Issue #65

Market Overview

As of the time of writing (Monday 5pm), the total market cap of the crypto asset market is $US1.31T, up (8.6%) from last week.

Below is the weekly performance of the top crypto assets. 

News Headline Highlights

• The price of bitcoin briefly topped US$35,000 last week for the first time since May 2022. The positive price performance came from increased expectations of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund and comments from BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink about bitcoin’s flight to safety qualities.
• Open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), a world leading institutional derivatives venue, topped 100,000 bitcoin ($3.4 billion) for the first time ever.
• Prices for FTX Group claims increased from ~40 cents on the dollar to ~50 cents after it was announced they were considering proposals from three bidders for its currently shuttered exchange.
• Publicly traded bitcoin funds worldwide received over $55m in new capital last week, enough to account for more than 10% of all net deposits into crypto funds since the start of the year.
• JPMorgan (JPM) now handles $1 billion worth of transactions in its digital token JPM Coin per day according to a recent Bloomberg report. JPM Coin is a settlement token that enables JPMorgan's institutional clients to make blockchain-based wholesale payments between accounts around the world.

 Crypto Asset Project Updates

• The dYdX Chain will allocate all accrued fees to its network validators and stakers, in addition to expanding the DYDX token’s capabilities on the version 4 platform.

Regulation Station

• The U.K. government published its final rules for crypto and stablecoins. The government plans on a phased introduction of crypto regulation, starting with fiat-backed stablecoins and then adding other crypto-related areas including algorithmic stablecoins.
• Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission updated its regulatory framework with two additional investor protection measures aimed at intermediaries that are interested in providing virtual asset-related products to investors. Specifically, the new investor protection measures are for virtual assets categorised as complex products.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a much expected  formal mandate to assert its August ruling that the Securities and Exchange Commission needs to reconsider the bid from Grayscale Investments to convert its flagship GBTC fund into a spot bitcoin ETF.

The Weekly Deal Room

• Shrapnel, a sci-fi shooter game with NFT assets, raised $20m in a Series A led by Polychain. 
• smlXL, a company focused on building proprietary techniques to leverage blockchain’s determinism and transparency for rigorous analysis of EVM bytecode and contracts, raised $13.4m in a Seed Round co-led by a16z crypto and Greylock.
• Rymedi, a Web3 healthcare data firm, raised $9m in a Series A co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital.
• Aera, an autonomous on-chain treasury management system for DAOs, raised $8m in a Seed Round led by Bain Capital Crypto.
• Nocturne, an Ethereum privacy protocol, raised $6m in a Seed Round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital.
• Noble, an inter-blockchain communication system, raised $3.3m in a Seed Round led by Polychain.