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Bitcoin’s Volatility and Stablecoin’s Market Viability: What Happened in Crypto This Week?

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Bullish, Bearish, or Both? Macro Mayhem Leads to Bitcoin Volatility Beyond Borders and Banks: Stablecoins Proving their Market Viability

• Bullish, Bearish, or Both? Macro Mayhem Leads to Bitcoin Volatility

• Bitcoin’s Institutional Embrace is Accelerating

• Beyond Borders and Banks: Stablecoins Proving their Market Viability

Macro Mayhem Leads to Bitcoin Volatility

Last week, Bitcoin navigated a wave of conflicting U.S. macroeconomic events. The FOMC press conference last Wednesday confirmed the Fed will sustain high interest rates at 5.25-5.5% as the challenge of achieving the inflation target persists. As shown in Figure 1, this initially triggered Bitcoin’s price to drop by 5.9% as investors sought the safety of fixed-income assets. Friday’s U.S. Jobs report reversed the negative sentiment from the FOMC meeting. The report revealed a disappointing labor market, with only 175,000 non-farm jobs added, as unemployment rose to 3.9%. This data fueled hopes for rate cuts, which bodes well for risk-on assets, which led to Bitcoin rebounding by 6.7% to ~$63,000 by week’s end.

Figure 1: Bitcoin 1 Week Price Performance (April 29, 2024 – May 6, 2024)

Source: TradingView

Looking ahead, several developments could provide tailwinds for Bitcoin. The upcoming Treasury buyback program, the first since 2002, is launching on May 29 and has several implications for the broader financial landscape. By conducting weekly bond buybacks of up to $2 billion, outstanding debt is reduced while liquidity is increased, which could allow capital to flow into riskier assets. The reduced bond supply also puts downward pressure on yields, potentially making Bitcoin more attractive.

The recent Treasury refinancing announcement also looks promising for Bitcoin. A lower target balance for the Treasury General Account (TGA) suggests the government needs to borrow less, which frees up capital. The impact could be compared to quantitative easing, instead of withdrawing liquidity from the market by selling new bonds, the Treasury effectively injects liquidity by not needing to borrow as much. This additional liquidity eventually reaches the banking system, potentially leading to easier access to credit and lower interest rates. As we have voiced throughout, this environment would benefit riskier assets like Bitcoin.

Despite the initial price drop triggered by the Fed’s hawkish stance on interest rates, Bitcoin’s resilience was evident in its subsequent rebound driven by a weakening labor market and the potential prospect of a dovish shift. As illustrated below, Bitcoin’s funding rate is now similar to when it was trading at around $29,000, which signals a healthy market adjustment, shedding excess leverage. Looking ahead, the upcoming Treasury actions will undoubtedly affect U.S. liquidity and interest rate levels, which are key to Bitcoin’s performance and will be closely monitored in the coming weeks.

Figure 2: Bitcoin’s Funding Rate

Source: Glassnode

Bitcoin’s Institutional Embrace is Accelerating

Fueled by the U.S. Bitcoin ETF launch, the institutional adoption of Bitcoin is accelerating. A staggering $175 billion is estimated to be held by ETFs, countries, and public and private companies, representing roughly 15% of the total Bitcoin supply. While miniscule compared to the U.S. launch, Hong Kong’s Bitcoin ETFs further exemplify this trend, accumulating 4.2K BTC, or nearly $270 million, within their first week of trading. This showcases the growing appetite for the asset, however the hunger for Bitcoin is not limited to Hong Kong. Ovata Capital Management’s $60 million allocation into the U.S. spot ETFs underscores this trend, which is set to continue as the May 15 deadline for 13F filings approaches, which may reveal previously undisclosed positions held by institutions.

Recent disclosures by BNY Mellon and BNP Paribas, along with Swiss funds Bellecapital International and Lugano Financial Advisors, provide further evidence of Bitcoin’s institutionalization. Moreover, according to BlackRock, the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), including Norway’s $1.6 trillion fund, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Kuwait’s Investment Authority, are re-initiating discussions around Bitcoin. The SWF industry is valued at $11.6 trillion, therefore even a moderate allocation into the asset could see demand catapult to new levels, and provide a tipping point for broader adoption. Importantly, it is becoming more difficult to discount the asset – Bitcoin’s unique profile as both a risk-on and risk-off asset is becoming increasingly relevant given the complex macroeconomic landscape.

Further, Bitcoin’s adoption is transcending passive investment strategies. For instance, fintech giant Nubank, housing 80 million users, now offers crypto deposits and withdrawals, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional finance and crypto in Latin America. Lastly, Microstrategy, synonymous with their commitment to Bitcoin, are pushing the boundaries further by building an identity solution on the Ordinals network. This exemplifies the use of Bitcoin beyond a decentralized payment system, a notion we have echoed in the past weeks as Bitcoin continues to evolve beyond its original purpose.

