Dear Investor,

February’s combination of bitcoin ETF inflows and anticipation for the forthcoming halving pushed prices to levels not seen since 2021. This momentum has continued into March, with bitcoin hitting the $65,000 level.  

As we discuss at length in our 2024 Crypto Investment Outlook, this year is being driven by crypto’s integration into traditional finance as its investment case strengthens. The acceptance of ETFs in the US is accelerating this transition and we don’t see any immediate signs of a slow down. 

This emerging bull market hasn’t come out of nowhere. As our CIO Samir Kerbage noted last year and Head of Research Pedro Lapenta reaffirmed in last month’s webinar, the recovery that took shape in 2023 has set us up for where we are today—a stronger and more resilient industry that is being recognized by institutions across the globe. We remain extremely bullish for crypto’s future, both immediate and over the long term. 

As always, we are greatly appreciative of your trust in us and are here to answer any questions you may have.  

 

-Your Partners at Hashdex 

 

 

Market Review

February was a month of strong appreciation for crypto assets. Driven by huge inflows into spot ETFs in the US, which surpassed $6 billion (net values) through the end of the month, bitcoin soared back to the $60,000 level for the first time since November 2021. In addition to the ETFs in the US, investors began to take note of the upcoming Bitcoin halving, which will occur in the coming months. Both catalysts, as well as their effects on crypto asset prices, were detailed in our 2024 Crypto Investment Outlook.

Among the constituents of the NCI, bitcoin (BTC) was the third best performer, rising 42.2%, behind ether (ETH), up 46.4%, and Uniswap, which skyrocketed 88.8% following an announcement of an update that will allow UNI token holders to earn revenue through staking. The NCI rose 43.0%.

The appreciation was not limited to the largest assets represented in the NCI. All constituents of the indices serving as benchmarks for Hashdex products saw increases, with only three of them failing to surpass the 10% mark. The best performer among CF Benchmarks sectoral indices was Digital Culture, rising by 44.7%, followed by Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Smart Contracts Platforms, with 41.7% and 28.8%, respectively. The Hashdex Vinter Risk Parity Momentum Index rose 33.2%.

In summary, the month was very positive, as expected given the events of this early year. It's worth noting that the halving has only reached a fraction of the potential public attention, as shown by global searches for "bitcoin halving," according to Google Trends compared to 2020 (the last halving). We remain highly optimistic about the prospects for crypto assets in both the short and long term.

 

 

Top Stories

Bitcoin hits fresh all-time high in different currencies

BTC hit record price highs in different currencies, including the Japanese yen (JPY), signaling strong performance on a global scale amidst currency debasement in several countries. This upward trend reflects growing confidence in BTC's role as a store of value and insurance policy against deleterious central bank monetary policies.

 

Uniswap's UNI surges following proposal of a significant governance overhaul

UNI, the governance token of Uniswap, saw a 60% increase in value following a proposal from a prominent Uniswap Foundation leader to revamp the protocol's decision-making process. The proposal aims to allocate protocol fees to UNI holders who stake and delegate tokens, with the goal of revitalizing the protocol's governance mechanisms. The proposal would allow protocol fees to be collected automatically and distributed to UNI token holders who have staked and delegated their votes.

 

Visa to enable crypto-to-fiat withdrawals in 145 countries

Payments giant Visa recently partnered with Transak, a leading payments infrastructure provider for crypto and NFTs, to ease the off-ramp process from crypto-to-fiat currencies. The service will be available in 145 countries, which can then be spent at more than 130 million merchant locations where Visa is accepted. The movement is yet another signal from a financial giant working alongside crypto infrastructure providers to improve the user experience and security involving crypto-to-fiat transactions.

 

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