PA Daily | Bitcoin breaks through 104,000, Ethereum hits $2,400, Coinbase will acquire Deribit for $2.9 billion

Today's news tips:

BTC breaks through $104,000, up 3.46% on the day

Ripple and SEC formally reached a settlement agreement and intends to settle the case with $50 million

CryptoQuant CEO: Selling pressure in the Bitcoin market is easing, and there are no clear bull or bear market signals yet

Upbit to List PENGU in KRW, BTC, USDT Markets

Binance Supports DOOD Airdrop for MUBARAK, BROCCOLI714, TST, 1MBABYDOGE, and KOMA Holders

A whale shorted 97,500 SOL with 20x leverage, and the liquidation price was $172.96

Abraxas Capital increased its holdings by more than 61,400 ETH in two days, worth about $116.3 million

Greeks.live: 26,000 BTC options and 165,000 ETH options are about to expire, and the biggest pain point of BTC options is $94,000

Coinbase to acquire crypto options platform Deribit for $2.9 billion

Regulatory/Macro

Germany seizes crypto exchange eXch, 34 million euros in crypto assets

According to an announcement issued by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Frankfurt General Prosecutor's Office, the servers and domain names (including eXch.cx) of the cryptocurrency exchange platform "eXch" in Germany were seized on April 30, and crypto assets worth about 34 million euros, including BTC, ETH, LTC and DASH, were seized. The platform has been accused of providing money laundering channels for illegal funds in multiple cases such as the Bybit hacking case, the Multisig vulnerability, the FixedFloat attack, and the Genesis theft case since its operation in 2014, and has processed nearly 1.9 billion US dollars in suspicious crypto assets. Officials pointed out that eXch deliberately circumvented KYC and anti-money laundering measures and widely promoted it in the underground market. This case is the third largest crypto asset seizure case in German history.

US Treasury Secretary criticizes Senate for not advancing GENIUS Act: Missed opportunity for global leadership in stablecoins

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on the social platform X that the U.S. Senate’s failure to advance the GENIUS Act was “a missed generational opportunity to expand the dominance of the U.S. dollar and the influence of financial innovation.” He warned that in the absence of a unified federal regulatory framework, stablecoins will develop in the fragmentation of state regulations, which is not conducive to the United States maintaining its global leadership and may push digital asset innovation overseas.

Metaplanet issues $21.25 million interest-free bonds to buy Bitcoin

According to the announcement of Metaplanet, the board of directors approved the issuance of the 14th ordinary bonds, with a total amount of US$21.25 million, and the creditor is EVO FUND, which will be used to purchase Bitcoin. The bonds are interest-free and will be redeemed on November 7, 2025. Metaplanet plans to use the exercise proceeds of the 15th and 16th adjustable exercise price warrants as the source of redemption funds.

CleanSpark's quarterly revenue increased by 62.5% year-on-year, and its Bitcoin assets are close to $1 billion

CleanSpark announced that its revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 ending March 31 reached $181.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 62.5%; its net loss for the same period was $138.8 million, compared with a profit of $126.7 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA was -$57.8 million, a year-on-year change from profit to loss. The company holds Bitcoin assets worth $980 million, total assets of $2.7 billion, net assets of $1.9 billion, and working capital of $838 million.

Mining company MARA's Q1 revenue increased by 30%, and its Bitcoin holdings soared to 47,531

According to the company's financial report, MARA Holdings' revenue in Q1 2025 reached US$214 million, a year-on-year increase of 30%; Bitcoin holdings reached 47,531, an increase of 174% over the same period last year, and the current valuation is about US$3.9 billion. Despite the increase in revenue, the company still recorded a net loss of US$533 million, mainly due to the decline in Bitcoin prices at the end of the quarter, which led to asset book losses. The company emphasized that it will continue to promote the transformation of vertically integrated energy and computing power infrastructure.

Ripple and SEC formally reached a settlement agreement and intends to settle the case with $50 million

Court documents show that Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached a settlement agreement to lift the ban imposed on Ripple by the court in August 2024, and to pay only $50 million of the $125 million civil fine to the SEC, and return the remaining $75 million to Ripple. Both parties agreed not to appeal or request the revocation of the previous judgment. The case has been filed since 2020 and involves the sale of XRP as a security. SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw publicly opposed the agreement, saying that it would undermine regulatory authority, undermine court rulings and exacerbate regulatory gaps. The agreement still needs the court to make an "indicative ruling" and obtain the approval of the appellate court before it can officially take effect.

