The Hedge (HEDGE) news

Gold Price Cools Below $4,000: What It Means for the Crypto Market

Gold slipped below $4,000, raising questions across both traditional and digital markets. For years, gold and Bitcoin have been the main assets investors turn to when uncertainty rises. But as stocks rally and institutions move deeper into crypto, Bitcoin may be taking gold’s place as the preferred hedge. The Gold Cooldown in Context Gold’s dip comes as the S&P 500 crossed 6,800 for the first time in history. That milestone shows investors are feeling confident again. Money is flowing into tech, AI, and equities, leaving traditional safe havens like gold behind. Here’s what’s driving the move: ● Risk appetite is back. With equities performing well, fewer investors feel the need to hold gold. ● Rate cuts expected. If the Fed loosens policy, risk assets become more attractive. ● Institutional momentum shifting. Citibank is partnering with Coinbase to improve stablecoin adoption and digital asset utility (link). When gold cools, it doesn’t mean fear is gone. It shows that investors are looking for new ways to protect and grow their wealth. That’s where crypto comes in. Bitcoin’s Moment to Shine While gold declined, Bitcoin held steady. Institutions are signaling confidence: ● MicroStrategy bought 390 BTC worth $45 million (link). ● Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said “crypto and stablecoins are the tools that will update the global financial system” (link). For everyday investors, Bitcoin is becoming part of mainstream finance. Unlike gold, it’s easy to buy, trade, and move globally 24/7. From Bars to Blocks: The Store-of-Value Shift Digital assets attract investors because they offer: ● Accessibility: You can own, send, or sell Bitcoin quickly without banks or vaults. ● Transparency: Every transaction is recorded on-chain. ● Predictable scarcity: Only 21 million Bitcoin will ever exist, while gold supply keeps increasing through mining. Institutions like Citibank are building systems around digital assets, showing crypto is part of the future. For retail users, this shift signals confidence that digital finance is becoming permanent. Reading the Bigger Picture Beyond gold and Bitcoin, the global economy is shifting. President Trump hinted at plans to appoint a new Federal Reserve Chair before year-end (link), creating short-term uncertainty. In the past, this kind of news pushed gold higher, but digital assets now seem to attract more attention. Meanwhile, tech innovation is fueling new growth. AMD announced a $1 billion partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to build supercomputers (link), showing how capital is moving toward technology instead of static assets. What This Means for You If you’re watching this unfold and wondering what to do, here’s the takeaway: 1. Bitcoin’s credibility keeps growing. Gold’s slowdown could shift investor attention to digital alternatives. 2. Institutional adoption is a signal. When banks and corporations build around crypto, it reflects lasting change. 3. Diversify smartly. Gold still plays a role in stability, but crypto offers access to innovation and growth. Gold is cooling, but opportunity isn’t. The hedge of the future may come from blockchain, not a vault. The Bottom Line Gold falling below $4,000 isn’t a crisis. It’s a sign that confidence is returning to risk assets, and Bitcoin is taking on a larger role in modern portfolios. For investors, this is a reminder that markets evolve, and adapting early can make all the difference. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only. This article does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products and services discussed or investment, financial, or trading advice. Qualified professionals should be consulted prior to making financial decisions. Follow Bitget X to win 1 BTC

NMR Crypto Soars Over 100% as Wall Street Giant JPMorgan Invests in Numerai

Numeraire (NMR) jumped over 100% in 24 hours, rising from below $8 to about $19.64. The surge followed news that JPMorgan Asset Management will invest $500 million into Numerai, the AI-driven hedge fund behind the token. This deal doubled Numerai’s assets under management to almost $1 billion and sparked one of the strongest rallies in 2025. Even after a small pullback, NMR kept more than 80% of its gains, far outpacing the wider crypto market. The event shows how institutional backing can transform sentiment and highlights the growing link between Wall Street, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. What Is Numerai? Numerai is a hedge fund founded in San Francisco in 2015. Instead of relying only on in-house analysts, it uses a network of data scientists from around the world. These contributors build machine learning models that predict movements in the stock market. Numerai combines the best models into one “meta model” and uses it to trade equities. The fund runs weekly tournaments where data scientists submit their models. To take part, they stake the project’s cryptocurrency, Numeraire (NMR), as a sign of confidence in their predictions. If their models perform well, they earn rewards. If not, they lose part of their stake. This system encourages accurate forecasting and helps Numerai improve its trading strategies. The project has drawn attention for its unique approach. It delivered a 25% net return in 2024, its best year so far. High-profile investors, including Paul Tudor Jones, have backed it, and now JPMorgan has joined the list. With proven performance and growing institutional support, Numerai stands out as a rare example of a crypto-powered fund competing directly in traditional markets. What Is Numeraire (NMR)? Numeraire (NMR) is the cryptocurrency that powers the Numerai platform. It is an Ethereum-based token with a fixed supply cap of 11 million. The main purpose of NMR is staking. Data scientists who submit models must stake tokens to show confidence in their predictions. If a model performs well, the contributor earns NMR as a reward. If the model performs poorly, some of the staked tokens are burned. This system creates incentives for accuracy and gradually reduces supply over time. As a result, NMR becomes scarcer while rewarding strong contributors. The token is also supported by community-focused policies. In July 2025, Numerai announced a $1 million buyback of NMR to reduce circulation. More than 517 data scientists currently stake around 784,000 NMR across over 4,000 active models. With clear utility and controlled supply, NMR serves as the backbone of Numerai’s crowdsourced hedge fund. Wall Street Meets Crypto AI: JPMorgan Invests in Numerai On August 26, 2025, Numerai confirmed that JPMorgan Asset Management will invest $500 million in its hedge fund. The deal more than doubles Numerai’s assets under management, raising them to nearly $1 billion. This makes Numerai one of the largest machine learning hedge funds with crypto roots. The investment is not just financial. It brings credibility from one of the biggest names on Wall Street. Numerai’s founder, Richard Craib, noted that large investors had been cautious until the fund proved its track record. After delivering a 25% net return in 2024 and steady growth in assets, Numerai gained JPMorgan’s confidence. The new capital will help Numerai scale its operations. The team has already hired experts from Meta and other top firms to expand its research capacity. For JPMorgan, the deal secures exposure to advanced AI trading models and positions the bank at the frontier of AI and blockchain innovation. The partnership signals a growing willingness of traditional finance to back projects that combine crypto incentives with real-world financial strategies. A Massive 24-Hour Rally for NMR Numeraire (NMR) Price Source: CoinMarketCap The news of JPMorgan’s investment triggered one of the strongest rallies in NMR’s history. Within hours, the token jumped more than 30% to trade around $11.70. Momentum built quickly, and by the next day NMR had surged again, briefly reaching $19.64. Daily trading volume spiked nearly 900% as investors rushed to buy in. The move stood out because it came during a quiet period for the broader market. While most major cryptocurrencies were flat or slightly down, NMR became one of the top gainers of the day. Even after pulling back from its peak, the token maintained gains of more than 80% compared to its price before the announcement. This rapid climb highlighted how institutional news can reshape market sentiment almost overnight. Community and Analyst Views on NMR The sharp rise in NMR quickly drew attention from traders and analysts. On social media, many called the rally a turning point for AI–crypto projects. NMR appeared on trending token lists and became one of the most discussed coins of the week. Retail investors highlighted the speed of the move, while long-time followers of Numerai saw it as overdue recognition of the project’s potential. Analysts also noted the scale of the rally. Some pointed out that NMR had not traded this high since late 2024, when it reached around $25. Optimists believe the token could retest those levels if momentum continues. Others warned that the sudden gains might lead to short-term profit taking. Technical indicators showed NMR was heavily overbought, suggesting a pullback could follow. The reaction reflected both excitement and caution. Enthusiasts celebrated Wall Street’s validation of Numerai, while more cautious voices reminded investors that strong headlines can also create temporary spikes. For now, sentiment remains positive, with many seeing JPMorgan’s involvement as a sign that more institutions could follow. NMR Price Prediction: What Investors Should Expect Next After such a rapid climb, NMR faces a period of high volatility. In the short term, some correction is likely. Technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) showed extreme overbought conditions after the rally. If profit-taking sets in, the token may test support around the $12 to $15 range, which was the first stage of its move up. In the medium term, analysts see room for further gains if momentum continues. A clear break above $18 could open the way toward the $20 level. Beyond that, resistance is expected near $22 to $25, matching the highs reached in late 2024. Holding above $15 would strengthen the case for another push upward. Much depends on market sentiment and Numerai’s progress. If the fund uses JPMorgan’s investment effectively and continues to deliver strong returns, demand for NMR staking could rise. That would support higher prices. On the other hand, if enthusiasm fades or broader crypto markets weaken, NMR may retrace part of its recent gains. For now, the outlook is cautiously optimistic with key levels to watch between $15 and $25. Conclusion NMR’s sharp rally following JPMorgan’s $500 million commitment has placed Numerai firmly in the spotlight. The investment doubled the fund’s assets under management and signaled growing interest from traditional finance in projects that merge artificial intelligence with blockchain. At the same time, the price surge demonstrated how quickly institutional news can move crypto markets. The outlook for NMR will depend on several factors: how effectively Numerai deploys its new capital, whether the hedge fund continues to deliver strong returns, and how overall market sentiment toward AI–crypto projects develops. Support around $15 and resistance near $25 are key levels to watch in the near term. For now, NMR has gained wider recognition, but its longer-term trajectory will be shaped by both performance and broader adoption of AI-driven financial strategies. Follow Bitget X Now & Win 1 BTC – Don’t Miss Out! Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only. This article does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products and services discussed or investment, financial, or trading advice. Qualified professionals should be consulted prior to making financial decisions.

