State of the Market: Who Let the Dogs Out?

GM, Anon! Welcome to this week's Crypto Market Update. BTC is currently consolidating below $44K, while ETH is below $2,300. However, the main focus this week has been on memecoins. Memecoins, especially the ones based on Avalanche and Solana, have been on a tear, with Husky and Bonk standing out, respectively.

Let's dive right in.

State of the Market: Market Pre-ETF Boom

The crypto market remains remarkably resilient, buoyed by the anticipation of Bitcoin ETF approvals. Investors are closely monitoring market movements as they await regulatory decisions. While the SEC has delayed several Ethereum ETFs, key players like BlackRock are actively revising their Bitcoin ETF proposals, intensifying market anticipation. Experts predict that multiple ETF approvals could significantly impact the market.

Inflows & Outflows: Altcoins like Solana, Cardano, XRP, and Chainlink bucked the trend, attracting $21M in inflows, with Solana leading at $10.6M. Bitcoin experienced significant outflows of $33M, while Ethereum and Avalanche saw minor outflows. Blockchain equities remained strong, with substantial inflows totaling $122M, reaching a record high of $294M over the past nine weeks.

Bitcoin Transaction Fees and Volatility: Bitcoin transaction fees have reached their highest levels in over two and a half years, with an average cost of approximately $37.58, driven by increased Ordinals minting. Despite this surge in fees, Bitcoin's annualized volatility hit a record low of 41.53%, indicating consolidation and maturity, even amid regulatory challenges and market fluctuations.

Layer 1 Blockchains, AI Projects, and Meme Coins: Layer 1 blockchains like Solana, Avalanche, and Cosmos-related projects have maintained strong market positions, witnessing significant price movements. AI-related crypto projects continue to capture attention, demonstrating the intersection of advanced technology and finance. Meme coins, including $BONK, $COQ, $TOSHI, and $HUSKY, have surged on Solana and Avalanche chains, highlighting the unique blend of humor and investment opportunity within the crypto culture.

The Rise of Inscriptions and BitcoinFI Tokens: Inscriptions, initially a Bitcoin-exclusive feature, have gained traction across various chains. BitcoinFI tokens such as $MUBI, $DOVA, $BSSB, and $TURT have seen substantial gains, marking a new addition to the market that is likely to play a significant role in the next bull market.

Blue Chip and Majors Overview

Bonk

BONK has experienced a significant surge, peaking at a valuation of over $2B following its listing on Coinbase, which led to over $500M in BONK being traded on Coinbase, doubling its value since the initial confirmation. BONK has since retraced, and the market cap is currently around $1.16B. The hype behind BONK has also boosted the sale of the Solana Saga phones in anticipation of a free airdrop. 

Husky

HUSKY faced a sharp retracement this week as the price dropped by more than 36%. Overall marketcap is trending above $7.5M, while the price has dropped to the $0.000000085 support level. HUSKY has been the best-performing memecoin of the Avalanche ecosystem.

• Sats (SATS) have jumped by 45% following the OKX listing and are currently trending around $0.00000070.

• Coq Inu (COQ) is an Avalanche memecoin that exploded by 640% this past week before retracing below $0.000003. A lucky trader turned $450 into $2M betting on COQ.

• Ronin (RON) has surged by over 95% this past month, and the overall marketcap is trending a hair below $40M. As per Nansen, Ronin saw a remarkable increase in active addresses in November, signaling rising activity.

• Injective (INJ) soared to an all-time high of $39.15 on Tuesday, marking a 3,000% increase in 2023. Despite having only $18M in total value locked, Injective has seen a substantial $600M trading volume over the past 24 hours.

• Immutable (IMX) marketcap crossed $3M as the token price jumped by 20% this past week.

• Multibit (MULTI) jumped by over 150% this past week, with marketcap approaching $265M.

• Solana (SOL) has reached a 20-month high, surpassing XRP as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $33.7B, driven by a thriving DeFi ecosystem and meme coin popularity. This week, its total value locked (TVL) exceeded $1B for the first time since FTX's collapse.

• BitStable Finance (BSSB) is currently priced at $7.19, experiencing a 7.20% decrease in the last 24 hours, yet it has witnessed a notable 159.10% rise over the past week. The crypto has seen a 24-hour trading volume of >$5.5M.

• Turt (TURT) has jumped by 170% this past week and over 1200% this past month. Currently, TURT is trying to break past the $0.10 resistance level.

• ORDI (ORDI), after a striking 2370% surge from $2.82 in September to a peak of $69.76 in early December. It has since retreated to below $55. 