Meta plans to enter the stablecoin field again and has hired former Plaid executive Ginger Baker as vice president of product

According to Fortune, three years after abandoning the Libra/Diem project, Meta is in preliminary talks with several crypto companies about the application of stablecoins, exploring cross-border payments to creators through stablecoins to reduce costs. Since January this year, former Plaid executive Ginger Baker has served as Meta's vice president of products, leading the relevant advancement.

Viewpoint

Analysis: It is recommended to continue to be bullish on Bitcoin and hedge risks through altcoin perpetual contracts

According to the latest report from Matrixport, the price of Bitcoin has once again exceeded $100,000, and has risen by about 16% since it broke through $85,450 on April 11. The report mentioned that after Bitcoin broke through the 21-week moving average ($87,199) and the Fibonacci resistance level ($87,045), coupled with the acceleration of ETF fund inflows, a robust upward signal framework was formed, providing a reasonable basis for the allocation of call options. Currently, the market capitalization of Bitcoin has risen to 64.5%, the highest since the DeFi boom in 2021, indicating the preference of funds for high-quality assets. In contrast, the performance of altcoins has continued to be sluggish, and the volume of social media discussions has fallen by more than 40% since December 2024. The report recommends continuing to hold long Bitcoin in the form of spot or perpetual futures, while using altcoin perpetual futures for hedging, as its funding rate remains low.

CryptoQuant CEO: Selling pressure in the Bitcoin market is easing, and there are no clear bull or bear market signals yet

Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, said that although he predicted the end of the Bitcoin bull cycle two months ago, this judgment is now wrong. He pointed out that the selling pressure in the Bitcoin market is easing, and the massive inflow of ETFs and institutional funds is changing the market landscape. He mentioned that in the past, the Bitcoin market was mainly dominated by old whales, miners and retail investors, and market fluctuations were easier to predict. But with the participation of ETFs, institutional investors and government agencies, the inflow of new funds has made the market more complex and unpredictable. In the past, profit cycles were usually triggered by whales cashing out at high points, but now the liquidity of institutions and ETFs may offset the impact of whales' selling. Ki Young Ju believes that the market is still absorbing new liquidity and there are no obvious bull or bear market signals yet. He emphasized that on-chain data is still important, but the analysis angle may vary from person to person.

CZ said that the lack of confidence in holding coins stems from a lack of understanding of technology and finance

Binance founder CZ pointed out in an article on the X platform that users are unable to hold Bitcoin for a long time, often due to insufficient understanding of technology, finance and the operating mechanism of the world. He said that if you buy Bitcoin only because others recommend it, you will be more likely to panic sell when it fluctuates. He suggested that investors read more relevant materials to enhance their cognition and belief.

Project News

Upbit to List PENGU in KRW, BTC, USDT Markets

PANews reported on May 9 that according to the official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit will launch PENGU in the Korean won, BTC, and USDT markets, and trading will start at 18:00 (UTC+9) on May 9 (estimated).

Moonshot Launches Dupe

Moonshot announced the launch of Solana’s new coin Dupe ($DUPE). Its current market value is approximately $5 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of $917,000.

Binance Supports DOOD Airdrop for MUBARAK, BROCCOLI714, TST, 1MBABYDOGE, and KOMA Holders

According to the Binance announcement, the platform will support the Doodles (DOOD) airdrop activity, and will take snapshots and distribute them to the first 40,000 users who hold MUBARAK, BROCCOLI714, TST, 1MBABYDOGE on the Binance platform and wallet, and the first 10,000 users who hold KOMA in Binance Wallet. The snapshot time is 00:00 (UTC) on May 7, 2025, and the specific distribution time will be notified separately. Binance said that supporting airdrops does not mean that DOOD will be directly listed for trading.

Camp Network launches its first public testnet “K2”, focusing on intellectual property management

According to The Block, Camp Network announced the launch of its first public testnet "K2", focusing on intellectual property management. The project completed a $30 million Series A financing led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital in April. Camp said that dozens of dApps will be deployed before the mainnet goes online, and the ecosystem partners cover more than 5 million users and creative content. Camp also built a "clearable AI training data market" to promote the verifiable traceability and fair realization of IP in the fields of art, music, data, etc.