Hedging with Futures and Arbitrage Insights: A Crypto Trader's Playbook

Volatility in crypto is inevitable. But how you respond to it makes all the difference. Whether you're a long-term holder or a fast-moving trader, knowing how to hedge with futures and capitalise on arbitrage opportunities can turn market chaos into a strategic advantage. Hedging with Futures: Protection Through Positioning Futures contracts allow traders to lock in buying or selling prices for a specific date, or indefinitely with perpetuals. While many use them to speculate with leverage, futures are just as powerful for risk management, especially when paired with directional spot holdings. Two Core Hedging Approaches ● Short hedge: Already hold BTC or ETH in your spot wallet? Take a short futures position to protect against downside. If the market drops, your unrealised loss on spot can be offset by gains on your short futures. ● Long hedge: Expect prices to rise before you buy in? Go long on futures to lock in current rates, ensuring you won’t miss out if markets rally before you accumulate your position. This approach is especially relevant for institutions or miners holding large reserves, as well as retail traders who want to maintain exposure without full liquidation risk. For example, during early 2025's BTC consolidation around $69K–$70K, many institutional and retail traders used perpetual contracts to hedge spot exposure while waiting out macroeconomic uncertainty, including rate cuts and ETF inflows. For example, Bitget delivery contracts are commonly used for structured hedging strategies. With fixed expiry dates and no funding fees, they're ideal for managing risk around events like token unlocks, earnings seasons, or portfolio rebalancing timelines. Perpetuals: The Crypto Favourite Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts have no expiry date and track the spot price closely through funding rates, i.e. periodic fees exchanged between long and short traders. Depending on market sentiment, these rates can be used as a signal to gauge bullish or bearish pressure and adjust hedge sizing accordingly. Bitget funding rate updates. Source: Bitget Arbitrage Trading: Opportunity in Market Inefficiency Is there arbitrage between exchanges? In short, yes. Arbitrage trading is about exploiting price discrepancies across exchanges or trading pairs. In crypto, such inefficiencies are more common than in traditional finance due to decentralisation, varying liquidity depth, and fragmented infrastructure. While competition has increased, efficient bots and multi-platform access still give nimble traders an edge. Popular Arbitrage Strategies ● Spatial arbitrage: Buy BTC on one exchange at $89,500 and sell it on another at $89,700. With efficient settlement and fee awareness, that $200 spread (minus costs) becomes risk-free profit. ● Triangular arbitrage: Rotate through three assets (e.g., USDT → ETH → BTC → USDT) on a single exchange to pocket discrepancies in conversion rates. These opportunities are often small and brief but can be compounded over time. ● Funding rate arbitrage: When funding fees for perpetuals are high, a trader might go long spot and short futures to collect the difference. In early 2025, with ETH perpetuals seeing elevated long bias, this strategy has seen strong returns during price consolidation. ● P2P arbitrage: This strategy involves buying crypto at lower prices via peer-to-peer platforms (often in local fiat currencies) and reselling it on exchanges with tighter spreads or higher liquidity. It's especially effective in regions with price distortions due to capital controls or limited on-ramp access. Execution Edge Fast-moving markets demand fast tools. Today’s crypto arbitrage traders often deploy cross-exchange bots connected via APIs, monitoring spreads in real-time and executing within milliseconds. Exchanges like Bitget now offer portfolio margins for easier hedge coordination across positions. Still, fees, slippage, network congestion, and withdrawal times must be carefully managed. Even small inefficiencies in execution can wipe out otherwise profitable trades. The Combined Strategy: Surf the Spread, Hedge the Drop This is where things get interesting. By combining futures and arbitrage, traders can neutralise directional risk while still capturing inefficiencies. Example Setup Let’s say you spot a spread between BTC on Bitget and Binance: ● BTC is trading at $89,480 on Bitget. ● It’s $89,660 on Binance. ● You buy BTC spot on Bitget and short an equivalent perpetual position there to hedge exposure during the transfer. ● Once funds arrive at Binance, you sell spot for $89,660. ● Then you close the Bitget short. This nets you the spread ($180), minus trading and transfer costs. More importantly, you make profits without market risk exposure, thanks to the hedge. Why It Works Crypto markets are 24/7, and latency between exchanges, especially when bridging assets like ETH or stablecoins cross-chain, introduces temporary inefficiencies. Hedging futures while arbitraging those spreads allows you to surf the spread while hedging the drop, thereby preserving the upside while guarding against volatility. This combo is increasingly used in: ● CEX-to-CEX arbitrage, especially across low-liquidity pairs. ● CEX-to-DEX flows, especially with stablecoins and altcoins like SOL, ARB, or AVAX. ● Cross-chain stablecoin arbitrage, such as USDC on Ethereum vs. USDC.e on Arbitrum. ● P2P arbitrage, where traders capitalise on fiat pricing gaps—often combining local demand cycles with hedged crypto positions to lock in spread profits. ● P2P-to-CEX/DEX arbitrage, meaning to buy from peer markets at fiat and hedging en route to sell at higher exchange rates. Final Thoughts: Smarter Trading in 2025 The crypto market in 2025 is more sophisticated than ever. Spot ETFs have entered mainstream portfolios, real-world assets are being tokenised, and institutional desks are more active in derivatives than ever before. But the fundamentals of strategy remain: Futures protect your downside and allow flexible exposure. Arbitrage rewards attention, speed, and execution skill. Together, they form a disciplined, market-neutral strategy that work beyond hype cycles. You can either be a degenerate yield farmer or a precision-focused trader, but this much is clear: “Surf the spread, hedge the drop” is not just a tactic. It's how you stay in the game long enough to win it. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only. This article does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products and services discussed or investment, financial, or trading advice. Qualified professionals should be consulted prior to making financial decisions.

Bitget Beginner's Guide — How To Make Your First Futures Trade

Overview ● This beginner's guide is designed to help you make your first futures trade, using USDT-M Futures as an example. ● Before you begin your journey, please ensure that you familiarize yourself with the concepts discussed in the article and understand the process of futures trading along with its potential risks. ● Bitget strongly recommends newcomers to futures trading to start with a small sum of money for their first trade. This approach allows for a better understanding of the product's characteristics. As mentioned earlier, futures are a form of derivative that can amplify both your gains and losses, which makes them distinct from conventional spot trading. We understand that certain aspects of futures trading can be confusing, so be sure to go through each section thoroughly before diving into futures trading. Transferring funds to your futures account First, let's start with the different account types. When you make your first deposit, the funds typically appear in your spot account. However, if you want to start trading futures, you'll need to transfer the funds first. Bitget offers multiple account types, including funding, spot, and futures accounts, which are designed to help users manage their risks more effectively. When you deposit funds into your Bitget account, they will initially go into your spot account. To begin futures trading, follow these steps to transfer funds from your spot account to your futures account: App: Step 1: Tap on Assets in the bottom right corner of the screen, then select Transfer to move funds from your spot account to your futures account. You'll also need to select the futures type when you make the transfer, as Bitget offers USDT-M, USDC-M futures, and Coin-M perpetual/delivery futures. For this guide, we'll focus on Bitget's USDT-M Futures. Step 2: Each futures type requires a specific cryptocurrency as margin. On Bitget, USDT-M Futures require the USDT stablecoin, USDC-M Futures require the USDC stablecoin, and Coin-M futures require cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH. Select the appropriate funding option, enter the amount you want to transfer to your futures account, and tap Confirm. Step 3: Return to the app's home screen, tap on Trade in the bottom navigation bar, then tap on Trade again, and select Futures. After completing these three steps, you'll enter the futures trading page. However, refrain from placing an order immediately. Although the futures trading page is user-friendly, beginners should take time to understand the options, parameters, and concepts of futures trading. Once you've mastered the basics, you'll be ready to trade futures. Website: The steps on the Bitget website are similar to those on the app, with slight differences in button placement due to page design. If you decide to trade futures on the Bitget website, you'll also need to transfer funds from your funding account to your futures account. Simply click the [Wallet] icon at the top right corner, then select Transfer. On the "Transfer" page, choose the futures type, cryptocurrency, and enter the transfer amount. The process is shown in the images below: Getting started with futures trading Now that you have funds in your futures account, you can begin trading immediately. Below is a detailed guide on how to place your first futures order: App: Step 1: Choose your futures trading pair. When you enter the futures trading page, Bitget will display "BTCUSDT perpetual" in the top left corner by default. You can tap on this pair to select other trading pairs such as ETHUSDT, SOLUSDT, and more. Step 2: Choose cross or isolated margin mode. This is a crucial step in futures trading. You can see explanations about cross and isolated margin modes when you click on the margin mode. Note that if you choose cross margin mode, your available funds in the futures account will be used for all trades. If you prefer to closely monitor risks for specific trades, it's better to switch to isolated margin mode. In this mode, the maximum loss is limited to the available funds in the isolated margin account. In other words, cross margin is an "all-in" approach, while isolated margin is a relatively safer strategy. Step 3: Set the leverage. On the right side of cross/isolated margin, you'll see a 10X icon. Clicking on it allows you to select your leverage level. Taking the BTCUSDT futures as an example, the minimum leverage is 1X and the maximum is 125X. If you're new to futures trading, it's recommended to keep your leverage under 10X. Step 4: Select the order type. Since this is your first trade and you don't have any existing positions, you only need to open a new position. However, within the limit order, there are several options that determine your buying cost and timing, which is crucial in futures trading. Bitget offers five order modes to users: limit order, advanced limit order, market order, trigger order, and trailing stop-loss. Here, we'll introduce three simple and common order types for beginners. ● Limit order: When you select a limit order, the price of that pair is automatically displayed below. You only need to enter the amount of cryptocurrency you wish to buy or sell. The limit order is placed in the order book at a specific limit price, which is determined by you. The order is only executed when the market price reaches, or is higher than, the current bid/ask price. Limit orders help users buy low or sell at a price higher than the current market price. Unlike a market order, which executes immediately at the current market price, a limit order is placed in the order book and only triggered when the price is reached. ● Market order: This is the "lazy" mode where the system selects the best available price to execute an order. If the order is partially filled or not filled, the system continues to execute it at the next best price. ● Trigger order: Some users prefer to buy or sell a cryptocurrency only when it reaches a specific price point. Trigger orders fulfill this requirement by placing an order at a pre-determined quantity and price, which is triggered only when the market price reaches the trigger price. Funds will not be frozen before the order is triggered. It's important to note that trigger orders are somewhat similar to limit orders, but the latter involves a system-determined price, while the former requires manual input from you. Step 5: Set take-profit/stop loss and place buy/sell order. Bitget strongly advises new users to set stop-loss or take-profit when venturing into futures trading for the first time. This will help you better manage risks and understand the impact of leverage on your account assets. Buying or selling an order means you are going long or short respectively. Choose "Buy" if you are feeling bullish and expecting a cryptocurrency to rise in price; otherwise, choose "Sell". Website: With a larger screen size, the website is more convenient for users who prefer doing technical analysis and are skilled at reading candlestick charts. Whether you choose to trade futures on the website or the app, once you've gone through all the steps above and clicked on "Buy" or "Sell", you have executed a futures trade. While the steps may seem straightforward, there are still some matters you need to be aware of before making a futures trade. Understanding orders and positions Funding rates Funding rates are also known as funding fees. Using USDT perpetual futures as the article's basis, since perpetuals do not have a delivery date, profits and losses are calculated differently compared to standard futures contracts. Bitget's funding rates reflect the profits and losses of traders, and they are updated and calculated every 8 hours based on the price difference between the futures market and the spot market. Bitget does not charge funding fees, and they are paid to winning accounts with funds taken from losing accounts, based on the unsettled positions. Margin The leverage in futures trading is facilitated through margin, which means you do not need to pay the full amount for the asset. Instead, you only need to invest a small amount of funds at a specified rate based on the futures value as collateral. This fund is known as margin. Example: User A holds a long 2X position in EOS/USDT with a current margin of 0.15314844 USDT. If A increases their leverage, the margin will reduce accordingly. Conversely, if User A reduces their leverage, the margin will increase accordingly. ● Opening margin Opening margin is the minimum amount of margin required to open a position, which is displayed as the "order cost" when placing an order. Opening margin = (position value ÷ leverage multiple) + estimated opening fee at the time of opening a position When the order is fulfilled, any remainder after deducting opening fees will be automatically returned to the available funds. ● Position margin After creating a position, you can check the margin for that specific position in the Positions section of the futures trading page. Initial position margin = position value ÷ leverage You can also adjust the margin of the position by using the "+/-" button or by adjusting the leverage. ● Available margin Available margin refers to the margin that can be used to open a position. This margin will be partially released, increasing the utilization rate of funds, due to the state of the hedge position where a larger margin is taken, and the actual state of the transaction shall prevail. ● Maintenance margin Maintenance margin refers to the minimum value you need to keep your positions open. It varies according to the current size of your positions. Transaction fees For beginners, fees are a major concern, just as they are in spot trading. Futures transaction fees are calculated based on a percentage, which may vary depending on the product type. Additionally, whether the trader is a maker or a taker also influences the percentage. For specific fee rates, please refer to the fee schedule. Bitget's futures fee structure is open and transparent, and is calculated as follows: Transaction fee = (position size × transaction price) × transaction fee rate = order value x transaction fee rate Note: Order value = futures order amount × transaction price For example, A buys a BTCUSDT futures using a market order and B sells a BTCUSDT futures using a limit order. If the transaction price is 60,000 USDT, A's taker fee = 1 × 60,000 × 0.06% = 36 USDT B's maker fee = 1 × 60,000 × 0.02% = 12 USDT The key to success in futures trading When trading financial products or derivatives, no strategy guarantees consistent profits without incurring losses. Even experienced traders like Warren Buffett have encountered setbacks throughout their long careers. However, one thing is certain—you need to manage your emotions, maintain the right mindset, and allocate your positions sensibly. For leveraged products like futures, any price fluctuation could significantly impact your assets, so it’s important to remain calm throughout the process. Remember, futures trading is not a sprint but a marathon. Recommended reads: Bitget Beginner's Guide — What Are Futures? Bitget Beginner’s Guide — How to Avoid Liquidation

