Recent Research

📊 Risk Analysis on Centralized Stablecoins – 4/19

• Stablecoin issuers must strike a balance between risk and profits or safety and liquidity.
• USDT’s riskier investments have paid off, as they have $960M in excess assets, primarily attributable to investment profits.
• BUSD is another strong performer, with 1.87% in excess assets compared to its stablecoin supply.
• To evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to withstand a bank run, we can assess its effective liquidity primarily through cash and cash-equivalent positions.
• BUSD and USDP boast the strongest liquidity positions, with cash plus cash equivalents accounting for 96% and 101% of their stablecoin liabilities, respectively.
• USDC and BUSD have the best investors and companies behind their stablecoins, with the most resources available to assist in any asset shortfall if required.

📊 Bull v Bear – Sell in May and Go Away? – 4/19

• This week, we revisit altcoin open interest dominance and Treasury volatility, explore the “sell in May” meme’s relevance to crypto, and discuss the upcoming FOMC meeting, potential all-time highs, and whether we’re in altseason.

📊 NFT Debrief – April 2023 – 4/17

• Ethereum dominated NFT market volume in March, while BNB and Arbitrum climbed up the ranks to overtake ImmutableX and Flow.
• Azuki continued expanding its IP, targeting the Asian market in a new partnership between BEANZ and IPX.
• We highlighted the newly launched OpenSea Pro and its impressive performance right out of the gate.
• Pudgy Penguins have given new life to Rogs. Rogs have been reimagined as a utility NFT that will function as a multiplier for specific licensing deals, on-chain drops, or claims in the future.
• Starbucks is back with a new NFT collection after the successful launch of their first “Siren” stamp collection last month, which saw the NFTs sell out within 18 minutes. 

📊 Check the Chain – Shanghai Is Here! – 4/13

• In this episode, Ceteris and Jordan dive into the developments following Ethereum’s long awaited Shanghai update, discuss the post-update landscape, the impact on withdrawal queues, staking inflows, and effect on liquid staking tokens.

Relevant Reminder

📌 Uniswap’s Fee Switch – 4/11

• If Uniswap were to activate the fee switch, how much would UNI token holders stand to benefit?
• Based on our assumptions, estimates, and analysis, the fee switch’s ultimate impact may be underwhelming.
• To achieve an 8% APR, 43% of 2023’s projected fees would need to be allocated to stakers, assuming 75% of the circulating supply is staked.
• If 10% of Uniswap fees were diverted to governance as earnings, UNI would have a P/E ratio of 79 — characteristic of a high-growth tech company.
• Uniswap is likely to uphold its commitment to traders over other platform stakeholders with its implementation of the fee switch.