Bitcoin Spot Metrics, USDC Leads Ethereum, & GBTC's Plunge

JAN 20, 2022 • 4 Min Read

Genevieve Yeoh + 1 other

DISCLOSURE: DELPHI VENTURES HAS INVESTED IN BTC AND ETH. THESE STATEMENTS ARE INTENDED TO DISCLOSE ANY CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND SHOULD NOT BE MISCONSTRUED AS A RECOMMENDATION TO PURCHASE ANY TOKEN. THIS CONTENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE DECISIONS BASED SOLELY ON IT. THIS IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE.

Metus vulputate eu scelerisque felis. Nulla facilisi cras fermentum odio eu. Scelerisque fermentum dui

faucibus in ornare quam viverra orci sagittis. A iaculis at erat pellentesque adipiscing commodo elit. In

fermentum et sollicitudin ac orci. Ultrices sagittis orci a scelerisque purus. Faucibus ornare

suspendisse sed nisi lacus sed viverra tellus in. Mauris cursus mattis molestie a iaculis at erat

pellentesque adipiscing. Volutpat diam ut venenatis tellus in metus vulputate. Eu consequat ac felis

donec et odio pellentesque. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas diam. Quam

lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem. Quam id leo in vitae. Ut faucibus pulvinar

elementum integer enim neque. Id ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Molestie ac feugiat

sed lectus vestibulum mattis. Ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum enim facilisis. Euismod nisi porta lorem

mollis aliquam ut porttitor.

Iaculis nunc sed augue lacus viverra vitae congue eu consequat. Gravida neque convallis a cras.

Nunc scelerisque viverra mauris in aliquam sem. Non odio euismod lacinia at quis risus sed vulputate

odio. Purus faucibus ornare suspendisse sed. Turpis egestas maecenas pharetra convallis posuere

morbi. Nec feugiat nisl pretium fusce id velit ut. Nunc congue nisi vitae suscipit tellus mauris a diam.

Posuere sollicitudin aliquam ultrices sagittis orci. Urna nec tincidunt praesent semper. Turpis nunc

eget lorem dolor sed viverra.

suspendisse sed nisi lacus sed viverra tellus in. Mauris cursus mattis molestie a iaculis at erat

pellentesque adipiscing. Volutpat diam ut venenatis tellus in metus vulputate. Eu consequat ac felis

donec et odio pellentesque. Eu mi bibendum neque egestas congue quisque egestas diam. Quam

lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem. Quam id leo in vitae. Ut faucibus pulvinar

elementum integer enim neque. Id ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Molestie ac feugiat

sed lectus vestibulum mattis. Ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum enim facilisis. Euismod nisi porta lorem

mollis aliquam ut porttitor.

Iaculis nunc sed augue lacus viverra vitae congue eu consequat. Gravida neque convallis a cras.

Nunc scelerisque viverra mauris in aliquam sem. Non odio euismod lacinia at quis risus sed vulputate

odio. Purus faucibus ornare suspendisse sed. Turpis egestas maecenas pharetra convallis posuere

morbi. Nec feugiat nisl pretium fusce id velit ut. Nunc congue nisi vitae suscipit tellus mauris a diam.

Posuere sollicitudin aliquam ultrices sagittis orci. Urna nec tincidunt praesent semper. Turpis nunc

eget lorem dolor sed viverra.

lacus suspendisse faucibus interdum posuere lorem. Quam id leo in vitae. Ut faucibus pulvinar

elementum integer enim neque. Id ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Molestie ac feugiat

sed lectus vestibulum mattis. Ipsum nunc aliquet bibendum enim facilisis. Euismod nisi porta lorem

mollis aliquam ut porttitor.

BTC Losses Ramping Up?

  • Treasury yields have been picking up considerably over the last few weeks and risk assets have reacted negatively, with the $41-42k levels currently being defended. BTC briefly breached the $40K psychological level on the Jan. 10 before buyers rushed to defend Sept. lows, as we highlighted here.
  • Bitcoin’s recent price action has caused the percentage of BTC in profit to fall to levels not seen since Jul. last year, and it currently stands at 68.7%. This suggests that over 30% of Bitcoins have exchanged hands within the last year, when the cryptocurrency was trading above current prices, and these entities are holding on to an unrealized loss.
  • With BTC’s price action turning positive over the last few hours, some of this may have trivially changed. And percentage of supply in profit hitting lows tends to point to a mid-term bottom — but not always.
Miners Accumulate at Higher Rate
  • Miner’s net position gives the change of supply held in miner addresses. The green bars on the chart display periods where miners have been accumulating; the red bars are periods where they were offloading their holdings.
  • The data shows that miners have been accumulating BTC for weeks — since mid Nov. to be precise, when BTC price fell into the $50K region. Since the beginning of this year, there has been an increasing rate of accumulation, indicating bullish sentiment among bitcoin miners. However, keep in mind the impact of miners on the market has dwindled dramatically over the last five years, so this doesn’t entail a meaningful shift in market outlook.
  • Interestingly, total miner revenue hasn’t suffered a significant drop despite the downturn. In fact, Bitcoin’s mean hash rate has surpassed May’s all-time highs.
USDC Flips USDT on Ethereum

  • USDC has gradually become Ethereum’s most popular stablecoin, as it eclipses USDT to become the largest capitalized stablecoin on the network. For the most part, USDC’s goodwill in the Ethereum ecosystem has been driven by uncertainty around Tether and how it holds its reserves.
  • USDC has said that the tokens are mostly backed by cash and cash equivalents as well as short-term treasury bills. On the flipside, 44% of USDT’s backing is held in commercial paper.
  • On the surface, users might perceive USDC and USDT as susceptible to the same risks (e.g regulation, censorship), but USDT also bears a higher redemption risk than USDC due to the risk profile of its reserves.
GBTC in a Tight Spot

  • GBTC discount to BTC spot price took a massive hit, and is down -28% against spot prices as of yesterday. Since the start of the year, GBTC has plunged -17% compared to BTC which has declined only -9%.
  • Investors of GBTC must go through a 6 month lock-up period before they can sell their shares in secondary markets. Furthermore, there is no redemption function for the current Trust, which is a contributing factor to the large GBTC discount today.
  • Grayscale has been trying to convert the trust into a spot BTC ETF. If and when they succeed, one can expect discounts to be cleared up by arbitrageurs fairly quickly.
Notable Tweets

Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) Formed to Support the Terra Ecosystem

Philippine Bank Launches Crypto Trading Services

Thread on Luna Foundation Guard (LFG)

Create a free account to continue reading

Go Pro at 40% off

Immediately access the entire catalog of research for Delphi, Office Hours & private Discord

Genevieve Yeoh + 1 other