The Crypto Burrito (Volume IV): Understanding 2022’s Crypto Bankruptcy Filings

2022 was the year that saw an unprecedented number of bankruptcy filings from crypto and blockchain companies due to exposure to one another. In the first half of the year, Terra's fall from grace triggered the bankruptcy of Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital, and Celsius Network. BlockFi was also not in a good place after this event, but this crypto lender and Voyager Digital received financial support from FTX so they escaped bankruptcy by a hair's breadth. Then in November, FTX and Alameda collapsed in one fell swoop. As a result, the ones who barely escaped death just a few months ago then had to face their inevitable demise. A lot fell and filed for bankruptcy, but not all deaths were the same. Suddenly, a whole host of bankruptcy options are known by the average crypto users, because how a firm applies for bankruptcy affects the possibility of recouping funds for retail investors. This is a not-so-quick guide to the different bankruptcy filings of crypto firms in 2022. The Crypto Burrito (Volume I): Ethereum Merge The Crypto Burrito (Volume II): Terra’s Fall From Grace The Crypto Burrito (Volume III): The Never-Ending Saga of FTX The Crypto Burrito (Volume IV): Understanding 2022’s Crypto Bankruptcy Filings Chapter 15 Bankruptcy Code The one bankruptcy case that deviates markedly from the majority is that of the disgraceful Three Arrows Capital (3AC). Teneo, the appointed 3AC liquidators, chose to file for the Chapter 15 Bankruptcy in a U.S. federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York before moving on with the primary proceeding that took place in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). How is that so? Originally registered in Singapore for the ‘fund management business’ and later moved its headquarters to BVI but 3AC funding activities involved global investors and interested parties, a large portion of whom are domestic U.S. companies. Chapter 15 Bankruptcy is intended to simplify the coordination between the U.S. courts and authorities of foreign countries dealing with a foreign insolvent firm. More importantly, 3AC liquidators can ‘afford protection and maximization of the value of their assets’, meaning that the U.S. creditors can’t lay a finger on the collapsed hedge fund’s holdings in the country. Similarly, Teneo also applied for permission from the Singapore High Court and was granted the right to 3AC’s assets in Singapore. In short, creditors in the U.S. and in Singapore cannot access 3AC remaining assets, and by ‘creditors’, we are referring to secured creditors only, i.e. issuers of a loan or credit backed by collateral. In general, retail investors are considered unsecured creditors, thus will be the last in line to receive distributions from the liquidation process, if any. The five entities to be disclosed as members of the creditor committee are Voyager Digital, Digital Currency Group, CoinList. Blockchain.com. Below are some of the loans 3AC defaulted on:• Deribit: 1,300 Bitcoin and 15,000 Ethereum at 2.5% interest rate p.a. plus 0.15% per day if 3AC failed to maintain the minimum balance of the borrowed coins in their account; • Voyager: 15,250 Bitcoin and 350,000,000 USDC at undisclosed interest rate; • Celsius: 50,226,027.40 USDC and 25,118,150.68 USDC at undisclosed interest rate; • Genesis Asia: US$2,360,302,065 at undisclosed interest rate; • Moonbeam Foundation: 200,000 MOVR and 10,000,000 GLMR at undisclosed interest rate; • HashKey: 444,196.08 USDT at an undisclosed interest rate; • CoinList: 350,000,000 USDC vat undisclosed interest rate There are at least 32 creditors according to Kyles Davis’ affidavit, who lended US$3,145,294,314.91 in capital and stablecoins, 18,194 Bitcoin and 17,231 Ethereum. The progress so far? Eh. Teneo mentioned ‘limited cooperation’ from the co-founders of 3AC, therefore the liquidator is still working on collecting information regarding the fund’s financial records and relevant information. The only liquidation as of now, according to the official document by Teneo, is the Starry Night NFT Collection. Teneo had to make an unprecedented move towards Zhu and Davis, that is, to serve Davis a subpoena via Twitter - after the email subpoenas without any reply. Please refer to this website for updates on the 3AC proceeding. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code First, what is Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code? When an institution is unable to pay its creditors, it can file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 which allows for a reorganization with jurisdiction from the court while being in operation. This type of bankruptcy filing is very complicated, requiring a lot of court hearings and being notoriously time and resource intensive; only the rich ones going bankrupt can afford to go through these proceedings. However, not all institutions filing for Chapter 11 can be reorganized. Some cases may be converted to Chapter 7 (also known as liquidation bankruptcy) or may end up being dismissed. For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code, there is a clear hierarchy of who is prioritized to get paid first. Unfortunately, retail investors are almost the last in line to expect any recovery of their money, unless they are proven to be the victims in a lawsuit against the debtor. In 2022, the crypto firms filing for Chapter 11 were Celsius Network, FTX, Alameda Research, Voyager Digital, and BlockFi. Celsius Network The ruling of the Celsius case already came in; but it doesn’t rule in the favor of Celsius’ Earn account holders. Per the Terms and Conditions of Celsius Earn, the title and ownership of Earn Assets deposited into Earn Accounts are ‘unambiguously transferred’ from account holders to Celsius. That does not only highlight the ‘not your key, not your coin’ motto, but also the ‘not your bank, not your insured deposit’ as introduced by The Block. Voyager Digital Voyager was hit hard by 3AC. It took them only half a month to announce their exposure to the hedge fund, secure a loan from Alameda and proceed with the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. All customer activities on Voyager have been suspended temporarily since July 1, 2022, which remains under Chapter 11 protection. However, cash (in US-Dollar) is available for withdrawal immediately after the Court approved Voyager to release the funds in custody in their Metropolitan Commercial Bank account. Regarding the asset bid, Voyager announced in December 2022 that the highest bid was made by Binance.US at US$1.022 billion. If the creditors agree on the implementation of this bid, the distribution of their assets will later take place via Binance.US in the cryptocurrencies customers had on Voyager as of July 05, 2022. Updates on Voyager’s proceedings can be found here. FTX and Alameda Research At the beginning of November, FTX and Alameda were rumored to have improbable financial reports that massively inflated their balance sheets and evaluation. Thus, users created a bank run, causing FTX to halt withdrawals altogether due to $8 billion of fund deficit. Unable to call for enough money in time, FTX, FTX.US, and Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. John Jay Ray III, an attorney specializing in corporate restructuring who managed the Enron case, took the CEO position of FTX. Even though he had more than 40 years of experience, John said that the FTX case was the worst he had ever seen. The case is still unfolding and the next court hearing is scheduled to happen in October 2023. As aforementioned, retail investors are likely the last in line to be able to recoup their money from FTX. That's why they instigated legal proceedings against Sam Bankman-Fried in an attempt to have repayment priority over other creditors. It's unsure whether retail investors can win in this case. Those Who Barely Escaped LUNA Were Ultimately Rekt by FTX BlockFi and Voyager Digital were the two firms that were extremely affected by the meltdown of LUNA in June. The exposure of the collapse wiped out $650 million from Voyager and an undisclosed number from BlockFi. Voyager filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in July 2022 and was bought by FTX in September. After FTX fell, Voyager had to look for another buyer and Binance.US won the bid in December. Different from Voyager, BlockFi struggled but did not go bankrupt after the LUNA incident. Though it didn't technically file for bankruptcy, without FTX buying back and Alameda's credits, it was unlikely that the crypto lender could continue operation for much longer. However, doom was inexorable. Only three months after FTX extended its money for help, BlockFi had to apply for Chapter 11 following FTX's example. These are two unfortunate cases that narrowly escaped doom from the LUNA's fiasco, but in the end, couldn't get away from what seemed to be a predestined demise. Genesis suffered greatly from two incidents too. In June, it was reported that Genesis lost hundreds of millions USD, and in November, following FTX's downfall, the firm had to suspend customer redemptions. While the exact amount of loss was not published, it is highly likely that Genesis was among the hardest hit. The crypto company denied bankruptcy possibility ever since, but has just filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. As FTX and Alameda were among the biggest crypto firms, their collapse led to a domino effect on other companies. The full effect may not be apparent just yet, because many struggling institutions and individuals are hanging on and waiting for official court rulings. Register your Bitget account to enjoy new user rewards! Disclaimer While we do our utmost best to make sure that the information contained herein is acquired from reliable sources, we provide information on an "as-is" basis with no representations as to the validity, accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, or completeness of any information. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions, losses, and/or damages arising from its display or use. The information, views, and opinions expressed herein are those of Bitget at the time of publication and are subject to change anytime due to economic or financial circumstances and may not necessarily be updated or revised to reflect those changes that arise after the date of publication. The views, information, or opinions expressed in the report are intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended or offered to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Under no circumstances are Bitget, our employees, agents, partners, and/or co-operations responsible for any decision made, action taken, or result obtained from or in reliance on the use of the information herein. Any investment or trading ideas, strategies, or actions should never be taken without first taking into consideration each individual's personal and financial situation, and/or without consulting financial professionals.

