Author: Faith Yakubu

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has acquired TradeStation Crypto, the digital asset-focused division of online brokerage TradeStation, to expand its regulatory licensing and presence in the United States.

TradeStation Crypto, based in Florida, has obtained money transmitter and other regulatory licenses across most U.S. states in recent years. Kraken’s acquisition of TradeStation Crypto marks a strategic step to accelerate its growth and introduce new product offerings in the U.S. market.

A spokesperson for Kraken confirmed the acquisition, stating that it aligns with the company’s objectives to enhance its footprint in the U.S. market. However, the spokesperson declined to disclose the financial details of the transaction.

The acquisition comes after TradeStation Crypto faced regulatory challenges, including a $3 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a lending service. After this incident, TradeStation’s parent company withdrew from the cryptocurrency space.

TradeStation Crypto gained attention for its involvement in Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez’s initiative to establish the city as a crypto hub. Notably, the company commissioned the Miami Bull, an 11-foot, 3,000-pound statue unveiled by Mayor Suarez in early 2022.

In addition to its U.S. expansion, Kraken has been making strides in the European Union. The exchange recently announced the acquisition of Netherlands-based crypto firm BCM and secured virtual asset service provider licenses across the region as part of its ongoing growth strategy.

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Fantasy, a crypto trading card game allowing users to trade crypto influencers as cards, has launched on Blast mainnet. The project garnered $600,000 in funding in February.

Fantasy, the crypto trading card game, is now live on Blast mainnet after a successful testnet phase. Users can trade crypto influencers portrayed as trading cards on the app, with influencers earning a 1.5% cut each time their cards are traded.

The project secured $600,000 in funding from Alliance DAO, Manifold Trading, Fabric Ventures, and angel investors in February. Notable angel investors include Santiago Santos from former ParaFi Capital, Bryan Pellegrino from LayerZero Labs, and the pseudonymous NFT influencer known as “money.”

Fantasy is also offering a points airdrop based on activity on social media platform X and on-chain metrics from several blockchains, including Blast.

During the testnet phase, Fantasy gained significant traction with influencers like Ansem driving interest. Ansem’s trading cards generated substantial testnet ETH trading volume, resulting in rewards of testnet ETH. The project’s success on mainnet will depend on its ability to sustain similar momentum.

Additionally, Fantasy allows users to participate in competitions using five of their cards. During the testnet phase, over 23,800 users engaged in such competitions, with a total of 75,000 registered users.

Fantasy operates on Blast, a Layer 2 network on Ethereum launched on mainnet in February. Blast aims to offer a native-yield model for ether and stablecoins, providing 4% interest for ether and 5% for stablecoins. The network was developed by Tieshun Roquerre, founder of the NFT marketplace Blur.

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Solana-based decentralized betting platform Parcl has experienced a significant decline in total value locked (TVL), losing approximately 40% since early April, as reported by DefiLlama data. Other Solana-based airdrop tokens, including W and TNSR, have also witnessed notable declines in value.

Since its airdrop snapshot on April 3, Parcl has witnessed approximately $74 million exiting the protocol, marking a sharp decline from $184.5 million to $110.69 million in TVL within about two weeks. The platform distributed native Parcl (PRCL) tokens to eligible users following the snapshot, with its initial TVL dropping significantly post-airdrop.

The airdrop distributed 80 million PRCL tokens initially valued at $0.8255 each, but the token’s value swiftly plummeted to a low of $0.45 before rebounding to $0.5294 at the time of publication. Launched in February 2023, Parcl enables users to trade on assets reflecting major city housing markets through decentralized betting.

While Parcl did not respond to inquiries from The Block, the mass withdrawal from the platform coincides with weak performances of other Solana-based airdropped tokens. For instance, Wormhole’s W token has seen a 56.4% decline since its debut, and Tensor’s TNSR token has lost half its value post-airdrop.

Despite these setbacks, Solana projects continue to conduct airdrop events, with decentralized exchange Drift and Zeta Markets announcing plans for token distributions. Solana itself has grappled with congestion issues in recent weeks, likely exacerbated by spam transactions, although updates have been deployed to address these challenges.

CoinMarketCap data indicates an 18.8% decline in the price of Solana over the past seven days, mirroring a broader downturn in the crypto market, with the GMCI 30 index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, falling 13.79% amid investor caution following geopolitical tensions.

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Bernstein, a brokerage firm, recommends purchasing stocks of bitcoin miners Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) ahead of the impending halving event. They anticipate a bullish trajectory for Bitcoin post-halving, once mining hashrates adjust to reduced rewards and ETF inflows pick up.

Despite concerns over profitability following the halving, Bernstein maintains a positive outlook on bitcoin mining stocks, citing their potential for superior execution and market leadership in self-mining hashrate.

Analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra highlight the historical trend of Bitcoin price breakout following halving events, with recent ETF approvals driving pre-halving price appreciation. However, recent fluctuations, including a 15% drop in the last 10 days, coincide with slower ETF inflows.

Bernstein expects Bitcoin’s bullish momentum to resume post-halving as mining hashrates adapt and ETF inflows recover. The rollout of spot bitcoin ETFs by wirehouses and registered investment advisors is seen as a structural driver for bitcoin demand, with a forecasted cycle high of $150,000 by 2025.

In summary, Bernstein suggests seizing the opportunity presented by the miner fear factor preceding the halving and investing in RIOT and CLSK stocks for potential long-term gains.

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With Bitcoin’s fourth mining reward halving imminent, Goldman Sachs urges investors to exercise caution in extrapolating past halving cycles for price predictions, emphasizing the role of macroeconomic conditions and inflows into spot ETFs.

While previous halvings have historically coincided with Bitcoin price appreciation, Goldman’s Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities (FICC) and Equities team warns against simplistic interpretations due to varying macroeconomic landscapes.

Despite bullish sentiments surrounding previous halvings, the time taken to reach peak prices and the magnitude of price increases differed significantly across cycles.

Crucially, the macroeconomic backdrop during previous halvings contrasted with the current environment characterized by high inflation and interest rates. Previous cycles occurred amid rapid growth in M2 money supply and near-zero interest rates, fostering risk-taking behavior across financial markets.

For history to repeat itself, supportive macroeconomic conditions are deemed essential.

However, present circumstances diverge from past cycles, notably with interest rates in the U.S. surpassing 5% and market expectations discounting prospects of rate cuts amid persistent inflation and economic resilience.

Despite Bitcoin’s 50% rally this year and record highs preceding the halving, driven by inflows into U.S.-based spot ETFs, some analysts speculate that much of the post-halving surge may have already materialized.

Goldman views the halving as a “psychological reminder” of Bitcoin’s capped supply, emphasizing the significance of ETF uptake in determining medium-term price outlook.

The team suggests that whether the halving event leads to a “buy the rumor, sell the news” scenario may have a limited impact on Bitcoin’s medium-term trajectory. Instead, they highlight ongoing supply-demand dynamics and ETF demand as primary drivers of spot price action in the crypto markets.

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