Collective Shift

Join Matt and Nick as they break down Bitcoin’s record price growth, Ethereum’s thriving L2 ecosystem, why this week may be the biggest yet for altcoins, and much more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) recorded its seventh consecutive monthly gain for the first time. Short-term consolidation would be unsurprising. Still expecting higher prices by year-end.
• FTX co-founder Sam-Bankman Fried was sentenced to 25 years for seven counts of conspiracy and fraud charges. This event should help the industry and asset class move on from the dark days of late 2022.
• Concerns over KuCoin arose after U.S. authorities charged the mid-tier exchange. While fears have been allayed somewhat, users should strongly consider withdrawing—at least while we wait for the dust to settle.
• Ethereum’s L2 ecosystem is thriving on the back of the ‘Dencun’ upgrade, with Base being the biggest beneficiary.
• This week may be the biggest yet for airdrops. Among the projects set to launch tokens are Wormhole (W), Ethena (ENA) and Zeus Network (ZEUS).

Join Matt and Nick as they break down the crypto market rebound and BlackRock’s historic Ethereum announcement. They also cover an Ethereum ETF update, Solana network issues, important altcoin updates, and more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded after the U.S. central bank’s policy update was not as bad as risk-seeking investors had feared. Three rate cuts of 25 basis points are still expected this year.
• BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched a tokenised fund on Ethereum in partnership with Securitize. Plans to do the same on other blockchains.
• The Ethereum Foundation reportedly received a confidential inquiry from an authority in the U.S. Hard to read into this too much with such little information.
• Among the altcoin updates covered: Stacks approves upcoming ‘Nakamoto’ upgrade, Solana’s UX issues and Optimism’s prover goes live on testnet.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down Bitcoin’s run to all-time highs of $73,600 and Solana breaking $200 for the first time since late 2021. They also cover Ethereum’s successful upgrade, another record day for Bitcoin ETFs, important altcoin updates, and more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) reached a fresh all-time high of $73,600 while Solana (SOL) surpassed $200 for the first time since late 2021. Matt is not looking to sell SOL any time soon.
• Ethereum’s ‘Dencun’ was successful, with fees falling dramatically on L2s. For example, it currently costs less than one cent to use Uniswap on Optimism.
• Stronger-than-expected demand for ETFs continued. Daily net inflows topped $1 billion for the first time on March 12.
• Among the altcoin updates covered: Arbitrum’s $400M gaming fund, Starbucks to sunset its Polygon NFT loyalty program and Avalanche’s memecoin fund.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down Bitcoin’s run to all-time highs, why ETF demand may just be getting started, Ethereum’s major upgrade, upcoming airdrops, and lots more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) hit record highs of $73,000 USD and Ethereum (ETH) hit $4,000 for the first time since late 2021.
• Net inflows for all the new bitcoin ETFs are nearing $10B. As stronger-than-expected demand continues, these products are still not as accessible as you may think. This should improve as the year progresses.
• Ethereum’s ‘Dencun’ upgrade is about to go live, slashing the cost of transacting on L2s such as Optimism and Arbitrum.
• Among the altcoin updates covered: Eclipse’s $50M raise, Wormhole’s token airdrop and Uniswap fee-sharing.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down the price rally in the crypto market, Bitcoin ETF demand, signs of retail investors returning, memecoin mania, the ETHDenver conference and lots more.

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) hit record highs against the Australian dollar and other major currencies. The USD-denominated all-time high of $69,000 is certainly within striking distance.
• Coinbase suffered an outage after its traffic increased by more than 10x. Combined with recent growth in its app downloads, this signals that more retail investors are returning to the crypto market.
• Memecoins, the market’s riskiest sector, have strongly outperformed in recent weeks. Expect just about every sector to have a period of outperformance in this bull market.
• The key themes from ETHDenver, one of Ethereum’s largest annual conferences, were restaking, crypto x AI, parallel EVMs and Bitcoin L2s.
• Among the altcoin updates covered: Arbitrum’s integration with the Robinhood Wallet app and Blast’s mainnet release.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down the ongoing crypto rally, soaring demand for Bitcoin ETFs, Reddit’s crypto investments, and why Uniswap’s fee proposal is such a big deal for the broader altcoin market.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) continues to rally, hitting a fresh two-year high of $56,700 early this week. Strong demand for ETFs is seemingly helping drive prices higher, with Monday seeing record daily volume ($2.4B) across the new nine ETFs.
• Ethereum (ETH) has returned to the spotlight as the ‘Dencun’ upgrade draws nearer and speculation over a potential spot ETF in the U.S. continues.
• Reddit revealed that it holds BTC and ETH as investments on its balance sheet and that it may buy more in the future.
• The Uniswap Foundation proposed to upgrade Uniswap’s fee mechanism so that UNI stakers and delegators can earn a portion of protocol fee revenue. It’s hard to understate the significance of this proposal and how it could affect the performance of the DeFi sector.
• Among the other altcoin updates covered: Ethena’s USDe controversy and Blast’s mainnet release.

