Compiled by: Mars Finance
1. Important events in the industry in the past week
1. Industry
Gold ETFs have seen outflows of about $3 billion since the beginning of the year, and some of the funds may have entered the Bitcoin market
According to Bloomberg data disclosed by Bitcoin Munger, various gold ETFs have outflowed about $3 billion since the beginning of 2024, while the spot gold price has fallen by 3% this year. On the other hand, the inflow of funds into Bitcoin ETFs has reached $4.1 billion, and the spot Bitcoin has increased by 16% this year. Some of the outflow from gold may have entered the Bitcoin market. However, analysts pointed out that although Bitcoin recently broke through the $1 trillion mark, this trend still cannot determine a fundamental change in investor preferences relative to the $13 trillion gold market.
Smart Layer announces SLN token economics: maximum supply is 100 million, community incentive pool accounts for 4%
According to official news, Smart Layer announced the SLN token economics, with a maximum supply of 100 million, and the specific distribution is as follows:
Seed investors: 6.8125%, 6-month cliff, 18-month linear vesting;
Other investors: 19.6364%, 6-month cliff, 12-month linear vesting;
Team and equity investors: 22.96%, 6-month cliff, 36-month linear vesting;
Node rewards: 20%, released from February 1, 2025;
Ecosystem Fund: 18.4%, TGE: 20%, 48-month linear vesting unlocking;
Treasury/Reserves: 4%, TGE: 100%;
Community incentive pool: 4%, TGE: 100%;
Marketing and partners: 2.1911%, TGE: 100%;
Airdrop: 2%, TGE: 100%.
It is reported that SLN airdrop claims will go online at 15:30 on February 23, Singapore time.
Grayscale submits privacy-focused ETF application to SEC
Nate Geraci, president of ETFStore, said in a post on X platform that Grayscale has submitted an application document to the US SEC for the Grayscale Privacy ETF, which focuses on privacy protection protocol assets. The ETF is based on an index and will track companies involved in data security and protection, cybersecurity products and services (including blockchain-based technology solutions, etc.), and will also hold shares of Grayscale Zcash Trust.
In May 2023, Grayscale announced that it had submitted Form N-1A registration statements to the U.S. SEC regarding the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF, Grayscale Global Bitcoin Composite ETF and Grayscale Privacy ETF. All three funds are series funds of the Grayscale Funds Trust.
Chiliz releases Chiliz Chain Token Economics 2.0: CHZ inflation rate will gradually drop to 1.88% over 14 years and then remain unchanged
Sports and entertainment public chain Chiliz released Chiliz Chain Token Economics 2.0 on the X platform. The inflation rate of CHZ will decrease year by year from 8.8% until it drops to 1.88% after 14 years and remains unchanged every year thereafter. In addition, regarding the transaction fee destruction mechanism, Chiliz Chain will implement EIP-1559, in which the vast majority of accumulated gas fees will be destroyed at the protocol level.
Dymension modular liquidity layer and embedded AMM are now live
According to the official announcement, the Dymension modular liquidity layer has been launched. At the same time, the Dymension embedded AMM has also been launched. It is reported that this launch will establish Dymension as the foundation of the settlement and liquidity layer, allowing users and protocols to share liquidity on the basis of shared security, while laying the foundation for the next stage of licensed RollApps.
RSS3 announces that the mainnet will be launched soon, introducing a fully upgraded RSS3 network infrastructure
Decentralized content distribution and social protocol RSS3 announced that the mainnet will be launched soon. RSS3 is releasing the RSS3 Mainnet Whitepaper, which will introduce a fully upgraded RSS3 network infrastructure to facilitate the flow of OpenInformation in the OpenWeb in a permissionless manner, where information flows openly without any restrictions on creators, curators, consumers, and builders.
Users of OpenInformation can help index, structure, and deliver open information to consumers by running nodes in a decentralized manner on RSS3DSL, while earning RSS3 rewards on RSS3VSL.
Starknet has started distributing STRK tokens for the airdrop claim contract
According to Starknet blockchain browser Voyager, Starknet has begun to allocate STRK tokens for airdrop claim contracts. Among them:
STRK Provisions Claim: Starknet (expected to be an airdrop contract for Starknet users) contract currently holds 120 million STRK;
STRK Provisions Claim: Ethereum currently holds 40 million STRK;
STRK Provisions Claim: The GitHub contract currently holds 15 million STRK;
STRK Provisions Claim: StarkEx contracts currently hold 7.5 million STRK.
