JOON HYOUNG LEE

The US Ethereum (ETH) spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) has turned to an outflow after 5 trading days. According to Farside Investor on the 1st (local time), the US Ethereum ETF recorded a net outflow of $2.3 million (approximately 3.3 billion KRW) on the previous day (30th). This marks a reversal to outflow after 5 trading days. Specifically, Grayscale ETHE and Bitwise ETHW saw net outflows of $7.1 million and $1 million, respectively. On the other hand, Fidelity FETH saw a net inflow of $5.8 million.

The US Bitcoin (BTC) spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) has seen a net outflow for the first time in 9 trading days. According to Farside Investor on the 1st (local time), the US Bitcoin ETF recorded a net outflow of $56.3 million (approximately 81 billion KRW) on the previous day (30th). This marks the first net outflow in 9 trading days. Specifically, $137.5 million and $130.8 million were withdrawn from Fidelity FBTC and Ark Invest ARKB, respectively. Grayscale GBTC and Bitwise BITB saw outflows of $32 million and $23 million, respectively. On the other hand, BlackRock IBIT recorded a net inflow of $267 million.

An analysis has emerged that the open interest (OI) on the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has surged nearly 30% over the past 20 days. CryptoQuant contributor Burakkesmeci stated on the 30th (local time), "Binance's open interest has been on a decline since the beginning of the year," adding, "However, over the past 20 days, the open interest volume has reversed the trend, increasing by 29.3% from $7.5 billion to $9.7 billion." Burakkesmeci emphasized the correlation between Binance's open interest and Bitcoin (BTC) prices. He analyzed, "Based on the active movements in the futures market, Bitcoin prices have risen from $76,000 to $94,000 during the same period, a 23.7% increase," and "Binance's strong futures trading base suggests the possibility of a bullish trend for Bitcoin."

Recently, an analysis has emerged that the inflow of funds into Bitcoin (BTC) spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) is based on demand for long (buy) positions. Cryptocurrency service provider Matrixport stated on its official X account, "Approximately $5 billion was withdrawn from Bitcoin ETFs from January to April this year," and "However, recently, $3 billion has flowed into Bitcoin ETFs." Matrixport noted, "The inflow trend appeared alongside a surge in Bitcoin futures open interest (OI)," and "The funding rate remains at a low level." It further analyzed, "This suggests that the recent inflow trend is mostly derived from long position demand," and "It can be interpreted as a much stronger bullish signal compared to the arbitrage-focused purchases earlier this year."

An analysis has emerged suggesting that if the price of Bitcoin (BTC) surpasses the key resistance level of $95,000, selling pressure may increase. On-chain analysis platform Glassnode stated in its 'On-chain Weekly Report' on the 30th (local time) that "after the upward trend of the past two weeks, Bitcoin has encountered its first key resistance level between $93,000 and $95,000." Glassnode described this price range as "the lower boundary of the consolidation phase that lasted from November last year to February this year," and noted it as "a technically very important point." Glassnode emphasized the possibility of selling pressure. Glassnode analyzed that "in the recent downtrend, most speculative positions on Bitcoin seem to have been liquidated," and "long-term holders (LTH) tend to continue accumulating (Bitcoin) rather than reducing risk." It added, "However, if the market continues to rise, there is a high possibility of selling pressure from long-term holders with unrealized profits of over 350%," and "the possibility of some investors selling at break-even levels could be an additional factor for selling pressure." Regarding price volatility, it was mentioned as "very high." Glassnode stated, "The movement for realizing profits and clearing losses is still limited," and "the current market has high potential volatility, and sharp movements can occur in either direction (up or down)."

