Token unlocks happen because the supply of many cryptocurrencies are locked up in vesting to prevent insiders – early investors, team members – from dumping tokens en masse. Prices historically decline around such events, as the supply increase outpaces investor demand for the asset, according to research by crypto analytics firm The Tie. Source
The bank reiterated its view that approval of these products is unlikely next month, a position first expressed in January. The SEC must make final decisions on some of the ETF applications by May 23. The SEC approved spot bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in January, stirring speculation in some quarters that versions for ether, the token of the Ethereum blockchain, may follow suit. Source
Some traders were positioned for bitcoin leadership after the ether-bitcoin ratio dipped below key support last week. As such, ETH’s market-beating rise has brought rapid adjustment in market positioning, leading to a sharp uptick in the perpetual funding rates or cost of holding long/short positions, Singapore-based QCP capital explained in a note on Telegram. The upside volatility has also led to a significant short covering in ETH front-end call options. Original
While spot crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have been available in Europe for several years – CoinShares’ Physical Bitcoin ETP, for example, was listed in 2021, and Zurich-based 21Shares says it introduced the world’s first physically backed ETP in 2018 – they’ve come more into focus since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a bunch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the world’s biggest economy in January. The U.S. funds have attracted a net inflow of about $12 billion in less than three months, according to BitMEX Research. Source
On Ethena, users can deposit stablecoins such as tether (USDT), frax (FRAX), dai (DAI), Curve USD (crvUSD) and mkUSD to receive Ethena’s USDe, which can then be staked. Unstaking takes seven days. The staked USDe tokens can be supplied to other DeFi platforms to earn additional yield. Original
Staking platform Lido’s share of staked ether (ETH) has continued to fall, which should reduce concerns about concentration in the Ethereum network, raising the chance that ETH won’t be designated as a security in the future, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report on Wednesday. “The share of Lido in staked ETH has decreased further from around one third a year ago to around a quarter at the moment,” analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote. The Hinman documents, which were released last June, “revealed the role of network decentralization in…
Starting April 3, Bitfinex users can trade bitcoin and ether volatility futures under the ticker symbols BVIVF0:USTFO and EVIVFO:USDTFO, according to the press release shared with CoinDesk. These contracts are denominated, margined, and settled in tether (USDT), the world’s largest dollar-pegged stablecoin. Original
“BTC and ETH showed relatively calm movement last week compared to other weeks in March, with weekly realized volatility hitting below 50%,” Jun-Young Heo, a derivatives trader at Singapore-based Presto Labs, said in an email interview. “However, as the Bitcoin halving event is expected to happen around April 20, implied volatility of front-month options remains elevated above 75%.” Original
“The big impact, however, is [from] the gamma positioning of dealers into the event. Dealers are short some $50 million of gamma, with the majority focused at around the $70,000 strike. As we near the expiry, that gamma position gets larger and the forced hedging will exacerbate volatility around $70,000, providing for some wholly, choppy moves either side of the said level,” Brickell told CoinDesk. Original
Eight potential issuers, including BlackRock, have submitted filings with the SEC to bring a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the market. The final decision by the regulator is due in May, with industry experts predicting that applications won’t get approved, regardless of what the SEC finds the nature of ether to be. Source