Eligible TIA stakers can now claim AltLayer airdrops
According to the relevant page information, TIA stakers who meet certain conditions can apply for airdrops on the AltLayer official page.
Earlier news, on February 2, AltLayer stated that community members who staked TIA locally or through LST provider MilkyWay before January 17 were eligible for the ALT airdrop. Users who staked at least 35 TIA at the time of the snapshot were eligible for the ALT airdrop, and a total of 94,759 addresses were eligible for the airdrop.
HKMA releases circular on sale and distribution of tokenized products
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued a circular on the sale and distribution of tokenized products, setting out the HKMA's expected regulatory standards for authorized institutions to comply with when selling and distributing tokenized products to customers. The HKMA believes that it is time to provide guidance on activities related to tokenized products and provide clear regulatory requirements for the banking industry to support the industry's continued innovation and realize the benefits of tokenization, while taking appropriate safeguards from the perspective of consumer/investor protection. As a general principle, the existing regulatory requirements and consumer/investor protection measures for the sale and distribution of a product also apply to the product sold and distributed in a tokenized form because its terms, features and risks (except for the risks caused by the tokenization itself) are similar to those of the relevant products. In addition to the general principles, authorized institutions should implement consumer/investor protection measures on due diligence, disclosure and risk management for tokenized products.
Huobi HK has submitted an application for a virtual asset trading platform license to the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission
The official website of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission shows that Huobi HK has submitted an application for a virtual asset trading platform license to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. The application information shows that the company name of the virtual asset trading platform operator submitted by Huobi HK is "HBGL Hong Kong Limited" and the application submission time is February 20, 2024.
Kelp DAO launches KEP, a points token, to introduce liquidity to EigenLayer points
According to the official announcement, the liquidity staking platform Kelp DAO announced the launch of the points token KEP, which aims to introduce liquidity to EigenLayer points.
The EigenLayer points generated by users staking in Kelp DAO can be exchanged for KEP (ERC-20 token) at a ratio of 1:1, and can be freely transferred and traded. At the same time, KEP holders will receive rewards in proportion to the EigenLayer points represented by the KEP tokens they hold.
Officials said that the KEP token claim page will be launched soon.
Reddit Files for IPO and Invests Part of Its Cash in Bitcoin and Ethereum
The American social media platform Reddit submitted an IPO application on the New York Stock Exchange and said it would invest part of its excess cash reserves in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and may continue to make such investments in the future.
Documents submitted to the SEC show that Reddit also owns Ethereum and Matic as a payment method for the sale of certain virtual goods, and may continue to do so in the future. The amount of Ether and Matic obtained through the sale of virtual goods in the years ending December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023 is not large. It is reported that Tencent holds 6.4% of the company's Class A shares, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman holds 4.5% of Class A shares.
StarkWare changes token unlocking schedule, early contributors and investors will unlock 580 million tokens by the end of the year
StarkWare released an update on the X platform saying that after listening to feedback from ecosystem friends and collaborators, it is changing the lock-up schedule for StarkWare's early contributors and investors to make it more gradual. The revised schedule is as follows:
0.64% of the initially minted 10 billion tokens (64 million tokens) will be unlocked on April 15th, instead of the originally planned 13.4% (1.34 billion tokens).
Gradual unlocking will continue at a rate of 0.64% (64 million tokens) per month until March 15, 2025, after which it will change to 1.27% (127 million tokens) per month over the next 24 months until March 15, 2027.
According to the new unlocking plan, 580 million tokens held by early contributors and investors will be unlocked by the end of 2024, compared to the previous plan of 2 billion. An additional 1.4 billion tokens will be gradually unlocked by the end of 2025, another 1.5 billion by the end of 2026, and 380 million by March 15, 2027.
2. Sound
Dmail: The second part of the quarterly airdrop will be carried out in 4-6 months, accounting for 2.25% of the total
Dmail published an article stating that it will conduct the second part of the quarterly airdrop within 4-6 months, accounting for 2.25% of the total, while reserving 38% of the token supply for the community. In addition, the MailtoEarn reward program will be launched, providing rewards not only through Dmail’s own tokens, but also through the tokens of partners, thereby increasing user participation in the ecosystem.
