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Will We See Increased Institutional Adoption of Ethereum in 2021? ETH Hits Yearly High of $700

Ethereum has crossed the $700 mark to record highs that have not been seen since 2018.

Market sentiment around the altcoin has been bullish, as crypto analytics platform CoinMarketCap illustrated a jump of over 10% for Ether (ETH), the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The spike may come as a surprise to many as Ethereum has been trading below the $600 level around Christmas time.

Ethereum’s surge past a crucial psychological barrier of $700 is perhaps a side effect of the bullish momentum of Bitcoin, which brought altcoins higher as it recorded a new all-time high on Christmas day, sprinting past the $28,000 mark. Currently, the largest cryptocurrency stands at over half a trillion dollars in market cap for the first time in history, while Ether, ranking second, tops 80 million in market cap. Although Ether (ETH) has surpassed all expectations with its recent gains, it has yet to hit its all-time high again, a milestone achieved in 2017 when Ether recorded gains of approximately $1,400 on leading exchanges.

This year has been marked by increased institutional adoption for Bitcoin, a phenomenon that has not been evidenced before 2020. Market analysts are saying that next year may be the year that a similar occurrence happens for Ethereum. Per Ryan Watkins, an analyst at crypto analytics firm Messari:

“2021 prediction: in 2021 we begin seeing institutions buy $ETH. Once you accept that Bitcoin may be valuable, it opens your mind to the possibility that other cryptoassets may also be valuable. It’s a much easier jump from $BTC to $ETH.”

Although Ethereum has not gained as much as Bitcoin this month, it has still been making headway and will likely enter mainstream adoption with Bitcoin. An indication of this is that in 2021, CME Group is planning on launching ETH futures. According to Watkins, this indicates the increased demand for ETH. He said:

“CME futures is the writing on the wall. They wouldn’t launch an $ETH product if there wasn’t any demand for it.”

Ethereum predictions

Additionally, another indication that Ether will only go up is that it will surely gain even more recognition as a prized crypto asset with its new mainnet, ETH 2.0, in the works. Currently, ETH 2.0 runs parallel to the current blockchain and is a transition to a pure proof-of-stake protocol. Ethereum’s underlying win of 2020 has been the launch of ETH 2.0’s first phase, the beacon chain, which acquired more validators than expected to trigger its debut.

On top of that, Ethereum’s smart contract ecosystem has been leveraged this year more than ever. With most decentralized finance protocols booming in 2020, Ethereum has been the backbone of DeFi, which has made a name for itself in 2020, with over $13 billion in total value locked at the time of writing.

Messari Wins the Heart of Steve Cohen as it Raised $21M From Investors

Blockchain research and analytics platform, Messari has raised a total of $21 million from investors in a Series A funding round. The capital raise was led by Steven Cohen’s Point72 Ventures, marking the first time the billionaire will officially be getting involved in the Bitcoin (BTC) and digital currency ecosystem.

According to a report by Forbes, Messari has won the hearts of the biggest names in the crypto ecosystem, including Blockchain.com’s Blockchain Ventures, New York-based Gemini’s Gemini Frontier Fund, Wyoming-based Kraken’s Kraken Ventures and Antigua-based FTX’s sister company, Alameda Capital. In addition to these new investors, Messari’s old backers, including Coinbase, also participated in the funding round.

There is a great affinity towards growth startups in the digital currency world today. This affinity has stirred the accumulation of funds to power firms with a unique business model and the right target market in the blockchain world. While there is often a willingness to fund a promising project, the SEC oversight border on the need to stir transparency amongst startups has largely held many firms bound. However, Messari founder and CEO Ryan Selkis say the firm has a workaround by being a part of the Big Four and JPMorgan in auditing and analysis provisions.

“The defaults that many entrepreneurs and builders in the industry have is to be transparent and cooperative,” says Selkis, 37. “And try to be as helpful and communicative as possible with their communities. The problem is if you’re a core developer or someone that was early in a project, and you’re sharing certain sensitive information that even looks like it might be financial in nature. Then the SEC comes knocking on your door. It can create a tremendous amount of headaches.”

The success story of Messari and its ability to attract such investors as Steven Cohen centres on the firm’s due diligence related to building transparency as required by the SEC. Besides Messari, the crypto ecosystem has been seeing several capital fundraisers recently, with NFT Marketplace, MakersPlace amongst those who managed to pull capital from investors.

Messari in Talks for New Funding Round That Could Raise Valuation to $300M

Blockchain data analytics startup, Messari is reportedly in talks with investors to pull new funding that can push its market valuation to $300 million.

Per a report from The Block citing sources close to the discussions, the proposed funding is likely to be worth $35 million, and if the target is achieved, it will push the valuation to more than three times what it recorded in its last funding round.

Messari provides deep insights into blockchain systems that can be utilized by investors looking to make an entry into the digital currency ecosystem.

