Daily Market Update: May 1, 2023

May 1, 2023

BTC is currently trading around $28,500 and ETH around $1,850. Notable gainers in the last 24 hours are PEPE, BNB, and WOO. The global crypto market cap is ~$1.23T, down ~1.8% over the last day. DeFi Total Value Locked is ~$48b and BTC dominance is around 48%.

The FDIC seized control of First Republic hours before the market opened, marking the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history after Washington Mutual. The announcement simultaneously revealed that First Republic was put on sale in a competitive bidding process, and a $10.6b bid from J.P. Morgan Chase bested offers from PNC Financial and Citizens, enabling the market leader to acquire substantially all of First Republic’s assets. First Republic’s 84 offices will reopen as branches of J.P. Morgan later today, and the FDIC estimated a $13b hit to the deposit insurance fund from the deal. Markets largely expected a First Republic seizure was coming, and hence the response has been unsurprisingly modest, with performance mostly flat. Elsewhere, it’s a slow start to the week as many global markets observe Labor Day. Investor focus will turn to the Fed statement on Wednesday, seeking to glean insights into the path ahead, but markets are confidently pricing in a ~90% chance of a 25 bp hike at this week’s meeting.

Notable news includes: the FDIC publicized a consent order executed with Cross River Bank in March, alleging the bank engaged in unsafe banking practices; Gemini warned that DCG is at risk of $630m default; Genesis and a key group of creditors agreed to a 30-day mediation period in an attempt to salvage a deal; OKX incorporated ZK STARKS in its proof of reserves verification process; tax law researchers proposed an IRS framework for deducting crypto losses; Bitcoin transactions surged to a record high behind inscription demand; Jack Dorsey’s nano Bitcoin mining chip heads to a prototype; Lens Protocol swiftly rebranded its proposed scaling solution from Bonsai to Momoka after realizing another blockchain project was already using the name; Adidas and Pharrell released digital clothing for Doodles NFT holders; and, hackers stole ~$93m from crypto projects in April.

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Authors:
Matt Kunke, Research Analyst | TwitterTelegramLinkedIn
Brian Rudick, Senior Strategist | TwitterTelegramLinkedIn

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