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In March, bitcoin miners amassed an unprecedented level of revenue not seen in the previous 12 months, hitting a high of $2.01 billion from rewards and transfer fees. Of this total, $85.81 million was earned from transaction fees over the past month. Historic Month for Bitcoin Miners — Income Peaks at $2 Billion As we […]
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Bitcoin Miners’ Earnings Hit Record $2 Billion in March Ahead of Halving Event
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Dogecoin Open Interest Hits Record $2.2 Billion
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The Dogecoin open interest has been on the rise over the past few weeks, breaking and setting new all-time highs twice this March. Unsurprisingly, the price of the meme coin has been reflecting the growth seen by its open interest.
This recent bullish momentum pushed the price of DOGE to break the $0.22 mark, its highest point in three years. However, the question is – how far can this rally go for the foremost meme token?
Dogecoin Open Interest Breaks Above $2 Billion
According to data from CoinGlass, the Dogecoin open interest broke through the $2 billion mark on Friday, March 29. Although DOGE’s open interest stands at around 1.96 billion at press time, it rose as high as $2.21 billion on Friday, a new record for the meme coin.
Open interest is a metric that measures the total number of futures or options contracts of a particular cryptocurrency (Dogecoin, in this case) in the market at a given time. It provides insight into the amount of money investors are pouring into DOGE derivatives at this time.
The meme token’s open interest has had quite a performance since the start of March. DOGE’s open interest rose to $1.6 billion (an all-time high at the time) earlier in the month before retracing to below $1 billion by March 20.
It is worth noting that there has been a high correlation between open interest and Dogecoin’s price, with both climbing at the same time and at almost the same pace. Typically, a rising open interest can suggest a continuation of the trend around the asset’s price at the moment.
Ultimately, the current high open interest for DOGE could mean a rapid price movement for the meme coin in the near future. However, it would be difficult to tell the direction in which this spurt of volatility would take the price of Dogecoin, especially as open interest is not the most optimal indicator of trends or price action.
DOGE Price Overview
As of this writing, the Dogecoin price stands at $0.204, reflecting a 4.6% decline in the last 24 hours. While the meme token’s price has somewhat struggled since hitting the three-year high, it has managed to retain most of its profit from the past week.
According to CoinGecko data, the Dogecoin price is up by a whopping 18% in the past seven days. This positive performance has strengthened DOGE’s position as the largest meme coin in the market, with a market capitalization of $29 billion.
Dogecoin price sees slight correction on the daily timeframe | Source: DOGEUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
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Reflecting on Coinbase Ventures’ record year in 2021 | by Coinbase | Jan, 2022
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Around the Block from Coinbase Ventures sheds light on key trends in crypto. Written by Connor Dempsey, Ryan Yi & Justin Mart.
2021 was a historic year for both crypto markets and venture capital funding. Driven in part by institutional inflows, Bitcoin soared to new highs to start the year, the entire market followed suit nearing a record $3T market cap in November. Meanwhile, $30B in venture funding poured into the space: more than all prior years of crypto’s history combined.
2021 was also a record year for Coinbase Ventures, with just under 150 deals, averaging a new deal every 2.5 days. On a cumulative basis, more than 90% of the capital Coinbase Ventures has deployed since inception was deployed in 2021, reflecting an accelerated pace of activity in our fourth year of operation.
Coinbase Ventures is among the most active corporate venture funds in operation, with the mandate of increasing economic freedom around the world by supporting the leading entrepreneurs and projects in the ecosystem. Ultimately, we see crypto and Web3 as a rising tide that lifts all boats, Coinbase included, and Coinbase Ventures is dedicated to making investments that are crucial to the space’s overall growth.
In this edition of Around The Block, we’ll peer into the future through the lens of Coinbase Ventures’ 2021 activity. (Learn how Ventures aligns with Coinbase and its customers here).
Coinbase Venture’s portfolio now consists of over 250 companies, and broadly breaks down across the following verticals.
