GM, and welcome to another edition of CoinStats Scoop! 🥂 Here’s an overview of this week’s newsletter:
The usual market overview and analysis
Updates on this week’s noteworthy news and developments
Breaking down recent NFT developments & highlighting the NFT market’s massive potential
Reading & thinking about RWAs and how they’ll drive DeFi to a trillion-dollar+ market cap
Weekly wrap-up: predictions & takeaways.
Market Overview
After months of frantic activity that propelled BTC, ETH, and the broader crypto market to new heights since the start of the year, this week provided some much-needed relative stability. 😇 Both BTC and ETH remained relatively unchanged in price, resulting in a 1% gain for each cryptocurrency in the course of the week.
As usual, certain market sectors outperformed BTC and ETH as the crypto market continued to expand horizontally to sectors unaffected by the major players' price action! This expansion is a massive plus for the overall market, as the emergence of sectors that uniquely benefit from the week’s developments is natural. 🤩
This week, no particular sector benefitted as tokens across DeFi, liquid staking, scaling, etc., all appreciated. The best-performing tokens were:
INJ +27%, KWNETA +27%, ZRX +26%, JOE +26%, XRP +15%, CANTO +14%, FXS +9%, LDO +8%, BAT +7%, BLUR +7%, ADA +7%, GMX +7%, TON +7%, DOGE +6% & RPL +4%
Although this week's market overview may seem brief, it's important to appreciate the fact that the crypto market can also have relatively calm weeks. This week has been one of the calmest, price-wise, since last November, and let's face it – we all enjoy a bit of calm every now and then! Despite the lack of price fluctuations, the news and developments surrounding the continued adoption of cryptocurrencies have been as lively as ever. 🤑
News & Developments
Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger raises $109 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion
ConsenSys, the leading ETH development company, announces that their zkEVM, renamed Linea, is now live on testnet and available for all users
Bitcoin miners report highest monthly revenues since May 2022
Researchers at Citi Bank, one of the largest banks in the United States, say tokenized securities market could reach $4 trillion by 2030
UNICEF, a United Nations agency that provides relief and humanitarian aid to children, is testing concepts for a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)
Fetch.ai (FET) raises $40 million in new funding at a valuation of $250 million
EigenLayer, the hotly anticipated protocol that allows Ethereum restaking raises $50 million with a token valuation of $500 million
Orderly Network, the decentralized trading infrastructure protocol based on NEAR blockchain, raises new funding at a valuation of $200 million
Fidelity, the US-based asset management giant, continues expanding crypto operations by announcing the establishment of a token and crypto-specific research team
Ticketmaster launches a new token-gating feature allowing artists to provide NFT holders with fan rewards, such as early ticket access, custom seat selection, and customized travel packages
Gucci, one of the world’s most prominent luxury brands, announces partnership with Yuga Labs, creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club
Don’t Forget Massive Potential of NFTs
As we progress into 2023, most of the attention has been on tokens and their impressive gains since the start of the year. What has been overlooked is NFTs' future impact as an asset class. Although the NFT market has been slow and trending downward since BLUR's launch, just like with liquid tokens, the NFTs’ development never stops. 🤩
Several news items this week highlighted Ticketmaster's new token-gated feature that allows artists to provide NFT holders with fan rewards such as early ticket access, custom seat selection, and custom travel packages. The use of NFTs as tickets has been a highly anticipated development since the introduction of ERC-721, the NFT token standard, and this week, we're one step closer to that reality!
We'll rely on musicben_eth for the announcement breakdown and put summary highlights below:
Firstly, NFT holders of applicable artists will receive first access to tickets
True fans obtain priority access, seat selection, and the best prices — no scalping, no bots, no waiting, and no refreshing the screen forever
Ticketmaster stated: “There’s a variety of ways it could be used…from unlocking premier seats to special experiences like sitting in on soundcheck” and offering exclusive access before the concert.
According to Ticketmaster, we're still in the earliest stages of tickets represented as NFTs with gated access limited to holders. It remains to be seen which artists will adopt these features next, but it's evident that NFTs and crypto rails offer a unique medium of expression that the market has never seen before. 🤯 Slowly but surely, we're building toward a world where all markets and sectors of the economy are built on NFTs, and the insanely large ticket economy is the latest to join the crypto ranks.
This week's second development that highlights the massive potential of NFTs is the news that Homebase has sold out its first tokenized home on Solana.
Below are the key points where Homebase highlights the power of NFTs in their thread:
Investors will receive tokenized rent payments directly into their crypto wallets
RWAs on-chain have been talked about since ‘17 but have yet to see mass adoption
Users had the opportunity to buy NFTs that represent a fractional share in the ownership of the house for $100
NFT holders will receive automated monthly rent payments in USDC
Users can invest in cash-flowing rental properties directly from their crypto wallets for the first time
Homebase handles all property management and home improvements, eliminating any additional responsibilities
Homebase states: “We’re creating a fractional economy for homes…imagine being able to use home NFTs as collateral in DeFi or tokenizing your home and selling 20-30% of it online…no bank or credit score required.”