Ordinals Developer: Runestone airdrop window is expected to be between Friday and next Wednesday
Ordinals developer Leonidas posted on the X platform that the Runestone airdrop window is expected to be between Friday and next Wednesday.
Vitalik: It’s worth adding some complexity to L1 to reduce the code burden of L2
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said on social media that the trade-off between L1 bug risk and L2 bug risk needs to be reconsidered. "If there is a problem with L1, developers only need one day to recover; if there is a problem with L2, it may cause a large loss of assets for users. Therefore, it is worth adding some complex features to L1 to reduce the code burden of L2 and make L2 relatively simple."
Arthur Hayes: The importance of narrative in the crypto market often exceeds the technology itself, and attention is being paid to altcoins
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes wrote that the importance of narrative in the crypto market often exceeds the technology itself, because investors often rely on the evaluation of others and the spread of stories to make investment decisions.
Arthur Hayes said that as Maelstrom's chief investment officer, he is actually more like a "chief narrative officer" whose job is to tell and spread stories that can arouse widespread discussion in order to succeed in the crypto market. The better and more concise the story, the faster it will spread. The more widely the story spreads, the value of the token associated with the story will increase.
In addition, Arthur Hayes said that the US Bitcoin spot ETF and the expected Ethereum spot ETF will push up the prices of these two assets. He already holds Bitcoin and Ethereum and may buy more, but overall he is shifting his attention to altcoins.
Matrixport: BTC price is expected to reach $63,000 in March
Matrixport reports that BTC price is on track to achieve its target of $63,000 by March 2024.
Matrixport said historical data shows that Bitcoin prices usually rebound during halvings.
Catalysts for Bitcoin include: Approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF: The fund has seen $10 billion in inflows. Ongoing marketing campaigns by these ETF issuers will continue to support Bitcoin prices as more investors integrate Bitcoin with traditional portfolios. Bitcoin halving: Bitcoin prices tend to rise by more than 32% around the halving, based on the two months before the halving. Expectations of a rate cut after the Fed's FOMC meeting: Two weeks after the June FOMC meeting, when the Fed is likely to make its first official rate cut. U.S. presidential election: Bitcoin tends to rise in election years, with an average return of +192%.
3. Data
This week’s unlocking data summary: AVAX will unlock approximately $379 million worth of tokens
According to Token Unlocks data, AVAX, ID, DYDX and other tokens will have a one-time large-scale unlock this week, including:
DYDX (dYdX) will unlock 575,000 tokens at 7:00 on February 21, worth approximately $1.78 million, accounting for 0.19% of the circulating supply;
AVAX (Avalanche) will unlock 9.54 million tokens at 16:00 on February 22, worth approximately $379 million, accounting for 2.6% of the circulating supply;
ID (SPACE ID) will unlock 18.49 million tokens at 16:00 on February 22, worth approximately US$11.58 million, accounting for 4.29% of the circulating supply.
Bitcoin ETF total market value exceeds $40 billion
According to Coinglass data, the total market value of Bitcoin ETFs (including spot and futures ETFs) exceeded US$40 billion, reaching US$40.027 billion, and the total assets under management (AUM) was US$36.85 billion. Among them: · GBTC has a market value of US$23.226 billion and an AUM of US$23.2 billion; · IBIT has a market value of US$6.398 billion and an AUM of US$5.68 billion; · FBTC has a market value of US$4.49 billion and an AUM of US$4.25 billion.
Crypto wallet MetaMask's monthly active users exceed 30 million, approaching a record high
Crypto wallet MetaMask’s monthly active users grew 55% in four months, jumping from 19 million in September to over 30 million in January, approaching the 31.7 million active users at the peak of the last bull run.
Last month, MetaMask enabled Blockaid alerts on the Ethereum mainnet by default through its browser extension, and now they are doing the same for Polygon, Arbitrium, Optimism, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Linea through the app and browser extension.
2. In-depth articles worth reading again and again
NFT Splitting Protocol ERC404, a Flash in the Pan?
ERC404 is different from previous NFT splitting schemes. It solves the splitting problem from the bottom of the protocol. The amazing increase also reflects the pursuit of new concepts in the cryptocurrency circle. However, it is still in its early stages and there is still a lot of room for improvement. Whether the EIP proposal can be passed in the future is also unknown.
