WEEK in REVIEW AROUND THE WORLD

• We have launched the Bitcoin Discount Note, our latest structured product enabling investors to take a long position in Bitcoin at a lower price than the market value under specific expiry conditions – ideal for those with a stable to moderately bullish outlook on Bitcoin. *Wholesale investors only.
• Global blockchain gaming market expected to reach $600 billion by 2030.
• US SEC denies Coinbase push for crypto regulations as “unwarranted˜.
• Chinese government plans to use blockchain for identity verification.
• US’ national vulnerability database adds Bitcoin inscriptions to its records.
• KuCoin agrees NY users ban and $22 million settlement in novel NYSC case.
• Sales of Solana phone SAGA surge as buyers seek BONK token airdrop.
• FOMC: Federal Reserve keeps rates steady, but open to discussion on rate cuts soon, Chair Powell points to “signs of economy normalising” – US inflation slows to 3.1% annual rate in November.
• European Central Bank keeps rates on hold, lowers inflation forecast.
• UK’s m/m GDP shows economy shrinking once again in October – rates held at 5.25% following policy summary release, inflation at 2% remains the target.

Market Overview – Crypto market weekly report 52nd 2023

1.1 Bitcoin Overview

The crypto market closed the week with BTC and ETH down by 5.60% and 6.5% as US equities hit all-time highs last week, alongside a dovish Fed. We are heading into the lower liquidity Christmas period, and expect gaps within the range as everyone takes a well-deserved break.

A continued upward trend in equities may benefit the crypto market, particularly if we see more than one spot Bitcoin ETF announced in January. The upcoming halving should begin to play into the narrative as we get into Q1, 2024.

Right now, however, rolling spot correlations are off between equities and cryptocurrency.

Protocols and Alts

• DeFi witnessed a notable week with unfolding events on Dec. 14. As a malicious actor exploited a vulnerability in the Ledger hardware wallet’s connector library, the exploit posed a significant risk to the entire decentralized application (DApp) ecosystem. On-chain analysts and prominent DApps like SushiSwap and MetaMask urged users to refrain from wallet interactions. Ledger responded promptly, releasing a patch within hours to address and contain the vulnerability.
• This brings up the issue once again of asset security in the DeFi space. Keep an eye out for increased innovations across MPC custodians as they tend to outpace the native cold hardware wallet solutions in terms of connective security.
• DeFi witnessed a notable week with unfolding events on Dec. 14. As a malicious actor exploited a vulnerability in the Ledger hardware wallet’s connector library, the exploit posed a significant risk to the entire decentralized application (DApp) ecosystem. On-chain analysts and prominent DApps like SushiSwap and MetaMask urged users to refrain from wallet interactions. Ledger responded promptly, releasing a patch within hours to address and contain the vulnerability.
• This brings up the issue once again of asset security in the DeFi space. Keep an eye out for increased innovations across MPC custodians as they tend to outpace the native cold hardware wallet solutions in terms of connective security.

Crypto asset fund flows

Crypto (Digital Assets) compared with global equity

This study provides a thorough analysis contrasting the performance of shares on international capital markets, as represented by the Dow Jones Global W1Dow index, with digital assets, as denoted by the NWST1100 index. The comparison covers a range of time periods and provides information on past, present, and possible future trends.

• Comparing historical performance: 25 months ago With a record high quotient between the two indexes, digital assets, represented by the NWST1100 index, were beating shares on capital markets, represented by the W1Dow index. At this point, the performance trajectory of digital assets was noticeably better than that of equities on international capital markets.
• A Year Ago: Looking back a year, digital assets were superior to shares by a significant 72.9%. The performance data highlights the higher returns that digital assets provide compared to equities over the given time frame.

Recent Performance Shift:

• The performance of digital assets has significantly improved in the last year, according to a study. They have outperformed equities by a substantial 76.9% on international capital markets. The performance data highlights the higher returns that digital assets provide compared to equities over the given time frame.

• The 143 working-day average quotient price is represented by a blue dashed curve (5.88). This average, which is currently at 7.46, is below its long-run mean. The spot price is 7.22, however.
• According to the mean reversion theory, asset prices have a tendency to return to their historical average returns over time. If the long-run mean is less than the current average quotient price, it may indicate that digital assets are cheap with past trends.

• The graph also shows the returns on the stock that were obtained over the previous 12 months by purchasing one point of the corresponding index every day.
• The NWST1100 Crypto Index saw a 92.01% increase in value compared to the same time last year. An investor’s stock would have increased by 40.8% about the index’s current price if they had invested in the daily index
• The DJW, which represents global capital market shares, increased by 16.40% in the last year in contrast to the crypto index. On the other hand, a daily purchase approach would have yielded an 8.8% gain.
• With the verified favorable relationship between digital assets and global capital market shares, expectations are high right now. As we move through this bullish phase, digital assets that were acquired over the previous year at an average price of 2760 points appear ready to provide amplified profits in comparison to shares.