The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. I'm Lyllah Ledesma here to take you through the latest in crypto markets, news and insights. In today's newsletter: - Price Point: Bitcoin hovers around the $20,300 level and some altcoins posted gains.
- Market Moves: A look at how crypto products performed over the month of August. Ethereum-based products saw gains while bitcoin products struggled, perhaps due to attention on Ethereum ahead of the much anticipated Merge.
- Chart of the Day: Bitcoin underperforms against the rest of the market in August.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore's hostility towards crypto has been increasing, following their chief financial regulator's remark that it "regards cryptocurrencies as unsuitable for use as money and as highly hazardous for retail investors." To find out how this is affecting bitcoin's price later today, sign up for Market Wrap. |
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Market conditions remained choppy on Wednesday with bitcoin (BTC) hovering around the $20,300 mark, down slightly on the day. Stocks were mixed and futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 wavered. "There's clearly a lack of conviction in the markets following a lot of hawkish central bank commentary in recent days," wrote Craig Erlam, OANDA analyst in a morning note. "The narrative that investors want to believe is that inflation has peaked and is falling in the U.S. and that a soft landing is plausible. That doesn't necessarily align with what we're hearing," said Erlam. The UK, U.S. and EU are all on track for 75 basis point (0.75 percentage point) interest-rate hikes next month, making it unsurprising that investors are taking a more cautious stance, according to Erlam. In the news, decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Compound (COMP) has suffered a critical failure, effectively halting the trade of Compound Ether (cETH), after a bug was discovered in the code that causes transactions for suppliers and borrowers of ether to revert. A report from Morgan Stanley said the combined market capitalization of the two largest stablecoins, tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), has begun to fall again, a sign that quantitative tightening in the crypto financial system has resumed. And finally, Pantera Capital Chief Operating Officer Samir Shah appears to have left the cryptocurrency-focused investment firm after barely two months, according to his LinkedIn profile. |
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With nearly a decade-long track record of being the world's largest digital currency asset manager, Grayscale is an industry leader for secure and regulated exposure to crypto. Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (Symbol: GDLC) is designed to capture the market capitalization weighted performance of some of the largest and most liquid digital assets. As with all of Grayscale's publicly-traded funds, investors can access the fund directly through brokerage or retirement accounts they already have - the same way they would for other asset classes like stocks and bonds. Simply type GDLC into an investment account, such as in Fidelity or Robinhood, to get started today. Learn more about Grayscale's publicly-traded products here. Investing involves risks and the possible loss of principal. |
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Looking back over the month of August, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value were all mostly trading in the red. Solana's SOL took the largest hit, down 21%. Bitcoin fell 12% over the month and ether lost 2%. |
Bitcoin products struggle In August, bitcoin products struggled, whilst Ethereum-based products saw gains. According to a report from CryptoCompare, bitcoin-based products fell 7.2% to $17.4 billion in August, whilst Ethereum-based products saw gains of 2.36% to $6.81 billion. "We could be seeing interest move away from bitcoin in the short term, as Ethereum-based products hold the attention with the much-anticipated Merge on the horizon," said the report. Ethereum trusts gained volume supremacy
Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) lost its position as the most traded trust product, according to data from CryptoCompare. (Grayscale is owned by Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk.)
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Average Daily Trust Product Volumes (CryptoCompare) |
The average daily volume of the fund totalled $42.3 million (down 24.4%). Grayscale's Ethereum trust took the top spot with an average daily volume of $48.7 million (up 23.2%). |
Bitcoin Underperforms The Rest of The Market in August |
Source: Bletchley Indexes, Tradingview Coinbase - Data tracked by Arcane Research shows that bitcoin has underperformed all indexes in August, seeing a monthly loss of 13%.
- All altcoin indexes continue to move in tandem in August, with performance ranging from -12% to -10%, as we wrap up another red month in crypto.
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Join us for Converge22, Circle's first annual crypto ecosystem conference, taking place September 27th-30th in San Francisco! Featuring wide-ranging demos and developer workshops, plus high-powered guest speakers including Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin, Aave's Stani Kulechov, Mary-Catherine Lader of Uniswap Labs, Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana, and dozens more. Register with code Coindesk to receive $100 off your ticket! Register today > |
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The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours: |
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Biggest Gainers Biggest Losers |
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Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges. |
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Check out the CoinDesk TV show "First Mover," hosted by Christine Lee, Emily Parker and Lawrence Lewitinn at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. - John Linden, CEO, Mythical Games
- Mary-Catherine Lader, chief operating officer, Uniswap
- Glen Goodman, crypto consultant, eToro
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Which institutes are most impacting the blockchain world? Tell us your thoughts in a five-minute survey. We're welcoming responses until Sept. 7. Take the survey here. |
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Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments. |
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A Bleak Month for Crypto as Bitcoin Slides, Ether Stalls and Solana Tanks