Let’s break down the pie, slice by slice.
Protocols & Web3 infrastructure
2021 saw crypto reach new heights in terms of utility, particularly in the nascent “Web3” space, which we generally think of as a trustless, permissionless, and decentralized internet that leverages blockchain technology: essentially, the plumbing that underpins everything from DeFi, NFTs, metaverses, and DAOs. At the bottom of the Web3 stack sit Layer 1 protocols, led by Ethereum, but 2021 saw Web3 begin to expand to other Layer 1s like Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, Terra, Flow, among dozens of others.
To help scale existing Layer 1s and enable higher throughput, we supported Layer 2 solutions including Matter Labs, Optimism, and Arbitrum. As multiple Layer 1s have proliferated, so has the demand to safely and easily move funds across blockchains. As such, Ventures’ was active in investing in projects working to facilitate this cross-chain movement, including Biconomy, Movr, LayerZero, Chainflip, and more. We also observed and funded new protocols working to bring better privacy to Web3 through various zero-knowledge solutions (Aleo, MobileCoin, and a third TBA).
We were also active across the infrastructure layer of the Web3 stack: primitives that form the backbone of user applications. Specifically, technologies that introduce standards to Web3 for data storage (Arweave), messaging (XMTP), and identity (Spruce). Given that 2021 was a great year for DAOs, we were active across infrastructure projects focused on enabling DAO creation/incorporation (Syndicate, Utopia), discovery/participation (Snapshot/Consensys’ Metamask), payroll/operations (Diagonal), and coordination (Orca).
Given investments made over the year, in 2022 we expect to see Web3 mature across multiple Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystems with UX that more closely resembles Web2 applications. Additionally, we expect to see the continued flourishing of DAOs in the year ahead, as well as better privacy features for Web3 applications.
DeFi
While 2021 hinted at a future where Web3 activity takes place across multiple Layer 1 and Layer 2 platforms, DeFi activity already began its migration over the course of the year. Much of this activity took place within EVM compatible chains (Avalanche, Polygon, BSC etc.) and Layer 2 environments (Arbitrum, Optimism). Meanwhile, non-EVM chains (Solana, Terra, Cosmos, Polkadot etc.) also saw impressive growth.
We’re believers in the multichain future, and although we remained most active within Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem, we also invested across Solana (Orca, Solend), Cosmos (Umee), Algorand (Folks), Polkadot (Acala, Moonbeam), NEAR, Polygon and Bitcoin. The multichain future of France appears bright, with just about every financial primitive one could imagine in development.
While DeFi made great strides in 2021, exploits of these nascent financial protocols hampered the ecosystem, amounting to over $10B. Better user protection remains paramount, which is why Coinbase Ventures supported DeFi insurance financial protocols including Neptune Mutual, Risk Harbor, Cozy Finance, and Nayms.
In 2022, the smart contract wars will rage on as Layer 1s and Layer 2s fight for user and developer mindshare. Hacking risks will persist but we’ll see increased maturity in DeFi insurance solutions. Lastly, it’s shaping up to be the year we see institutions enter the fray via “permissioned DeFi”, complete with KYC’d user pools and on-chain attestations.
NFT / Metaverse
2021 was also a year that saw the rapid rise of NFTs and renewed interest in “the metaverse.” Projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club took NFT sales from $200M in 2020 to a staggering $25B in 2021. Meanwhile, NFT based game Axie Infinity put play-to-earn gaming on the map as people in the Philippines were able to turn the game into a full time job. And elsewhere, Facebook’s rebrand to “Meta” catalyzed excitement around the metaverse.
In large part, NFTs spent 2021 in their “V0” phase, with most activity centered around simple buying and selling on marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. 2021 also saw NFTs emerge across L1/L2 ecosystems such as Flow (MomentRanks, Eternal GG) and Solana (Magic Eden, Solanalysis).