The Complete Guide to USDC-Margined Futures on Bitget

If you’re looking to get into the world of futures trading, Bitget stablecoin-settled futures is one of the best entry points when it comes to crypto derivatives. We currently support two stablecoins for our perpetual contracts, including USDT and USDC. In the article below, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Bitget USDC-Ⓜ Futures and how to get started. Learn everything about Bitge t USDT-Ⓜ Futures here: The Complete Guide to USDT-Margined Futures on Bitget What is Margin Trading? Before diving into Bitget’s USDC-Ⓜ Futures, you’ll first have to understand how margin trading works. Margin trading is essentially the practice of investing money or cryptocurrencies with a borrowed sum (from a bank or broker). You’ll have to first make a deposit that’ll act as collateral, and the lending party will then provide the rest of the amount you wish to invest with. The arrangement gives investors more buying power that’ll allow amplified profits without requiring a lot of cash on hand. It’s also possible that your trading platform will take note of the collateral and turn on the margin function for you, i.e. no extra real cash is provided but the system is designed to increase your buying power limit accordingly. However, it’s also important to note that while potential profits can be amplified, so will potential losses. Important terms Margin types There are five main types of margins: Initial Margin, Maintenance Margin, Variation Margin, Available Margin and Risk Margin. The first kind describes the initial deposit in equity required for investors to open any position, while the second category determines how much equity you’ll need to keep in your account in order to keep those options open. Variation Margin is calculated as the difference between your Initial Margin and the current margin balance of the account and is most important to determine when margin calls must take place (where your balance falls below the Maintenance Margin), and the Available Margin is what you can use in your account to open more positions with. Finally, Risk Margin is determined by the maximum level of risk taken on by an investor, providing a clearer picture of exactly what delivery obligations an investor has. Margin modes In addition to the five types of margins, there are also two different modes that margins can be in. On the one hand we have the isolated margin mode, and the other is the cross margin mode. The former allows the allocation of a specific margin to each position you have open, while the latter has one joint margin pool across all your positions. Practically, isolated margins are better suited for highly speculative positions as your losses will be limited, whereas cross margins can provide greater flexibility if you’re not looking to reassess and manage your positions frequently. Margin calls While investing with margin can be profitable, you’ll also need to be aware of any margin calls coming your way. This occurs when your account balance falls below a required amount, and you’ll have to make up for the uncovered exposure within a limited time or the exchange can close out your open positions until the account balance meets that minimum value once again. Aside from injecting more equity, you can also meet this minimum requirement by closing less favourable positions you’re holding at the time. Futures and Perpetual Contracts With margins out of the way, we can now turn our focus towards futures. The OG futures contracts allow investors to purchase a predetermined amount of an asset at a predetermined price in a specified time in the future. This way, investors can participate in the market without actually holding onto any of the underlying assets. Unlike conventional futures contracts, however, cryptocurrency futures are often perpetual, meaning they do not actually have a specified expiry date. This means investors can open positions for a se t price and close when a particular currency reaches that price, regardless of the time it takes. Perpetual contracts inherit futures contracts’ convenience of not having to actually hold the underlying assets. Funding Fees It’s important to note, however, that during the time your positions remain open, there will be funding fees that are paid peer-to-peer. Since perpetual contracts do not have an expiry date, funding fees are necessary to keep futures contracts close in price with the spot price of a cryptocurrency by calculating a trader’s profits and losses every eight hours. Funds will then be transferred from losing accounts to winning accounts. Therefore, while you can keep a perpetual contract open for as long as you desire, you’ll also have to take into account any funding fees during this period. Trading USDC-Margined Futures on Bitget Currently, Bitget supports both Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual contracts as our USDC-Ⓜ Futures trading pairs. For the former, you’ll be able to access leverage of up to 125X, with the latter pair offered at up to 100X. All profits and losses as well as fees will naturally be settled in USDC. Step-by-Step Guide Trading USDC-Ⓜ Futures is quick and simple on Bitget, and you can get started through the following steps. 1. Go to the USDC-M Futures page and log in with your Bitget account. Not yet a Bitget user? Sign up now! 2. Click on 'Transfer' under the 'Assets' page to transfer funds from your Spot account to your USDC-M Futures account. No fees will be charged for this step. 3. To start trading, open a new position. Here, you’ll be able to choose your desired trading pair, the mode of margin and level of leverage, as well as the price, number and direction (long/short) of contracts. Once your orders are processed, you will be able to monitor and manage them in the [Open Orders] section. You can adjust your leverage or close any open positions depending on your P/L, which will be categorised under realised and unrealised P/L. Stats for closed positions will be displayed under [Order Details]. You can also close positions manually. Closing orders can be revoked before transactions are completed. Leverage and Risk Management As with any other form of investment, there is an inherent risk in USDC-Ⓜ Futures, and Bitget advises users to trade responsibly and mindfully with the help of risk management strategies. Because profits and losses are settled on a real-time basis, users on Bitget will receive the latest and most accurate information based on current market conditions. You’ll also be able to manage your risk better by changing between margin modes, as mentioned above, in order to reduce the chances of your positions being liquidated. When a margin call is issued, traders will have to meet the initial margin requirements within a limited time frame in order to maintain any open positions. You’ll be able to do this by either injecting new equity into your account or by closing some of your open positions. In the case of isolated margin, a position will be forced into liquidation at 100% margin ratio if the sum of isolated account balance and the unrealised P/L in that position are below the maintenance margin. In the case of cross margin, positions will be forced into liquidation at 100% margin ratio when the sum of the overall account balance (excluding those of isolated margin modes) and the unrealised P/L of those positions fall below the maintenance margin. In the unfortunate scenario where you are met with a margin call, users will be able to choose from three strategies to minimise their losses. First of all, you can cancel your orders, which will automatically stop all orders for opening and closing positions. Then you can remove the hedge position order of al l trading pairs or deleverage by reducing two leverage levels. Note that the latter two options do not affect positions held under an isolated margin mode. While risk mitigation strategies are being applied, other operations will be suspended until the treatment is completed. Why Choose Bitget for USDC-Margined Futures? Officially recognised as a leader in the cryptocurrency derivatives market in terms of both liquidity and global open interest, Bitget focuses on lowering barriers to entry to the world of crypto as well as the threshold to contract trading. Perfecting customer experience is the key to our product design philosophy, and our devotion has brought more than 20 million loyal users spanning 100 different countries. With a derivatives trading volume of US$10 billion, our platform has received 12 A+ ratings from SSL Labs and earned a Top 10 ranking for exchange cybersecurity from Crypto Exchange Ranks. We offer industry-leading security via a built-in DPI active defence system, a self-developed wallet warning system, and backups from leading security firms, including Suntwin Technology, Armors, HEAP, and more. If you have any questions for us, Bitget also provides 24/7 multilingual customer support. Feeling ready? Sign up for a Bitget Futures trading account and begin your crypto derivatives journey now! Bitget Futures Zone | Beginner-Friendly Futures Guide

