Overview
- TVL update: Which protocols are sustaining growth?
- Markets: Bullish price action continues.
- Elon Musk to buy Twitter.
- Ray Dalio resigns from Bridgewater.
- Fidelity to offer Ethereum-backed index to customers.
Good morning Banter Fam,
While the getting is good, we’ll explore the Total-Value-Locked (TVL) landscape in crypto to see which protocols are sustaining growth and also help us find some underperformers.
Chains Top 15
Source: DeFi Llama
Ethereum remained relatively flat, with a slight decrease of nearly 7% in TVL. Tron, BSC, Arbitrum, and Optimism all showed strength despite a reasonably rough September for the crypto market. On the other hand, Solana, Polygon, and Avalanche all experienced considerable decreases in TVL. Little by little, the Ethereum L2s Arbitrum and Optimism continue to gain ground on the top-performing L1s from last summer (Solana, Avalanche).
Optimism
Source: DeFi Llama
I’ve focused on Optimism for a long time, and its TVL chart continues to climb while many others are near their lows. Aided by the cross-chain transition of well-trusted protocols such as AAVE, Uniswap, and Curve, some DeFi users are transitioning into L2s to save on higher gas fees over Ethereum. Optimism also offers numerous incentives to transact on the network through incentivized pools. These pools earn the typical yield in addition to some OP rewards.
GMX on Arbitrum
Source: DeFi Llama
One of the hottest protocols in crypto continues to grow regarding TVL. The GMX network gained +30.25% in TVL as traders flocked to the DeFi 2.0 network to trade leveraged ETH and AVAX. Staking GMX has the added benefit of earning generated yield in ETH, increasing the token’s utility. Typically with increased token utility comes increased demand.
Other protocols showcasing sustained growth:
- Rocket Pool (RPL): Ethereum Staking.
- Euler Finance (EUL): Permissionless lending.
- Ref Finance (REF): DEX on Near.
Market update 🌍
BTC/USDT 1D
Could the down-trend that began in early November 2021 be coming to an end? After two days of bullish price action, BTC appears to have broken the significant downtrend resistance. A range-bound price pattern is a more likely scenario until macro improves from here. BTC completed the daily candle up +3.61% to $20,337.
High-resolution chart
DXY 1W
Support and resistance levels are being tested all over the charts this week. Our favorite? The US Dollar Index (DXY), after falling -1.83% this week, is testing the long-standing parabola support on the weekly chart behind increased amounts of volume. If the USD continues its decline versus other currencies, I expect equities and crypto to begin recovering.
High-resolution chart
| US markets close | Gain/Loss |
| S&P 500 | +3.06% |
| Nasdaq | +2.69% |
| Dow | +2.96% |
| VIX | -3.42% |
Notable Gainers (24h):
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | 0.066 | +10 |
| Helium (HNT) | 5.26 | +6 |
| Elrond (EGLD) | 55.42 | +6 |
| Chainlink (LINK) | 7.79 | +6 |
| Render (RNDR) | 0.51 | +13 |
| Smooth Love Potion (SLP) | 0.0036 | +9 |
| Convex Finance (CVX) | 5.37 | +9 |
| Nest Protocol (NEST) | 0.033 | +109 |
| Aurora (AURORA) | 1.32 | +33 |
| Manifold Finance (FOLD) | 65.30 | +21 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 25 Extreme Fear |
| “Crypto” Google Trends 90d | 49 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends 90d | 45 |
Newswatch 📰
Elon Musk to buy Twitter. Musk is ending the legal battle after backing out of purchasing Twitter and offering a $44 billion bid at $52.20 a share for the social media platform. The Twitter stock climbed more than 20% after news networks announced Musk wrote a letter to the company and filed a motion with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
Rumors are floating around that Musk intends to utilize DOGE as the primary means of payments on the network through microtransactions to post tweets, but it remains unconfirmed. DOGE climbed +9% yesterday as a result.
Fidelity begins offering Ethereum Index Fund. The Investment firm has raised $5 million since September and will offer Ether (ETH) exposure to accredited investors.
Mastercard unveils crypto anti-fraud tool. The financial credit company is prepared to reveal an AI-based software solution to help card issuers and banks combat crypto-related fraud. The Crypto Secure program provides a dashboard that details the level of suspicion that a crypto transaction is fraudulent, allowing card issuers to intervene.
Ray Dalio resigns. Investor Ray Dalio has stepped down as head of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, and has given voting rights to the company’s board members. Dalio founded the firm 47 years ago.
News Tidbits:
- Celsius sets dates for asset auctions. SBF is considering a bid.
- Ribbon Finance introduces Ribbon Lend.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
- The Ethereum-based NFT project, VeeFriends, is releasing toys at retail stores such as Macy’s and Toys“R”Us.
- Hugo Boss teams up with NFT project Imaginary Ones to launch a metaverse.
- Moonbirds will transition to a community-led governance model with the creation of Moonbirds DAO.
Banter’s take
The combination of technical analysis and a few fundamental catalysts paints a promising picture for the market. Whether the result is a mere relief rally or the end of the bear market remains to be seen.
Fundamental Catalyst
The Federal Reserve has begun experiencing pressure to ease up on rate hikes. Yesterday, the UN released a report asking for just that. Moreover, with the US midterm elections 35 days away, the President and the Democratic Party will want the markets looking pretty before voters hit the booth.
CPI numbers set to release on October the 13th will give insight into what Jerome Powell and the Fed decide to do. It won’t surprise me if CPI has miraculously decreased considerably, but that’s just an optimistic opinion. But these correlations become common ground with the Fed so closely tied to politics.
Gabri
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Disclaimer
Good Morning crypto (issued by Crypto Banter) is a newsletter for entertainment purposes only.
All opinions expressed by the publisher, writers, and chartists should not be construed as financial advice and do not necessarily reflect the views of Crypto Banter. The publisher, writers, and chartists may hold positions in the tokens and assets discussed. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.
