Welcome, dear reader, to Gryphsis Academy’s weekly cryptocurrency digest. We bring you key market trends, in-depth insights on emerging protocols, and new industry dynamics, all designed to enhance your expertise in cryptocurrency and Web3. Happy reading! Follow ourTwitterandMedium, for deeper research and insights.
Market and industry snapshots
Layer 2 Overview:
Last week, Layer 2 all showed positive growth, among which Starknet had the most obvious growth of 15.67%. Protocols like JOJO, VaultCraft, Basemax, XY Finance and Nostra have demonstrated noteworthy TVL growth rates.
LSD Sector Overview:
In the LSD field, both Ethereum deposits and total withdrawals increased, but the withdrawal volume was more obvious at 2.88%. In terms of market share, all blue-chip LSDs have increased significantly, with wstETH having the most obvious growth of 16.28%.
RWA Sector Overview:
Last week, the worlds real asset market value increased by 13.85%, and 24-hour trading volume increased by 43.93%. The RWA tokenized treasury rose 1.6%, and the value of tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds rose 0.08%. Notable growth tokens include $DEXTF, $LMR and $BST, with tokens like $BRTR, $LNDX and $SOB experiencing larger losses.
Main Topics
Macro overview:
US Stock V.S. Crypto
Big news this week:
Bitcoin posts biggest monthly gain in three years
Weekly Agreement Recommendations:
OpSec
Weekly VC Investment Focus:
Octav ( 4 M)
BounceBit ( 6 M)
READYgg ( 4 M)
Twitter Alpha:
@Hercules_Defi on AI+DePIN
@MoonKing___ on Aark
@zerokn 0 wledge_ on Modular
@stacy_muur on Gearbox Protocol
@DeRonin_ on TON
Macro overview
This week, at the stock market level, SPX and NASDAQ rose 1.33% and 2.06% respectively. In the week ahead, watch for major events such as the SP Global Services PMI, ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI, Spring Forecast Statement, ADP Non-Farm Payrolls changes and the Bank of Canada interest rate decision.
Big news this week
Bitcoin posts biggest monthly gain in three years
Bitcoin (BTC) is on track for its strongest monthly close since December 2020. Even as prices near all-time highs, analysts say the bull market is far from peaking. The largest crypto asset by market capitalization has gained a staggering 44% in February, surpassing $50,000 and $60,000 for the first time in several years, and reaching a high of $64,000 on Wednesday. The rally follows a pullback on selling news following the debut of a U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in late January, with prices briefly falling below $40,000.
Bitcoin is on track to reach its highest ever month-end price. To do so, it would need to surpass $61,357 before midnight Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was the October 2021 closing price and was near the top of the previous market cycle. At press time, BTC was trading at approximately $61,200.
Cryptocurrencies in the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD 20) grew by more than 40% in February. Decentralized exchange Uniswap’s governance token (UNI), decentralized data storage network Filecoin’s FIL, and popular meme token Dogecoin (DOGE) were the top performers in the CD 20, outpacing BTC’s gains .
While Bitcoins price is on the brink of an all-time high, some analysts are still bullish on further gains.
We havent even begun to touch the heights this could reach, Alex Thorn, Galaxys director of corporate research, said in a market analysis posted Thursday on X (formerly Twitter). He believes that the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF is a “game changer” that provides stable – and recently accelerating – demand for BTC. At the same time, about 75% of the Bitcoin supply is owned by long-term holders who have so far been unwilling to sell at recent price levels.
Analysts at IntoTheBlock note that on-chain transaction volume and retail interest in crypto on the Bitcoin network remain well below previous peak levels. “Sustained buying pressure and strong bullish signals from oscillators and moving averages suggest that BTC is preparing to continue its upward momentum,” analysts at Swissblock said in a report on Thursday.
Weekly Agreement Recommendations
Welcome to our Protocols of the Week segment – where we spotlight protocols making waves in the crypto space. This week, we selected OpSec, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) cloud computing platform provider that leverages AI technology.
Traditional Internet infrastructure is usually controlled, censored, and even operated by centralized entities/companies/providers, etc., causing users Internet freedom rights to be violated. In order to solve the hazards caused by such centralized server networks, OpSec is based on blockchain technology and uses artificial intelligence to provide a secure, efficient and decentralized cloud computing platform.
Currently, OpSec provides the following solution services to help Web3 users and developers provide a friendly cloud service experience:
OpSec Cloudverse: It mainly consists of three parts: Nodes, VPS, and GPU. Nodes users can deploy and manage nodes, thereby promoting network security and decentralization; VPS serves as a basic tool for node operations and calculations; OpSec provides a more decentralized GPU solution.
OpSec Network: OpSecs Layer 1 Network combines the power of AI and modular architecture to enhance scalability, security, and flexibility. Utilize POS and POC (proof of cloud) mechanisms to enhance network security while establishing a cloud proof consensus based on the processing power/storage/bandwidth of cloud resources, thereby reducing OpSec development overhead.
CloudSec: CloudSec is an advanced routing appliance that leverages powerful decentralized network architecture to improve online privacy and security. By routing data across multiple nodes and employing onion routing, CloudSec enables anonymous communication over public networks, making it difficult for attackers to trace the source and destination of data.
Source: Official Website
Among them, the OpSec Cloudverse business proposes a fundamental solution for existing blockchain infrastructure. The nodes of existing blockchain infrastructure are hosted on centralized cloud services such as AWS and Google Cloud Platform. If they maliciously shut down nodes or attempt malicious behavior to control the network, the blockchain will be in major danger.
Cloudverse is built on globally distributed cloud services to achieve automated node management and deployment, solving malicious situations such as node dependency and insecurity. At present, OpSec has established connections with many blockchain networks, including Bittensor, Venom, Taiko, Optimism, Celestia, Avail, Base, Zora, Shardeum, Starknet, Fuel, Linea, Eigenlayer, Berachain and many other public chains to control nodes The power is in your own hands.