2022 Semiannual Crypto Briefing

To Our Readers Bitget has been constantly working on innovative solutions for the digital asset space since 2018 and currently ranks in the top 5 best crypto exchanges in the world. Impressive enough, we have claimed the leader position in the crypto derivatives market within less than three years and set an all-time high of US$8.69 billion for daily derivatives volume at the beginning of 2022. Bitget applies a phased rollout to deliver refined products over the years. 2022 marks a new chapter for us with exceptional records of user activities and the growth of Bitget Token (BGB). Dedicated to bringing crypto to more people, we then decided to launch the educational arm known as Bitget Academy, where you can find high-quality, informative, and self-explanatory articles on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and emerging technologies. As you may know, our recent launch of Bitget Bites, Bitget Hot Takes and BGB Sail has been well received by not only Bitget users but by industry experts also. Bitget Crypto Briefing is an entirely new series looking at cryptocurrency developments on a semi-annual basis to prepare you for the next phase of your crypto journey. We hope that together, we can turn crypto into an integral element of the global financial system. Crypto is here to stay. And so are we. Bitget Team Executive Summary The crypto market got off to a good start this year following the glory of 2021. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched micro Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts, while Wall Street banks and giant tech firms started to explore the digital space. Although Bitcoin and Ethereum had a bumpy ride, the global market, especially Layer 1 projects, delivered a performance that was worth the US$5.3 billion new capital injections. The euphoria wore off later on when Terra (LUNA) UST, at the time the third largest stablecoin by market value, fell from grace on May 9 and wiped off at least US$40 billion from the market. As if that wasn’t hard enough, Tether (USDT) dropped below its US$1 peg a few days later, raising the controversial question of crypto’s stability. Prices of all cryptocurrencies took consecutive hits thereafter: Bitcoin breached US$30,000, crypto lender Celsius and the celebrated Three Arrows Capital (3AC) hedge fund went bankrupt, reduced liquidity due to distrust, and accelerated regulatory action, even from crypto-friendly countries such as Singapore. Centralised exchanges (CEXs) registered the lowest losses in all crypto sectors in Q2 2022. By the end of June, Bitget’s daily volume of all futures contracts was standing above US$100 billion, and Bitget Token (BGB) surrendered a 20% decline in returns compared to the market’s average of 50%. This is proof that Bitget, together with other CEXs, has been and will continue to be one strong warrior. This report will take a look back at what we have been through in the first half of 2022 in hope that we can embrace the next months with hope and confidence. Sometimes, we must break completely in order to rebuild fully, and in our view, the cryptocurrency market is heading into maturity, unwaveringly. Bitget In Focus The first half of 2022 has been a time of explosive growth for Bitget. Despite unwelcoming market conditions, we release a host of new products and services, expand our team, and partner with several world's top athletes. Bitget volume for derivatives rose to 10% of the global derivatives trading in Q1 2022, more than Q3 2021 and Q4 2021 combined, helping Bitget secure a seat at the big table. When it comes to compliance and security, Bitget continues to provide top-notch customer protection and adhere to local regulations to ensure uninterrupted operations across the globe. Relentless BUIDL In the first quarter of 2022, Bitget Launchpad was improved and re-introduced. It empowers investors to get early bird access to promising new crypto projects before listing. Each project is carefully selected by the Bitget team and has to go through a rigorous verification process to ensure that only the real projects are featured. To make it more convenient for investors of every level to gain access to new promising tokens, Bitget Launchpad is designed so that users can join our IEO in more than one way. The results of the revamped Launchpad so far have been very impressive: Bitget introduced its first-ever Referral Program in April 2022, as a part of our initiative to expand our global presence and welcome new users. Referral rewards are available in trial funds, USDT, BGB, and/or rebates. To further show gratitude towards the users, Bitget also offers several exclusive rewards for those who complete KYC, finish their first deposit, trade futures, trade spots, or do Copy-Trading. All the rewards and tasks can be tracked at Bitget's Rewards Center. In June, two new features were released: Vote-to-List and GroupCoin. Vote-to-List is one of many ways our users get to decide the projects they want to support on Bitget. When a project in Vote-to-List meets the vote count, the project's token is listed on Bitget and all the participants (or voters) can claim from the reward pool. The BGB used for voting will be returned as soon as the voting ends. Since its debut, Vote-to-List has held two voting events for two projects, namely AFKDAO (AFK) and PlatON (LAT). Both of them were hugely successful. More Vote-to-List rounds are coming soon to Bitget and they are bound to achieve favourable outcomes too. GroupCoin is a unique feature on Bitget that allows investors with small capital to invest in any projects they desire and receive great benefits in return. GroupCoin lets the users buy their favourite coins and tokens at up to 50% off. The more participants, the greater the discount. GroupCoin debuted on June 16 with BTC. The earlier half of 2022 also saw the advent of Spot Grid Trading and Futures Grid Trading on Bitget. These sophisticated tools are perfect for crypto traders in volatile markets. Grid trading is a type of quantitative trading strategy designed to buy low and sell high in a range-bound market. Grid Trading profits from the ups and downs of the market. A user sets a Price Range for the bot, adjusts how many grids they want, and as long as the price stays within the set range, the bot will always sell a portion when the price goes a bit up and buy a portion when it goes a bit down based on the user's setup. Grid Trading is profitable if markets are bumpy, meaning traders do not need to constantly sit in front of the screen and predict the next price trend. It substantially takes advantage of the market’s natural movements in quieter times. Besides, consider the amount of work associated with this strategy. The bot will do its job automatically after receiving the input data; of course, the users are recommended to routinely monitor the results and pay attention to market news, but in general, it is simpler trading with less pain. One thing to keep in mind is Grid Trading involves the execution of many orders, therefore traders should monitor and adjust the number of trades to manage their trading fees wisely. Bitget's Grid Trading has two modes: - AI Strategy (Automatic Mode): Bitget will give the users recommendations for the parameters using the analysis of their trading data over the last seven days. - Manual Creation (Manual Mode): This mode is designed for more experienced traders. These advanced settings are recommended for better risk management and improved grid performance. Thriving Social Trading At Bitget, we believe in the power of social connections. Social trading allows people to interact and observe other traders, as well as follow or execute the strategies of more experienced peers. The model taps into our innate need for connection, whether that means sharing, celebrating or even commiserating in the company of others while we trade. Copy-Trading, one of Bitget's flagship products, experienced incredible performance during the first half of 2022. Even though the market had many unpredictable fluctuations in this time, our traders got phenomenal trading results as shown in the photo below. Many got an ROI that was higher than 100 times. Those who followed their trading strategies also enjoyed great profits. Major partnerships with World-renowned Athletes Other than a range of new products and services, these past six months saw the partnerships between Bitget and numerous world-class athletes - from esports organisation Team Spirit, to Turkish football club Galatasaray Spor Kulübü, to footballer Keisuke Honda. These partnerships will not only allow non-crypto users to learn more about cryptocurrency and Bitget, but also pave the way for more acceptance and collaboration between the blockchain and traditional worlds. Improved Compliance and Security As one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, Bitget is committed to protecting our clients’ assets, and we take this responsibility seriously. We are adamant about adhering to cryptocurrency AML regulations to mitigate financial and reputational risks. Bitget has made every effort to provide the most compliant, safe, and professional digital currency trading services for users worldwide by getting the operational licence from different authorities. As the regulations around crypto and blockchain are uncertain, ever-changing, and divergent in every jurisdiction, we are doing our best to follow and fulfil local regulations to conduct uninterrupted operations across the globe. For better compliance, Bitget now gives numerous rewards to users who complete eKYC. Expansion of the Bitget team These relentless BUIDL efforts are the results of the Bitget team. Despite volatile markets, the team has been expanding two folds to more than 600+ employees from 38 countries. Thanks to the diverse team, Bitget can support users from all over the world 24/7 and offer services in 12 languages. We have plans to recruit more talents so Bitget can provide better and better products and services to our users. BGB at the core of the Bitget Ecosystem Data shows that the trading volume of Bitget Token (BGB) remains above US$5 million for the entire period. Trading volume declined since April - May, partially due to the spreading market contagion. The main reason is, however, more BGB have been locked so that holders can participate in several ludicrous events by Bitget. Check out our recent events here: Bitget’s US$4,163 welcome bonus Open the treasure chest to receive up to 1,000 BGB Enjoy the 20% transaction fee discount with BGB BGB holders were victims of extreme market conditions in Q2 2022, too, but that was a modest number against the market’s average of 50%. If you are a short-term trader, there have been favorable opportunities every week as explained here. BGB Volatility took off during the same period, quite expectedly as it’s the same for other digital assets. A positive correlation suggests that BGB has successfully mingled with the global market, and still managed to hold its position amid uncertainty. To keep up with the latest BGB monthly updates, please subscribe to our channels: Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram Market Outlook Following the record-breaking year of 2021, many expect crypto markets to reach an apex in 2022 but things got out of hand in Q2. Both external and internal factors chipped in; the whole digital space is seeing a chain reaction, with Bitcoin struggling to keep its US$20,000 support. Correlations The correlation between Bitcoin and the tech-savvy NASDAQ stayed above 50% for most of H1, meaning that Bitcoin has been efficiently tracking institutional appetite 50% of the time. The correlation started to soar in late March before cooling off in May. Source: Kaiko Throughout the first six months of 2022, Bitcoin’s correlation with the U.S. Dollar and the precious metal stood firm below the 0% mark. That is, the stronger the U.S. Dollar is, the less attractive Bitcoin may look. Same for gold, but the indicator has been rising since May and even became positive in June, showing that Bitcoin and gold are going more in tandem. As fears of a new recession creep in, many have once again called in the glorious victory of Bitcoin as ‘a replacement for gold’ and ‘the hedge against inflation’. Market Performance Among the top 15 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stablecoins (USDT, USDC, BUSD, DAI), Layer 1 projects (BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOT, AVAX), Layer 2 project (MATIC), and memecoins (DOGE, SHIB). The cumulative return of all 15 cryptocurrencies (yes, even stablecoins) has been declining persistently. Except for the breakouts of AVAX (+11.5%), DOT (+9.5%), DOGE (+7.8%), and ADA (+17%) in January, the lines pretty much went all below 1 for the first half of the year. By the end of June, the top 15 have lost at least 50% of their value; the most suffered were SOL holders (-80.3%), MATIC holders (- 80.6%), and AVAX diamond hands (-82.7%). We will discuss more stablecoins later. Now, look at the monthly change in returns for the top 15. BNB and XRP were quite robust compared to the rest. Solana (SOL) registered the highest uptick in March, and as a result, was listed as one of the top four cryptocurrencies to consider buying by GOBankingRates.com that month. However, the misfortune of May cost SOL investors four-fifths of their portfolios. For Bitcoin and Ethereum, May was not the one to wreak havoc. June did. In these extreme cases, holders lost 36.65% and 44.94%, respectively, after just one month. There is no need for explanation here, right? All red. Talk about the agony. Spot and Derivatives The chart below shows the relation between spot and futures volume on crypto exchanges. Futures data consists of the monthly volume for Bitcoin contracts and Ethereum contracts. In terms of trading volume, the spot market made up only a fraction of futures markets. Speculation significantly jumped in June, lowering the ratio between spot and futures to 0.29. Source: Coinglass Consider the aggregated volume of all crypto contracts and the number of liquidations on well-known exchanges. Please note that data for liquidations is available from April only. Source: The Block It was no coincidence that futures volume skyrocketed from May 9 - May 12 and from June 12 - June 15, at the same time the number of contracts going into forced liquidation. The first time frame is directly linked to the collapse of Terra (LUNA) and the second one was when Bitcoin breached below US$24,000, the lowest since December 21, 2020, and wiped off profits from the last 18 months. Source: Coinglass As perpetual contracts are more popular in the crypto space, funding rate is an insightful indicator of market behaviour. Based on the difference between the perpetual market and the spot market, traders will either receive or pay fund fees to the counterparty. This is how perpetual futures contract prices stay close to the index prices. A positive funding rate suggests the long sentiment is dominating (long traders are willing to pay the fee) and vice versa. We see a dominating short sentiment for Bitcoin around May 9 - May 12 as well, which eventually led to a Bitcoin price drop in June. On-chain Activities In difficult times, investors have a tendency to withdraw their holdings from assets and hot wallets to their cold wallets, thus becoming more inactive. Source: Glassnode This is proof. Fear and uncertainty caused investors to drain their custodial wallets; Bitcoin reserves on exchanges already fell to the lowest levels since July 2018 and on-chain activities obviously could not escape the fate. The chart below shows that the number of active addresses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana networks should go in the same direction as trading volume. Most fascinating is how active Solana users have been since the beginning of the year. Data for SOL active addresses has taken out the voting transactions, which means only financial transactions are reflected here. And the figure still leaves Bitcoin and Ethereum way behind. Stablecoin Market Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose market value is kept at the 1:1 ratio to an outside asset, mostly the US-Dollar. Any ‘de-pegging’ event can quickly create chaos in the global crypto market, especially in the case of major stablecoins. The first half of 2022 doesn’t seem so stable, eh? Algorithmic stablecoins (USTC, previously UST, and USDD) are not included in the chart above for two reasons: (1) USTC completely lost its peg in May and is no longer a stablecoin and; (2) USDD has been introduced in early May; the time frame is too short for trend identification. Overall, USDT and DAI have been justifiably the most stable, considering that they have been around for the longest time. However, with the support from BlackRock and Fidelity, Circle (USDC) has been eating ou t USDT’s market share. Its peg also stabilised at 0.0014% in June from May’s 0.2167%. Source: Glassnode Let’s get into the case of algorithmic stablecoins. After the Terra event, market anxiety soared to unprecedented levels. Some even dismiss the concept and its applications altogether. See how quickly USTC lost its peg? USTC volatility was supposed to be absorbed by LUNA, the native token of Terra. But it is not an independent reference and often criticised for having no intrinsic value. More importantly, the minting and burning magic of LUNA couldn’t outrun the market speed, and even if it could, LUNA would have become a sacrifice to USTC anyway. Either way, LUNA’s price had declined by 97% in just one night on May 11 and hardly recovered ever since. Source: Kaiko Analytics The average standard deviation of USTC price in the first four months stands at 0.1981%, higher than physically or collaterally backed stablecoins, but actually not that bad. The project’s loyal supporters, speculators, and opportunists have been keeping USTC volume above US$1 billion in June; it is unfortunately a steep contraction from US$30 billion in May. An emerging stablecoin is USDD of the Tron network. It is fueling DeFi’s Total Value Locked (TVL) in Tron, surpassing several Layer 1 by May 30. The volatility of USDD was extremely high in May; now that it has levelled off to 1.325% by June’s end, there’s still a long way to earn public trust. Institutional Moves Bitcoin is becoming the new asset class, unarguably. The appeal of crypto markets in recent years has finally captured the attention of traditional financial institutions, and Bitcoin is the safest choice for an entry ticket. Source: buybitcoinworldwide.com Most recent data shows that 6.311% of Bitcoin’s total supply is currently held by large institutions, mostly via ETFs, and sovereign governments like El Salvador. Capital inflows into the digital space have been unstoppable, although the contagion pretty much slows down the process in H1 2022. Funding The main keywords for VC funding in the first six months of the year are NFTs, Web3, and Data Intelligence. The number of successful deals increased by 22.5% to 534 from H2 2021’s 456 with the participation of Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital, Castle Island Ventures, Pantera Capital, FTX, and Huobi Global - to name a few. Some recent notable investments are: 6-month capital inflows have declined by 25.6% from US$12.5 billion in H2 2021 to US$9.3 billion in H1 2022, and Q2 of course saw fewer capital (US$4.1 billion) allocated to the industry than Q1 (US$5.3 billion). Meanwhile, a report from McKinsey Company in early June reveals that US$120 billion have so far been injected into the Metaverse industry. It is more than twice the total investment of 2021 (US$57 billion). Venture capitals, private equity, and large tech companies expect the virtual realm to ‘generate up to US$5 trillion by 2030’, hence the growing interest. CME Activities Note: Large traders by CME definitions are traders with at least 25 contracts open, each consisting of 125 Bitcoin or 1250 Ethereum. Going back to Bitcoin gateway, data on CME shows that large traders have been consistently active in the Bitcoin futures market despite the overall drop in total Bitcoin Open Interests (OI). Both asset managers and hedge fund managers appear to have reduced their speculation significantly to below US$1 billion since March. Source: The Block Open interests and trading volume go hand in hand for both the Bitcoin and Ethereum markets, but the latter wasn’t as juicy as the former: In January when the number of open contracts was at its peak for both underlying cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin OI of over US$62 billion was substantially more than three times of Ethereum’s US$17 billion. Source: The Block ETFs Bitcoin ETFs provide a fresh avenue for investors to capitalise on the cryptocurrency price movements, even though the U.S. regulators have yet to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF. Source: ProShares and Arcane Research ProShares is a leader in this category. Their first Bitcoin futures ETF (BITO) made its debut in October 2021 as the second-highest traded fund in history. More than US$1 billion in assets flowed to BITO within the first few days, psyching the market up for another ProShares product: The Bitcoin short strategy ETF (BITI). The highest daily inflow to BITI recorded since June 19 is equivalent to 1,684 Bitcoin, outpacing the long exposure of the same day (-715 Bitcoin). As more Bitcoin ETFs come into play, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is suffering the painful experience of customers’ cashing out. The pressure comes from the tumbled premium, which shows no signs of recovery since the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC) started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in February 2021. Source: Coinglass Grayscale has submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in hope that they can convert GBTC into a Bitcoin spot ETF, but was rejected on the last day of June. Grayscale took legal action against the SEC almost immediately after receiving the rejection. Looking Forward Given the crypto meltdowns and tightening crypto regulations in the first half of 2022, it is likely that the continued bearish sentiment will remain for a few months to come. Here is our suggestions on what to expect in the near future: (1) Investor protection and awareness: Global regulatory coordination can benefit investors greatly when it comes to market manipulation and extreme price volatility. The ripple effect of recent bankruptcies and extended withdrawal suspension does not seem to have slowed down, and investors are taking direct hits. Investors will be prepared with authorised information and consequently greater confidence in the market. (2) CBDC and stablecoin regulation:Stablecoins are the backbone of the crypto industry. Swapping riskier assets to Tether’s USDT or Circle’s USDC allows traders to keep their holdings safe without any fiat involvement. Regulations are meant to improve operational efficiency and resilience of this particular sector. Plans of CBDC could also accelerate the adoption rate of blockchain technology, driving more institutional investors to the digital space. (3) Web3 and monetisation tools: The digital economy is attractive because it gives literally everyone the opportunity to monetise their personal activities, from collecting points, participating in competitions to creating content. Industries that can take advantage of Web3 developments include consumer and retail, media and telecommunications, healthcare and education as well. As a result, big players are still flocking to Web3, NFT and Metaverse to hunt for growth online. As a dominating crypto derivatives exchange, it is our mission to create a safe environment for crypto enthusiasts as well as providing informative guidance on the market’s essentials. Expect efficient, stress-free trading with Bitget! DISCLAIMERS This report has been prepared by Bitget solely for informative, educational, and/or entertainment purposes. It should not be taken as investment advice and/or recommendation, constituting any basis for an investment decision, nor contributing to the formation of an investment strategy. The information contained herein may include or incorporate certain forward-looking statements and opinions. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not relate to historical facts and events, and such statements and opinions pertaining to the future. Forward-looking statements are based on current estimates and assumptions made according to the best of Bitget’s knowledge as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the actual results. In light of the risks, uncertainties, and assumptions associated with forward-looking statements, it is possible that the future events mentioned in the report may not occur. Any data, charts, or analysis herein should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance. Moreover, despite Bitget's best efforts at obtaining and verifying to ensure the most accurate, valid, and reliable information, the forward-looking estimates and forecasts derived from third-party studies referred to in the report may prove to be inaccurate and/or incomplete to some extent. Investing in digital assets is deemed highly speculative and involves significant risks including price volatility and illiquidity and may not be suitable for all investors. The authors of this report may hold positions in digital assets, and this should be seen as a disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Bitget will not be liable whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from or pertaining to any documents, products, and/or services of Bitget, including but not limited to this report. Please do your due diligence or consult a financial advisor before investing in any digital assets.

