A Billion: Transactions, Users and Funding 🥤
Bitcoin has processed 1B transactions. Crypto to hit 1B users by 2025 end? Crypto VCs pour $1B for 2nd straight month. $7.5T crypto market, Bernstein predicts. Bitcoin millionaires are buying homes.
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The weekend was good for crypto.
Even good part of Monday, Bitcoin above $65k and Ethereum over $3.2k, but then the correction set in at 8:30 GMT. We are back in red.
Still, Bitcoin and Ethereum have pulled up good 10% from the lows of the last week, the start of May mayhem.
What fuelled the weekend rally?
Federal Reserve Chair Powell hinted that an interest rate hike is "unlikely."
A steady job market (low jobless claims) and rising labor costs might influence the Fed to be less aggressive with future interest rate hikes.
Decrease in outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Note: The unemployment rate for April was 3.9%, higher than expected. High unemployment increases the likelihood of the Fed lowering interest rates.
Three big numbers to munch on today.
1 Billion Transactions
Bitcoin crossed a billion transactions processed - 800 weeks after its launch in 2009.
Check out: Clark Moody Bitcoin Dashboard
Comes amidst a year of Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin Halving and the boost provided by the new protocols like Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes.
1 Billion users
Analyst Willy Woo predicts the industry could reach a staggering 1 billion users by the end of 2025.
Suggests a significant user jump, with current numbers needing a 72% increase.
$7.5 trillion crypto market
Bernstein analysts predicts the market will hit $7.5 trillion by 2025.
“We expect total crypto market cap to reach $7.5 trillion by 2025 vs. $2.6 trillion today, led by Bitcoin ($3 trillion by 2025), Ethereum ecosystem ($1.8 trillion by 2025) and leading blockchains e.g. Solana, Avax … ($1.4 trillion by 2025).”
Bitcoin millionaires are buying homes
Move over Lamborghinis, there's a new status symbol in town: real estate.
A recent study crypto millionaires are investing in houses.
Researchers from top universities found that for every dollar of unrealised crypto gains, only about 9 cents went towards spending.
This suggests crypto wealth is being invested, similar to traditional stocks, rather than being spent on fleeting luxuries, focusing on long-term wealth.
Block That Quote 🎙️
Franklin Bi, crypto venture fund Pantera Capital.
“Spot bitcoin ETF approval validated significantly the crypto world”
There is a surge in investment activity in crypto.
Why? Spot Bitcoin ETF approval is seen as a game-changer. Blockchain technology is entering various global markets, including financial markets, supply chains, and consumer applications, in sync with venture firm's long-term strategy, according to Bi.
Within crypto, Gaming, DeFi (decentralised finance), and real-world asset tokenisation are seen as hot investment opportunities.
Pantera Capital looking to raise $1 billion.
It would be the largest for the crypto industry since May 2022, when a16z raised a record-setting $4.5 billion.
VCs raising more capital for crypto funds
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised $7.2 billion in April 2024 to invest in several technology sectors, including crypto.
Paradigm is seeking $850 million for crypto investments.
Other crypto VC firms looking to raise money.
Galaxy Digital ($100 million)
Hack VC ($100 million)
Hivemind Capital ($50 million)
Crypto accelerator Alliance raised $20 million and aiming to raise an additional $80 million by July.
Crypto venture firm 1kx recently secured $75 million to support early-stage startups.
Growing Pains Of Bitcoin's Testnet
Jameson Lopp, a Bitcoin developer, is calling for a reboot due to two main issues:
Block Storms: The testnet is experiencing periods of intense activity ("block storms") where an abnormally high number of blocks are created in a single day - compared to the mainnet's average of 144. This disrupts the network and makes it difficult to test new features.
Costly Testcoins: Projects are starting to charge users for testnet Bitcoin (TBTC), which goes against the core purpose of a free testing environment.
Additionally, the high block height (over 2.8 million) means testnet miners get close to zero rewards, further discouraging participation.
Lopp suggests a reboot of the testnet. This would reset the block height and ensure a healthy environment for developers to experiment.
Last week, Lopp conducted a griefing attack on the Bitcoin testnet.
The attack resulted in over 165,000 blocks being generated in a week, equivalent to 3 years' worth.
In the Numbers 🔢
$1 Billion
Crypto venture capital funding for the second straight month - RootData.
April funding: $1.02 billion across 161 investment rounds.
March funding: $1.09 billion across 186 rounds.
Total funding in 2024 (YTD): Over $3.67 billion across 604 rounds.
Largest fundraises
$225 million - Monad (Solana competitor) by Paradigm and Coinbase Ventures
$100 million - Berachain (Cosmos-based layer-1 blockchain)
$80 million - Auradine (blockchain infrastructure)
$2.4 Billion
VC investment in crypto startups in Q1 2024 - Galaxy Research.
That's a 29% increase from the previous quarter.
The capital split: 80% to early-stage startups, while 20% went to later stage companies.
Blockchain funding since June 2014
More than $100 billion across 5,195 funding rounds, according to DeFiLlama.
Coinbase Hit With Another Lawsuit
Coinbase is facing fresh legal trouble with a new class-action lawsuit claiming they misled investors.
The Allegation: The lawsuit claims Coinbase sold unregistered securities in the form of various crypto tokens, including Solana, Polygon, and Uniswap.
The Evidence: The plaintiffs point to Coinbase's user agreement seemingly classifying them as a "Securities Broker" and their "Coinbase Prime" brokerage service.
What They Want: The investors are seeking a full refund, unspecified damages, and an injunction to stop the alleged misconduct.
It's similar to a previous case accusing Coinbase of selling unregistered securities to consumers.
Coinbase is also battling the SEC on this very issue in a separate case.
The Surfer 🏄
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, has proposed a merger with Bitcoin Cash. The integration aims to enhance DeFi protocols and scalability. The proposal seeks public opinion through an X poll, with 66.3% currently in favor.
A crypto whale has invested $10.4 million in meme coin PEPE. PEPE's value has risen by 29.70% in the last month. The transaction involved 1.238 trillion PEPE tokens.
BTC-e founder Alexander Vinnik has pleaded guilty to a $9 billion money laundering conspiracy. The crypto exchange was used to launder funds from criminal activities. BTC-e processed over $9 billion in transactions and had more than one million users globally.
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