Acurast will launch its token sale on CoinList at 1:00 AM on May 16

According to the announcement of CoinList, the decentralized computing network Acurast will start the token sale on CoinList at 1:00 am (Beijing time) on May 16, and the tokens will be 100% unlocked. Acurast uses smartphones to build a decentralized computing platform, and more than 65,000 devices have been connected. The total sales volume is 60 million ACUs, with a unit price of $0.09 and an estimated value of $90 million. The "bottom-up" distribution mechanism is adopted to give priority to small buyers. The sale is not open to specific regions such as the United States and Canada.

Important data

A whale shorted 97,500 SOL with 20x leverage, and the liquidation price was $172.96

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a user has just deposited $1.21 million USDC into the Hyperliquid platform and opened a SOL short position with a 20x leverage at an opening price of $164.9. The position size reached 97,500 SOL (about $16 million) and the liquidation price was $172.96.

Abraxas Capital increased its holdings by more than 61,400 ETH in two days, worth about $116.3 million

According to Lookonchain monitoring, the price of ETH has exceeded $2,300, with an increase of more than 20% in the past 24 hours. At the same time, Abraxas Capital continued to increase its holdings, withdrawing 61,401 ETH from the exchange in the past two days, worth about $116.3 million.

Greeks.live: 26,000 BTC options and 165,000 ETH options are about to expire, and the biggest pain point of BTC options is $94,000

According to data from Greeks.live analyst Adam, a total of 26,000 BTC options and 165,000 ETH options expired on May 9, with a nominal value of $2.67 billion and $360 million, respectively. The biggest pain point for BTC options is $94,000, with a Put Call Ratio of 1.05; the biggest pain point for ETH options is $1,850, with a Put Call Ratio of 1.42. BTC and ETH have rebounded strongly recently, with Bitcoin breaking through $100,000 and Ethereum rising 20% in a single day to more than $2,200. The implied volatility (IV) and realized volatility (RV) of BTC's main terms have remained at around 45%; ETH's short-term IV has exceeded 100% due to a sharp rebound. The delivery volume this time is less than 10% of the total position. Previously, a large number of put options returned to zero, and market sentiment has turned optimistic, with the proportion of call options expiring in June increasing significantly.

A whale shorted ETH with 25x leverage and lost more than $2.6 million, with a liquidation price of $2,343.4

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a trader deposited additional USDC into the Hyperliquid platform and continued to short ETH with a leverage of 25 times. His current loss has exceeded $2.6 million, and the liquidation price is $2,343.4.

Bitcoin spot ETFs had a net inflow of $117 million yesterday, with IBIT dominating

According to SoSoValue data, on May 8, Eastern Time, Bitcoin spot ETFs had a total net inflow of $117 million. BlackRock ETF IBIT had a single-day net inflow of $69.0012 million, ranking first among all products, with a total historical net inflow of $44.355 billion; Fidelity ETF FBTC followed closely behind, with a single-day net inflow of $35.3366 million and a cumulative net inflow of $11.672 billion. As of now, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $118.66 billion, accounting for 5.82% of the total market value of Bitcoin, with a cumulative net inflow of $40.836 billion.

Ethereum spot ETF has experienced net outflows for three consecutive days, with a net outflow of $16.11 million on May 8

According to SoSoValue data, on May 8, Eastern Time, Ethereum spot ETF had a total net outflow of $16.1138 million in a single day, and has recorded net outflows for three consecutive days. Grayscale Mini Trust ETH ETF had a net inflow of $3.1893 million on that day, the product with the most inflows, with a cumulative net inflow of $620 million; Fidelity FETH had a net outflow of $19.3031 million, the ETF with the most outflows on that day, and currently has a cumulative net inflow of $1.427 billion. As of now, the total net asset value of ETH spot ETF is $7.219 billion, accounting for about 2.74% of the total market value of ETH.

BTC breaks through $104,000, up 3.46% on the day

The OKX market data shows that BTC has just broken through $104,000 and is currently trading at $104,253.40 per coin, with a daily increase of 3.46%.

In the past 4 hours, the entire network has liquidated $253 million, and ETH has liquidated $117 million, which is about 3.28 times that of BTC.

According to coinglass data, in the past 4 hours, the entire network had a liquidation of US$253 million, long positions had a liquidation of US$49.7769 million, short positions had a liquidation of US$203 million, BTC had a liquidation of US$35.6488 million, and ETH had a liquidation of US$117 million. The liquidation volume of ETH was about 3.28 times that of BTC.