Bitget Hot Takes (July 11 - July 17)

As your most credible source of crypto news and knowledge, Bitget Academy is proud to release Bitget Hot Takes - our weekly newsletter series, the 360-degree onboarding guide for all crypto enthusiasts. Central Themes BGB ended the week slightly better than Bitcoin, but shows the lowest volatility in the exchange token category. Ethereum is leading the pack as The Merge draws near. Celsius filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. New crypto projects have raised more than US$400 million in the last 7 days. BGB Had The Lowest Volatility In Exchange Tokens Ethereum has breached the US$1,300 mark last week as The Merge approaches, which results in positive 7-day returns. BTC holders have experienced a 1.84% loss compared to BGB holders’ 1.64%. At the beginning of the week, BGB locked in a loss of only 0.6%, which was 0.2% less than BTC and ETH. BGB has been a resilient performer in the category of exchange tokens. The previous weeks proved to be fairly profitable for BGB holders, and they can still count on BGB as the exchange token with the lowest level of volatility. Want more mid-term reports on BGB? Check out our BGB Report for May and June 2022. Bitget is still buzzing with trading activities; the daily volume for futures contracts reached its peak for the week at US$185 billion on the 14th of July. Bitcoin Holding Onto US$20,000 Bitcoin has been struggling to stay above US$20,00 for the last few weeks. The price action did stir concern among investors; many have decided to swap their BTC into USDT for safety. The increase in BTC spot volume was recorded at 6.67 million BTC for June (+24.3%). However, don’t forget its correlation with the U.S. Dollar is constantly declining as well, now at almost -25%. Amid fears of hyperinflation and recession, Bitcoin could once again become the hedge against inflation. Source: Kaiko Analytics Another positive signal for the flagship cryptocurrency is the newly announced partnership between Hyosung America, the largest ATM manufacturer in the U.S. and the Bitcoin POS provider DigitalMint. The plan is to help DigitalMint users purchase Bitcoin more conveniently, at more than 175,000 ATMs in the U.S. So far, not so bad. Other Sectors The great rush may not be over for NFTs, while the stablecoin market has witnessed drastic changes in terms of market share. Solana-based NFTs, GameStop, and US$124 million in investments Solana (SOL) price has been moving aggressively, with its daily volume remaining over US$500 million for the whole week. The still-booming NFT ecosystem on this blockchain is undeniably one of the biggest contributors to the rapid price movement of SOL: - Magic Eden, which has several times topped OpenSea in daily trading volume, has launched its investment arm to back Web3 gaming startups. - The P2E soccer game MonkeyLeague successfully acquired US$24 million for its Series A funding round. The project raised US$4.4 million in token sales last year. - The original M2E game StepN has earned US$122.5 million in Q2 revenues and decided to allocate 5% of the earnings to buy back GMT, its in-game token. - Solana Ventures continues to push the NFT growth by backing the Montreal-based indie gaming studio Bravo Ready in its US$3 million seed round. Investment inflows into the NFT sector is not limited to projects built on Solana: - Game software company Animoca Brands raised US$75 million after securing US$65 million in October 2021 and US$360 million in January. - Paradigm led the US$16 million Series A round for Hang, a NFT-powered platform for membership and loyalty rewards. Among Hang’s clients are Budweiser, Pinkberry and Superfly. - Supermojo secured US$6 million in seed funding. Supermojo is a NFT financing platform intended to build the ‘buy now pay later’ model. GameStop has released the public beta version of its long-awaited NFT marketplace at https://nft.gamestop.com/. This is the latest move by the video retailer to promote growth after years of financial struggle. Corporates are not the only ones to explore NFT’s buzzy area; Shanghai City Government has released a policy paper presenting the plan to ‘cultivate’ a US$52 billion Metaverse industry by 2025. The High Court of England and Wales is another authority to adapt blockchain technology by allowing legal documents to be served through NFTs. Despite these bustling activities, employees of the No.1 NFT Marketplace OpenSea are feeling the winter’s chill. 20% of its staff were let go on July 14 as announced by OpenSea’s CEO and Co-founder. Meanwhile, Binance confirmed that the exchange is no longer Sky Mavis’ lead investor and the reimbursement process for victims of the Ronin hack should take place ‘without significant investment from Binance’. USDT’s dominance fell below 50% Data from Glassnode shows tha t USDT’s dominance in the stablecoin market has decreased by 43.1% since July 2020, paving the way for USDC (+320%), BUSD (+650%) and DAI (+290%). Please note that these figures are calculated over a two-year timeframe. Source: Glassnode Tether’s largest rival, Circle, released its first monthly report on July 14, disclosing detailed reserve composition for USDC. The report can be found here. The Latest Bitget News Determined to bring our users the best crypto experience, Bitget constantly adds new trading pairs each week alongside the interesting, bountiful events: New Listings IP3USDT AAVEUSDCAPEUSDC WWYUSDT New Events 1,000 WWY For Grab 7,00 USDSP As Prizes Good Reads What does blue-chip cryptos mean? What Is Interoperability? What is HODL? Follow us for the latest updates: Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

