The post This Week in Crypto: Bitcoin Halving and Other Key Developments in Web3 and Blockchain appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
This analysis report, backed by quality data, covers the major developments the Web3, Blockchain and Crypto sector has experienced this week.
1. Breaking News This Week
Shibarium Introduces Enhanced UI, Expands Wallet Compatibility
Shibarium’s team unveils a faster UI and broader compatibility with wallets like MetaMask and Trust Wallets, enhancing accessibility for users of Shiba Inu’s layer-2 scaling network.
Crypto Trader Convicted for Solana DeFi Manipulation
Avraham Eisenberg found guilty of fraud and market manipulation on Solana’s Mangi Markets in 2022, leading to significant losses for investors before fleeing with funds.
Tether Launches USDT and XAUT on TON Blockchain
Tether expands its stablecoin presence by introducing USDT and XAUT on The Open Network (TON). increasing accessibility across over a dozen blockchain networks beyond its previous offerings.
Binance to Return to Indian Market After Settlement
Binance poised for re-entry into India after setting with a $2 million penalty, subject to oversight by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the finance ministry, following its previous ban.
Interest Peaks in Bitcoin Halving, Hits Historic High
Public curiosity surges as Google searches for “Bitcoin Halving” reach an all-time high, indicating heightened interest and awareness surrounding the event, with search interest steadily rising since the start of 2024.
WorldCoin Plans Ethereum Layer-2 Blockchain for Verified Users
WorldCoin, co-founded by Sam Altman, announces an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain prioritising verified human identities over bots, aiming to expand its user base and enhance security with iris-scanning technology.
Senators Introduce Stablecoin Regulatory Framework Amid Differing Views
Senators Gillibrand and Lummis propose the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act, aiming to regulate stablecoins with a focus on innovation and consumer protection, amidst differing views for Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Tether Expands Beyond Stablecoins, Unveils New Business Divisions
Tether shifts focus towards broader blockchain solutions with the launch of four new divisions: data, finance, power and education, signalling a strategic expansion beyond its traditional USDT offerings
1.1. Bitcoin Halving: An Overview
The blockchain world just saw its fourth Bitcoin halving. The event is set to influence the whole industry positively. It is not just Bitcoin; many other big cryptocurrencies are likely to start going up in value. If we look at how prices have changed in the past, it seems that the whole crypto sector will feel this impact sooner or later. Major crypto currencies like Bitcoin have already shown their bullish sentiments. The price of BTC now stands at $63,953, which was only around $40,077 in late January, this year.
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 ZetaChain, Chiliz, Degen, Filecoin, and Core.
Blockchain 7-Day Change (in %) TVL ZetaChain +105.9% $3,675,442 Chiliz +75.8% $236,976 Degen +32.5% $5,149,557 Filecoin +22.8% $33,603,828 Core +22.3% $10,620,516
As per the analysis using the 7-day change index, ZetaChan shows a 7-day change of +105.9%. Chiliz follows with +75.8%. Degen, FileCoin and Core mark +32.5%, +22.8%, and +22.3% respectively.
2.2. Top Performers: 7-Day Change in Top 5 Blockchains with Highest TVL
Ethereum, TRON, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, and Arbitrum One are the top five blockchains in the market on the basis of TVL and market dominance. Let’s see how the top five blockchains have performed this week, using 7-day TVL change.
Blockchain 7d Change (in %) Dominance (in %) TVL (in Billion) Ethereum -0.8% 61.04% $50,217,857,199 TRON -8.9% 10.09% $8,302,775,713 BNB Smart Chain +3.2% 7.32% $6,020,262,832 Solana -3.0% 4.54% $3,731,497,676 Arbitrum One -14.5% 3.18% $2,617,048,261 Others 13.82% 
As per the analysis made using the 7d change index, BVB Smart Chain shows a positive 7-d change of +3.2%. The other four demonstrate negative growth rates. Arbitrum One records an extreme negative growth of -14.5%. TRON closely follows it in terms of negative growth, with -8.9%.
