White Star Capital Digital Asset Fund - newsletter #51
Strong retail and institutional volumes despite annual 'August slowdown' 📊
Despite summer slowdown, both retail and institutional markets have been picking up pace
Spot exchange volume for cryptocurrencies reached $1.07tr in August, according to data from The Block Research.
Spot exchanges have remained under $1tr since June, during which volumes weighed in at $958.3bn. July saw $651.2bn. However, the month-over-month increase from July to August was 64% — enough to push spot exchanges above the trillion-dollar mark again.
Additionally, volumes across major markets for bitcoin futures hit $1.73tr in August, representing an increase from July. The August figure represents a 17% increase from July's $1.47tr in futures volume. The futures market's peak occurred in May, when volumes reached $2.56tr. As shown in the below chart, the futures market seems to be nearing recent all time highs and might be expected to exceed those in the coming months.
Cryptocurrency isn’t the only asset that has seen high volumes – NFTs also saw tremendous volumes in August with over $3.4bn of volume on OpenSea alone (over 10x the previous volume all time high of $325m. Interestingly enough, OpenSea already has about $1bn of volume only one week into September – the next few weeks and months will be very fascinating to watch!
🔦 White Star & Portfolio Spotlight
Paraswap launches P5!
A quote by Alethea AI’s CEO, Arif Khan
🏦 Enterprises & Institutions
Twitter is testing the ability to display Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses on profiles
Twitter seems to be testing the addition of crypto features to its Tip Jar service, according to a mobile developer who claims to have reverse-engineered the feature.
BBVA Swiss includes a crypto wallet in its new digital investment account
Swiss banking giant BBVA is launching a digital investment account that offers crypto wallet features.
Moody’s to dig into DeFi
The credit-ratings giant is looking for staff to support research on DeFi, CBDCs, stablecoins, NFTs and other crypto-assets.
⚖️ Government & Regulation
El Salvador became the first country to accept bitcoin as currency this week
The cryptocurrency will officially be considered ‘legal tender’ in the Central American country. The country also launched the Chivo wallet to boost adoption.
As more consumers bank with crypto, Washington sounds the alarm: NY Times
The NYT says officials in D.C. are trying to figure out how to curb what they see as crypto’s potential dangers.
China has completed ‘rectification’ of crypto transactions: PBOC
Virtual currency transactions have been “rectified” and supervision has returned to normal, the central bank said in its 2021 Financial Stability Report.
💰 Funding & Exits
Exponent closes $2.7m seed round
The round was led by KR1 and was joined by AngelDAO, Block0, GSR Markets, Golden Gate Ventures, Taureon Capital, Varys Capital, and several blockchain protocol founders and individual investors.
UXD Protocol announces $3m seed round led by Multicoin Capital
UXD Protocol is an algorithmic stablecoin backed 100% by a delta neutral position using perpetual swaps. The stablecoin will be issued natively on Solana and we will integrate with perpetual swap protocols to create the delta neutral position.
SorareData raises $700k to build the future of play-to-earn games companion apps
The funding comes from Seedcamp and followed by Sorare, Kima Ventures, Cygni Labs and business angels.
Parcel raises $2.5m to build treasury management protocol for DAOs
Dragonfly Capital led the round, with Scalar Capital, A Capital, Compound, Consensys, 6th Man Ventures also participating.
Huobi Ventures, Chainsmokers back new $25m fund investing in the metaverse
OP is led by David Gan, a former Huobi executive who played a role in various aspects of the exchange's business including its principle investment strategy as a director. He also served as managing director of Huobi Labs, which incubates early stage blockchain companies.
🚀 Project Launches & Updates
Arbitrum scaling solution launched on Ethereum mainnet
The long-awaited Ethereum scaling solution should hopefully relieve some of the network congestion and high gas fees.
Pantera-backed Braintrust launches token on Ethereum mainnet
Decentralized talent network Braintrust has officially launched its BTRST token on the Ethereum mainnet, setting in motion a new governance framework as it aims to drive mass enterprise adoption of its services.
🔥 Other Bits We're Excited About
OpenSea weekly NFT sales surpass $1bn for first time
NFT marketplace OpenSea processed 250% more in trading value this week than it did in the whole of July.
DeFi wallet MetaMask sees user count surge 1,800% in a year
Crypto wallet MetaMask's user count has soared 1,800% over the last year to top 10m.
FTX strikes ambassador deal with NBA star Steph Curry
FTX has struck its latest endorsement deal, this time with NBA star Steph Curry, who has been increasingly active in crypto in recent months, notably purchasing BAYC NFTs and being active on twitter and various discord groups.