The Complete Guide to USDT-Margined Futures on Bitget

Designed to give our users the best trading experience, Bitget USDT-Ⓜ Futures is the most beginner-friendly crypto derivatives product. Margin Trading: What is it? Margin Trading allows traders to engage in futures trading activities without having a lot of cash at hand. You’ll need to deposit a particular amount based on the contract value to start with; the rest can be borrowed for an amplification effect, i.e., increasing buying power. Margin trading encourages traders to reevaluate their positions on a daily basis: traders whose account balance falls below a required amount will have to pay up for their uncovered exposure as fast as possible, or else the exchange can close out any open positions until the account balance meets the minimum value. Traders can also voluntarily exit some less favourable positions instead of depositing more equity into their accounts. Perpetual Contracts Futures contracts on Bitget are mostly perpetual, meaning they do not have a concrete expiry date. It is completely up to traders how long they want to hold the contract. Hence, markets are impressively liquid (entrance and exit made easy at very low costs). Moreover, perpetual contracts are written on an asset’s index price, which equals the average price of that particular asset with respect to its spot price and trading volume. Funding Rate Funding Rate is a crypto-specific term. As perpetual contracts have no expiry, profits and losses cannot be calculated in the same way as normal futures contracts. Fund Fees on Bitget are traders’ profits/losses, updated and realised every 8 hours based on the price difference between perpetual market and spot market. Bitget does not charge this fee; it is paid into winning accounts with funds taken from losing accounts, depending on the open positions. Real-time funding rates as well as historical data can be found here. Important terms you’ll come across There are some significant terms related to margin trading that will help you get acquainted with the process faster as belows: Types of Margin The five different types of margin on Bitget include Initial margin, Maintenance margin, Variation margin, Available margin, and Risk margin. Initial margin is the bare minimum amount of equity that needs depositing before you can open any position, which plays the role of a guarantee for the counterparty. Maintenance margin is the minimum amount of equity to be maintained in the account during the life of each contract and is always lower than the initial margin. Variation margin is the difference between the initial margin and the current (margin) balance and is to be calculated in case of a margin call, i.e. when the account balance falls below the required maintenance margin. Our users will see available margin as the total amount of equity available for placing new trades. Risk margin appears to be the most complicated out of these five. It represents the actual delivery obligations one trader has. Consider the following example: John wants to long 5 BTC on Bitget because the conditions are favourable. However, due to high volatility, he also tries to offset this long position by taking a short position of 2 BTC and consequently reducing his obligations of delivering all 5 BTC in case prices drop. Consequently, the maximum amount of BTC to be delivered when BTC prices decrease is 3 BTC, reflecting the maximum level of John’s risk margin. Modes of Margin As a leading derivatives exchange in the crypto space, Bitget makes both Isolated Margin mode and Cross Margin mode available for all users. In the Isolated Margin mode, each position will be allotted a specific margin and, correspondingly, an independent Isolated Margin account. The initial margin for Isolated Margin accounts is completely separated from each other and from the available margin. This option encourages traders to proactively manage their individual positions and is designed for highly speculative trading, as the maximum loss possible is restricted to the Isolated Margin balance only. Cross Margin means all positions can have access to one joint margin pool, meaning traders can tap into all available equities in their margin account. Please note that with cross margin on Bitget, one trader may have several margin pools of different cryptocurrencies. Only open positions with the same settlement (crypto-)currency can make use of the corresponding joint pool. Trading USDT-Margined Futures on Bitget Supported trading pairs There are nearly 200 margin trading pairs available on Bitget, with the maximum leverage levels being as high as 125X for BTCUSDT, XRPUSDT, and 100X for ETHUSDT. New trading pairs are added on a weekly basis. For USDT-Ⓜ Futures, profits and losses will be settled in USDT. Bitget USDT-Ⓜ Futures: Step-by-step tutorial Trading crypto futures has never been easier with Bitget. The basic steps can be summarised as such: 1. Go to Bitget USDT-Ⓜ Futures trading page and log in with your Bitget account. Not yet a Bitget user? Sign up now! 2. Click on 'Transfer' under the 'Assets' page to transfer funds from your Spot account to your USDT-Ⓜ Futures account. There is no fee incurred for internal transfers. 3. Start trading by opening a new position. You’ll choose one favourite trading pair, your mode of margin, preferred level of leverage, together with price, number and direction (long/short) of contracts. Submitted and processed orders will be shown under Open Orders. When they are successfully submitted, you can find them under Positions, where you can deliberately adjust the leverage or close the position when needed. Check profits and losses (P/L): Also displayed under Positions, profits and losses are divided into two categories of unrealised (not yet received/taken at marked price) and realised P/L. If the position is already closed, P/L is shown under Trade Details. Close the position: You can manually close or reduce any existing position by entering the details as shown below. Please note that closing orders can not be revoked. Similar to opening positions, processed closing orders will be available for check-up in Open Orders. Leverage and risk management Bitget encourages our users to trade responsibly and mindfully with the help of risk management strategies and our applied functionalities. One unique feature of Bitget is profits and losses are settled on a real-time basis. That also represents our guarantee for a sophisticated, accurate data system. Traders will be able to manage their account commensurate with the market. Bitget users can also switch between Cross Margin and Isolated Margin mode at will to better improve their portfolio performance as well as reducing the risk of liquidations. In case of a margin call, traders have to meet the initial margin requirements in a particular time period to maintain their open positions, otherwise traders will be forced into liquidation, i.e. closing out open positions, until their current account balance satisfies the initial margin requirements for the remaining positions: Forced liquidation in Isolated Margin mode: At 100% margin ratio, a position will be forced into liquidation if isolated account balance + unrealised P/L in isolated mode < maintenance margin. Forced liquidation in Cross Margin mode: At 100% margin ratio, a position will be forced into liquidation if cross account balance, excluding isolated margin and unrealised P/L in isolated mode, is less than the maintenance margin. If such a case is to take place, Bitget users can conveniently choose between the following actions to minimise loss(es): (1) Cancel the order: For the isolated margin mode, it only cancels the opening and closing orders of this transaction for one position at a time. For the cross margin mode, all orders for opening and closing positions will be cancelled (including positions in the isolated margin mode). (2) Remove the hedge position order of all trading pairs (isolated margin mode not included); (3) Deleverage: Reduce 2 leverage levels each time (isolated margin mode not included). Please note that if risk treatments are being applied, other operations will be prohibited until the process is completed. Why Choose Bitget’s USDT-Margined Futures? Officially recognised as a leader in the crypto derivatives market in terms of liquidity and global open interest, Bitget aims to lower both the entry barriers to crypto and the threshold to contract trading. Our product design philosophy is solely based on perfecting the customer experience; these efforts have been handsomely rewarded with 20 million loyal users from over 100 countries and regions. Nearly 200 trading pairs and counting, with a maximum leverage of 125X Top 3 global derivatives liquidity Top 3 global exchanges in terms of volume with a daily derivatives trading volume of US$10 billion according to CoinMarketCap, Coingecko, and Coinglass. Industry-leading security: Bitget’s major advantage lies in the unique blend of security, margining system and competitive trading fees. Bitget has received 12 A+ ratings from SSL Labs, a built-in DPI active defence system, and a self-developed wallet warning system and it’s backed by top-notch security companies such as Suntwin Technology, Armors, HEAP, and others. In addition, Crypto Exchange Ranks (CER) has listed Bitget as one of the top 10 exchanges by Cybersecurity - an acknowledgment for our efforts to effectively safeguard our users’ funds over the past four years. 24/7 global and multilingual customer support: you can ask for help at any time, we are always there! Dedicated demo trading environment for beginners to learn how to trade with zero risks. Get ready? Sign up for a Bitget Futures account and explore the world of crypto derivatives trading now! Bitget Futures Zone | Beginner-Friendly Futures Guide

Bitget Hot Takes (June 27 - July 03)