3. Crypto Market Analysis
The crypto 7-day price change and dominance analysis and top gains and losers analysis are the two prime areas of the crypto market analysis.
3.1. Crypto 7-D Price Change and Dominance Analysis
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, and Solana are the top cryptocurrencies as per the market cap and dominance indices. Let’s analyse their seven-day price change.
Cryptocurrency Dominance Percentage 7-D Change (in %) Price Market Cap Bitcoin 51.84% -5.1% $64,104.32 $1,262,008,035,124 Ethereum 15.1% -5.9% $3,067.66 $367,848,448,519 Tether 4.51% +0.0% $1.00 $109,536,542,042 BNB 3.53% -4.5% $562.42 $86,373,022,127 Solana 2.63% -6.1% $144.58 $64,116,390,944 Others 22.39% 
As per the analysis using the 7-day change index, among the top five cryptocurrencies, except Tether, all the others demonstrate negative changes. Solana exhibits a worst change of -6.1%. Ethereum and Bitcoin, the second power and the most powerful players in the sector, it seems, closely compete with Solana to win the worst performer position, with -5.9% and -5.1%, respectively.
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
Cryptocurrency 7-Day Gain Price Core +28.66% $2.05 Celestia +23.44% $11.58 Arweave +11.36% $29.08 Sui +10.07% $1.36 Axelar +9.53% $1.21
Core, Celestia, Arweave, Sui and Axelar are the top gainers of the week. Core records an impressive gain of +28.66%. Meanwhile, Celestia and Arweave closely follow with +23.44%, and +11.36%, respectively. Sui and Axelar indicate a climb of +10.07%, and +9.53%, respectively.
3.2.2. Top Losers of the Week in Crypto
Cryptocurrency 7-Day Loss Price Nervos Network -26.45% $0.01983 ORDI -25.28% $46.15 Ethena -19.75% $1.03 eCash -17.93% $0.0000514 Bittensor -17.80% $452.06
Nervous Network, ORDI, Ethena, eCash, and Bittensor are the top losers of the week. Nervos Network records a 7-day loss of -26.45%. ORDI and Ethena follow with -25.28%, and -19.75%, respectively. Meanwhile, eCash and Bittensor exhibit a loss of -17.93%, and 17.80%, respectively.
3.3. Stablecoin Weekly Analysis
Tether, USDC, DAI, First Digital USD, and Ethena USDe 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.
Stablecoins Market Dominance (7d) [in %] Market Capitalisation (7d) Trading Volume (7d) Market Capitalisation Tether 70.27% $109,818,847,614 $57,599,947,917 $109,594,205,830 USDC 21.74% $33,914,604,457 $11,719,105,722 $33,921,293,569 Dai 3.28% $5,119,283,867 $1,159,381,630 $5,105,838,891 First Digital USD 2.32% $3,602,025,879 $3,803,425,446 $3,591,307,865 Ethena USDe 1.52% $2,373,483,367 $79,332,736 $2,366,466,334 Others 0.87%
On the basis of the 7-day market dominance index, Tether dominates the market with a dominance percentage of 70.27%. USDC follows with a promising dominance percentage of 21.74%. Dai, First Digital USD and Ethena USDe display 3.28%, 2.32% and 1.52% respectively.
3.3.1. Stablecoin Weekly Price Analysis
Let’s analyse the weekly performance of the top stablecoins further using the seven-day price change index.
Stablecoins 7-Day Price Change (in %) Price Tether +0.0% $1.00 USDC -0.1% $1.00 Dai +0.2% $1.00 First Digital USD -0.1% $0.9995 Ethena USDe -0.2% $1.00
As per the analysis done using the 7-day price change index, Dai records a positive change of +0.2%. Tether, which shows a change of +0.0%, is the only other cryptocurrency that shows a positive change among the top five stablecoins. Ethena USDe showcases a negative change of -0.2%. Both USDC and Dai exhibit a negative 7-day price change of -0.1%.