Finally, the coming weeks promise further clues on the US economic trajectory and Bitcoin institutional adoption. There are eight Fed speaker events this week, and while they don’t directly address crypto, they often offer valuable insights into the current economic conditions. This, coupled with the turbulence expected during Q1 earnings season, could create volatility in equity markets, which may spill over to crypto as investors react accordingly.

Beyond Borders and Banks: Stablecoins Proving their Market Viability

After a six-year hiatus, Stripe is re-entering the crypto industry by enabling customers to accept stablecoins for online payments. Stripe was among the pioneers in integrating Bitcoin back in 2014. However, they ceased support in 2018 due to Bitcoin’s prolonged processing times and high transaction costs, which didn’t present a significant improvement over its traditional counterpart. Since then, the industry has undergone a major transformation, with the emergence of numerous smart-contract platforms and scaling efforts, enhancing the potential of crypto’s infrastructure to offer a superior user experience.

For instance, Stripe’s co-founder showcased a $100 USDC payment using Solana at the company’s annual conference. The demo corroborated how the payment was processed in less than a second instead of days while incurring $0.0037 in network fees, a cost reduction of almost 800-fold compared to a credit card. This is a testament to the advancements achieved by the latest generation of platforms, such as Solana, which addressed some of the drawbacks, like high transaction costs and lengthy processing times, while demonstrating their efficacy for use cases requiring a high volume of interactions, such as payments.

To that end, Stripe will begin supporting USDC payments through Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. This integration marks a significant milestone, given Stripe’s substantial 35% market share in the payments industry. However, it’s even more crucial as users can seamlessly leverage the efficiencies of crypto’s infrastructure, ensuring reduced transaction costs and notably swifter processing times while remaining unaware of the use of blockchain technology in the backend. This mirrors how users are often unaware of the payment infrastructure their preferred fintech apps utilize. At 21Shares, we firmly believe that this kind of seamless integration is imperative for the widespread adoption of crypto.

That said, while Tether leads by market capitalization with $110 billion compared to USDC’s $33 billion, USDC actually dominates in terms of usage when looking at transaction volume. According to Visa’s latest on-chain analytical dashboard aiming to dissect the growth of the stablecoin sector, USDC is now responsible for more than 70% of all stablecoin payments, as illustrated below. As we’ve emphasized for years, exemplified by our own work on Dune, on-chain analytics represents the future of capital markets. It offers unparalleled transparency and real-time data access, unlike traditional industries reliant on periodic disclosures of quarterly financials. Therefore, Visa’s active engagement in on-chain analytics marks a watershed moment, reaffirming our long-held belief that this is the path forward.

Figure 3: Stablecoins Monthly Transaction Volume

Source: Alluvium X Visa

Despite USDC’s widespread adoption, Tether has achieved remarkable financial success in Q1. The company raked in a staggering $4.52B in profits by strategically deploying user deposits into U.S. treasury and repurchase agreements. The exposure to debt, coupled with rising Bitcoin and Gold prices, has proven to be a lucrative formula. As a result, Tether’s net profit now eclipses that of financial giants like Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, highlighting the burgeoning business potential of the fiat-backed stablecoin model.

Further, characterized by its disintermediated structure and emphasis on user experience, stablecoins have proven themselves as a viable alternative within the financial landscape. They are arguably one of crypto’s most compelling use cases right now. Its significance becomes even more apparent in regions facing economic instability, where users turn to stablecoins as a swift means to access the U.S. dollar, safeguarding themselves against currency devaluation. Turkey serves as a notable case study, stablecoin transactions account for a remarkable 4% of the nation’s GDP, the highest proportion globally, at a time when the Turkish Lira lost more than 75% of its value against the U.S. dollar over the last 5 years.

Finally, Tether is intensifying its efforts by launching USDT on the TON blockchain, which is closely linked to Telegram. Despite TON’s recent rise in popularity with approximately 1.74M users, it aims to tap into Telegram’s vast 900M user base through its deep integration. This move could significantly expand the market for stablecoins, currently serving around 25M users. Moreover, this integration is a pivotal step in simplifying crypto usage, concealing its complexities, and paving the way for mass adoption.

This Week’s Calendar

Source: Forex Factory, 21Shares

Research Newsletter

Each week the 21Shares Research team will publish our data-driven insights into the crypto asset world through this newsletter. Please direct any comments, questions, and words of feedback to research@21shares.com

Disclaimer

The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.

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Don’t miss this: 2025’s Mid-Year State of Crypto is Here

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21Shares are excited to release the 15th edition of their flagship State of Crypto report: 2025 Mid-Year Review

21Shares are excited to release the 15th edition of their flagship State of Crypto report: 2025 Mid-Year Review

This report revisits the 12 predictions we made before the start of the year. Now, halfway through 2025, we cut through the noise and deliver a clear, data-driven snapshot of where the crypto market stands and where it’s headed next.