The Tesla board is pushing for the ousting of Elon Musk as CEO. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 30th (local time) that "about a month ago, the Tesla board began seriously considering selecting a successor to Elon Musk as CEO," and "the board has already contacted several executive search firms for the official procedure of selecting a successor CEO." WSJ reported that "(recently) the board met with Musk and requested that he devote more time to Tesla and make that fact public," and "Musk did not refute the board's request." It is known that the Tesla board is conducting a search for Musk's successor as CEO, centered around a major search firm. WSJ stated, "The current specific progress of the (CEO) succession is unclear," and "it is also uncertain whether Musk, a member of the board, was aware of such (succession) work." The reason the Tesla board is considering a CEO change is due to recent poor performance. Tesla's first-quarter net profit was $490 million, a sharp decline of about 71% from a year ago ($1.39 billion). This coincides with the time when Musk began leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after the inauguration of the Trump administration's second term. WSJ said, "The period when Musk was engrossed in government activities was a difficult time for Tesla." The board is also considering appointing additional independent directors. WSJ reported, "Even after stepping down as chairman of the Tesla board in 2018, Musk has been deeply involved in all businesses," and "if Musk steps down, it will be a significant turning point in Tesla's history."

Japanese Bitcoin (BTC) specialized investment firm Metaplanet is establishing a subsidiary in the United States. This move is to strengthen its Bitcoin-centered financial strategy. Metaplanet announced on its official X account on the 1st that "the board of directors has resolved to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in Florida, USA," stating it as "part of its global expansion and Bitcoin financial strategy." Originally a hotel company, Metaplanet transformed into an investment firm after incorporating Bitcoin into its asset portfolio last year. The Bitcoin secured by Metaplanet from last year to recently amounts to $68 billion (approximately 97 trillion KRW). Metaplanet plans to steadily strengthen its Bitcoin financial strategy through its US subsidiary. Metaplanet stated, "(Through the US subsidiary) we will access deep institutional liquidity pools and secure more efficient Bitcoin purchasing routes," adding, "We will also strengthen our strategic position in the US market, a global hub for Bitcoin innovation and capital formation."

An analysis has suggested that about 40% of the wealth of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is related to cryptocurrency assets. According to BeInCrypto on the 30th (local time), the U.S. nonprofit organization Save Democracy Defend Freedom (SDDF) recently reported that "cryptocurrency could account for up to 37% of President Trump's wealth." SDDF stated, "As President Trump's businesses have successively entered the cryptocurrency business, he has accumulated considerable wealth in just a few months." The main sources of cryptocurrency assets held by President Trump are considered to be the meme coin OfficialTrump (TRUMP) and World Liberty Financial (WLFI). It is particularly known that most of WLFI's profits go to the Trump family. BeInCrypto reported, "However, it is difficult to accurately determine President Trump's (cryptocurrency) assets," as "the price of OfficialTrump is constantly fluctuating, and it is unclear how many tokens President Trump actually holds."

<Today's Major Economic Events> ▶︎1st (Thu): △Korea's April Trade Balance (Korean time 9 AM) △Japan's Interest Rate Decision (Korean time 12 PM, local time 12 PM) △US Initial Jobless Claims (Korean time 9:30 PM, local time 8:30 AM) △US April Manufacturing PMI (Korean time 10:45 PM, local time 9:45 AM) <Today's Major Cryptocurrency Events> ▶︎1st (Thu): △Worldcoin (WLD) Conference 'At Last' △Sui (SUI) Token Unlock

There is an analysis that the US regulatory authorities have a 90% chance of approving Solana (SOL) and Litecoin (LTC) spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) within the year. Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst, stated on the 30th (local time) via X that "there is a 90% chance of Solana and Litecoin ETFs being approved within the year." The approval chances for XRP ETF and Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF were presented as 85% and 80%, respectively. What stands out is the approval chance of the Solana ETF. Initially, Bloomberg Intelligence had set the approval chance for the Solana ETF at 70% in February this year. It is interpreted that the approval chance for the Solana ETF has been significantly raised considering the inauguration of Paul Atkins, the new chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who is classified as a pro-crypto asset figure. Chairman Atkins had announced the easing of crypto asset regulations immediately after taking office.

