Weekly Market Round-Up: A General Market Decline

Abstract: The market witnessed a general decline over the past week, as U.S. GDP in the first quarter came in less than expected. In its current state of stagnation, a 50 basis point rate hike from the Fed is highly expected. Meanwhile, Fidelity says they will start offering Bitcoin in 401(k) accounts. The New York State Assembly passes a bill to ban Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining. The market’s main interest last week was in the NFT sector, especially on Yuga Labs’ newly launched Metaverse land “Otherside” and the Okay Bears NFT (a Bored Ape Yacht Club clone) on Solana, as NFT is expected to continue to be a major point of interest in the crypto market for some time to come.

The market declined in general. Last week, the market value of cryptocurrencies fell to US$1.77trillion, as Bitcoin traded between a range of $35,000 and $40,000. Spot turnover increased by approximately 20%, while turnover of Bitcoin futures increased by 26%. U.S. GDP in the first quarter fell 1.4% year-on-year, which was more than expected, showing that the market remains in a stagnant state. The market fully expects the Federal Reserve to raise rates, while the Fed may be looking to shrink its balance sheet in May; the performance of risk-on assets was weak. Fidelity says they will start offer Bitcoin in 401(k) accounts as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labour expressed concern. The New York State Assembly passed a bill banning Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining for environmental reasons; according to the bill, Bitcoin mining will be made illegal in two years. Last week’s market interest was mainly in the NFT sector, with Yuga Labs’ Metaverse land Otherside exceeding US$500 million in trading volume, with the highest record traded at 333 ETH at the time of writing. In addition, the floor price of the BAYC clone Okay Bears on Solana has reached 73 SOL(initial public sale price was 1.5 SOL). Mainstream coins are performing weakly and the market is expected to hover between low levels under macro-level pressure.

• Total market value declined. The total market value of digital assets declined to around US$1.77 trillion last week. Bitcoin traded in a wide range between $35,000 and $40,000.
• Most of the top 100 cryptos fell. Last week, the prices of 93 of the top 100 cryptos fell while only 7 rose.
• Exchanges turnover increased. Last week, the turnover on 10 exchanges tracked by us increased by 19.9%. Binance moved up by 17.6%, whilstBitfinex, Bitstamp and Coinbase recorded an increase of 40.4%, 7.9% and 29.2%, respectively.
• Turnover of futures increased. Turnover of Bitcoin futures increased by 26.1%, while turnover of Ethereum futures was little changed.
• Turnover on DEXes increased to around US$17 billion. Weekly turnover on DEXes increased by 30% as compared to last week.
• Turnover on OpenSea increased to around US$1.66 billion. Turnover on OpenSea increased by 23% as compared to last week.

About HashKey Capital
HashKey Capital, HashKey Group’s venture capital arm, is an institutional asset manager investing exclusively in blockchain technology, digital assets and crypto-financial infrastructures. It provides accredited investors and professional investors with secure access and diversified exposure to digital assets. HashKey Capital combines the agility and independent risk-taking traditionally found in the best venture firms, while offering differentiated access to the network of relationships found in one of the largest industrial and financial conglomerates in the world.
www.capital.hashkey.com | ir@hashkey.com