Join Matt and Nick as they explain why the crypto market, led by Bitcoin and Ethereum, keeps soaring higher. They also cover the Ethereum ETF race, the importance of token unlocks, and more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $52,000 for the first time since late 2021, while Ethereum (ETH) hit a 19-month high above $2,850.
• Demand for the new spot Bitcoin ETFs remains stronger than expected, and is likely a major reason for BTC’s strong price action.
• A bankruptcy judge approved fallen crypto lender Genesis to liquidate roughly $1.3B worth of GBTC as part of its efforts to reimburse creditors. Importantly, this potential sell pressure on BTC is not as bad as the news headlines lead on.
• The Starknet Foundation announced an airdrop for Starknet (STRK) in what was one of the most controversial and divisive airdrop announcements to date. Claims open February 20.

Join Matt and Nick as they break down Bitcoin’s rise to two-year highs and why all crypto investors should monitor Ethereum’s big upgrade in March. They also cover Solana’s outage, EigenLayer restaking mania, and more.

Key Takeaways 

• Bitcoin (BTC) closed at its highest price since December 2021 as it nears $50,000. Strong demand for ETFs has likely been one of several reasons for this latest rally.
• Ethereum (ETH) is set to undergo its ‘Dencun’ upgrade on March 13. This will slash the cost of using L2s (e.g. Optimism, Arbitrum, Base).
• Solana (SOL) suffered a five-hour outage, its first in nearly a year. While sentiment was not materially damaged in this instance, it likely would be if Solana were to experience repeat outages over the coming weeks. (Read the post-mortem.)
• EigenLayer saw a near tripling in total value locked (TVL) after the restaking protocol lifted its deposit caps temporarily. TVL is now worth $6.1B.

Matt and Leon break down Bitcoin’s price growth, the controversial Jupiter token airdrop that made people several thousands of dollars, why Ethereum’s major ‘Dencun’ upgrade could come next month, and much more. 

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin (BTC) finished January higher, posting its fifth straight monthly gain—a streak that hasn’t happened since late 2020. Don’t be surprised to see BTC trade sideways for a while.
• U.S. interest rates are no longer expected to fall in March after public comments from the Fed chair and stronger-than-expected economic data. Rate cuts are generally good for crypto.
• Jupiter (JUP) executed one of the largest-ever airdrops, with many early users receiving thousands of dollars worth of JUP. The launch mechanism was widely misunderstood and criticised. Matt and Leon both hold JUP.
• Ethereum’s upcoming major upgrade (‘Dencun’) was successfully deployed on a second testnet. Third and final testnet deployment is on February 7. If all goes well, a mainnet release date should be revealed next week. Will likely be mid to late March.

Join Matt and Nick as they cover why so many large Bitcoin holders are selling (e.g. U.S. government, Celsius, FTX) and when it will end. They also cover exciting altcoin updates that they looking forward to.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. government filed its intent to sell roughly $117M worth of BTC. Importantly, this is just a slither of its total BTC holdings worth roughly $9 billion, which will presumably be sold in time.
• This week, the U.S. Federal Reserve meets for the first time in 2024. No rate change is expected. Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference will be a must-follow.
• A bug in a popular Ethereum execution client (i.e. Nethermind) sparked some concerns last week about client diversity, resulting in a push to improve Ethereum’s client diversity.
• The ‘Dencun’ upgrade will be deployed on the final two Ethereum testnets by February 7. If they go smoothly, expect a mainnet release date to be finalised and increased anticipation over the upgrade.
• The JUP airdrop is happening on January 31. This will be one of the biggest airdrops in 2024. Be extra mindful of attempted scams.