TLDR Crypto 2024-05-02

A report by VanEck reveals that approximately $175 billion worth of bitcoin is held by ETFs, nations, and both public and private companies, which makes up about 15% of the total Bitcoin supply. This holding demonstrates increasing institutional interest and acceptance of bitcoin as a viable store of value, with more involvement from hedge funds, asset managers, and endowments.

Block, the parent company of Square and Cash App, is under investigation over alleged sanctions, violations, and other regulatory issues. Whistleblowers complained that the company processed transactions linked to sanctioned countries and terrorist organizations, with thousands of suspicious transactions going unreported. Block states that it did not intentionally or knowingly violate sanctions.

Redstone is an OP Stack Layer 2 and part of the Optimism Superchain ecosystem that just went live. It was created by Lattice, the company behind the MUD framework for building complex onchain apps centered primarily around gaming and autonomous worlds. Over the next few months, Redstone, which was made to realize MUD's potential, will deploy several games, including onchain Minecraft, a multiplayer real-time strategy game, a sci-fi horror, and the traditional suite of DeFi products.

Aave V4 introduces the Unified Liquidity Layer, which allows for a more flexible approach to managing liquidity that builds upon a base layer while allowing modification at the module layer. It adjusts interest rates and liquidity premiums based on market conditions and collateral risk to provide fairer pricing for lenders and borrowers. The ultimate goal is to create a chain-agnostic liquidity protocol facilitating cross-chain liquidity and an expansion of its GHO stablecoin. Aave is also rebranding with a new logo and design.

Uniswap Labs has introduced a new methodology for evaluating price improvements when using Order Flow Auctions (OFAs) and Automated Market Makers (AMMs). It focuses on factors like liquidity access, gas optimization, and priority fee settings. Uniswap Labs' initial findings suggest that the Uniswap interface, when compared to other major interfaces like 1inch, often provides better pricing for users, especially in larger trades.

Seasonality has a statistically significant impact on returns in both traditional and crypto markets. Over the past five years, buying BTC in October and selling in April netted 1,449%, while buying in May and selling in September led to -29%. Retail and institutional sentiment is waning this May, as evidenced by trading volume, volatility, and ETF outflows. Macroeconomic conditions are also driving liquidity away from all markets, which the Treasury could solve by injecting up to $1.4 trillion of liquidity into risk assets.

Value transfers from the impatient to the patient. Avoid opening positions that represent less than 1% of your portfolio - focus instead on higher-conviction allocations. Keep your lifestyle insulated from the volatile movements of the market with alternative cash flow streams. Remain focused on your individual investment goals, not others', and do not act with extreme fear or greed.

The average ROI of 18 recent airdrops was about 15%, with 5.88% of the token supply allocated to the drop. Jito and Juptier were the most fair with 10% of the supply dedicated to the initial airdrop. Celestia had the best ROI at over 300%, and PARCL had the worst at -60%. EtherFi's post-drop sentiment was the highest in recent history, with many others drawing criticism for their small allocations or tokenomics.

Tether had a record profit of $4.52 billion for Q1 2024, demonstrating how profitable the stablecoin industry can be.

Rabby Wallet is offering free transactions across various chains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, and most popular ETH L2s.

Vitalik Buterin advises on crypto security by suggesting that folks decentralize their security setup. Instead of using a cold wallet, he relies on a multisig Safe wallet for 90% of his crypto assets, with multiple trusted signatories and undisclosed identities to enhance security.

Early Bitcoiner Roger Ver was charged with mail fraud and tax evasion related to his relinquishment of US citizenship in 2014.