Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have surpassed psychological levels of $50,000 and $3,000, respectively, following impressive rallies. Now, the risk versus reward scenario tilts towards the speculative end, as indicated by our breadth metrics, which highlight increasing activity within the altcoin space. Simultaneously, equity markets confront a challenging seasonal period amidst a backdrop of a strong dollar.
Ethereum seems to be following through on last week's momentum, with the ETHBTC ratio closing up +2.91% on Monday.
The Worldcoin token has seen an impressive, almost tripling as the platform surpassed 1 million daily users on its World App.
Ethereum staking deposits hit $85B, or 25% of the circulating supply.
FEATURED CHART
By all means, this is a Bitcoin-driven market, both in market returns and the prevailing narrative. Much of this has been centered around the recent Bitcoin spot ETFs, which for the first bring Bitcoin into the realm of traditional finance. But now, there are talks of a similar ETF for the second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum. Financial services firm Bernstein said Ethereum is "probably the only other digital asset likely to get a spot ETF approval by the SEC", giving an approval a 50% chance by May and a 100% chance by year's end.
Bitcoin's trend is unequivocally higher, with prices lingering around 50,000.
Last week saw the greatest net aggregate flow across all products, averaging just under half a billion dollars worth of inflows each day.
Microstrategy is up $4B on their Bitcoin bet.
FEATURED CHART
Open interest on Binance, the largest crypto derivatives marketplace, for both Bitcoin and Ethereum hit all time highs denominated in US dollars. As open interest rises, it points to growing attention from market participants in the derivatives market as new positions and contracts are continuously opened. As more positions are being opened, notable rises in open interest tends to proceed elevated volatility.
In recent weeks, we've pointed to the strength in the flows supporting the crypto market. Nothing has changed, and the trend remains unequivocally higher.
Bitcoin continues working higher as equity markets failed to follow through on the weakness experienced earlier this week.
Coinbase rallies after posting its first quarterly profit in two years.
Genesis has been granted permission to sell $1.6B worth of its GBTC holdings. Outflows out of GBTC have lingered, while inflows into iShares's Bitcoin product recently topped $500M in a single day.
FEATURED CHART
Spot ETF inflows remain incredibly strong, with three consecutive days of net inflows exceeding $500M across all products. Traditional finance investors clearly have an appetite for Bitcoin.
So long as these inflows remain strong, it's an obvious tailwind behind Bitcoin's back.
We didn't see any follow through on Tuesday's equity market sell-off. Bears need to continue to exert their dominance should that brief bout of selling become more meaningful over longer timeframes.
Bitcoin is steadily climbing, supported by strong spot ETF flows.
Chatter about the halvening is heating up. We're of the view this is mostly gossip and noise.
FEATURED CHART
We're always in a search for relative leaders, irrespective of the market environment. As Bitcoin has been progressing higher, Bitcoin's market-cap dominance has been rallying. This suggests that this recent market uptrend is largely a Bitcoin story; but there are still pockets of outperformance outside the major coins.
Helium $HNT is a great example. It's broken to new highs from this consolidation, and the uptrend is once again resuming higher.
Crypto markets continue stair stepping higher, as Bitcoin decisively moves into the 50,000s.
Stocks see selling pressure return, with the Russell 2000 Small-Cap index $IWM recording its worst single day performance since the bear market low in June 2022.
Bitcoin shows a surprising amount of relative strength as risk markets weakened in the backdrop of strong spot ETF flows.
FEATURED CHART
In the lead-up to the Bitcoin spot ETF, traditional finance managers were expressing their confidence in the futures market to take advantage of the Bitcoin repricing rally. But as attention turns to a Ethereum spot ETF, it appears that investors aren't showing much conviction in Ethereum, with CME open interest declining YTD.
In Monday’s letter, we made the case that the market has successfully resolved higher from the post-ETF consolidation. This came after a number of data sets suggested we had seen a reset in the consensus bullish sentiment and positioning in the lead-up to the ETF approval. With the market pressing higher, we want to position ourselves to take advantage of this reaccelerating trend.
Bitcoin continues to rally higher, hitting 50,000 for the first time since March 2022.
New York expands fraud case against DCG to $3B.
Binance is losing dominance against other crypto venues, with spot volume dominance falling from 60% to 40% throughout 2023. This has been accelerated with CME open interest overtaking Binance in recent months.
FEATURED CHART
Here is Bitcoin dominance YTD; this is calculated by dividing Bitcoin's market capitalization by the total market capitalization of the asset class. As Bitcoin market-cap dominance rises, it suggests that Bitcoin is outperforming most of the asset class.
Following the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETFs, Bitcoin dominance sharply fell but has now quickly recovered as crypto markets have stair-stepped higher. This points to Bitcoin's outperformance relative to smaller market-cap altcoins.
Bitcoin has erased its post-ETF losses, with prices hitting 48,000.
The greatest percentage of cryptocurrencies made new highs since the short-term market top in December last year.
Bitcoin spot ETFs have surpassed 200,000 BTC in AUM within their first month of trading.
FEATURED CHART
Here is a daily price chart of Bitcoin making 52-week closing highs. A number of data points pointed to a reset in the consensus bullish positioning and sentiment that had become dominant over the recent months. Now, it appears the 40,000s have become a new floor in this bull market.
In last week’s letter, we argued that a once-crowded bullish sentiment had cooled down in a bull market reset. We also put forward the case that crypto markets were at an inflection point between capitulation or reacceleration. Over the last week, we’ve seen Bitcoin sharply rally to the high 40,000s, indicating that this period of consolidation is ending with an upward resolution.
Good morning, Welcome to your daily crypto clarity
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Bitcoin rallies into the 46,000, erasing its post-ETF gains.
Bitcoin dominance has climbed on this recent rally, pointing to Bitcoin’s leadership in this move.
FEATURED CHART
The Russell 2000 index $IWM is an index representing small-cap stocks in the United States. In recent months, the index has been coiling in a series of higher lows and lower highs. These contractions in volatility often proceed with directional moves. The price action in IWM is getting tight, pointing to a resolution in either direction.