Tether (USDT) has acquired a 70% stake in the South American agricultural company Adecoagro. According to CoinDesk on the 1st (local time), Tether recently secured a 70% stake in Adecoagro. Adecoagro is a company with large-scale agricultural production facilities in three countries: Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Previously, in September last year, Tether invested $100 million in Adecoagro to acquire a 9.8% stake. Through additional investment, Tether increased its stake in Adecoagro to 51% in February this year. Tether stated, "The goal of the (stake acquisition) is to contribute to the expansion of Adecoagro's production in line with the company's mission to promote 'economic freedom'." There is also analysis that Tether acquired the stake in Adecoagro for its Real World Asset (RWA) business. Last year, Tether launched an asset tokenization service called 'Hadron'. CoinDesk reported, "(Hadron) is designed to simplify the process of converting various real-world assets such as bonds, commodities, and stocks into blockchain-based tokens."

The civic group Solana Policy Institute proposed to US financial authorities that "stocks should be applied to blockchain." According to The Block on the 30th (local time), the Solana Policy Institute submitted a proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cryptocurrency task force (TF) on this day. The core of the proposal is the 'Project Open' project, which registers stocks on blockchains such as Solana (SOL). The institute stated, "Project Open is an advancement in US financial innovation," and "(Project Open) will benefit the US financial market by enhancing transparency, enabling immediate settlement, and reducing costs." Specifically, if Project Open is implemented, stock issuers must simultaneously issue security token offerings (STO) through a report. The proposal also includes an obligation to report security token issuance to the authorities. The Solana Policy Institute also proposed a regulatory relief plan to exclude blockchain from SEC registration requirements through the proposal. The institute said, "The goal is to collaborate with the SEC and industry partners to build an internet capital market and enhance the efficiency, accessibility, and transparency of all capital markets."

The US Treasury has projected that the market capitalization of stablecoins will expand to $2 trillion by 2028. In a report released on the 30th (local time), the US Treasury stated, "Due to changing market trends, the growth trajectory of stablecoins is accelerating, and there is a possibility that the market cap could reach approximately $2 trillion by 2028." The current market capitalization of stablecoins is about $230 billion. The report described stablecoins as "widely used like cash on the chain" and "functioning as a new means of payment." The connection between stablecoins and US Treasury bonds was also emphasized. The US Treasury noted, "Stablecoin issuers must hold (US short-term) Treasury bonds," and "the proliferation of stablecoins may pressure retail banks to offer higher interest rates to depositors."

Cryptocurrency A to Z Expectations of US Tariff Easing $94,000 in Two Months "Merely a Technical Rebound" Caution Amid Bull Market Bitcoin, which had been in a sideways trend recently, succeeded in rebounding and escaped the early to mid-$80,000 range. Analysts suggest that Bitcoin is gaining attention as a hedge against risks such as the US-initiated tariff war. However, some argue that it is too early to determine a bull market. According to CoinMarketCap on the 27th, Bitcoin's price began to show a strong rebound from the 21st. Just two days after the uptrend began, on the 23rd, it surpassed $94,000 for the first time in about two months since early last month. Since then, Bitcoin's price has fluctuated slightly, maintaining a support line at $93,000. The rebound is attributed to various factors, but expectations of US tariff easing are considered a key factor. US President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of negotiations between the US and China this week, saying, "(The tariff rate on China) depends on China." Scott Besant, the US Treasury Secretary and economic leader of the Trump administration's second term, also boosted investor expectations by saying, "The US-China trade war is unsustainable." The coupling (synchronization) phenomenon between gold and Bitcoin is also noteworthy. Initially, Bitcoin's price showed a decoupling (desynchronization) from gold until last week. However, this week, Bitcoin continued its upward trend along with gold, surpassing Google's parent company Alphabet to rank fifth in global asset market capitalization on the 24th. Oinonen, a contributor to CryptoQuant, analyzed, "The correlation between gold and Bitcoin is gradually strengthening," and "Bitcoin prices generally tend to follow gold prices with a lag of several months." As large investors' buying pressure increases, expectations for a Bitcoin bull market are growing among investors. According to the on-chain analysis platform Glassnode, the accumulation indicator for large investors holding more than 10,000 Bitcoins surpassed 0.9 on the 24th. Typically, when the accumulation indicator exceeds 0.5, buying pressure is considered strong. There are also opinions that it is too early to say that Bitcoin has entered a full-fledged bull market. As it is difficult to say that global economic uncertainty has been resolved, the recent uptrend is merely a technical rebound.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is adding Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) to Binance Alpha. On the 27th, Binance announced on its official website, "We are listing Haedal Protocol on Binance Alpha." The listing date is the 29th (local time). Binance stated, "The exact listing time will be announced later." Binance selects tokens for Binance Alpha by considering market trends among early cryptocurrency projects. A listing on Binance Alpha does not necessarily lead to a Binance main listing.

