Bitcoin ordinals 🤜 Binance NFT MP, Gas 💸 $120k & A Memecoin 💸 $155k, Bitcoin ‘under siege’ by BRC-20 coins 📛
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-05-10
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Worth it? Trader spends $120K on gas buying $155K worth of a memecoin (3 min read)
A single trader just spent a staggering 64 Ether — equivalent to $118,000 — in gas fees purchasing $155,000 worth of a memecoin called Four (FOUR).
According to an update from the popular blockchain tracking service Whale Alert, the lone trader paid an astonishing $119,157 in Ether to complete an Uniswap trade that swapped 84 Wrapped Ether (WETH) for 13.8 billion FOUR tokens.
Bitcoin ‘under siege’ by BRC-20 coins as fees soar, claims analyst (3 min read)
Increased fees and a backlog of transactions is besieging the Bitcoin network, and it’s due to a popular new “token” standard, according to a CryptoQuant analyst.
Axel Adler Jr, an analyst with the crypto data firm, explained on May 9 that BRC-20 memecoin minting on the BTC blockchain is causing the surge in block space demand. According to CryptoQuant, the average fee per transaction has skyrocketed, exceeding $16 and peaking at $29 on May 9.
BRC-20 tokens surpass $1B market cap as wallet providers prepare integration (3 min read)
On May 9, the total market capitalization of BRC-20 Bitcoin tokens surpassed $1 billion, with a total trading volume of $207.7 million in the past 24 hours. Some of the most notable deployed tokens include ORDI, NALS, VMPX, PEPE and MEME, with price variance of between +11% and -55% within the past day.
According to analysts at multichain wallet BitKeep, the BRC-20 token standard is a novel form of fungible token that “employs Ordinals and Inscriptions to create and manage token contracts, token minting, and token transfers, which are stored on the Bitcoin base chain”.
Bear market pushes crypto events to cut fluff, prioritize discourse (3 min read)
The extended crypto winter has pushed crypto event organizers to tone down on the lavishness, allowing attendees to focus on asking more “intelligent questions” about regulation and tax.
Crypto conferences attract all sorts from the crypto space, from founders and high-level executives to crypto influencers and everyday users.
Tiffany Fong, a crypto vlogger who gained fame interviewing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried following the collapse of the exchange, is attending crypto conferences for the first time this year.
Bitcoin traders offer downside targets as BTC price risks sub-$25K dip (3 min read)
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD acting near $27,700 at the day’s Wall Street open.
The pair had seen deeper losses the day prior, with a tap of $27,300 so far marking the local bottom.
Traders hoped that May 10 would provide some much-needed volatility in the form of the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) print for April.
Grayscale expands ETF business, puts forward 3 new crypto funds (3 min read)
Three new crypto-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been put forward for approval by cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale Investments, which also announced a new entity to manage its growing funds.
On May 9, Grayscale said it launched a new arm of its business — the Grayscale Funds Trust — allowing it to manage many of its publicly traded financial products in-house.
In addition to the new trust, Grayscale revealed it filed a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for three new crypto-focused ETFs, despite previous roadblocks from the regulator over crypto-related ETFs.
PayPal’s crypto holdings increased by 56% in Q1 2023 to nearly $1B (2 min read)
Financial technology company PayPal recently disclosed its cryptocurrency holdings in a quarterly report filed to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Claiming a combined total of $943 million in cryptocurrency assets as of March 31, 2023, the filing shows a 56% increase over the company’s previous quarter where PayPal disclosed $604 million.
PayPal’s reported total financial liabilities for this quarter were $1.2 billion, with crypto assets making up 77.9% — up more than 10% from 2022’s reported fourth quarter liabilities.
Bitcoin eyes $28K push as traders demand CPI day BTC price volatility (4 min read)
Bitcoin tracked $27,500 on May 10 as markets geared up for what should be a positive United States inflation print.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it lingered in a narrow trading range ahead of the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) release.
A classic volatility catalyst for risk assets, CPI forms one of the key metrics the Federal Reserve considers when changing interest rates.
The next change is a full month away, but government and private-sector metrics predict declining inflation to persist and even accelerate in the coming months.
BLOCKCHAIN
Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, others partner in new blockchain network (2 min read)
A new blockchain network aimed at financial institutions is in the works from a conglomerate of participants in the finance and tech space, including the likes of Microsoft and Goldman Sachs.
According to the announcement on May 9, the Canton Network will be a privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network aimed at those working with institutional assets. It will allow the synchronization of financial markets that were “previously siloed.”
The network will begin testing its capabilities in July, which include extensive privacy controls and the ability to achieve the scale and performance needed by major financial institutions.
32% of family offices invest in digital assets — Goldman Sachs (2 min read)
According to a Goldman Sachs report published on May 8 titled “Eyes on the Horizon: Family Office Investment Insights,” 32% of family offices currently hold investments in digital assets. This category includes cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain-focused funds.
Explaining their motivations for investing in digital assets, most (19%) cited a belief in the power of blockchain technology, with only 8% and 9% citing speculation and portfolio diversification, respectively.
Bankrupt crypto exchange QuadrigaCX to start ‘interim distribution’ of funds (2 min read)
According to a May 8 post by Miller Thomson, the law firm representing users of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, interim distribution of funds tied to bankruptcy proceedings will be scheduled “in the coming weeks."
Bankruptcy trustee Ernst & Young announced the interim distribution in consultation with estate inspectors. In the near future, the trustee will post a Notice to Affected Users regarding details about the manner and procedure of the distribution.
NFTs
Bitcoin ordinals hit Binance NFT Marketplace in latest update (2 min read)
Bitcoin ordinals — also known as Bitcoin NFTs — have made their way into the limelight of the Web3 space, as more marketplaces continue to adopt and offer digital assets.
On May 9, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it will support Bitcoin ordinals on its NFT marketplace in late May. The development will expand Binance’s multichain NFT ecosystem to include the Bitcoin network.
Previously the Binance NFT market integrated with other decentralized networks, including BNB Chain, Ethereum and Polygon.