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WEEKLY MARKET UPDATE
JUN 09, 2023
Weekly Market Update - Friday, June 9, 2023
Welcome to our Weekly Market Update.* Explore weekly crypto price movements, read a quick digest of notable market news, and dive into a crypto topic — today we explore crypto metaverses.
Crypto Movers
Crypto News: What Happened This Week?
Topic of the Week: What is a Crypto Metaverse?
Bitcoin (BTC) Price | ⬇️ 1.20% | $26,648
Ether (ETH) Price | ⬇️ 1.86% | $1,848
Somnium Space (CUBE) Price | ⬆️ 37.80% | $1.5344
Rally (RLY) Price | ⬇️ 16.80% | $0.00984
SuperRare (RARE) Price | ⬇️ 16.30% | $0.074
Crypto prices as of Friday, June 9, 2023, at 10am ET. Percentages reflect trends over the past seven days. Check out the latest crypto prices here. All prices in USD.
Takeaways
- The SEC sued Binance and Coinbase this week, leveling a host of allegations against two of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms.
- Both exchanges responded forcefully, with Coinbase criticizing the regulator for its “enforcement-only approach” and unwillingness to provide clear rules for crypto exchanges. Binance described the SEC’s actions as “misguided” and “unjustified,” adding that the “SEC abandoned and denied us due process.”
- Bitcoin (BTC) took a hit early in the week following the SEC actions but rebounded as the news settled, trading slightly below its $27k USD support level as of Friday morning.
- In the wider markets, U.S. stocks continued their push higher. Various Wall Street firms raised their year-end price targets, reflecting renewed optimism among investors.
SEC Charges Binance and Coinbase
Early this week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against two of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms, Binance and Coinbase. Binance came first on Monday, followed quickly by Coinbase on Tuesday.
The SEC alleged that Binance and affiliated entities, including the entity that operates Binance U.S., have been operating as unregistered securities exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies, and that they have been selling unregistered securities. The charges further alleged that the Binance group had misrepresented trading controls and oversight of Binance U.S, claiming that it had commingled billions in investor assets. Late Tuesday, the SEC asked a federal court judge to freeze Binance.US’s assets.
The next day, the SEC charged Coinbase, alleging that it was operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency, and sold unregistered securities. The SEC also charged the largest U.S. crypto exchange with failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service product. Coinbase stock (COIN) dropped nearly 25% this week as a result of these lawsuits, before paring back some of its losses to end the week.
Binance and Coinbase Respond Forcefully to the SEC
Following the two SEC actions announced earlier in the week, both Binance and Coinbase delivered pointed rebukes.
During a planned Congressional hearing on Tuesday which coincided with the SEC suit, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal argued that the SEC’s “enforcement-only approach” is damaging for the development of crypto in the United States. Coinbase also released a video criticizing the SEC for a lack of guidance and its unwillingness to provide clear rules on how to operate legally in the crypto space.
Binance published a response to the SEC complaint describing the SEC’s actions as “misguided” and “unjustified” and said they would vigorously defend their platform. The world's largest exchange added that despite “efforts at productive engagement, the SEC abandoned and denied us due process, and instead unilaterally chose to litigate.”
Bitcoin Price Takes a Hit Following SEC Suits
Prior to the charges being announced against Binance and Coinbase, bitcoin (BTC) was trading around the $27k USD support level we have become familiar with over the past few weeks, but dropped sharply lower to ~$25.5k USD once the Binance news hit.
The Coinbase lawsuit briefly pushed prices lower on Tuesday before BTC retraced back to ~$27k USD by late Tuesday. Prices have since drifted lower again to ~$26.5k USD as the market continues to digest all aspects of the charges and the potential impact this could have on the crypto industry as a whole.
As part of the Binance and Coinbase lawsuits, the SEC included a list of crypto tokens traded on the platforms that they view as unregistered securities. Many of the tokens mentioned experienced some of the biggest declines this week, with Solana (SOL) ~9%, Cardano (ADA) ~11.5%, Polygon (MATIC) ~13.5%, and Binance Coin (BNB) ~13.5% all facing drops as of early Friday.
U.S. Stock Markets Show Continued Strength
U.S. stock markets continued their push higher this week, with the S&P 500 up over 20% since its October 2022 lows. Market participants have renewed optimism, as concerns over the U.S. debt ceiling were erased last week. The economy is showing signs of strength and expectations are that the U.S. Federal Reserve is near the end of its interest rate hiking cycle, further supporting the optimism.