As your most credible source of crypto news and knowledge, Bitget Academy is proud to release Bitget Hot Takes - our weekly newsletter series, the 360-degree onboarding guide for all crypto enthusiasts. Central Themes BGB was the only token to have generated profits when compared to BTC, ETH and other exchange tokens. Bitget adds 5 new USDC trading pairs, including BNB/USDC, TRX/USDC, LUNA/USDC, FITFI/USDC, and NEAR/USDC BTC has seen the worst quarterly performance in the last decade with Q2 2022. Trusts tracking BTC price remain popular. Hacks and bankruptcies made the headlines. BGB Performance Outpaced The Market Over the last 7 days, Bitget Token (BGB) was the only token to have a positive cumulative return (as shown in the charts below), while major cryptocurrencies (BTC and ETH) and exchange tokens suffered greatly from market tumult, ending the week in loss. Bitcoin (BTC) Bitcoin’s worst quarterly performance in 10 years Bitcoin price has been on a downward spiral for the last few weeks but this week was definitely the worst in June where Bitcoin ended up losing more than 10% of its value in just 7 days. Check out our Weekly Newsletter for Week 24 (June 13 - Jun 19) and for Week 25 (June 20 - June 26) for details on Bitcoin price movements. Data from Skew Analytics shows that Q2 2022 is undoubtedly Bitcoin’s worst quarter of the last decade, where Bitcoin lost 56% of its value. Source: Skew Analytics As Bitcoin started to cave in, extreme fear is spreading across the market, urging investors to unload their Bitcoin bag: Around 1.43 million BTC (equivalent to 7.5% of the circulating supply) changed hands between the recent low of US$17,800 and US$21,300. Each bar in the chart represents the amount of existing Bitcoin last trading within the specified price range. Source: Glassnode That also means the majority of investors have capitulated, especially below the US$27,000 mark. Source: Glassnode Bitcoin’s poor performance means that it can no longer track the stock market efficiently. After a high of 0.8-0.9 in April and May 2022, Bitcoin’s correlation with the tech-focused NASDAQ 100 has declined in June, or, Bitcoin has tended to move in the same direction with NASDAQ 100 for only 50% of the time. Source: Kaiko It is self-explanatory, then, that the institutional sentiment on Bitcoin is currently bearish. The net inflows to ProShares’ Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITI) since June 21 are six times the inflows to its long sibling, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). On the 29th of June only, BITI's net short exposure has doubled after the daily inflow of 1,684 Bitcoin. Whales tracker Bitcoin’s declining prices turn out to be a megadeal for whales (investors owning more than 1,000 Bitcoin). Data shows they are buying Bitcoin aggressively from exchanges, at the rate of 140,000 Bitcoin/month. The NASDAQ-listed MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 480 Bitcoins for US$10 million (average price of US$20,817 per BTC), and El Salvador acquired 80 additional BTC at $19,000 each. When combined, their Bitcoin balance now stands at 8.69 million BTC (45.6% supply). Institutional need for Bitcoin exposure The institutional investors do not necessarily see this decline in Bitcoin price as a bad omen. While the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) now allows member banks to hold 1% of their reserves in Bitcoin, many crypto-friendly companies have been fighting for the legitimacy of Bitcoin Spot ETFs. BITI and BITO, for example, are Bitcoin Futures ETFs, which obtain indirect Bitcoin exposure via their investments in Bitcoin Futures. To learn more about Futures Trading, click here. A Bitcoin Spot ETF requires direct purchasing of Bitcoin at its spot price, thus it’s supposed to make Bitcoin a real asset. Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected Grayscale and Bitwise Spot Bitcoin ETF applications, but VanEck has filed a new application for Spot Bitcoin ETF. The Zurich-based 21Shares has recently launched another Bitcoin ETP, which is specifically tailored to the bear market. Ethereum Updates Ethereum Developer Team has officially announced the delay of the “difficulty bomb” to September after the Gray Glacier hard fork last week. A new Ethereum token standard, ERC-4907, was also introduced for the sake of rentable NFTs. It is unclear if ERC-4907 is put into effect, but when it is, the NFT sector can expect another boom thanks to the elevated utility. On July 1, Facebook officially began their pilot integration plan, which allows a select group of US creators to showcase their Ethereum or Polygon-based NFT profile. Investment Trends: Web3, Data Infrastructure Several crypto projects have received over US$163 million in funding last week, with the key theme revolving around Web3 applications, Data and Infrastructure. The sole DeFi investment belongs to the lending protocol MoHash, which received US$6 million in seed round led by Sequoia and Quona. Web3 Weather XM has raised a US$5 million seed round led by Placeholder VC. Investors in the round included Metaplanet, ConsenSys Mesh, Protocol Labs and Border Capital. Weather XM is designed to create personal weather stations, allowing owners to become weather station operators and earn rewards for collecting and validating data. Startup building web3 authentication and authorisation tools for developers, Dynamic, has raised US$7.5 million in a seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other investors in the round included Castle Island Ventures, Solana Ventures, Circle Ventures, Breyer Capital, Hypersphere and Chapter One. Web3 network Peaq has raised $6 million in a round led by blockchain venture capital firm Fundamental Labs. The valuation has not been disclosed. Peaq is a network that empowers individuals to build dApps for vehicles, robots and devices including sharing, charging and parking functionalities. Data Kyve Network, a decentralised data storage solution, has raised $9 million in a round led by Distributed Global, marking its value at US$100 million. Kyve, which operates as a DAO, is a protocol that allows providers to standardise, validate and permanently store blockchain data streams. Crypto data firm Kaiko, which focuses on institutional investors and DeFi data, raised US$53 million in its Series B funding round amid venture contraction. The funding was led by Eight Roads, with Revaia, Alven, Point9, Anthemis and Underscore being the biggest participants. Zigazoo, a TikTok-like platform for children, announced it has raised $17 million in a Series A fundraise led by Liberty City Ventures. The company rolled out a non-fungible token (NFT) platform, with collections from children-focused brands in early April, and the funding will help expand the company’s presence in web3 “while building towards becoming the leading social network for kids to interact directly with creators and brands in the kids’ media space.” Infrastructure Ethereum scaling project AltLayer has raised $7.2 million in seed funding round. The startup shared on Friday with The Block that Polychain Capital, Jump Crypto and Breyer Capital co-led the round. Among the investors in this round are Gavin Wood, Ethereum co-founder and Polkadot founder; Balaji Srinivasan, a former Coinbase CTO and a former a16z general partner; Sean Neville, co-founder of Circle; and Kain Warwick and Jordan Momtazi, co-founders of Synthetix and Bodhi Ventures. PolySign, a crypto startup that offers custody, trading and administration infrastructure for institutions, has raised $53 million in a Series C funding round. Among investors in this round are Brevan Howard Digital, the digital assets unit of the hedge fund co-founded by British billionaire Alan Howard; Cowen Digital, the crypto division of the investment bank Cowen; and GSR, a crypto trading firm and market maker. PolySign has also received a credit facility worth $25 million from private equity firm Boathouse Capital. Attacks On The Rise The NFT sector was hit hard as the biggest NFT Marketplace, OpenSea, announced data breach due to email delivery partner’s negligence. Afterwards, its co-founder and CTO Alex Atallah confirmed his leaving at the end of July. Another victim of hackers was the Ankr, who provides gateways to Polygon and Fantom blockchains. The exploited vulnerability could allow hackers to collect seed phrases and eventually funds from many users. The Solana-based concentrated liquidity provider Crema Finance has experienced a probe hack and is now working with the audit firm OtterSec to examine the issue. The Baller Ape is the largest NFT fraudulent scheme up to date. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged the developer behind this US$2.6 million rugpull for fraud on June 30. The Brink Of Bankruptcy The tales of Celsius, Three Arrows Capital (3AC) and Babel Finance haven’t come to an end yet. 3AC, after much effort to find a remedy for its situation, has finally filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy on July 01, which should protect its U.S. assets from creditors in the U.S. Earlier this week, Voyager, now temporarily suspends trading, deposits, withdrawals, and loyalty rewards, has finally issued a notice of default to 3AC. Other affected institutions include Deribit, which initiated 3AC liquidation application in British Virgin Islands (BVI)’s court and Genesis, who is said to face ‘hundreds of millions’ in losses because of its 3AC exposure. BVI has ordered the liquidation of the Singapore-based 3AC, then Singapore authorities reprimand Three Arrows Capital for providing false information. Celsius’ lawyers have been trying to convince the crypto lender to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which asks for the help of a court for the restructuring of debts and obligations. Under Chapter 11, the firm can continue its operations, but has to pay hefty fees for this bankruptcy proceedings. Some of Celsius’ attempts to fight against its lawyers is to cut back a quarter of its employees, together with asking its retail clients to show their agreement by switching to HODL Mode in their accounts. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has assessed Celsius’ documents and provided a report on the firm’s risk profile: As of October 2021 (around the time when Celsius started their fundraising campaign), its asset-to-equity ratio stood at 19:1 (US$19 billion in assets and US$1 billion in equity). The average asset-to-equity ratio of North American banks in the SP500 Composite Index is 9:1, meaning that Celsius is exposed to twice the risk of an average bank. Similar to Celsius, Babel Finance is also facing a decline in human capital, but not because it chose to. Concerns regarding this firm’s solvency continue to rise as client funds remain frozen, and several key employees have decided to walk away from the mess: Yulong Liu and Xavier Xiang, heads of global partnerships, Sean Yang, director of global partnerships; Yuchen Jiang, who worked in an unspecified partnership role; Jacynth Wang, director of communications; and Yiwei Wang, global PR lead. Some top executives deleted their LinkedIn profiles instead. Rumours say Babel Finance is about to tap the U.S.-based Houlihan Lokey, a specialist in restructuring and distressed mergers and acquisitions, to solve its liquidity problems. Unstable Stability Considering the recent market situation, the issuer of DAI stablecoin, MakerDAO, has proposed to invest 500 million DAI (equivalent to US$500 million) in U.S. Treasury Bills and Bonds to reduce counterparty and credit risk. Decentral Bank, another DAO with its own stablecoin USN, has temporarily paused the use of NEAR tokens in minting USN, citing “shaky crypto market conditions”. Meanwhile, the community behind Lido Finance is showing their disapproval of the protocol’s plan to reduce its staking dominance on Ethereum 2.0’s Beacon Chain, meaning an uncertain future for staked ETH (stETH). Tether has cut down its commercial paper holdings by almost 60% in response to the quality concerns. Their biggest competitor, Circle (USDC) has publicly confirmed its viability after tapping New York Community Bank for asset custodian. The Latest Bitget News Appreciating the rise of USDC, Bitget has successfully released five new USDC pairs for spot trading, namely BNB/USDC, TRX/USDC, LUNA/USDC, FITFI/USDC, and NEAR/USDC. New Listings in Innovation Zone USD Sports Luffy with $30K Prize Pool OpenBlox with 50K BGB Up For Grab SafePal Euro Coin with 15K BGB Prize Pool New Events CoinRush Fantaland With $50K Prize Pool Weekly Airdrop - Stay Tuned For More Information! Follow us for the latest updates Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram