Weekly Crypto Report: Top Stories, DeFi Dynamics, ETF Insights, and Crypto Market Analysis

This analysis report, backed by quality data, covers the major developments the Web3, Blockchain and Crypto landscape has witnessed this week. 

1. Breaking News This Week 

• SK’s Gyeonggi Province Tracks Crypto, Retrieves $4.67M in Taxes 

South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province implements a specialised system to monitor crypto assets, leading to the recovery of $4.67 million in unpaid taxes from evaders using centralised exchanges. The province’s tax department significantly enhances its identification of delinquent taxpayers through this new electronic management system, making a significant success in crypto tax enforcement.

• Reddit Plans Crypto Investment, NYSE Public Debut 

Reddit files for an IPO on the NYSE and discloses its investment in cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company aims to diversify its holdings with digital assets and may expand its crypto portfolio further based on regulatory guidance. 

• Aave Splits from Gauntlet, Seeks New Risk Management 

Aave, a decentralised lending platform, announces its separation from risk management provider Gauntlet, necessitating the search for a new partner. Gauntlet’s decision to end the partnership prompts Aave to explore alternatives. The split raises questions about future risk mitigation strategies of Aave. 

• Andreessen Horowitz Invests $100M in Ethereum’s EigenLayer 

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz invests $100 million in EigenLayer, an Ethereum-based protocol focusing on Layer 2 scalability solutions. The substantial funding infusion indicates growing investor interest in Layer 2 technologies aimed at enhancing Ethereum’s transaction throughput and efficiency.

• Vitalik Buterin Questions Layer 1 Blockchain Simplicity 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expresses doubts about prioritising simplicity in Layer 1 blockchains over Layer 2 scaling solutions. He suggests that simplifying L1s may not adequately address scalability concerns and proposes enhancing L1 with advanced features to facilitate simpler L2 development.  

• Coinbase Urges SEC Approval for Grayscale Ethereum Trust 

Coinbase advocates for the SEC to approve the listing of Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) shares as an Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund. 

• Ripple CEO Welcomes XRP ETF Amid Regulatory Challenges 

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expresses openness to a spot exchange-traded fund for XRP, the native token of the Ripple payment protocol. 

• Binance Clarifies Nigerian Naira Position Amid Criticism 

Binance issues a statement addressing concerns about its involvement in alleged currency speculation affecting Naira. The exchange clarifies its stance and actions. The response aims to reassure Nigerian traders and address criticisms regarding its impact in the country’s currency market.  

• Egyptian Bank CIB Partners with Ripple for Blockchain Payments

Commercial International Bank in Egypt collaborates with Ripple to implement blockchain technology for enhancing cross-border payments. 

• UK Accelerates Stablecoin Regulations Amid Election Pressure 

The UK government expedites the approval of regulations for stablecoins and crypto asset staking services amid mounting pressure and a looming general election.

• South Korean Party Pushes Two-Year Crypto Tax Delay 

South Korea’ ruling People Power Party proposes a further postponement of cryptocurrency taxation for two years, aligning with its campaign pledges ahead of the upcoming general election. The proposal seeks to delay the implementation of crypto tax regulations from 2025 to 2027. 

• FixedFloat DEX Hacked, Loses Nearly $26M in Bitcoin, Ethereum 

FixedFloat, a decentralised exchange, suffers a significant security breach resulting in the loss of approximately $26 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum funds.

• Digitex Futures Founder Indicted for Bank Secrecy Act Violation 

Adam Todd, the founder and CEO of Digitex Futures Exchange, faces charges for intentionally violating the Bank Secrecy Act by operating an unregistered crypto futures trading platform. The indictment accuses Todd of conducting illicit activities from January 2018 to April 2022. 

2. Blockchain Performance 

In this section, we will analyse two factors primarily: the top-performing blockchains based solely on their 7-day change and the top performers among the top five blockchains with the highest TVL.  

2.1. Top Blockchain Performers by 7-Day Change 

This week’s top blockchain performers, based on their 7-day change, are StarkNet, Scroll, Hedera Hashgraph, ZetaChain, and Arbitrum Nova.  

StarkNet displays a significant 7-day increase at 151.4%, indicating a substantial growth momentum. Scrolls also performed well with a 30.0% rise. Meanwhile, Hedera Hashgraph, ZetaChain, and Arbitrum Nova show moderate increases of 29.1%, 21.3%, and 9.0% respectively. This suggests a varied landscape with StarkNet leading in growth, while others follow with comparatively smaller increments. 

2.2. Top Performers: 7-Day Change in Top 5 Blockchains with Highest TVL

Ethereum, TRON, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum One, and Solana are the top five blockchains in the market on the basis of TVL and market dominance. Let’s see how these blockchains have performed this week using the 7-day change index. 

Among the top five blockchains with highest TVL, BNB Smart Chain exhibits the highest 7-day change at 7.8%, suggesting strong recent performance. Ethereum follows closely with a 6.0% increase, indicating steady growth. Arbitrum One shows a moderate rise of 4.2%, while Solana displays minimal growth at 0.4%. This indicates a mixed performance landscape, with BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum leading the pack in recent gains. 

3. Crypto Market Analysis 

The crypto price and dominance analysis and top gains and losers analysis are the two prime factors of the crypto market analysis. 

3.1. Crypto 7-D Price Change and Dominance Analysis  

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, and Solana are the top five cryptocurrency as per the market cap and dominance indices. Let’s analyse their seven-day price change. 

Among the top five cryptocurrencies with the highest market cap, Solana experienced the highest 7-day price change at 7.7%, indicating significant growth. BNB follows closely with a 6.1% increase, while Ethereum shows a 5.7% rise, both reflecting positive performance. Bitcoin displays a modest increase of 1.9%, while Tether exhibits minimal change at 0.1%.

3.2. Top Gainers & Losers of the Week in Crypto Market 

Here is the list of top gainers and top losers of the week in the cryptocurrency market. The analysis is made using the 7-day Gain and 7-day Lose indices. 

3.2.1. Top Gainers of the Week in Crypto 

This week’s top five cryptocurrency gainers include Worldcoin, leading with an impressive 73.78% increase, followed closely by SingularityNET with 71.58%, and Uniswap with 61.65%. Fetch.ai and Filecoin also show significant gains at 41.98% and 40.53% respectively. 

3.2.2. Top Losers of the Week in Crypto 

This week’s top cryptocurrency losers include Starknet leading with a loss of -19.31%, followed by SATS with -17.64%, and Dymension with -17.23%. ORDI and Sei also experienced significant losses at -16.99% and -16.04% respectively. 

3.3. Stablecoin Weekly Analysis 

Tether, USDC, DAI, First Digital USD, and TrueUSD are the top stablecoins in the market in terms of market capitalization. Let’s analyse their weekly performance using seven-day market capitalisation, market dominance and trading volume indices.  

In the stablecoin market, Tether dominates both in market dominance, commanding 71.63%, and in trading volume, with $38,032,915,008. USDC follows with 20.51% market dominance and $5,448,680,508 in trading volume. While Dai holds a modest 3.60% market dominance, its trading volume stands at $135,850,296. First Digital USD ranks third in trading volume with $5,263,094,595 despite its lower market dominance of 2.33%. Trust USD has the lowest market dominance at 0.92% and a trading volume of $61,725,882. 

4. Bitcoin ETF Weekly Analysis 

Bitcoin Futures ETFs and Bitcoin Spot ETFs should be analysed separately, in order to get the right picture of the Bitcoin ETF market, as they represent two different segments. Let’s start!

4.1. Bitcoin Futures ETF Weekly Analysis 

ProShares, VanEck, Valkyrie, Global X and Ark/21 Shares are the top five Bitcoin Future ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s use the change percentage index to analyse the weekly performance of these ETFs. 

This week’s change index analysis on the top five Bitcoin Futures ETFs, with highest AUM, reveals mixed performances. VanEck leads with a modest gain of +0.33%, while Global X experiences the largest loss at -3.52%. Valkyrie, ProShares, and Ark/21 Shares also display losses at -1.89%, -1.83%, and -1.78% respectively.  

4.2. Bitcoin Spot ETF Weekly Analysis 

Grayscale, Blackrock, Fidelity, Ark/21 Shares and Bitwise are the top Bitcoin Spot ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s analyse them using the change index. 

This week’s analysis reveals a downward trend across all the five major Bitcoin Sport ETF players. BlackRock leads with the largest loss at -1.88%, followed closely by Ark/21 Shares at -1.86%. Grayscale and Bitwise show similar losses at -1.83%, while Fidelity experiences a slightly lower loss at -1.78%. These declines suggest a general negative sentiment. 

5. DeFi Market Weekly Status Analysis 

Lido, Maker, AAVE, EigenLayer and JustLend are the five top DeFi protocols available. Let’s analyse its weekly performance using the 7d Change index. 

The week’s Defi market analysis showcases varied performances among protocols. EigenLayer leads with a notable increase of +10.37% in Total Value Locked, followed by Lido with +6.06%. Maker and AAVE also show positive growth at +3.04% and +2.02% respectively. However, JustLend experiences a decrease of -5.46% in TVL. 

6. NFT Marketplace: A Basic Weekly Analysis 

Blur, Blur Aggregator, Opensea, Gem and Cryptopunks are the top NFT marketplaces on the basis of market share. Let’s analyse them using the 7-Day Rolling Volume, 7-Day Rolling Trade and Volume Change indexes.  

Analysing the NFT marketplace data reveals interesting insights. Blur and Blur Aggregator exhibit significant volume increases, with Blur leading both in volume change (+27.75%) and absolute volume. Opensea, despite a decrease in volume change (-7.02%), maintains a substantial 7-day rolling volume, indicating its continued prominence. Gem and X2Y2 show moderate volume changes and relatively lower absolute volumes. This suggests a dynamic market landscape with Blur platforms witnessing notable growth, Opensea maintaining stability, and others experiencing varied performances. 

6.1. Top NFT Collectible Sales this Week 

Bored Ape Yacht club #7616, Bored Ape Yacht Club #7681, CryptoPunks #2954, Bored Ape Yacht Club #2333, and CryptoPunks #6094  are the top NFT collectable sales reported this week in the NFT market landscape. 

7. Web3 Weekly Funding Analysis 

7.1. ICO Landscape: A Weekly Overview  

This week’s ICO landscape saw the conclusion of major projects like Forgotten Playland, Metahorse Unity, Pixel, and BeFi Labs. 

Forgotten Playland demonstrated exceptional performance with a token price of $0.05515 and a remarkable return of 13.79x since ICO, having raised $10,000,000. Meanwhile, Pixels reported a token price of $0.5058 and a return of 1.01x from a $7,200,000 rise. Metahorse Unity and BeFi Labs also concluded their ICOs with varying token prices and funding amounts.  

8. Weekly Blockchain Hack Analysis

In the week, there were significant developments in crypto hack incidents. FixedFlot, a crypto exchange, confirmed a hack after noticing suspicious transactions reported by blockchain experts. Around $4.85 million worth of Ethereum and $21 million worth of Bitcoin were stolen. This incident adds to a string of recent high-profile hacks, including PlayDapp losing $32million and Duelbits losing $4.6 million due to access control exploits. 

As of February 24, 2024, the total amount of money stolen through hacking is $7.68 billion. Within this, $5.82 billion was taken from decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms, and $2.83 billion form bridges connecting different blockchain networks.

Endnote 

In this week’s comprehensive analysis of Web3, Blockchain and Crypto, we have brought out powerful insights, which can be used to stay-to-data about the market developments. As the landscape evolves, the strategic integration of technology and data-driven decision-making becomes paramount for stakeholders navigating the dynamic realms of decentralised technologies. 

Data Source:

Blockchain Performance 

Bitcoin Price and Dominance 

Top Crypto Gainers and Losers 

Stablecoin Performance 

Bitcoin Spot ETF

NFT MarketPlace 

NFT Collectibles 

DeFi Market (TVL) 

Blockchain Funding 

Weekly Blockchain Hack Analysis 

Crypto Breaking News