OpSecs native token $OPSEC will be released on Ethereum with a total supply limit of 100 M. It is mainly used for network pledge under the POS mechanism, execution of transactions/deployment contracts on the network to pay fees, node operation rewards, governance voting rights, etc. .
As a decentralized physical infrastructure network provider, OpSec leverages state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology to build, maintain and operate blockchain infrastructure, ensuring the security and privacy of blockchain applications.
our insights
OpSec is currently a hot AI+DePIN narrative. DePIN’s current market capitalization is $23B, and the total transaction volume is $1.9B. Especially there has been a big growth recently. According to predictions from the Messari data platform, the DePIN industry will reach US$3.5 trillion in the next four years, so it is speculated that the field will have room for growth of nearly 135 times.
Source: CoinGecko
Why can AI be combined with DePIN? DePIN can provide decentralized storage and computing resources, which is crucial for AI models that require a lot of computing power. Decentralized nodes can provide hardware storage, computing power, GPU or training data, and receive rewards for it, similar to the mining process of Bitcoin, and AI can rely on this to achieve efficient deployment and calculation; in turn, AI can also It can intelligently manage the resources of the DePIN network and optimize resource allocation; automatically perform complex operations such as network detection and maintenance, etc., and optimize and improve network efficiency.
There are currently many projects under the AI+DePIN narrative, such as Flux, Node AI, EMC Protocol, etc., which are essentially based on DePIN and focus on business expansion of physical infrastructure. As a cloud computing service, OpSecs business direction is naturally biased towards the B-side, that is, how to orient the decentralized node business to more infrastructure projects, such as Layer 1 public chains.
Source: Documentation
At present, OpSec has been launched on Taiko, Linea, Zora, Optimism, Starknet, Celestia and other networks, and there are many partners who are preparing to go online. It can be seen that OpSec has achieved certain results in business expansion. Recently, OpSec has cooperated with Commune AI and Dmail Network to launch the V2 test version and sponsored the Eth Denver conference. It can be seen that the project team is continuously expanding its market influence.
Overall, OpSec provides a secure, efficient and decentralized cloud computing platform that can host and run blockchain applications, and provides various utilities to enhance the functionality and usability of Web3 and leverage the power of AI to optimize the performance, security, and privacy of the platform and provide innovative solutions for Web3 users, developers, and builders.
Weekly VC Investment Focus
Welcome to our weekly Investing Spotlight, where we reveal the biggest venture capital developments in the crypto space. Each week, we’ll spotlight the protocols that received the most funding.
Octav
Octav is a free, anonymous and editable data analysis platform that helps decipher decentralized finance (DeFi) investment activity. Get comprehensive DeFi portfolio information such as cost basis, profit and loss (PL), and more.
https://x.com/OctavFi/status/1762861271811256542?s=20
BounceBit
BounceBit is a native BTC staking chain secured by staking Bitcoin and BounceBit tokens. BounceBit is powered by CEFFU (formerly Binance Custody) and Mainnet Digital for secure Bitcoin storage. The PoS mechanism introduces a dual-token staking system that leverages native BTC security with full EVM compatibility.
https://x.com/bounce_bit/status/1762874894520656120?s=20
READYgg
@TheReadyGames is building social gaming infrastructure for the Web3 creator economy. It is creating mobile-first Web3 tools and technologies to democratize game creation. RGN is coordinating the economic interests among developers, creators and players to create a sustainable, long-term distributed game ecosystem and creator economy.
https://x.com/CryptoDiffer/status/1763182635109503225?s=20
protocol event
Worldcoin token drops 5% amid Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI
Delta upgrade results in fee reduction on Optimism ecosystem chains
StarkWare announces new open source zero knowledge prover Stwo
SynFutures launches V3 on Blast mainnet and unveils points program; plans token launch this year
Robinhood Wallet integrates Arbitrum for token swaps
Industry updates
Nigeria reportedly demands $ 10 billion from Binance in damages: BBC
BlackRock’s IBIT spot bitcoin ETF crosses $ 10 billion in AUM
BIS issues regulatory recommendations for global stablecoin arrangements
Decentralized lending TVL surges to over $ 30 billion for the first since mid-2022
Eight state AGs in US challenge SEC's authority in Kraken lawsuit with joint amicus brief
Twitter Alpha
There is a lot of alpha in crypto Twitter, but navigating thousands of Twitter threads can be difficult. Each week, we spend hours doing research, curating threads full of insight, and curating your weekly picks list. Let’s dive in!
https://x.com/Hercules_Defi/status/1762854213602988055?s=20
https://x.com/MoonKing___/status/1763555813145100457?s=20
https://x.com/zerokn0wledge_/status/1763283888783462713?s=20
https://x.com/stacy_muur/status/1763595829032394845?s=20
https://x.com/DeRonin_/status/1763584337038004699?s=20
next week events
news source
https://www.theblock.co/post/280139/binance-10b-usd-fine-nigeria
https://www.theblock.co/post/280124/worldcoin-token-elon-musk-openai-lawsuit
https://www.theblock.co/post/279943/robinhood-wallet-arbitrum-token-swaps
https://www.theblock.co/post/280013/synfutures-v3-blast-mainnet-points-program-token
https://www.theblock.co/post/279907/starkware-open-source-zero-knowledge-prover-stwo
That’s all for this week. Thank you for reading this weeks newsletter. We hope you benefit from our insights and observations.
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This weekly report is provided for informational purposes only. It should not be relied upon as investment advice. You should conduct your own research and consult independent financial, tax or legal advisors before making any investment decisions. And the past performance of any asset is not indicative of future results.