Technical deconstruction of CKB public chain: Why can it speed up BTC's legitimacy layer 2?
The Cell model is a leading transaction model that is more sustainable and flexible, and can expand the scope of application of the UTXO model. It is also the key for CKB to inherit the security of the BTC main network while "speeding up" the slow expansion of Bitcoin such as the Lightning Network and RGB.
Missed the Starknet airdrop, learn about the 40 million STRK open incentive plan
The Starknet Foundation launched the "Starknet DeFi Spring" program, which will last for six to eight months and will issue 40 million STRKs to participants in DeFi protocols. The program determines and distributes rewards every two weeks and is expected to last until October 2024. The AMM protocols Ekubo, MySwap, Nostra, and Haiko in the Starknet ecosystem can earn STRK rewards by providing liquidity. StarkDeFi is a comprehensive DeFi solution on Starknet, offering a variety of products, including AMM, limit order protocols, etc. Starknet DeFi plans to provide lending services, and SithSwap has completed its seed round of financing, which will open on March 21. Participating protocols include zkLend, Vesu, Nimbor, Carmine, and ZKX, injecting new vitality into the Starknet ecosystem.
DeFi yields surpass government bonds, is the RWA narrative going to fail again?
Fidelity predicts that institutional investors will get involved in DeFi in 2024, focusing on Bitcoin mining, stablecoins and DeFi. DeFi's yield rate has declined and cannot attract large and institutional investors, so the introduction of real-world assets (RWA) has become a solution. As DeFi's yield rate exceeds that of U.S. Treasury bonds, investors' demand for tokenized Treasury bonds has increased, hoping to attract more traditional funds to enter and create a new round of cryptocurrency cycles. However, RWA is still subject to regulatory restrictions and may face the risk of declining returns.
The trend of combining image and currency continues, which new protocols can take over ERC-404?
Pandora's success has driven a new crypto narrative, with new projects using the ERC-404 protocol standard to create NFTs and gaining support from top crypto exchanges. However, ERC-404 still faces the problem of high gas fees, and new standards such as ERC-1111 and ERC-X may improve the shortcomings of the combination of graphs and coins. REDT1 tokens will be minted in 2024, 50% of which will be minted on February 10. ERC-X combines multiple standards, such as ERC-20, ERC-404, ERC-721, etc., mainly combining the ERC-1155Delta protocol, which has lower gas fees than other standards. However, these "ERC" standards are not officially recognized.
Everything You Need to Know About Ronin Chain and PIXEL Airdrop
The article describes the development of the NFT and gaming markets, noting that NFT valuations continue to climb, but fall later than other cryptocurrencies. Ronin is a gaming chain that recently announced an airdrop of $PIXEL tokens to $RON holders, which attracted a lot of attention. $PIXEL is a pixelated farming simulator where users can earn and withdraw redeemable tokens by completing tasks. The airdrop will be carried out in two phases, with each RON holder receiving a different number of PIXEL tokens. This move has attracted much attention to Ronin and the gaming market. The $PIXEL token was recently launched in partnership with Mario Newfa, attracting speculators. Ronin focuses on gaming, but its DeFi capabilities may be weaker than other chains. PIXEL and RON prices have skyrocketed, with the annual interest rate for staking RON exceeding 15%. PIXEL has performed well in price before and after the TGE, and RON has $2 million in OTC trading volume through the airdrop configuration of Whales Market.
Innovative experiment or short-term speculation: Discussion on the ERC-404 track
ERC-404 is an emerging Ethereum token standard that aims to bring innovation and possibilities to the crypto market. It was inspired by the Pandora project launched by an anonymous team and has attracted attention from the crypto market. ERC-404 combines the ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards, solves the NFT liquidity problem, creates a fragmented NFT collection, and brings new opportunities to the market. However, investors need to pay attention to technical and market risks, choose trustworthy projects, and pay close attention to market dynamics.
Starknet airdrop analysis: A user won 1,358 addresses and made a profit of 3 million US dollars. Is it better to enter the market early than to interact more?