For the role it plays in the industry, Messari has attracted quite a lot of prominent venture capital firms, including Point 72 Ventures, the investment arm of Steve Cohen’s hedge fund, which currently oversees as much as $24 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).

Ryan Selkis, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Messari, said he would not comment on rumours about the company but rather highlighted in his tweet that the startup has been hiring more developers worth millions in what appears that the firm is highly liquid for now.

“I don’t comment on market rumours related to Messari, but…We’ve scaled to 130 people on zero net operating burns, had a record July, and are hiring $35mm worth of developers to help bring transparency and institutional-grade data tool to the crypto market,” he said.

Messari just acquired Dove Metrics, a data platform that dives deep into protocols fundraisers in the Web3.0 ecosystem. The acquisition amount is undisclosed; however, it begs the notion that with the firm’s latest acts and the industry’s general outlook, Messari may need to shore up its capital reserve with new funding.

With much yet to be cleared, Selkis said more news will be revealed at the Messari-organized Mainnet Conference, which is slated for this September. Should Messari later confirm the fundraiser, it will join its top competitors, including Kaiko, which has pulled funding this year.

Messari Raises $35M in Series B Round

Blockchain-based data analytics platform, Messari has announced the successful completion of its Series B funding round in which it pulled $35 million.

The round was led by Brevan Howard Digital and enjoined participation from top investors, including Morgan Creek Digital, Samsung Next, FTX Ventures, and existing investors Point72 Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Uncork Capital, Underscore VC, Galaxy, and Coinbase Ventures.

Coming off as one of the most favoured data analytics platforms serving the crypto ecosystem nowadays, Messari landed $21 million in a Series A round in early August from investors led by Steve Cohen. The August round valued the company at $300 million.

As announced, the new funds will be used to bolster its growing team and fast-track the development of new products.

“We’re excited to welcome a remarkable group of investors as partners in our next phase of growth,” said Ryan Selkis, Messari’s Co-founder & CEO. “We are committed to providing investors, crypto enterprises, and token communities with the tools they need to participate in the crypto economy. This new funding will help us grow our team, expand internationally, and invest in new data offerings and tools that complete our market-leading product suite.”

In its growth track, Messari confirmed that it has launched two new products, including Protocol Metrics and Data Apps. As explained, Protocol Metrics will enable the customers of the data research platform to “compare assets across multiple networks through transparent data standardization and analyze the health, growth, and usage of a protocol.”

The Data App platform is ideal for users who want access to customized data sets. Messari said the release of the Data App platform would be in Beta at launch and that it will release the demo for both products at its forthcoming Mainnet 2022 summit. The summit started on Wednesday and will end on Friday, the 23rd.

Sia Network Q2 2023: 12% Increase in Used Storage

In the second quarter of 2023, the Sia network, a decentralized cloud storage platform, saw a 12% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase in used storage, raising the storage utilization rate from 19% to 25%, according to a report by Messari. This growth occurred despite a 3% QoQ decrease in the addition of storage contracts, largely due to issues with third-party interfaces.

The Sia Foundation, the organization behind the Sia network, approved seven grants totaling $260,000 in Q2 2023. The largest grant, worth $94,000, was awarded to S5 Network and Apps for the development of a content-addressed storage network. The smallest grant, amounting to $5,000, went to SiaShare for the creation of a lightweight web service for encrypting, storing, and sharing files using the renterd interface.

Sia also made significant strides in its development roadmap. The beta version of its “hostd” application was published on GitHub. This application provides a user-friendly interface for storage providers, an API for managing storage resources and revenue, and an embedded web UI that enables providers to remotely manage storage operations. In a test comparison, hostd outperformed siad, the previous hosting module, with 1.4x faster download speeds and 20x faster upload speeds.

The alpha version of Sia’s “walletd” application was also published on GitHub. This application enables users to interact with Sia assets like SC and SF tokens on both hot and cold wallets. It also supports multi-signatures and hardware wallet integrations.

Despite the challenges faced in Q2 2023, including the shutdown of Skynet Labs and the temporary halt of storage uploads to Sia by Filebase, the Sia network demonstrated resilience and continued growth. The increase in storage utilization and the ongoing development of user-friendly applications indicate a positive outlook for the network.

Cosmos' Osmosis Sees 43% Decrease in Trading Volumes in Q2 2023, Reported Messari

According to Messari, in Q2 2023, the Osmosis Protocol, a decentralized exchange (DEX) within the Cosmos ecosystem, experienced a decrease in volumes and users, each down over 25%. Despite this, Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) transfers remained a bright spot, bringing in nearly half a billion dollars in inflows to Osmosis.

The quarter saw a 43% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decrease in trading volumes, with ATOM volumes falling to 15% of total volume, its lowest share ever. “USDC made up 14.9% of volume in Q2, its lowest in the last four quarters,” which is expected to change with the introduction of native USDC to the Cosmos network.

