Despite the calm market today, we are not out of the woods. Money-printing-induced inflation is here to stay alongside its adverse effects. Food, gas, and daily needs are going to continue to rise in price, but markets aren’t going to experience the free ride we got in 2021. Spending is likely to start tightening, which means less money for crypto and NFTs. But, the macro effects of all this could restructure how institutions look for profitable gains. Bonds are a US$15 trillion market predicted to sell off rapidly when the Federal Reserve (Fed) begins pulling the plugs. And where is all that money going to end up? Well, some predict Ethereum, others Bitcoin.
What’s the Fed to do? They can print more money and further inflate prices, or stop printing and begin the descent into recession. They chose option B, but it’s subject to change once they feel the burdensome pressures of a declining market.
So, why does some crypto benefit from all the chaos? Because it’s harder money. No-one can print away ETH or BTC when its supply issuance is set in code. The bad thing is that the market doesn’t view bitcoin as an inflation hedge, yet. However, there will be a time when the traditional markets are stretched thin, and investors begin to see the benefits of switching. We are just starting to see the cracks of TradFi (traditional finance), and if in time, institutions will begin to invest in BTC or ETH, and then, some funds will leak into the rest of the crypto market. Unfortunately, markets and regulators have yet to realize all the potential benefits which allow us, the early adopters, a chance to stack our sats (satoshis) while the rest of the world figures it out.
Market update 🌍
The markets front-ran the inflation print a day before its release, and showcased some turnaround potential yesterday. We won’t see another significant inflation or rate hike announcement until May 4, which gives the markets a few weeks to breathe, barring any surprises.
Bitcoin (BTC) steadied yesterday and is currently testing necessary resistance-turned support (red line) that dates to January 2021. This price zone of US$40,500 has been experiencing a lot of activity, and appears to be a close median of this year’s BTC prices. Whatever occurs at this level will play a significant role in future price action. Crypto ultimately wants to see this level turn into robust and well-tested support. BTC finished the US session at US$39,999, up 1.11% for the day.
Source: Trading View
The market’s bull trend gauge, ETH/BTC, held firm during Monday’s sell-off. Technical analysis of a pairing tends to be less reliable, but it does help to spot trends. It appears that ETH/BTC is still in an uptrend despite all the inflation hoopla.
Source: Trading View
Notable gainers (24h)
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Shiba Inu (SHIB) | 0.0000027 | +23 |
| Synthetix (SNX) | 4.97 | +11 |
| Loopring (LRC) | 0.91 | +8 |
| The Graph (GRT) | 0.37 | +7 |
| Filecoin (FIL) | 19.56 | +7 |
| Frax Shares (FXS) | 27.76 | +7 |
| ApeCoin (APE) | 11.64 | +7 |
| Astroport (ASTRO) | 3.32 | +21 |
| Ankr (ANKR) | 0.07 | +15 |
| DAO marker (DAO) | 2.70 | +14 |
| Protocol (coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Shiba Inu (SHIB) | 0.0000027 | +23 |
| Synthetix (SNX) | 4.97 | +11 |
| Loopring (LRC) | 0.91 | +8 |
| The Graph (GRT) | 0.37 | +7 |
| Filecoin (FIL) | 19.56 | +7 |
| Frax Shares (FXS) | 27.76 | +7 |
| ApeCoin (APE) | 11.64 | +7 |
| Astroport (ASTRO) | 3.32 | +21 |
| Ankr (ANKR) | 0.07 | +15 |
| DAO Maker (DAO) | 2.70 | +14 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 20 Extreme Fear (-12) |
| “Crypto” Google Trends | 31 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends | 30 |
| US markets close | Gain/Loss |
| S&P 500 | -0.34% |
| Nasdaq | -1.24% |
| Dow | +2.11% |
| VIX | -0.37% |
Newswatch 📰
- RH gets Shiba. Commission-free stock and crypto exchange, Robin Hood, adds support for Shiba Inu (SHIB), Polygon (MATIC), Solana (SOL), and Compound (COMP) for its 20 million users.
- Circle’s significant funding. Circle, the US-based issuer of the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC, announces a US$400 million funding round that includes finance giants BlackRock, Fidelity Management and others. Of course, it’s complete speculation, but considering a major bill concerning stablecoins will soon hit the voting floor, some of these companies may have insider knowledge that the US will end up supporting collateral-backed stablecoins such as USDC.
Source: Dogecoin Foundation
- Offline DOGE transactions. The Dogecoin foundation reveals plans to offer offline transactions for Dogecoin (DOGE) utilizing Starlink, the satellite-based internet network operated by Space-X. Moreover, Elon Musk is an avid backer and fanboy of Dogecoin, and looks to be leveraging the capabilities of Starlink to propel Dogecoin adoption.
- Ethereum dev goes to prison. Virgil Griffin, a former Ethereum developer, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for aiding the North Korean government to evade sanctions by using blockchain. In 2019, Griffin held a presentation in North Korean capital, Pyongyang, outlining blockchain technology to bypass sanctions despite various warnings from US officials.
- No more interest payments from Celsius. After US officials clamped down on BlockFi and NEXO, Celsius announced that it could no longer support interest payments for new deposits from US customers in compliance with US regulations. The change will take effect on April 15, 2022.
On-chain ⛓
- Bridges into Terra. Terra (LUNA) bridge adds support for Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), Osmosis (OSMO), Fantom (FTM) and Moonbeam (GLMR), opening the gates to a variety of liquidity and cross-chain capabilities.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
- Warriors NFTs. The Golden State Warriors have announced the creation of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection to commemorate the team’s 2022 Playoff run. Minting goes live on April 15 @ 12:00 PST.
Notable mints:
| Project | Community score | Mint price | Date of mint | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Skulls | 81 | 0.08 ETH | April 14 | 02:00 |
| 88 Dynasty | 80 | 0.09 ETH | April 15 | 05:00 |
| GS Warriors | n/a | $US 499.99 | April 15 | 19:00 |
Banter’s take
It seems like crypto benefits from the turmoil that inflects finance. This results when you design an entire financial system that bypasses overleveraging, greed and human emotion (for the most part). Crypto is a one-way check valve, and once someone takes the orange pill, the likelihood of exiting crypto entirely is almost zero. Volatility will continue to be wild this year; it won’t be easy to HODL (hold on for dear life), but in the end, it’s just a test to weed out the inpatient. When the dust settles, those who did their research and continued to accumulate will be the true winners.
-Gabri
