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Market Overview
Blakcrock, the world’s largest investment company, filed an application with the SEC for a Bitcoin spot ETF. If approved, the iShares Bitcoin Trust, would be the first crypto spot ETF in the United States, and would allow easy access for investors to get exposure to crypto in a product from one of Wall Street’s biggest companies. Coinbase is listed as the BTC custodian for the proposed BlackRock ETF as both companies have an existing strategic partnership.
Bank of China’s investment bank subsidiary BOCI announced the issuance of 200 million Chinese yuan ($28 million) worth of digital structured notes minted on the Ethereum blockchain making it the first Chinese financial institution to issue a tokenized security in Hong Kong. UBS helped originate the product for placement to its client in the Asia-Pacific region.
The deputy CEO of BOCI, Ying Wang, commented:
“Working together with UBS, we are driving the simplification of digital asset markets and products, for customers in Asia Pacific through the development of blockchain-based digital structured products, designed specifically for customers in Asia Pacific."
Polygon announces Polygon 2.0, aiming to become the Value Layer of the Internet. It will enable DeFi, digital ownership, new mechanisms for coordination and much more. It is a set of proposed upgrades that radically reimagine almost every Polygon’s aspect, from protocol architecture to tokenomics to governance. Throughout this upgrade, the entire network will feel like using a single chain expanding Ethereum to become what it was always intended to be by improving its scalability and pushing its limits.
Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, JPMorgan strategist, says that Ethereum could be put into ‘other category’ by US Congress:
“It is possible that a new 'other category' is introduced specific to Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies that are decentralized enough to avoid being designated as securities. This “other category” would involve more restrictions and investor protections than currently envisaged for commodities but less onerous than those required for securities."
The Tether stablecoin slightly deviated from its United States dollar peg on June 15 due to an imbalance in Curve’s 3pool. The price of USDT fell by 0.3% to around 0.997 as its weightage in the curve 3pool increased to over 70% from the usual 33.1%. Curve’s 3 pool is a stablecoin pool for DeFi holding a massive amount of liquidity in the three top stablecoins: USDT, USD Coin, and Dai . A significant rise in the weightage of a particular stablecoin in the pool indicates heavy selling of that asset..
Graph of the Week Market Cap BTC Dominance, %
Bitcoin dominance surges, accounting for nearly half of the $1 trillion crypto market, while altcoins experience a selloff.
NFT Markets
The Goose NFT by Dmitri Cherniak Sells for $6.2M at Sotheby's, Setting Generative Art Record:
Dmitri Cherniak's NFT artwork, known as "The Goose," sold at a Sotheby's auction for a staggering $6.2 million, making it the second-highest sale ever for a work of generative art. The piece, part of the "Grails" collection seized from bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, was estimated to sell for $2-3 million but exceeded expectations. The auction saw an intense bidding war, and the sale was met with applause in the room.
The artwork was originally purchased by 3AC co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies in 2021. Sotheby's noted that it was a significant work from the generative art movement. The buyer, known as 6529, stated that "The Goose" holds cultural significance within the NFT community and represents the unpredictable nature of generative art. The auction featured 37 works from various generative artists, with most of the NFTs selling above their estimated prices. This significant transaction further solidifies the growing value and prominence of NFTs, showcasing their continued appeal and potential for substantial financial returns. Glacier Dreams: Anadol's AI Art Illuminates Art Basel's Intersection of Technology and Nature: Art Basel, the renowned Swiss fair, embraced NFTs with the inclusion of Refik Anadol's groundbreaking AI research project, Glacier Dreams. Inspired by the beauty and fragility of glaciers, the project utilized machine learning algorithms to process vast datasets of visual materials, resulting in a mesmerizing audio-visual artwork. Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and commissioned by Julius Baer, Glacier Dreams was showcased at Theater Basel, projecting its simulations onto the facade. With over 100 million visual materials and a dataset of 10 million glacier visuals collected by Anadol personally, the project exemplifies the convergence of art, technology, and nature at Art Basel.
Kraken Launches NFT Market Place
Kraken has officially launched its NFT Marketplace as a “comprehensive platform for purchasing, trading, and understanding NFTs”. With a focus on enriching its product and feature range, the platform now offers a robust hub for NFT enthusiasts. One of the key highlights of this launch is the substantial growth of Kraken NFT's portfolio, which has expanded from a modest 70 collections in its beta phase to over 250 collections. This increase is made possible by the integration of blockchains such as Polygon, Ethereum, and Solana, ensuring seamless and efficient transactions across various networks.
In line with its community-focused approach, the Kraken NFT Marketplace aims to transform the NFT scene by proactively incorporating new and high-demand collections. Notably, this launch shines a spotlight on “bluechip” NFT collections, such as CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mfers, and CrypToadz. The platform caters to a diverse range of budgets by offering a variety of digital assets priced under $100, in hopes to make the platform an attractive destination for collectors and creators at all levels. To incentivise user engagement, Kraken NFT has removed gas fees for buying and selling NFTs, making the platform even more accessible and hopefully boosting activity in the marketplace. The NFT Marketplace space has become hypercompetitive in the last few years so it will be an uphill battle to truly compete amongst larger exchanges such as Blur, Opensea, Superrare, etc. It will be interesting to see if Krakens unique product offerings will be enough to create a sustainable marketplace moving forward.
Lastest News: Curated by Sam Eisner, Associate
Google Cloud is offering certain customers up to $1 million in protection for costs incurred during undetected crypto mining attacks. Subscribers to Google’s Security Command Center Premium, a cyber threat detector, are entitled to this hefty protection.
Breaking the year-long worldwide trend of declining Bitcoin and crypto ATMs, May recorded a steep increase, with nearly 1,400 net installations. The total number of crypto ATMs consistently declined in the first four months of 2023. During the timeframe, major economies like the United States contributed to the dwindling numbers, but Australia, Poland and Spain increased crypto ATM installations.
Regulatory Roundup:
On Saturday, Binance and the SEC reached an agreement to avoid a full asset freeze of the platform in the US and keep customer assets in the United States, loosing all control over them. The defendants agreed to repatriate assets held for the benefit of US customers, making sure these assets stay protected and to prevent them from moving offshore. The assets and funds explicitly will stay in domestic control and cannot be transferred to the defendants. The order also bans the Binance from spending the corporate assets on anything other than “the ordinary course of business,” and they must give the regulatory agency oversight over the expenses.
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