This week, it was revealed that over $3 billion (approximately 4.3 trillion KRW) has flowed into the US Bitcoin (BTC) spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). The Block reported on the 26th (local time), citing on-chain analytics platform Sosovalue data, that "over $3 billion has flowed into the US Bitcoin ETF this week." The Block stated, "This is the largest scale since November last year," and "it is also the second instance where the weekly inflow exceeded $3 billion." The strength of the Bitcoin ETF is due to expectations for future price prospects. Jay Jacobs, head of US Equity ETFs at BlackRock, recently said in a CNBC interview, "With the trend of increasing global uncertainty, commodities like gold and Bitcoin will continue to rise," adding, "People are looking for assets that will behave differently from existing asset classes."

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below $94,000. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is trading at $93,962.43 as of 2:54 PM on the 27th. This is a decrease of 0.79% compared to the previous day. The Kimchi Premium is in the 0% range. According to Cryprice, the Kimchi Premium was recorded at 0.57% as of 2:54 PM.

According to the top gainer of Token Mindshare (a metric quantifying the influence of specific tokens in the virtual asset market) by the AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito, the top 5 virtual assets that people are most interested in as of the 27th are Ethereum (ETH), Kaito (KAITO), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Fartcoin (FARTCOIN). Ethereum seems to have caught investors' attention ahead of the 'Pectra' upgrade scheduled for the 7th of next month. The core of the Pectra upgrade is to enhance mainnet performance and expand network scalability by raising staking limits and improving deposit speed. It is reported that Ethereum accumulation is also strengthening ahead of such an upgrade. The U.S. Ethereum spot ETF (ETH) also recorded net inflows for two consecutive trading days recently. Ethereum is trading at around $1,810 on CoinMarketCap, up about 0.7% from the previous day. Kaito is speculated to have increased online mentions as it was included in the deposit and withdrawal restrictions on Upbit due to the Ethereum Pectra upgrade. Upbit plans to suspend deposits and withdrawals of Ethereum Layer 2 virtual assets, including Kaito, from the 7th of next month when the Ethereum hard fork begins until the stability of the update is confirmed. Additionally, the ongoing Kaito Connect upgrade, which aims to diversify the use of Kaito tokens, seems to have influenced the online mentions. In this regard, Kaito stated, "(Through the upgrade) incentives and new mechanisms will also be added to Kaito Connect." Solana drew attention due to the Loopscale hacking incident. The Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) lending project Loopscale was hacked on the 26th (local time), resulting in the theft of funds amounting to $5.8 million (approximately 8.3 billion KRW). Consequently, Loopscale has temporarily suspended its lending services. Solana also garnered attention as the U.S. Nasdaq-listed DeFi Development recently raised $1 billion to purchase Solana. Canadian-listed Sol Strategy also signed a $500 million convertible bond contract on the 23rd to acquire Solana. Justin Sun, the founder of TRON (TRX), recently stated, "Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana, is a person with true vision." XRP drew attention as its issuer, Ripple, stated on the 25th that it would not pursue an initial public offering (IPO) within the year. Monica Long, President of Ripple, recently said in an interview with CNBC, "Ripple is a financially stable company with billions of dollars in cash reserves," and "An IPO is generally a means for fundraising or increasing market exposure, and Ripple currently needs neither." The launch of the world's first XRP spot ETF in Brazil on the 25th also influenced online mentions. XRP is trading at around $2.17 on CoinMarketCap, down about 0.77% from the previous day. Fartcoin recently attracted attention due to its price increase. The Solana-based meme coin Fartcoin surpassed $1 on the 22nd for the first time in three months since January this year. Compared to its initial launch price of $0.00006 in October last year, it has surged over 2,000,000%. Fartcoin is trading at around $1 on CoinMarketCap, down about 4.8% from the previous day. Compared to a week ago, it is up over 16%.

