Crypto Market Pulse (7/11/2022)

MATIC surges 27.8%. Instagram will allow minting of NFTs using the Polygon blockchain. Deribit suffers security breach, hackers take $28M.

Weekly Market Index

Last week’s crypto market prices were up slightly at +3.7%, while volume and volatility were down -3.7%, and -38.7%, respectively.

Weekly Performance

Bitcoin (BTC) is holding above the $20K price level and was up +1.1% last week, while Ethereum (ETH) was down -1.3%. Amongst other selected top-cap crypto tokens, Polygon (MATIC) surged +27.8% and Litecoin (LTC) rose +26.5%. Potentially behind MATIC’s rally might be Meta’s announcement that Instagram will allow creators to mint NFTs using the Polygon blockchain.

Project Spotlight

• Ribbon Finance is a suite of DeFi protocols that helps users access crypto structured products. By combining derivatives, lending, and a proprietary on-chain options exchange (Aevo), Ribbon aims to be a one-stop solution for users who want to improve a portfolio’s risk-return profile.
• The native token of Ribbon Finance is RBN, which is available for trading on the Crypto.com App. RBN has a circulating supply of 572.01 million and a max supply of 1 billion. The token is used for governance voting. The majority of token distribution is to Community Treasury (49%), Team (23%), and Investors (15%). Earlier this year, Ribbon Finance raised US$8.8M from venture capital firm Paradigm.

News Highlights

• Crypto.com announced that it has become Visa’s associate programme member in Singapore. This strategic partnership will enable the company to initiate self-issuance of the Crypto.com Visa card in-market.
• The U.S. Fed raised interest rates by 75 bps in its latest round, in line with market expectations. Some observers interpreted the Fed’s messaging as hinting at smaller rate hikes to come. 
• Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will conduct a public consultation on how retail investors may be given a “suitable degree of access to virtual assets” to licensed exchanges. The SFC also stated the possibility of having exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on virtual assets.
• Meta (formerly Facebook) is expanding support for NFTs by allowing some creators to make and sell digital collectibles directly on Instagram. At launch, Instagram will use the Polygon blockchain for NFT minting.
• Deribit, a major crypto derivatives exchange, suffered a security breach, with the hackers taking nearly US$28M from the exchange’s hot wallet. Deribit noted that “the hack is isolated to their BTC, ETH, and USDC hot wallets.”

Recent Research Reports

• Alpha Navigator (Oct 2022): Crypto continues to outperform other asset classes in October. Is the Fed pivoting on rates tightening policy? ETH’s short-term correlations with equities reducing.

• NFT Financialisation and Utility: An Overview: As NFT utility grows, so does the potential to make money from them. NFT financialisation could help to achieve greater liquidity and unlock the value of NFTs.
• NFT Utility: A Multifaceted Overview and Use Cases: For NFTs to increase value and to be deemed viable economic and financial assets, they have to go beyond collectability and aesthetics. One way to tackle this is through utility.

Catalyst Calendar

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Research and Insights Team

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