Ethereum network gas fee rises to 38.03 Gwei

According to OKX Wallet data, the Ethereum network gas fee rose to 38.03Gwei.

Ethereum's market share exceeded 8%, reaching a new high since April 6 last year, and is now 8.8%

According to CoinMarketCap data, Ethereum's market share has risen above 8% for the first time since April 6, 2024, and is currently 8.8%, up 1.48% in 24 hours. Earlier news, ETH broke through $2,400, with a daily increase of 17.40%.

ETH breaks through $2,400, up 17.40% on the day

The OKX market data shows that ETH has just broken through $2,400 and is currently trading at $2,408.50 per coin, with a daily increase of 17.40%.

Financing

Web3 entertainment platform T-Rex receives $17 million in pre-seed funding and plans to launch browser plug-in this summer

According to The Block, Web3 consumer entertainment platform T-Rex has completed $17 million in Pre-Seed financing, with investors including Portal Ventures, Framework Ventures and Arbitrum Gaming Ventures. The platform tracks users' content interactions on platforms such as X, TikTok, and YouTube through browser plug-ins, and obtains encrypted rewards in the form of "clicking on popcorn", using zkTLS technology to ensure privacy. T-Rex expects to launch plug-ins this summer and expand content creator and IP cooperation within the year.

Musk's AI company xAI is negotiating a new round of financing with a valuation of $120 billion

Musk's AI startup xAI is negotiating a new round of financing, with a valuation of $120 billion, a significant increase from $80 billion in March. Investors are discussing a financing amount of about $20 billion. Previously, Musk had sold the social platform X to xAI in an all-stock manner, allowing the two businesses to be deeply integrated. xAI's chatbot Grok is trained based on X platform user data and contributes part of X's revenue. This round of financing follows OpenAI's announcement of the completion of financing with a valuation of $300 billion.

BlackRock-backed Securitize receives strategic investment from Jump Crypto

Jump Crypto, the crypto arm of quantitative trading giant Jump Trading, has made a strategic investment in Securitize, an asset tokenization platform, for an undisclosed amount. This is the latest financing Securitize has received following BlackRock's $47 million investment last year. Michael Sonnenshein, COO of Securitize, said that Jump's entry shows that traditional financial institutions recognize the on-chain capital market. The advantages of tokenized products include daily dividends and collateral applications, which are attracting investors seeking returns to turn from stablecoins to tokenized treasuries. Securitize currently provides tokenization services to top asset management institutions such as BlackRock and Apollo, and its star product BUIDL Fund (tokenized money market fund) has reached a scale of $2.86 billion. Securitize is working with Ethena Labs to develop Converge, a compliant DeFi blockchain designed for institutions, which is expected to be launched this quarter.

Sonic Labs Completes $10 Million Strategic Financing, Galaxy Leads Investment

Sonic Labs announced the completion of a $10 million strategic S token financing led by Galaxy. This cooperation will accelerate Sonic Labs' expansion in the US market and provide key support for the development of its DeFi ecosystem. The cooperation aims to bridge traditional finance with Sonic's high-performance blockchain infrastructure through its resources. Sonic Labs CEO Michael Kong said that Galaxy's joining will bring important market insights and resources to the ecosystem. This cooperation also reflects the confidence of institutions in the transformation of financial infrastructure by blockchain technology.

GoQuant, a digital asset trading infrastructure provider, completes $4 million seed round led by GSR

GoQuant, a digital asset trading infrastructure provider, announced the completion of a $4 million seed round of financing, led by crypto investment firm GSR. Copper.co, Lombard Odie, Capital Union Bank, TYR Capital and FRNT Financial participated in the investment. The new funds will be used to improve the performance of trading infrastructure and provide institutional clients with faster execution and a more transparent trading environment. It is reported that GoQuant was founded in 2022. Its trading system currently processes millions of orders per day, providing institutional clients with intelligent order routing services across centralized exchanges, decentralized platforms and over-the-counter markets. The platform integrates real-time market data, transaction cost analysis tools and risk management functions to help institutions optimize digital asset trading strategies.

Coinbase to acquire crypto options platform Deribit for $2.9 billion

Coinbase executives said the company has agreed to acquire Deribit, the world's largest Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading platform, for about $2.9 billion. The deal still needs regulatory approval, and Coinbase will also take over Deribit's operating license in Dubai.