An analysis has emerged suggesting that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $100,000 in the next 1-2 weeks. On-chain analysis platform Santiment stated on the 26th (local time) via its official X account that "recently, Bitcoin has shown a rebound surpassing $95,000 for the first time since February this year, leading to a rapid increase in market optimism." Santiment noted, "(Recently) the level of greed measured across social media shows that bullish (buy) posts have overwhelmingly surpassed bearish (sell) posts since the day Donald Trump was elected President of the United States last November." Santiment emphasized the possibility of a rise in Bitcoin prices. Santiment analyzed, "If the virtual asset market remains flat or experiences a slight correction this weekend, it could act as a signal for individual investors to realize profits," adding, "If individual investors sell, whales (large investors) could absorb the volume and push the Bitcoin price above $100,000 in the next 1-2 weeks."

Arbitrum (ARB) is exiting NVIDIA's Artificial Intelligence (AI) project. According to The Block on the 26th (local time), the Arbitrum Foundation recently decided to withdraw from the 'Ignition AI Accelerator' project. The Ignition AI Accelerator is an AI startup nurturing program led by NVIDIA. The Arbitrum Foundation stated, "(Recently) NVIDIA requested to exclude (Arbitrum) from announcements related to virtual assets," and "We decided to withdraw from the project as we judged there was no long-term collaboration intent." Initially, Arbitrum planned to join the Ignition AI Accelerator project as the only Ethereum (ETH)-related partner. However, it seems that NVIDIA's negative perception of virtual assets influenced this decision. Michael Kagan, NVIDIA's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), stated in an interview with The Guardian in 2023, "I never believed that virtual assets would do something positive for humanity."

LoopScale, based on Solana (SOL), has been hacked, resulting in nearly $6 million in funds being stolen. On the 26th (local time), LoopScale announced through its official X account that "the token pricing function was manipulated, resulting in the leakage of 5.7 million USDC and 1,200 Solana," and "this amounts to about 12% of LoopScale's total funds." LoopScale stated, "Currently, all services are temporarily suspended for further investigation," and "the repayment function will be resumed as quickly as possible to prevent unexpected forced liquidation." LoopScale is a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending project that directly connects lenders and borrowers. It was officially launched earlier this month after about six months of beta service.

TON Foundation, the issuer of Toncoin (TON), has appointed the co-founder of the cryptocurrency payment startup MoonPay as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). According to CoinDesk on the 24th (local time), TON Foundation has appointed Maximilian Crown, co-founder of MoonPay, as the new CEO. CoinDesk reported, "Crown has served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at a cryptocurrency infrastructure company," and "he will remain on the MoonPay board even after joining the TON Foundation." Meanwhile, TON Foundation raised $400 million (approximately 570 billion KRW) in investment last month. It is known that the number of Toncoin users has surged more than tenfold from 4 million to 41 million over the past year.

It has been revealed that long-term investors in Ethereum (ETH) have recently made large additional purchases of Ethereum. An Onchain School CryptoQuant contributor stated on the 24th, "Funds are rapidly flowing into wallets with no history of selling (Ethereum)," and noted that this is a trend to watch on the Ethereum on-chain. Onchain School reported, "Over the past 48 hours, more than 640,000 Ethereum have flowed into these wallets," and added, "This is the largest scale since 2018." Onchain School emphasized, "Despite the decline in (Ethereum) prices, the conviction of long-term holders seems to have strengthened." They continued, "Ethereum's fundamentals are rapidly evolving, and the price is under pressure," and suggested, "It could be that 'silent hands' are sending signals not yet reflected in the market."