Daily Market Update: Feb 23, 2023

February 23, 2023

BTC is currently trading around $24,000 and ETH around $1,650. Notable gainers in the last 24 hours are OP, ENJ, and STX. The global crypto market cap is ~$1.15T, up ~0.3% over the last day. DeFi Total Value Locked is ~$50b and BTC dominance is around 44%.

Equities opened higher as they look to end the recent downtrend, while crypto performance is mixed but relatively flat in aggregate. Yesterday’s Fed minutes brought few surprises, and the general interest rate narrative remains “higher for longer.” While the vote to hike interest rates by 25 bps in early Feb was unanimous, the minutes noted that “a few” members preferred a 50 bp hike. Fed Funds futures did not move materially, and markets are pricing in a ~73% likelihood that another 25 bp hike will follow in March.

Notable news includes: The SEC, NYDFS, and NY AG objected to Binance.US’s amended plan to acquire Voyager; a self-hosted wallet ban was avoided in the EU’s latest draft AML bill; Canada gave a 30-day ultimatum for crypto exchanges to register with regulators; crypto analytics firm Messari cut head count by 15% while stablecoin issuer Circle reiterated its plans to grow headcount by ~25% in the year; Gate revealed plans to apply for a Hong Kong trading license; Coinbase declared it has outstanding subpoenas from the SEC in its latest filing; Obol Labs announced that it has successfully run a distributed validator on Ethereum mainnet for nearly two months with a top ~1% effectiveness rating; Synthetix deployed its v3 contract on Ethereum; Frax proposed a gradual reduction in the algorithmic backing of its protocol; TON Blockchain froze ~$2.6b worth of inactive tokens; Bitcoin mining pool Luxor acquired the OrdinalHub platform for trading Bitcoin-based NFTs; Bitcoin mining consulting firm Sabre56 raised $35m to build a new 150MW hosting facility; JPMorgan opened a crypto lab in Athens to foster blockchain innovation; the pseudonymous Blur founder known as Pacman doxxed himself as he outlined Blur’s plans to become the Binance of NFTs; 3AC’s liquidator revealed it would begin selling some NFTs, noting that the prized Starry Night collection won’t be included yet; Spotify began testing ways to access music via NFTs; Chain Reaction raised $70m to develop a fully homomorphic encryption chip; and, U.S. Congressman Emmer proposed a bill that would prevent the Fed from issuing a CBDC.

Authors:
Matt Kunke, Junior Strategist | TwitterTelegramLinkedIn
Brian Rudick, Senior Strategist | TwitterTelegramLinkedIn

This material is provided by GSR (the “Firm”) solely for informational purposes, is intended only for sophisticated, institutional investors and does not constitute an offer or commitment, a solicitation of an offer or commitment, or any advice or recommendation, to enter into or conclude any transaction (whether on the terms shown or otherwise), or to provide investment services in any state or country where such an offer or solicitation or provision would be illegal.  The Firm is not and does not act as an advisor or fiduciary in providing this material.

This material is not a research report, and not subject to any of the independence and disclosure standards applicable to research reports prepared pursuant to FINRA or CFTC research rules. This material is not independent of the Firm’s proprietary interests, which may conflict with the interests of any counterparty of the Firm. The Firm trades instruments discussed in this material for its own account, may trade contrary to the views expressed in this material, and may have positions in other related instruments. 

Information contained herein is based on sources considered to be reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Any opinions or estimates expressed herein reflect a judgment made by the author(s) as of the date of publication, and are subject to change without notice. Trading and investing in digital assets involves significant risks including price volatility and illiquidity and may not be suitable for all investors. The Firm is not liable whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this material. Copyright of this material belongs to GSR. Neither this material nor any copy thereof may be taken, reproduced or redistributed, directly or indirectly, without prior written permission of GSR.