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 (BITO), VanEck (XBTF), Valkyrie (BTF), Global X (BITS), and Ark/21 Shares (ARKA) are the top Bitcoin Future ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s use the price change percentage index to analyse these ETFs.
Bitcoin Futures ETFs Price Change (Gain/Loss) [in %] Asset Under Management (in Billion) Price ProShares (BITO) +1.19% $598.78M $28.10 VanEck (XBTF) +0.33% $42.41M $39.22 Valkyrie (BTF) +1.41% $38.20M $18.68 Global X (BITS) +2.33% $26.10M $62.26 Ark/21 Shares (ARKA) +1.31% $8.01M $61.72
As per the analysis based on the price change (gain/loss) index, Global X (BITS) exhibits the biggest gain of +2.33%, among the top five Bitcoin Futures ETFs. Valkyrie (BTF) closely follows with +1.41%. Ark/21 Shares (ARKA) and ProShares (BITO) registers gains of +1.31% and +1.19%. Conversely, VanEck (XBTF) only shows a minimal growth of +0.33%.
4.2. Bitcoin Spot ETF Weekly Analysis
Grayscale (GBTC), Blackrock (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), Ark/21 Shares (ARKB), and Bitwise (BITB) are the top Bitcoin Spot ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s analyse them using the price change index.
Bitcoin Spot ETFs Price Change (Gain/Loss) [in %] Asset Under Management (in Billion) Price Grayscale (GBTC) +1.29% $24.33B $57.31 BlackRock (IBIT) +1.27% $17.24B $36.67 Fidelity (FBTC) +1.31% $9.90B $56.32 Ark/21 Shares (ARKB) +1.35% $2.85B $64.42 Bitwise (BITB) +1.24% $2.16B $35.11
As per the analysis made using the price change (gain/loss) index, all the top five spot ETFs show positive changes. Ark/21 Shares (ARKB) display the biggest change of +1.35%. Fidelity (FBTC) closely follows with +1.31%. Grayscale (GBTC) and BlackRock (IBIT) record positive changes of +1.29% and +1.27%. With +1.24%, Bitwise also showcases a positive change.
5. DeFi Market Weekly Status Analysis
Lido, EigenLayer, AAVE, Maker, and JustLend are the five top DeFi protocols on the basis of TVL. Let’s analyse its weekly performance using the 7d Change index.
DeFi Protocols 7d Change (in Total Value Locked) [in %] TVL Lido -6.87% $28.72B EigenLayer +2.53% $13.19B AAVE -2.62% $10.341B Maker -1.15% $7.869B JustLend -11.09% $6.206B
As per the analysis on the basis of the 7d change (in TVL) index, Only EigenLayer records a positive change among the top five DeFi protocols. It shows a moderate positive change of +2.53%. Notably, JustLend exhibits an extreme negative change of -11.09%. Lido also showcases a unimpressive negative change of -6.87%. AAVE and Maker demonstrate mild changes of -2.62% and -1.15%.
6. NFT Marketplace: A Basic Weekly Analysis
Blur, Blur Aggregator, Cryptopunks, Opensea, and Gem are the top NFT marketplaces on the basis of market share. Let’s analyse them using the Volume Change (change of last 7d volume over the previous 7d volume) index.
NFT Marketplaces Market Share Volume Change [Last 7 Day over the Previous 7 Day Volume] 7-day Rolling Volume 7-day Rolling Trades Blur 66.03% -1.01% 14181.66 24495 Blur Aggregator 24.69% -1.71% 6711.58 11806 Cryptopunks 3.87% -26.20% 769.87 16 Opensea 1.99% -51.86% 336.26 2369 Gem 0.84% +25.44% 543.87 1833 Others 2.57%
As per the analysis made using the volume change index, among the top five marketplaces, only Gem displays a positive change. It shows a change of +25.44%. Meanwhile, Opensea showcases an extremely worse change of -51.86%. With -26.20%, Cryptopunks competes with Opensea for the worst performer position. Compared to these two, Blur Aggregator and Blur record mild changes.
6.1. Top NFT Collectible Sales this Week
$PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #e7b8, $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #983b, $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #5d63, $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #456f, and $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #2707 are the top NFT collectable sales reported this week in the NFT market landscape.
NFT Collectibles Price (in USD) $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #e7b8 $317,718.32 $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #983b $254,831.23 $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #5d63 $254,062.67 $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #456f $250,882.36 $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #2707 $245,243.28
$PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #e7b8 was sold for a huge sum of $317,718.32. $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #983b and $PUPS BRC-20 NFTs #5d63, the NFTs of similar nature as that of the top collectible sold this week, follow closely. $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #456f and $CATS BRC-20 NFTs #2707 were sold for $250,882.36, and $245,243.28, respectively.
7. Web3 Weekly Funding Analysis
7.1. General Crypto Fundraising Trend Analysis
The two prime areas of the general crypto fundraising trend analysis are the crypto fundraising by category analysis and the top crypto investment locations analysis.
7.1.1. Crypto Fundraising by Category This Week
Blockchain Infrastructure, Blockchain Services, CeFi, Chain, DeFi, and GameFi are the categories which have witnessed activities this week. Let’s analyse them using the Number of Fundraising Rounds and Funds Raised in USD.
Category Number of Fundraising Rounds April 15-21, 2024 Funds Raised in USDApril 15-21, 2024 Blockchain Infrastructure 2 $6.80M Blockchain Service 9 $35.28M CeFi 2 N/A Chain 4 $5.40M DeFI 9 $64.30M GameFi 2 $10.00M
As per the analysis done on the basis of the number of fundraising rounds index and funds raised index, the DeFi segment raised the biggest amount of $64.30M. The Blockchain Services sector is the category that arrived second, raising a sum of $35.28M. GameFi gained over $10.00M. Blockchain Infrastructure and Chain secured $6.80M and $5.40M, respectively.
7.1.2. Top Crypto Investment Locations This Week
Apart from undisclosed, the US, Germany and Singapore are the top crypto investment locations this week.
Crypto Investment Locations Funds Raised in (%) Funds Raised in USD Number of Fundraising Rounds Undisclosed 57% $69.28M 18 United States 29% $35.10M 5 Germany 12% $15.00M 1 Singapore 2% $2.40M 1
As per the analysis based on the number of fundraising rounds (in %) index and the fund raised (in %) index, undisclosed remains in the top position with $69.28 million funds raised, through 18 fundraising rounds. With $35.10 million raised through just five rounds, the United States closely follows. Germany, with $15.00 million in one round, and Singapore, with $2.40 million in one round, enjoy the third and fourth positions in terms of funds raised.
7.2. ICO Landscape: A Weekly Overview
Nuklai, Sharpe AI, Omni Network, Y8U AI, and Snapmuse.io are the major ICOs that ended this week. Let’s analyse how much amount they received.
ICO Fund Received Token Price Fundraising Goal Total Tokens Token (Available for Sale) Nuklai $320,000 $0.003 $360,000 10,000,000,000 N/A Sharpe AI $1,800,000 $0.02 $100,000 100,000,000 12.75% Omni Network $18,140,000 N/A 3,500,000 Tokens 100,000,000 N/A Y8U AI $900,000 $0.02 $100,000 1,000,000,000 6.5% Snapmuse.io $1,550,000 $0.02 $800,000 500,000,000 26%
This week, Omni Network is the one which raised the largest amount. It raised somewhere around $18,140,000. Sharpe AI and Snapmuse.io raised $1,800,000, and $1,550,000, respectively.
8. Weekly Blockchain Hack Analysis
As of April 20, 2024, hackers have stolen a significant $7.77 billion. The majority, approximately $5.85 billion, targeted decentralised finance platforms. Another portion, roughly $2.83 billion, was taken from bridges connecting different blockchain networks.
Grand Base experienced a major hack this week, on 15th April, 2024. Nearly $1.7 million was hacked using the technique of private key compromise.
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.
