Good morning and welcome to First Mover. I'm Lyllah Ledesma, here to guide you through the latest crypto markets, news and insights.
- Price Point: Bitcoin is trading flat and altcoins are underperforming.
- Market Movements: BTC futures now account for 63% of open interest in the crypto futures market.
Price Point.
Bitcoin (BTC) opened its first day of trading in June at around $31,800. The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading relatively flat and did not see much price movement overnight.
Compared to this time a year ago, Bitcoin is down 15% and was trading for around $37,000 at the time.
Ether is trading at $1,900 at the time of writing and is down 26% compared to a year ago.
According to Charles Storry, head of growth at Phuture, a crypto index platform, the selloff has just begun.
"We are in a 12-18 month bear market. In the long term, I'm optimistic because this is short-term fear and panic selling," Storry said.
Altcoins experienced weakness in the last 24 hours after some rallied on Tuesday. Cardano (ADA) fell 7%, Avalanche (AVAX) dropped 5.7% and Solana's SOL fell 5%.
Tron's TRX was the only gainer, rising 10% in the last 24 hours.
Optimism (OP), the token that powers the Layer 2 Ethereum scaling solution Optimism, fell 65% from its list price after its highly anticipated airdrop.
Market Movements.
Bitcoin dominance in derivatives
Open interest in bitcoin futures and perpetuals now accounts for 63% of open interest in the crypto futures market. In early April, open interest was still at 50%, according to Arcane Research data. This came at a time when global interest in the crypto market was in steep decline.
The share of BTC futures in the crypto market is 63%, the highest since October 2021.
Bitcoin's dominance in the derivatives market mirrors its dominance in the broader market, which also saw an uptick in May.
Joshua Lim, head of derivatives at Genesis Global Trading, said the data suggests speculative interest in altcoins is waning.
"Altcoins have had a tough time and a lot of liquidations and de-risking have taken speculators out of the market," Lim said.
Last Headlines.
- Binance Labs Raises $500 Million Fund for Web 3, Blockchain Investments The new fund will invest in cryptocurrency companies in three stages, ranging from incubation to late-stage growth.
- Crypto exchanges should lose licenses for money laundering violations, EU regulators say The advice comes as lawmakers reach the final stages of the landmark crypto MiCA bill.
- Tech Experts 'Counter-Lobby' Washington Criticizes Crypto, Blockchain: Report A letter from 26 technologists calls crypto risky, flawed and unproven.
- Polygon Tightens KYC Scrutiny of Potential Investments and Grants in India Polygon now requires extensive customer data for potential partners in India as regulatory scrutiny there increases, according to a source.
Today's newsletter was edited by Lyllah Ledesma and produced by Parikshit Mishra and Stephen Alpher.