Inside this report, you’ll find:

• A full progress check on our start-of-year predictions to help you assess which trends are playing out, stalling, or accelerating.

• Bitcoin’s evolution into a treasury strategy tool, with US states establishing Strategic Bitcoin Reserves and corporations continuing to accumulate aggressively.

• The sustained rise of crypto ETPs, and several jurisdictions now slowly moving to lift retail access bans.

TradFi’s growing integration with crypto, from tokenized real-world assets to stablecoins being embedded into traditional payment rails.

Whether you’re actively investing or simply staying informed, this is your essential crypto briefing to navigate the second half of 2025 with clarity.

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CEB4 ETF investerar i de 100 största aktierna i Storbritannien

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iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc) (CEB4 ETF) ISIN IE000HARJEE2, försöker följa FTSE 100 (EUR Hedged)-index. FTSE 100 (EUR Hedged)-index följer de 100 största brittiska aktierna. Valutasäkrad till euro (EUR).

iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc) (CEB4 ETF) ISIN IE000HARJEE2, försöker följa FTSE 100 (EUR Hedged)-index. FTSE 100 (EUR Hedged)-index följer de 100 största brittiska aktierna. Valutasäkrad till euro (EUR).

Den börshandlade fondens TER (total cost ratio) uppgår till 0,10 % p.a. iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc) är den billigaste ETF som följer FTSE 100 (EUR Hedged) index. ETFen replikerar det underliggande indexets prestanda genom fullständig replikering (köper alla indexbeståndsdelar). Utdelningarna i ETFen ackumuleras och återinvesteras.

Denna ETF lanserades den 21 augusti 2024 och har sin hemvist i Irland.

Varför CEB4?

Exponering mot de 100 största börsnoterade bolagen i Storbritannien

Globalt diversifierad tillväxt genom stora brittiska ledande företag

Använd i kärnan av en portfölj för att söka långsiktig tillväxt

Investeringsmål

Fonden strävar efter att följa resultatet för ett index som består av de 100 största brittiska företagen.

Handla CEB4 ETF

iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc) (CEB4 ETF) är en europeisk börshandlad fond. Denna fond handlas på Deutsche Boerse Xetra

Det betyder att det går att handla andelar i denna ETF genom de flesta svenska banker och Internetmäklare, till exempel DEGIRONordnet, Aktieinvest och Avanza.

Börsnoteringar

BörsValutaKortnamn
XETRAEURCEB4

Största innehav

KortnamnNamnSektorVikt (%)ISINValuta
AZNASTRAZENECA PLCHealth Care9,47GB0009895292GBP
SHELSHELL PLCEnergi8,37GB00BP6MXD84GBP
HSBAHSBC HOLDINGS PLCFinans5,98GB0005405286GBP
ULVRUNILEVER PLCDagligvaror5,73GB00B10RZP78GBP
BP.BP PLCEnergi3,51GB0007980591GBP
RELRELX PLCIndustri3,14GB00B2B0DG97GBP
GSKGLAXOSMITHKLINEHealth Care3,11GB00BN7SWP63GBP
DGEDIAGEO PLCDagligvaror2,70GB0002374006GBP
BATSBRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCODagligvaror2,68GB0002875804GBP
RIORIO TINTO PLCMaterials2,47GB0007188757GBP

Innehav kan komma att förändras

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Virtune lanserar Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP på Nasdaq Stockholm

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Virtune, den svenska reglerade kryptotillgångsförvaltaren, tillkännager noteringen av sin senaste börshandlade produkt, Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP, på Nasdaq Stockholm, handlad i SEK. Denna notering markerar en viktig milstolpe för Virtunes fortsatta tillväxt på hemmamarknaden och stärker deras position som en ledande utgivare av reglerade, fysiskt backade krypto-ETPer i Norden.

Virtune, den svenska reglerade kryptotillgångsförvaltaren, tillkännager noteringen av sin senaste börshandlade produkt, Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP, på Nasdaq Stockholm, handlad i SEK. Denna notering markerar en viktig milstolpe för Virtunes fortsatta tillväxt på hemmamarknaden och stärker deras position som en ledande utgivare av reglerade, fysiskt backade krypto-ETPer i Norden.

Produkten är nu tillgänglig för svenska och nordiska investerare via mäklare och banker som Avanza, Nordnet, SAVR och Montrose och handlas i SEK.

Virtune har arbetat nära Coinbase sedan starten och samarbetat inom alla viktiga områden – staking, trading och depå. Lanseringen av Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP markerar nästa steg i att stärka detta partnerskap. Det är världens första börshandlade produkt som följer Coinbase 50 Europe Index – ett brett diversifierat riktmärke med upp till 50 ledande kryptotillgångar. Indexet är utvecklat av Coinbase och administrerat av MarketVector Indexes™. ETPen innehar för närvarande 21 kryptotillgångar, med målet att expandera till alla 50 tillgångar i väntan på godkännanden från myndigheter och börser.