Whew, that’s a lot! But the main takeaway is that the market for real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain is huge, and crypto protocols are gradually building to tap into it. The ability for global users to buy an NFT that represents a share of ownership in a home, providing them with monthly income through USDC payments directly to their crypto wallet, is a massive breakthrough! This, combined with Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticketing company, joining crypto through NFTs, further highlights the bright future of the NFT asset class and the entire crypto world. 💪
Read of the Week
“The Real-World Asset revolution in DeFi: Understanding the Current State & Potential of RWAs” — Ignas DeFi Research.
This week, we'll discuss one of the most exciting developments in DeFi to look forward to – the trend of Real World Assets (RWAs) moving on-chain and becoming accessible to global crypto users.
As the title suggests, Ignas will take us through the burgeoning DeFi sector, exploring its impact on fees, yields, protocols, active loan values, risks, token price performances, and more.
“One of the most exciting developments in the DeFi space is the emergence of RWA lending protocols. These protocols enable lending outside the circular crypto world and open up the potential for DeFi lending to grow from tens of billions to a $1.6T TradFi private credit loan market. The Real-World Asset (RWA) revolution in DeFi presents new opportunities for high-yield returns and diversification. Real-World Asset protocols in DeFi have the potential to revolutionize the lending and borrowing market and offer investors new opportunities for higher yield and diversification.”
As ChainLinkGod eloquently noted, and as we've learned from Ignas’ insights, RWAs are a massive untapped market in crypto that is likely to become the future of DeFi. The potential market for RWAs is the $1.6 trillion traditional finance real-world asset market, which is currently greater than the entire crypto market cap of around $1.2 trillion. This pinpoints yet another massive growth sector for the crypto industry and further underscores how early we still are in crypto adoption. 🤑
CoinStats Reads
As we head into the spring season, we've compiled a series of articles to ensure your crypto investments are well-protected from downturns and, at the same time, open to potential upswings.
Let’s explore some strategies for foolproofing your crypto investments for a flourishing and resilient crypto portfolio. We'll also delve into the key differences between crypto asset management and traditional asset management. Plus, we'll share how you can participate in the zkSync airdrop to receive free tokens and discover the benefits and potential of this innovative blockchain platform. And finally, we'll unveil the top 10 web 3.0 crypto coins to watch out for in 2023.
Check out the articles below for insights and pro tips:
Discover how to foolproof your crypto investments this spring. Become a savvy strategist by staying open to new ideas and opportunities and adapting to the ever-evolving landscape to make your crypto portfolio blossom and thrive.
Investing can be beautiful, but as your assets grow, it becomes crucial to manage your wealth responsibly. This is where digital asset management comes in, providing a structured approach to adapt to market changes and macroeconomic factors. This post explores the benefits and risks of asset management and highlights the differences between crypto asset management and traditional asset management.
The zkSync Era mainnet is finally here, bringing some exciting projects and opportunities to the table. Participating in these projects can score you the zksync airdrop and let you capitalize on the growth of this Layer-2 solution. We'll explore the zkSync Era ecosystem, from swapping options to liquidity providing to NFT initiatives. Plus, we'll give you the lowdown on the major projects expected to launch on the platform soon.
Investing in Web3 coins and projects is a fantastic way to be part of the future of technology and finance. Our latest article explores the benefits of Web3 and provides helpful tips. Don't miss out on the exciting opportunity to stay informed and engaged in the world of Web3 and to implement the best practices for maximum growth.
Tweets & Memes
Bitcoin’s hashrate and miner profitability continues to rise healthily. 💪
Crypto is all about composability, and the synergy between ATOM and SOL keeps growing.
The development continues with Vitalik sending the first transaction on Polygon’s new zkEVM. 🤑
Discover more about out recent partner - the safe & secure wallet - Safepal.
Wrapping Up
We'll wrap up this week's CoinStats Scoop with Vitalik's recent tweet expressing his appreciation for L2s paving the way for a brighter future for the crypto industry. 💫
As usual, we went over the regular market update and discussed the positive long-term outlook for the crypto industry. We delved into the growing use cases for NFTs, including Ticketmaster's adoption of NFT-gated tickets and Homebase's fractionalized ownership of homes.
Plus, we discussed DeFi's potential for growth by adopting real-world assets (RWAs) and provided updates on another successful week for crypto building and innovation.
CoinStats will continue to guide you through the crypto and DeFi world. We'll see you next week for another edition of CoinStats Scoop! 😎