Why is Bitcoin dumping after the ETF approval?

Sunday is upon us.

Welcome to another newsletter from us at The Merge.

We’re trying out a new, shorter format to get right to the good stuff for you guys.

This Week’s Roundup :

• 📉 Bitcoin continues to dump even after having the biggest ETF launch in history

• 🚮 SEC is stacking up L’s to start 2024

• 🚫 EU clamping down on crypto in the name of “anti-money laundering”

If you’re looking for a straight-up answer to why Bitcoin and the market are acting the way it is, then check out the first of the resources below:

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Weekly Resource List

1. Why is Bitcoin going down? - (link) (5 mins) 

   This is a great explanation that we liked to better help understand what the f**k is happening right now with Grayscale’s (GBTC) sell-off of Bitcoin and what to potentially expect could come next.

2. Jupiter → Our favourite Solana DEX - (link) (5 mins)

   We only started using Jupiter a few months back (wish we had done it earlier so we could get some of those JUP tokens upon airdrop) but it’s by far our favourite DEX to use. Clean UX, cheap SOL fees, and DCA functionality which is a godsend.

3. Arkham Insights → Investing Tool - (link) 

   If you want to understand where ‘Smart Money’ (aka the market makers) are placing their bets then make sure to check it out.

4. Polymarket → Fancy some Gambling with Crypto? (link)

   Donald Trump or Biden for President? Ravens or Texans to win? Tether to be insolvent by 2024? Polymarket is another thing we stumbled across, and it allows you to bet on odds for anything pretty much. Putting your crypto where your mouth is. Check it out, it’s pretty cool and will only bring more people over to web3.

Ones to Watch

This list will continue to grow/change as the month’s progress and the market develops over this coming bull run.

AI:

• (RNDR) Render Network: 1.5B MC - Decentralised GPUs

• (TAO) Bittensor: 1.4B MC - Decentralised AI Network

Gaming:

• (BEAM) Beam Network: 950M MC - Network & Ecosystem for Developers and Gamers

• (SFUND) Seedify Fund: 167M MC - IDO Launchpad for New Tokens

• (SHRAP) Shrapnel: 100M MC - FPS Triple AAA Game Backed by Franklin Templeton (1.5B AUM)

Depin (Decentralised Physical Infra Networks):

• (SHDW) Shadow Network: 186M MC - Solana Infrastructure

• (OPSEC) Opsec Network: 14M MC - Ethereum Privacy & AI Physical Infrastructure

L1’s/Parallel EVM:

• (SEI) Sei Network: 2B MC - Extremely Fast L1 with V2 & Parallel EVM Launching in Q2

• (NEON) Neon EVM: 78M MC - First Live Parallel EVM to go live on Mainnet - Direct Interoperability with No Fragmentation between ETH & SOL

• (MONAD)* Coming this year → keep an eye out for it.

*NFA of course - these are just ones we’re keeping an eye on*

Other Crypto News

Want to stay on the edge?

Here’s what else is happening in crypto you should know about:

• SEC vs Coinbase: According to Coindesk, it’s looking rather grim for the SEC as Coinbase lawyers are moving for the case against them to be dismissed ASAP. This will mean that the SEC will have been dealt 3 major blows (Ripple and ETF approval) in the space of 6 months. Net +ve for the space, but very very feel for the SEC.

• EU Regulation Clamps Down on Crypto Payments: According to Reuters, the EU parliament have said that cryptoasset service providers must make checks on customers who carry out transactions worth 1,000 euros or more and report suspicious activity. This is a big deal because moving forward it will make it much more difficult for crypto users to move funds and could potentially halt blockchain development in the EU in the future.

• Donald Trump vows to ‘never let CBDC’s be a thing: His most recent visit to New Hampshire to gander more support for the race to republican party leader, Trump has promised that CBDC’s will never be introduced to the US if he becomes party leader and wins the race to becoming president. This is a big deal for crypto enthusiasts, who argue that the premise of CBDC’s threatens the whole point of why Bitcoin and digital currencies were created. r

Our Favourite Tweet of the Week

Franklin Templeton. World renowned hedge fund. $1.5 billion of Assets Under Management (AUM).

Talking about meme coins on Solana, with laser eyes Benjamin Fraklin as their PP. Genius bit of marketing from their ‘digital asset team’. Got to chuckle at it.

That’s it!

As always, thanks for reading.

Hit reply and let us know what you found most helpful this week—we’d love to hear from you!

See you next Sunday,

The Merge