Coinbase 50 Europe Index syftar till att ge investerare representativ exponering mot de mest betydande och relevanta digitala tillgångarna på marknaden. Produkten är skräddarsydd för både institutionella och privata investerare som söker reglerad, transparent och professionell exponering mot kryptomarknaden.

Christopher Kock, VD för Virtune:”Att lista vår Coinbase 50 Index ETP på Nasdaq Stockholm markerar en viktig milstolpe i vårt uppdrag att ge säker och reglerad tillgång till investeringar i digitala tillgångar i Sverige och Norden. Vi är glada över att kunna lansera denna flaggskeppsprodukt på vår hemmamarknad, så att investerare kan handla den i SEK på Nasdaq Stockholm.”

Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP är 100 % fysiskt uppbackad av de underliggande kryptotillgångarna, säkert förvarad i kylförvaring hos Coinbase och har en konkurrenskraftig årlig förvaltningsavgift på 0,95 %.

Om Coinbase

Krypto skapar ekonomisk frihet genom att säkerställa att människor kan delta rättvist i ekonomin, och Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) har som mål att öka den ekonomiska friheten för mer än 1 miljard människor. Vi uppdaterar det sekelgamla finansiella systemet genom att tillhandahålla en pålitlig plattform som gör det enkelt för människor och institutioner att interagera med kryptotillgångar, inklusive handel, staking, förvaring, utgifter och snabba, kostnadsfria globala överföringar. Vi tillhandahåller också kritisk infrastruktur för onchain-aktivitet och stöder byggare som delar vår vision att onchain är det nya online. Och tillsammans med kryptogemenskapen förespråkar vi ansvarsfulla regler för att göra fördelarna med krypto tillgängliga över hela världen.

Brett Tejpaul, chef för Coinbase Institutional:
”Med lanseringen av Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP i Norden gör vi en av de mest omfattande riktmärkena för kryptomarknaden direkt tillgänglig för investerare i hela Norden. Detta markerar ett stort steg framåt i vårt uppdrag att utöka global tillgång till digitala tillgångar och tillhandahålla verktyg på institutionell nivå för att navigera i denna föränderliga tillgångsklass. Introduktionen av denna ETP förstärker vårt engagemang för att överbrygga traditionell finansiell infrastruktur med den växande efterfrågan på reglerad, säker exponering mot den digitala ekonomin.”

Om MarketVector

MarketVector Indexes™ (”MarketVector”) är en reglerad Benchmark Administrator i Europa, registrerad i Tyskland och registrerad hos den federala finansinspektionen (BaFin). MarketVector förvaltar index under namnen MarketVector™, MVIS® och BlueStar®. Med ett uppdrag att accelerera indexinnovation globalt är MarketVector mest känt för sin breda uppsättning tematiska index, en långvarig expertis inom Hard Asset-linked Equity-index och sin banbrytande indexfamilj för digitala tillgångar. MarketVector är stolt över att samarbeta med fler än 25 börshandlade produkter (ETP) och indexfondförvaltare på marknader över hela världen, med mer än 57 miljarder USD i förvaltat kapital.

Martin Leinweber, chef för Digital Asset Research and Strategy, MarketVector: ”Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP markerar ett betydande steg framåt för kryptoinvesteringar i Europa och erbjuder bred exponering mot digitala tillgångar på institutionell nivå genom en enda, effektiv produkt. Denna milstolpe kombinerar MarketVectors indexexpertis, Coinbases marknadsinfrastruktur och Virtunes transparenta, reglerade tillvägagångssätt. Vi är stolta över att fördjupa vårt partnerskap med Virtune genom att bli indexleverantör för hela deras utbud av krypto-ETPer i hela Europa. Tillsammans levererar vi de verktyg som institutionella och icke-professionella investerare behöver för att navigera i det digitala tillgångslandskapet med större förtroende och tydlighet.”

Viktig information om produkten

  • Exponering: Upp till 50 ledande kryptotillgångar i en enda produkt
  • Underliggande tillgångar: 100 % fysiskt uppbackade av de underliggande kryptotillgångarna
  • Förvaring: Institutionell förvaring av Coinbase
  • Förvaltningsavgift: 0,95 % per år
  • Handelsvaluta: SEK
  • Första handelsdag på Nasdaq Stockholm: måndag 14 juli 2025
  • Bloomberg-ticker: VCOIN50
  • ISIN: SE0024738389
  • WKN: A4A5D4
  • Börsticker: VCOIN50
  • Börser: Nasdaq Stockholm, Nasdaq Helsinki, Deutsche Börse Xetra, Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Paris

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