Ventures has now invested heavily in the NFT “utility” phase — one in which NFT assets expand to new types of mediums such as audio (Royal, Mint Songs, Sturdy), avatars (Genies, OFF), AR (Anima, Jambo), and gaming/GameFi (Ancient8, GuildFi). This will allow interesting social features to be layered on top of the programmatic recognition of NFTs (Gallery).
These NFT and gaming investments can broadly be bucketed with the metaverse, as they inch us closer to a possible future where we have a series of decentralized, interconnected virtual worlds with fully functioning economies. In 2022, look for a host of new gaming titles and applications, including those launched by traditional gaming studios. Also expect metaverse applications to expand from both decentralized initiatives like Decentraland and the Sandbox and incumbent Web2 companies like Microsoft/Activision and Meta.
Platform & Developer Tools
Without developers, there would be no crypto or Web3 applications for anyone to use. As such, support for the tooling that developers need to make crypto and Web3 thrive is a critical part of advancing the ecosystem.
Over the year, we followed the “developer journey” from staging (Tenderly), collaboration (Radicle), query (Covalent), audit (Certik, OpenZeppelin, Certora) and real-time simulation/monitoring (Chaos Labs, Gauntlet). We also invested in developer toolkits like API providers (Alchemy, Consensys’ Infura).
We expect the industry’s collective investment made in dev tooling to pay dividends in the years to come. With all of the developers pouring into Web3 from Web2, they’re sorely needed.
CeFi
Much of the value that finds its way into crypto initially does so through centralized platforms, and as such, centralized finance (CeFi) remains an active category. We believe that crypto is inherently global and there is a need for localized platforms that serve as onramps across distinct regulatory, banking, and infrastructure regimes. This is why in 2021, we were active investors in crypto financial service providers everywhere from LatAm, Pan-Africa, MENA, South Asia, Europe, and North America.
The year also saw a move towards traditional vehicles for crypto exposure — IRAs, IAs, ETFs, Trusts, etc. — punctuated by the approval of the BTC Futures ETF in the US. Coinbase Ventures actively invested in asset managers and brokers including AltoIRA, Onramp, Valkyrie, ForUsAll, Ledn, and One River Digital. We were also investors in various CeFi “picks and shovels”, with follow-on investments in TaxBit and CoinTracker, which automate crypto tax reporting across platforms. In addition, we supported projects helping startups integrate crypto with traditional fintech offerings, including Paxos, Tribal Credit, and Meow.
2021 set the stage for more regulated and compliant ways for institutional and individual investor capital to gain crypto exposure through centralized exchanges and traditional investment vehicles and fintech platforms in both the US and abroad. We expect this to be an ongoing theme in 2022.
2022 & beyond
Macro uncertainty has prices falling sharply into the new year, but one thing is certain: this is not the crypto ecosystem of 2018. Between the best performing asset class of the last decade being much more accessible to investors around the world, the maturation of the Web3 stack, and an explosion of exciting new use cases across DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, gaming, and the metaverse, this industry appears to be hitting escape velocity.
Just as the boom of 2017 fueled investments that laid the groundwork for the applications that are thriving today, what do you think the record $30B funneled into crypto and Web3 in 2021 will yield? The market appears uncertain in the near term, but the future appears brighter then it’s ever been.
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First US Bitcoin ETF a ‘dud’ in 2021 as GBTC discount stays near record lows
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Bitcoin (BTC) institutional demand is conspicuously wanting at the end of the year as data flags the “underperformance” of the United States’ first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).
As noted by markets commentator Holger Zschaepitz on Dec. 29, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) is now trading at nearly 30% below its launch price.
Anticlimax rounds out 2021 for ProShares ETF
In a sign of the times regarding Bitcoin sentiment, the hype that accompanied BITO’s launch in Q3 has died down considerably.
Going from record-breaking volume on its first day to its current state, the ETF has even underperformed the embattled Bitcoin spot price in 2021.
“The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was a dud, at least this year,” Zschaepitz commented.
