Brevan Howard Digital has made 15 predictions for 2024.
Gaming and brands 1. 2x-3x+ growth in Web3 game releases 2. More of the worldâs largest Web2 game companies embrace Web3 in 2024 3. More Web3 enhanced games in the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, and the Epic Games Store now that we have clarity on their respective policies related to games that implement Web3 technologies 4. We predict the gaming token market cap grows to $40 billion 5. âForever Brandsâ continue to ramp up in Web3
Stablecoins 6. Stablecoin volumes do surpass Visa in 2024 7. Percentage of stablecoin volume on Solana doubles 8. A decentralized synthetic USD stablecoin (ETH LST vs short perp) breaches $1 billion TVL in 2024
Ethereum and transaction flow 9. The proportion of staked ETH that is liquid staked breaches 50% 10. Total ETH outstanding hits 119,600,000 11. We predict the number of private transactions included in blocks to be twice where it is now (currently around 11%) 12. Gasless transactions become significantly more prevalent across crypto 13. Rollups hit the gas pedal
Markets 14. Token launch window stays open 15. Abu Dhabi leans further into crypto and founders lean further into Abu Dhabi #BTC #USDT
Bitcoin Dips Under $41K to Begin the Week in Red As Memecoin, Ordinals Frenzy Clogs Up Blockchains
Bitcoin [BTC] is opening the trading week in Asia down 1.6%, trading above $41,000. Ether [ETH] is also down 2% and is trading above $2,100.
Data from Coinglass have been $103.5 million in liquidations of token-tracked futures in the past 12 hours, and $95 million of them have been longs, or bets on higher prices. Of the $103.5 million in total liquidations, $33 million in bitcoin positions were liquidated with $29 million of those being long bitcoin positions.
Lucy Hu, a Senior Analyst with Hong Kong-based digital asset management firm Metalpha says the broader market continues to hold up quite well despite the recent Ledger hack with rate cuts on the horizon and things like ordinals driving more interest in bitcoin.
"The massive Ledger hack did swing some sentiment in the DeFi space and raises important questions on wallet security," she said in an email interview. "Besides, the stellar rise of Bitcoin Ordinals continues to fuel enthusiasm for Bitcoin miners, who have been heavily rewarded. We expect the long-term growth momentum of Bitcoin to remain on track."
Predictions still optimistic
Despite bitcoin's current correction phase, end-of-year predictions for 2024-2025 still remain optimistic especially when compared to last year's dour predictions of $10-12k bitcoin.
In a recent end-of-year report, Woo Network targets a $75K price point for BTC for "early 2024." Bitwise, has a similar price target, with the fund predicting that bitcoin will trade above $80,000.
"Spot bitcoin ETFs will be approved, and collectively will be the most successful ETF launch of all time," Bitwise also predicted. "Coinbaseâs revenue will double, beating Wall Street expectations by at least 10x."
Memecoins clogging up Layer-1s
Gas fees are spiking on Ethereum and many layer-1 chains, such as Avalanche, as dozens of new meme coins flood the market.
Avalanche has generated $5 million in fees over the last 24 hours, while Ethereum, with its significantly larger market cap, has generated $13.52 million.
Arbitrum and Optimism have also seen a large spike in gas fees during the last week.
Some of these layer-1 tokens declined faster than bitcoin or ether, with AVAX down 6% and Solana's SOL token down 4%.
BONK's Surge Send Prices of Solana Saga Phone Flying to $2K
A dog-themed meme token may have just resurrected sales of Solanaâs Saga phone â with some now selling for as much as $5,000 after earlier being deemed a âfailureâ by its makers.
Several Saga phones on online marketplace eBay (EBAY) have been sold for upward of $2,000 apiece, site data shows. Most of these phones are listed as âsealed and unopened,â and their sellers are predominately from the U.S.
One phone was sold for as high as $5,000, The Block earlier reported.
Sales of Solana Saga phones picked up last week as some arbitrage traders appeared to be chasing a 30 million BONK token airdrop given to every phone owner. The airdrop was worth over $700 at peak last week â for a phone that costs $599.
Earlier in November, the dog-themed BONK gained rapid popularity among blockchain users, spiking as much as 110% during one 24-hour period and extending 30-day gains to over 700%.
That seemingly lifted the fortunes of the Saga phone, whose disappointing sales prompted uncertainty about its future previously
âWe havenât seen a ton of signal whether thatâs a compelling enough thing to sell 50,000 units,â Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko said during an interview at the time. âI think 25,000 to 50,000 units to feel like there is a hardcore user base for developers to be compelled to ship applications.â
The phone first went on sale earlier this year, and in August, its price was cut to $599 from $1,000.
Saga has since sold out in the U.S. and European Union, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal posted last Friday.
Tether Announces Wallet-freezing Policy for OFAC-sanctioned Persons
Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced another step toward cooperation with law enforcement and regulatory agencies by initiating a voluntary wallet-freezing policy, according to a blog post on Dec. 9.Â
Since Dec. 1, Tether has been offering on the secondary market controls to freeze activity connected with Sanctioned persons on the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Companies and individuals controlled or owned by sanctioned countries are included on the list.
According to Tether, the policy will supplement existing security protocols and is a âproactive effort to work even more closely with global regulators and law enforcement agencies.â
Tether Introduces New Policy to Strengthen Ecosystem SecurityRead more âŹïžhttps://t.co/kCCFhLflfb
â Tether (@Tether_to) December 9, 2023
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has been using the list to curb crypto transactions potentially connected to illegal activities, including funding terrorism and unauthorized fentanyl distribution.
Wallets previously added to the SDN List have already been frozen by Tether, a move that contradicts the companyâs previous positions on the matter. In August 2022, for example, Tether announced it wouldnât proactively freeze sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses unless instructed by law enforcement. According to the OFAC, individuals and criminal organizations have used Tornado Cash to launder over $7 billion in cryptocurrency since 2019.
"By executing voluntary wallet address freezing of new additions to the SDN List and freezing previously added addresses, we will be able to further strengthen the positive usage of stablecoin technology and promote a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users," said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
The company based in Hong Kong is behind the stablecoin Tether (USDT), whose market capitalization reached all-time highs during the crackdown on crypto firms in the U.S. over the past months. Currently, its market capitalization is at $90 billion, indicating a strong demand for the stablecoin that holds nearly 70% of the market.
Magazine:Â Lawmakersâ fear and doubt drives proposed crypto regulations in US
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