Happy Friday! The Weekly Market Highlights is an initiative from the Binance Research team to round up the week, summarizing key market events and views from the team.Ā
š Macro / TradFi
Up we go. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cautioned that the Fed may lift rates higher than previously anticipated if inflation remains high. For context, Fed officials estimated a terminal rate of 5.1% previously. The market is currently pricing a terminal rate of 5.25%-5.50% following the remarks.
š Crypto
L1/L2:
Mysten Labs, the developer behind Sui blockchain, has announced a partnership with Alibaba Cloud. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Alibaba Cloud will provide archival node services and secure cloud infrastructure for validators of Suiās testnet to help create more user-friendly experiences.
DeFi:
The current yield environment has prompted a proposal on MakerDAO to extend its existing US treasury bond investments from US$500M to US$1.25B. The US750M increase has been proposed to be deployed into a 6 month US Treasury ladder strategy with bi-weekly roll-over that will yield US$1.3M every 2 weeks to Maker.
The highly anticipated launch of PancakeSwap V3 is just around the corner. Version 3 is estimated to be launched in April and will come with a suite of upgrades to the DEX, such as more competitive trading fees and improved liquidity provisioning.
New kid on the block! Maverick protocol has launched its DEX, supporting assets from Lido, Liquity and Galxe. The DEX introduced a novel dynamic automated market maker algorithm aimed to increase capital efficiency for liquidity providers. Instead of a standard liquidity distribution, LPs can automate their own distribution range and follow the price of an asset to maximize capital efficiency.
Stablecoins
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has proposed a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin called the NakaDollar (NUSD). In a blogpost titled āDust on Crustā, Hayes suggested that the goal is to create a token that is worth 1 USD but does not require the services of the fiat banking system. Instead, the NakaDollar would rely upon derivatives exchanges that list liquid inverse perpetual swaps.
NFTs:
Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, has successfully launched its first Bitcoin-based NFT. The TwelveFold collection raised 735.7 BTC (~US$16.5M) from its auction of 288 NFTs. The top bid was 7.1159 BTC (~US$159K) while the lowest accepted bid was 2.2501 BTC (~US$50K).
Blur continues to charge ahead. The NFT marketplace topped the leaderboard and captured 84% of ETH-based NFT transactions in the first week of March. Low fees, token airdrops, and novel trading features have contributed to its adoption. It remains to be seen if this trajectory can be sustained and how competitors will respond.
Gaming:
Global eSports company, TSM, has partnered with Avalanche to bring Web3 gaming features to over 30 million gamers. TSMās gaming app, Blitz, will be built on an Avalanche Subnet and TSM will host Avalanche-branded tournaments on the Blitz subnet. $AVAX will be used for gas fees.
Immutable Games Studio, the company behind Gods Unchained NFT trading card game, has teamed up with Mineloader, a game developer with experience producing AAA games. Together, both companies will work on developing multiplayer fantasy web3 RPG Guild of Guardians.
Others:
New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Kucoin for failing to register with the state prior to letting investors buy and sell cryptocurrencies on its platform. Notably, this action is one of the first times a regulator is claiming in court that ETH is a security and it remains to be seen how this situation will play out.
Silvergate Capital has announced that it will wind down operations and liquidate its bank. Citing ārecent industry and regulatory developmentsā, Silvergate stated that a āvoluntary liquidation of the bank is the best path forward.ā Silvergate has served as one of the banks for crypto companies, and FTX was a major Silvergate customer.
The U.S. Treasury Department has proposed a 30% excise tax on crypto mining electricity usage. It is key to note that the House of Representatives and Senate have to pass a budget which includes these types of revenue-generating tax rules before they can be implemented. Nonetheless, the proposal indicates Biden's fiscal priorities as he prepares to announce his bid for a second term as U.S. President.
š Latest Binance Research PublicationsĀ
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Binance Research
About Binance Research: Binance Research is the research arm of Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange. The team is committed to delivering objective, independent, and comprehensive analysis and aims to be the thought leader in the crypto space. Our analysts publish insightful thought pieces regularly on topics related but not limited to, the crypto ecosystem, blockchain technologies, and the latest market themes.
General Disclosure: This material is prepared by Binance Research and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, cryptocurrencies or to adopt any investment strategy. The use of terminology and the views expressed are intended to promote understanding and the responsible development of the sector and should not be interpreted as definitive legal views or those of Binance. The opinions expressed are as of the date shown above and are the opinions of the writer, they may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources deemed by Binance Research to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Binance. This material may contain āforward lookingā information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections and forecasts. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. This material is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell in any securities, cryptocurrencies or any investment strategy nor shall any securities or cryptocurrency be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Investment involves risks.
