Friday, July 7th. As the week comes to an end we can focus on the highlights of the crypto industry over the past few days.
CEXs trading volume jumped by 14.2% over June
For the first time since March, total trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges grew in June. According to CCData, the figure climbed 14.2 percent to $2.71 trillion.
Binance’s market share slumped as low as 41.6% (the lowest since August 2022). In contrast, at OKX this figure shot up to 19.5% (the highest since April 2022).
Spot trading volume on centralized exchanges hit $575B, while derivatives trading one totaled $2.13 trillion.
This is due to the uptick in market activity caused by SEC lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance, analysts say.
There is also another reason experts point out – the mass submission of applications by companies for registration of a Spot Bitcoin ETFs. Bitcoin stocks are seeing solid growth against this backdrop, with assets managed by an exchange-traded fund from ProShares reaching $1.04 billion.
“The increase in BTC futures volume over the last couple of months highlights the heightened trading activity by institutional entities as the markets speculate over the SEC’s decision on the multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs filings,” the report said.
As you may remember, the total CEXs’ trading volume in April-June 2023 collapsed sharply to its lowest level since the Q4 2020.
Meta launches Twitter rival
Meta introduced Threads, a social networking experience, as an alternative to Twitter.
It is intended as a kind of add-on for Instagram. Earlier you could pre-order Threads on the App Store.
Meta frames the new product as an “text-based conversation app.” You can see from the screenshots that Threads virtually replicates the Twitter interface.
As per the user agreement, the social network will collect all kinds of data about the user, including location and financial details.
Back in March, Meta announced the creation of a decentralized social network under the code name ‘P92’. So far, it remains unknown whether the new product development is a follow-up to this initiative or Mark Zuckerberg is trying to reap the benefits of a rival’s challenges.
In early July, Twitter owner Elon Musk imposed limits on tweet views. According to the billionaire, the solution is “temporary” and is associated with an “extreme level” of data parsing and system manipulation. However, he refused to specify a timeframe for the removal of the restrictions.
In a thread under the Threads announcement post, the billionaire wrote that he was pleased with the app’s “reasonable” launch.
Binance to expand staff amid problems in EU
Crypto exchange Binance is seeking new employees because of recent regulatory issues in Europe.
The company placed a job advertisement. It says the exchange is looking for a Policy Officer EU
He would have to develop new policy standards for the firm and “Analyse existing procedures to identify gaps, inconsistencies and take appropriate action to resolve.”
The crypto giant is also sought for a compliance director in Thailand and government affairs associate director in Spain, according to The Block.
Binance revoked license applications in the UK, Austria, Cyprus, and announced its exit from the Netherlands. Moreover, the Belgian regulator obliged the company to cease its activity in the country.
Prior to that, the media reported that the German regulator would deny the firm a crypto custody license.
Recall that the regulatory squeeze on the crypto exchange started after a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
We learned on July 5 about raids on the Australian branch of Binance. Bloomberg reports that this was done in the context of an investigation into derivatives.
NFT creator royalty payments hit two-year low
The total fees received by NFT creators for reselling tokens has dropped to a two-year low as near 1,000 ETH (~$190,000). Information is provided by Cointelegraph, with reference to the data by Nansen.
According to the analysts’ report, April 2022 saw a spike in licensing royalties at 27,000 ETH. So far in one week, the authors have grossed approximately $75.7 million.
Experts explain the decline in payouts by the slump in prices for one of the most favored collections of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), as well as by the controversy surrounding the launch of non-fungible tokens dubbed Azuki Elementals.
Overall, BAYC’s creator, Yuga Labs, netted $165.5 million in royalties. Azuki brought in $58.2 million for its ‘zuki’, ‘Beanz’, ‘Elemental Beansa’ and ‘Elementals’ collections, while RTFKT, a studio specializing in metaverse items, generated $79.9 million.
At Nansen, they stressed the significance of NFT resale royalties as an indicator of the financial stability of the originator companies for their future development.
Until 2023, OpenSea accounted for the vast majority of the rewards. After the rival platform Blur set a minimum royalty of 0.5%, however, some of the projects turned to it.