by short-term holders, suggesting a potentially weak rally.
3. Eurodeals
After 7 consecutive quarters of growth, global blockchain venture funding fell in Q2 for the first time since 2020.
Total funding fell 22% from Q1, led (?) by Asia and the US raising 43.4% and 23.8% less dollars respectively.
Swimming against the tide was Europe which saw a 25% increase in blockchain funding with $1.8 billion raised for the quarter – good enough for the second most after leapfrogging Asia.
Animoca Brands, Coinbase Ventures, GSR, Jump Capital and Polygon Studios were among the most active in the region.
Besides Europe, Africa saw a 189% increase in funds raised from Q1. No other regions increased.
Halfway through July we wrote that “crypto was ripe for M&A”.
We are about to reach 212 M&A transactions this year. Last year’s total was 204.
Expect more activity in the coming months.