A number of Wall Street firms also raised their year-end price targets during the week. Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets raised its S&P 500 price target to 4,550 from 4,300, while Evercore ISI hiked its target to 4,450 from 4,150.
Attention now turns to the upcoming Fed meeting set to take place next week. The May jobs report released last Friday reinforced expectations that the Fed will announce an interest rate pause, but the upcoming consumer price index (CPI) report to be released Tuesday could push some policymakers to favor another rate hike should the numbers come in hotter than expected.
-From the Gemini Trading Desk
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Exploring Crypto Metaverses
Apple unveiled its Vision Pro headset this week to much fanfare as it launched a new product for the first time in years. It is the latest installment of virtual and augmented reality headsets, including Google Glass released a decade ago and other iterations of similar headsets over the past ten years.
The excitement around these products can be tied to the rapid development of and interest in immersive worlds as we spend more time online. Crypto metaverses, which we discuss this week, are a possible application of virtual and augmented reality as we discover new ways of interacting and transacting online.
What is a metaverse?
A metaverse is a shared, immersive virtual world in which players, usually represented by avatars, can interact with each other, construct experiences, and create in-world objects and landscapes. Metaverses in the crypto space typically have their own intrinsic economies and currencies, with which users can buy, sell, and trade digital real estate, items, avatar accessories, and more. Metaverses can be experienced via a computer, virtual reality (VR) headset, or smartphone.
How does crypto come into the mix?
Specifically, a crypto metaverse is a metaverse that incorporates blockchain into its underlying technology and crypto assets, such as metaverse tokens, into its economy. Examples of crypto metaverses and protocols that incorporate metaverse elements include Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, Alien Worlds, Axie Infinity, and The Sandbox.
While metaverse-like environments have existed in massive-multiplayer online games for some time now, the incorporation of blockchain, crypto, and VR into the sector is not just drastically altering who can participate and what they can do, but also demonstrating the real-world market value of assets, interactions, and experiences earned in the digital realms of blockchain games.
Metaverse crypto assets and items — such as digital land and objects, for example — are typically represented by different types of metaverse tokens. Their ownership is recorded on the blockchain and can even be exchanged for digital assets like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) on a number of decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
Key features of crypto metaverses
Designers of crypto metaverses have generally sought to distinguish their worlds from earlier iterations of metaverses in several key ways:
- Decentralization: While early virtual worlds were owned and controlled by companies, crypto metaverses are typically decentralized, with some or all components of metaverse games built on blockchain technology. This means that blockchain metaverses themselves tend to diverge from the mainstream business structures and value extraction models of today’s gaming industry. The unique structure of blockchain games can open up more equitable engagement opportunities for participants. It also means that ownership of the metaverse itself is shared amongst its participants. Even if the original creators of the metaverse blockchain were to walk away, the game itself could continue to exist.
- User governance: Crypto metaverses like Decentraland make use of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and governance tokens to put their users in control of the game’s future, allowing them to drive changes and updates through voting. In this way, metaverses can be more than just crypto games — they can grow into entire societies with economies and democratic leadership.
- Provable provenance: Virtual world items in crypto metaverses take the form of crypto tokens, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Achievements and acquisitions in gaming environments can represent value to gamers. NFTs update the standards of in-game items, adding transparency and access to asset markets. Because every NFT is unique, metaverse tokens and items can be coded to easily help prove the provenance of in-game user-generated content as well as NFT gaming assets.
- Real-world economic value: Since crypto metaverses use crypto tokens and blockchain infrastructure, their economies are directly connected to the wider crypto economy. This allows holders of metaverse tokens, avatar skins, and digital real estate to trade them on DEXs and NFT marketplaces, potentially bringing real-world value to their virtual world investments.
The future of metaverses leads to many possibilities as we imagine new ways to interact online. We invite you to read more about crypto metaverses, explore popular metaverse platforms, and discover more about this topic.
See you next week. Onward and Upward!
Team Gemini
*This material is for informational purposes only and is not (i) an offer, or solicitation of an offer, to invest in, or to buy or sell, any interests or shares, or to participate in any investment or trading strategy, (ii) intended to provide accounting, legal, or tax advice, or investment recommendations, or (iii) an official statement of Gemini. Gemini, its affiliates and its employees do not make any representation or warranty, expressed or implied, as to accuracy or completeness of the information or any other information transmitted or made available. Buying, selling, and trading cryptocurrency involves risks, including the risk of losing all of the invested amount. Recipients should consult their advisors before making any investment decision. Any use, review, retransmission, distribution, or reproduction of these materials, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited in any form without the express written approval of Gemini.
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