• Avalanche (AVAX) has emerged as a major force in the crypto market, with the AVAX token's recent rise above $40 highlighting increasing investor trust in its ecosystem. This is mostly due to the rise of AVAX-based memecoins.

• Shiba Inu (SHIB) has experienced a significant influx of 4.8 trillion SHIB into the wallets of major investors, marking a 375% increase in 24 hours, as reported by IntoTheBlock's Large Holders Inflow metric. Additionally, Shiba Inu is introducing a new '.shib' domain specifically for SHIB holders.

• Helium (HNT) has seen a remarkable increase of over 80% in the past week, approaching the $10 mark, a price point last reached in June 2022. This surge is largely attributed to the heightened interest in the newly launched Helium Mobile, which provides US users unlimited access to the Helium network for $20 per month.

• Bounce (AUCTION) is currently trading at $44, witnessing a significant 118% rise over the past week. The token has a market cap of ~$285M and is undergoing a 1:100 token swap from its original Bounce "BOT" token.

• Aleph Zero (AZERO) is trading at $1.77, up 37% over the past week, with a current market capitalization of ~$445M. The token has rallied due to its focus on privacy.

• Orca (ORCA) has reached $8, marking an increase of over 1,821% from its lowest point this year, largely driven by its association with the rapidly expanding Solana ecosystem. Orca TVL is also nearing $175M.

• ALEX Lab (ALEX) has experienced an 80% rise over the past week, bringing its price to $0.466 and a market cap of approximately $300M. This growth coincides with the recent listing of ALEX on Bitget's BTC Ecosystem Zone on December 15.

Smart Money Movements

• Smart Money is detected in $ROKO, an AI layer play. Investors are keenly observing potential advancements and opportunities within this artificial intelligence-focused project.

• Moreover, Smart Money has been accumulating $HIGH, showcasing interest in a metaverse project that seeks to redefine retail experiences within the virtual world. The growing attention towards metaverse projects is evident in this strategic move.

• Another intriguing detection is in $Nola, a new memecoin on Arbitrum. The token has garnered significant attention, and tracking Smart Money movements provides insights into emerging trends within the Arbitrum ecosystem.

• Continuing the trend, Smart Money is actively accumulating $EMP, a leading project in the Account Abstraction narrative. This reflects a strategic investment approach aligned with the narrative's potential growth.

• Furthermore, $MAP is under the radar of Smart Money. As a new Bitcoin L2 and a p2p omnichain infrastructure, its appeal to investors is evident. Tracking Smart Money movements in such projects provides valuable insights for market participants.

• Notably, $AUCTION has attracted Smart Money attention as a launchpad project, gaining increased visibility after BSSB's launch on their platform.

  Interesting Onchain Movements:

• Shifting focus to onchain movements, the $INSP team has executed a significant move, transferring 13.5% of the circulating supply to two new addresses. Monitoring such transactions can provide clues about the project's future developments. Transaction 1 / Transaction 2.

• In a significant acquisition, GSR acquired $9.4 million worth of $BEAM from CitizenX, depositing half of it into Binance. The involvement of GSR in previous GameFi tokens, such as $BIGTIME, resulting in a substantial price increase, adds to the intrigue. Transaction Link.

• The $Pendle team's movement of tokens into a new Gnosis Safe raises questions about potential incentives, with Smart Money also showing interest in this particular movement.

• Observing buy pressure on $TRB from fresh wallets, sourced from Coinbase and withdrawn, highlights significant market activity. The 16% pump in TRB today suggests potential correlations with these movements.

• Fresh wallets accumulating $STORJ on a notable scale indicate a growing interest in this particular token, warranting further investigation into potential catalysts.

 Yield Farms

• Shifting towards yield farming strategies, Smart Farmers are increasingly engaging in rsETH farming on Kelp Dao. The platform offers opportunities to earn EigenLayer points and Kelp miles simultaneously, showcasing the multifaceted appeal of this ETH restaking platform.

• In response to the growing interest in AVAX, Smart Farmers are employing various strategies on Avalanche. Farming in USDC and AVAX pools on Pharaoh with enticing APRs is one such approach.

• Additionally, using BENQ to borrow $AVAX against stablecoins and subsequently, farming on Pharaoh minimizes exposure to AVAX directly, providing a risk-mitigated strategy.

• Farming wstETH/LDO on Velodrome has become a popular choice among Smart Farmers, emphasising the diverse opportunities available within decentralized finance.