The Starknet project has opened an airdrop program, and 1.3 million addresses are eligible. As of February 22, 427 million tokens have been received, and the largest single address has received 1,532,750 STRK tokens, worth about $3 million. Early community members plan to reward individuals who contribute to technical discussions, ecosystem projects, organizing events, and publishing branded content, but the community questions the airdrop restrictions and airdrops to developers who have not interacted. Unclaimed tokens will be reclaimed after 4 months, sparking controversy over regulation and fairness.
How to view Vitalik's reversal of views: "light" Layer2, "heavy" Layer1
Vitalik is committed to promoting the development of Ethereum L2, which has expanded rapidly over the past year. Ethereum mainnet accounts for 60% of the total network TVL ranking, and L2 chains occupy three of the top ten. Vitalik's confidence in simplifying L1 and complicating L2 has declined, probably because of L2 security issues. Ethereum needs to accelerate changes to improve security and competitiveness. In order to remain competitive, Ethereum must accelerate changes, including reducing Layer2 costs and improving security. The consensus layer cannot be modularized, but by reducing costs and improving security, Ethereum still maintains its core competitiveness. ZKEVM may alleviate the security risks of Layer2, but if there is a problem, Layer1 can be fixed immediately. Ethereum and Bitcoin are both redefining their respective layers, and L2 upgrades may make them true Layer0. V God's proposal may make EVM more vulnerable, bringing opportunities to other public chains such as Sol and Sui.
The night before ORDI’s stock price was pulled up, the story of how OTC traders got rich overnight
OTC transactions are common in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but there are risks. The quotation model proposed by Cai Bai has improved market transparency, but OTC dealers still play an important role. COOK's double-staking model has attracted people, but there are also cases of default. With the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, more and more projects have their own trading markets, resulting in a shrinking market capacity for OTC dealers. Now, sporadic OTC transactions are mainly concentrated in large transactions or between large households, and ordinary small transactions are completed through centralized markets. OTC dealer Water has returned to the state of researching new projects and investments.
Should STRK be sold? Find inspiration from Wintermute’s market-making style
The Starknet airdrop has ended. Wintermute is an active market maker that provides liquidity to more than 50 exchanges. Their market-making style is influenced by many factors, and a long-term investment strategy is recommended. The Arbitrum Foundation received 40 million ARBs and proposed to introduce a decentralized autonomous organization and apply for a 750 million ARB funding grant, but it caused governance chaos and FUD sentiment. StarkWare announced an update to the lock-up schedule for early contributors and investors, which may affect the price of STRK. It is recommended to pay attention to market trends and personal risk tolerance. Those who missed the airdrop can learn about other opportunities. The "Starknet DeFi Spring" program launched by the Starknet Foundation will last for six to eight months and will issue 40 million STRKs to users participating in the DeFi protocol. Those who are interested can learn about the Starknet ecological projects participating in the program.
If you missed out on WLD, are you still watching FDV’s cryptocurrency trading?
The price of WLD tokens rose from $2 to $9, sparking market disagreements. FDV refers to the fully diluted value of a token, but WLD's FDV has exceeded OpenAI. WLD has a low circulation volume, but it cannot be withdrawn. As the crypto industry develops, demand increases, the total amount of tokens increases, and the unlocking time becomes longer. Project parties need to continue to work hard on unlocking timing and creating demand. The importance of FDV has changed in the crypto industry, and token prices are affected by supply and demand and narrative power. The inflow and outflow of funds from BTC ETFs verified the market situation, and ETH was invested in the staking track, resulting in a decrease in circulation. Market logic and standards are also changing, and the substantial gap between ARB and OP can be seen as a weather vane for the victory or defeat of the FDV theory. In the crypto market, focusing on a single indicator will not allow progress.
There are constant doubts behind the surge in TVL. Can Blast absorb the risks accumulated before its mainnet launch?
Blast is a diverse crypto ecosystem that includes multiple projects such as Penguins NFT, Biconomy, Particle Trade, etc. The key dates on its roadmap are February and May 2024, and the mainnet launch date will be announced this week. Since its launch last year, Blast has set new TVL records, second only to Arbitrum and Optimism. Ordinary users can participate in airdrops through Wen Exchange and Blaster. The initial circulation valuation is expected to be US$600 million, and the market value may reach US$3 billion to US$10 billion. Blast has attracted more than 120,000 users and is the sixth-largest Layer 2 platform in the world in terms of TVL, with innovative applications and high growth potential.