Average daily liquidity on Osmosis has been trending lower since Q1 2022, with a 17.9% fall from the previous quarter in Q2 2023. Despite this, “depositors remained patient in Q2, as average daily yield from trading fees fell to 3.8% (daily fees per unit of TVL, compounding daily) from 5.6% in Q1.”

Transaction counts of every type fell in Q2, with governance-related activity seeing the largest QoQ decline. Voting and Osmosis staking transactions were down 71% and 55%, respectively, accounting for nearly a third of the fall in transactions counts in the quarter. However, transactions related to the core product, with IBC transfers and swaps, fell only 21% and 23%, respectively.

Despite a year of subdued value flows, “over $466 million was transferred to Osmosis via the IBC network in Q2.” Total IBC transfer volume on Osmosis fell 4% from the previous quarter to $2.1 billion transferred.

On June 19, Osmosis unveiled its next development phase, OSMO 2.0, which includes a revised tokenomics model aimed at improving the sustainability of the protocol and better aligning incentives. Key changes include a halving of the inflation rate, an extension of the emission timeline, a shift in emission allocation to incentivize long-term stakers, the introduction of a protocol revenue burn mechanism, and a fee share mechanism.

Despite the decrease in key metrics, the network continues to adapt and implement new strategies for its growth. The introduction of OSMO 2.0 demonstrates an ongoing commitment to sustainability and better alignment of incentives, which could set the stage for a potential rebound in the coming quarters.

The Sandbox Q2 2023 Report: 59% Increase in NFT Mints, 52% Rise in Primary Sales, 15% Fall in Revenue in Q2

The Sandbox, a leading gaming metaverse, posted a mixed performance in the second quarter of 2023, according to a report released by Messari. The platform saw a robust 59% QoQ increase in NFT mints, primary sales were up 52% QoQ, and active buyers grew 22% QoQ. However, total revenue fell 15% QoQ, despite a 30% increase in non-LAND primary sale volume and an 18% rise in ESTATE volume.

The SEC’s lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance, where SAND was classified as a security, could herald a new era of crypto regulation in the U.S. A recent court ruling on XRP adds complexity to the regulatory scenario.

The Sandbox announced collaborations with brands like Paris Hilton, Warner Music, and others. The roadmap includes new features such as self-publishing experiences by the end of Q3 2023 and the ability to create and rent ESTATEs in Q4 2023.

Daily SAND staked grew 5% QoQ, but fell as a percentage of the circulating supply by 2% QoQ. SAND’s fully diluted valuation hovered between $2.1 billion and $1.1 billion, ending the quarter at $1.22 billion.

Despite facing a tough quarter marked by a fall in revenue, staking rewards, and SAND price, The Sandbox continued to facilitate new partnerships and grow in key areas. The platform faces regulatory uncertainty but is positioned for potential growth.

The Sandbox is a gaming metaverse where players and creators can monetize 3D assets and experiences via NFTs. Initially launched as a 2D mobile game in 2012, it rebranded as a 3D metaverse game in 2018.

Messari: Fantom FTM Market Cap Declined 36% in Q2 2023

According to a report released by Messari, Fantom faced a decline in daily active addresses by 18% QoQ, while new unique addresses grew by 146% QoQ, coinciding with increased activity on LayerZero and Galxe. Daily transactions decreased by 24.4% QoQ.

The market cap declined 36% QoQ after the SEC took regulatory actions against Coinbase and Binance.US. Total Value Locked (TVL) in USD dropped 46% QoQ, and revenue in FTM increased by 35% (+22% in USD terms), while network value decreased by 36.1% QoQ.

Proposal 34 was passed to reduce the minimum stake required to validate from 500,000 FTM to 50,000 FTM, aiming to increase staking participation and decentralization. Active validators were 61, with a total staked of 1.3 billion FTM (~$400 million).

Several ecosystem growth initiatives were established, including the Ecosystem Vault, which amassed ~530,000 FTM by Q2 2023, and the Gas Monetization Program, launched in beta in Q2 2023, with over a dozen applications joining.

In the DeFi space, there was a significant decline in TVL due to concerns about Multichain in May. NFT secondary sales volume increased by 26% QoQ. Gaming is in its early stages, with several developer tools rolled out. Galxe emerged as a leading social application, growing its quarterly total of UAWs from 966,000 in Q1 to 3.4 million (+255%) QoQ.

Development activity saw unique smart contracts grow by 155% QoQ. Full-time developers decreased from 25 to 21 QoQ, while part-time developers increased from 44 to 56 QoQ.

Looking ahead, Fantom plans to introduce a new StateDB storage system, Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), and account abstraction. These technological advancements are part of Fantom’s commitment to remain competitive through continuous building and expansion.

Fantom’s mixed Q2 2023, with growth in new unique addresses but a decline in daily active addresses and market cap, reflects strategic responses to regulatory actions and concerns about Multichain. With wide-reaching plans, including significant network upgrades and growth strategies, Fantom is positioning itself for a robust future in the crypto space.