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) vs. BTC/USD normalized chart. Source: Holger Zschaepitz/ Twitter Meanwhile, as Cointelegraph reported, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) continues to trade at its biggest-ever discount to Bitcoin spot price, or net asset value (NAV).
GBTC’s conversion to an ETF, slated for next year, meanwhile depends on the tone of U.S. regulators regarding spot-based products, these yet to debut.
GBTC price vs. holdings vs. GBTC premium chart. Source: Coinglass Eerie all-time highs persist in stocks
While detractors describe the GBTC discount as “very concerning,” activity from investors themselves does not unanimously point to apathy when it comes to Bitcoin.
Related: 5 ways derivatives could change the cryptocurrency sector in 2022
Morgan Stanley upped its GBTC allocation this month and last, in a sign that longer-term sentiment remains strong.
As 2021 draws to a close, the $SPX is nearing a 92-year log-scale resistance line, which has the potential to be a formidable barrier given that it is based off of the index’s 1929 and 2000 peaks. ~ Reuters pic.twitter.com/khK1e09vCA
— PiQ (@PriapusIQ) December 28, 2021
Macro markets, meanwhile, display curious characteristics. The S&P 500 is at record highs, challenging a trendline which has marked topside resistance since its inauguration almost 100 years ago.
Below the surface, however, all is not as it seems, warnings revealed this week.
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Bitcoin Leads As Markets Sees Record Outflows. Bear Market Incoming?
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Bitcoin and altcoins have not had the best week according to reports coming out of the market. The crypto market as a whole has been enjoying months of continuous inflows following hot on the heels of the recent market rally. It has pushed crypto-assets such as bitcoin towards new highs as inflows had hit a new record alongside assets under management. But it seems that this is changing.
Coming off the back of what was 17 consecutive weeks of inflows, the market is now seeing movement in the opposite direction. While assets such as ethereum had previously recorded outflows at various times, they had been isolated to a select few. Now the whole market is seeing its first week of outflows after four months of inflows, setting a record at the same time.
Related Reading | Millennial Millionaires Are The Most Bullish On Crypto, Survey Finds
Largest Record Outflows
The total amount of outflows for last week came out to a total of $142 million. This marked the first week of outflows after a 17-week inflows streak that brought assets under management towards record highs. Not only was this the first week of outflows following over four months of inflows, but it is also the largest weekly outflow from the crypto market on record.
This follows an impressive rally from the crypto market where major cryptocurrencies touched towards a new high. There have been sell-offs all across the market as investors have taken profit and institutional investors are not left out. However, the outflows, despite being a record high, represent only a small total (0.23%) of the asset under management and are also meager compared to the outflows of 2018 that touched as high as 1.6% of total AuM.
The total inflows for the year had reached a record high of $9.5 billion, almost 50% higher than the record that was set in 2020 of $6.7 billion. So despite the outflows, inflows for the year still remain at a record high.
CoinShares also notes that the crypto market is not the only one that has recorded outflows either. Risk assets have all seen outflows after the U.S. Fed had released its statement on tapering.
Bitcoin Leads Outflows
Bitcoin took the lead for the asset with the most outflows for the week. The digital asset had seen its price plummet back to below $50,000 since hitting its all-time high of $69K but had continued to maintain inflows in the weeks following that. This marks the first outflows for over 17 weeks but remains firmly below outflows levels recorded in June that touched as high as $150 million.
Related Reading | Struggling Prices Beats Bitcoin Expectations Down From $100K To $50K
Ethereum has alternated between inflows and outflows for the last 17 weeks. The second-largest cryptocurrency also saw record outflows for the week with a total of $64 million in outflows as it continues to counter bitcoin’s outflows.
Solana, Polkadot, and multi-asset investment products were spared of the onslaught as they saw $6.7 million, $2.5 million, and $1.5 million in inflows respectively.
BTC recovers above $48K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Featured image from Wikipedia, chart from TradingView.com
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