Solana's Memecoin Rapture ($)
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📊 Buy the dip? Bitcoin broke all-time highs this week, surpassing the Swiss Franc to become the 13th largest currency. But its burst of good fortune that took it just short of $74k was retraced, ending the week down slightly. What stood out about this week’s price action, and should you be buying the dip?
| Prices as of 10am ET | 24hr | 7d |
|
Crypto $2.58T | ↘ 0.4% | ↘ 0.7% |
|
BTC $67,835 | ↘ 0.6% | ↘ 0.9% |
|
ETH $3,660 | ↘ 1.7% | ↘ 7.1% |
1️⃣ Memecoin Ridiculousness
ETH took a dive despite a successful Dencun upgrade and BTC held flat but rampant Solana memecoin activity caused the SOL token to shoot the moon, up more than 30% week-over-week.
Two sagas were perhaps most representative of the hype flowing into the ecosystem:
- Degens successfully raised $650k to put the dogwifhat (WIF) meme on the Las Vegas Sphere for a week. This act of hubris did precede a major selloff of the token, but the stunt certainly showcases what kind of environment we're in.
- A wild amount of activity surrounding the pre-sale memecoin Book of Meme (BOME), which exploded in value late this week after a fast-follow Binance listing. Traders who bought into the pre-sale and held over the past few days are up more than 35,000%.
2️⃣ Dencun Upgrade Goes Live
Ethereum's anticipated Dencun upgrade went off without a hitch on Wednesday, bringing us the blobs.
This upgrade slashed rollup costs by up to 99%. As a result, Twitter is awash with takes comparing L2 gas fees to those on Solana. Regardless, activity on L2s increased, as seen by Base’s TPS doubling since the upgrade. Dencun is a big moment in Ethereum's pursuit of scalability without sacrificing decentralization.
Looking to the future, the next major upgrade for the world computer will be Pectra, which will reduce hardware requirements for validators and bolster network decentralization. It's still likely 18 to 24 months out.
3️⃣ More ATHs for BTC
Bitcoin breached all-time highs again this week, settling around $72k on Monday, then rising to $73,679 on Wednesday, before snapping back down to around ~$68k.
Once again, record inflows, especially for BlackRock’s IBIT, fueled the surge. Sentiment around the correction remains mixed, though, with opinions varying from a healthy purge to calls for everything to move lower. Regardless of your stance, be sure to take note of the tokens that have remained green during this bleed – always a telling sign of strength.
4️⃣ Ethena Speedruns $1B
In a whirlwind three weeks, Ethena stablecoin USDe’s supply reached $1 billion in circulating supply on Wednesday.
Ethena's rapid ascent comes peppered with skepticism over its sustainability and whether or not it will result in another LUNA-level collapse — especially as it now looks to integrate with Maker and Aave. As you mull over these concerns, know that Ethena shortened its points program to now end on April 1, so if you want to roll the dice, make it quick.
Earlier this month, we covered why Ethena is controversial for many investors.
5️⃣ Monad's Devnet Debut
Monad, a highly-anticipated EVM-compatible L1, launched its devnet for developers this week.
With a $200M raise and 10k TPS achieved in testing, Monad sets the stage for substantial EVM expansion, which will, in turn, help grow Ethereum. As Monad gears up for its mainnet launch, the anticipation is palpable. If you’re interested in diving deeper into the technical nuances of Monad, read our article here on what this blockchain is bringing to the table.
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You want Blobs? Ethereum's got 'em.
In this latest episode of the weekly rollup, Ryan and David break down Ethereum's much-hyped Dencun upgrade, which went off without a hitch this week. They also talk BTC ATHs and a very exciting birthday.
Many of Ethereum's top NFT collections have been having a rough time. Why the bleed-out, especially when the wider cryptoeconomy has been heating up recently?
Interested in what's new in NFTs this week? Let's dive in 👇
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