🤯 Bull Run Has NEVER Started This Aggressively

🗞 Market commentary.

GM to all bullievers.

Once again, the blocmates newsletter prophecy becomes a reality, as we see a mere bounce transform into a full-fledged, unadulterated, bear dreams-shattering bullazooka.

The reason? Well, Bitcoin ETFs are only the most successful ETF product in three decades. The people who say BlackRock is the new Tether really aren’t joking, we’re entering a new paradigm as we speak. BlackRock’s $IBIT ($5.5B AUM in BTC) and Fidelity’s $FBTC are now the fastest growing ETFs, as simultaneously, the inflows overshadow the previously feared $GBTC outflows, which are also diminishing.

Can you see this bullazooka recipe now? For example, only yesterday 7,000 BTC was taken off the market. Just for your imagination, we saw a $250M daily inflow just for $IBIT. If we check on the estimated price impact of $500M worth of inflows, we are looking at roughly $2,000 price move.

Moreover, we observed the historically first-ever golden break before halving. This can mean two things: either the bull run is going to look different and be shorter this time, or it’s poised to be much more aggressive and powerful than anything we’ve seen before. At the same time, statistics show that the bull runs are actually prolonging, and the saying “this time is different” rarely holds true. 

🤓 In today’s email.

• Degen corner. Brace Yourself, Dencun is Coming

• DeFi insights. 24 unmissable insights

• ICYMI. Thales article by Emiri, Algebra DEX guide, and more

• Tweet of the day. Hsaka’s got a point here

• And finally. Next narrative? Ethereum spot ETF

🔥 Degen corner.

Brace Yourself, Dencun is Coming

Even though StarkNet left a bitter taste in many of our refined taste palates (check your ‘not so likely airdrop’ here), we simply have to start thinking about the current ETH strength and where it leads as the Dencun upgrade nears. Dencun is set to go live on 13th of March, and as we all know, the market loves to speculate about such news. An important part of this upgrade is Proto-danksharding, or EIP-4844, which will, in simple terms, enable much cheaper transactions and enable Ethereum to process data from rollups in a much more efficient manner.

Naturally, all the well-known Arbitrums and Optimisms will benefit in case of real ETH strength connected to Dencun narrative, so today, let’s quickly glance over a few other L2s deserving attention.

Mode Network (+Airdrop)

Mode has justifiably captured the community's focus (and the fastest monthly L2 TVL growth) since the airdrop campaign started, as it should create a very interesting ecosystem providing native yield on your ETH TVL. Basically, everything you need to know about the campaign can be found here, there is still plenty of time to farm this.

Metis   

Metis is currently the most undervalued L2 from a TVL/FDV ratio perspective. As far as ecosystem picks go, our very own Mr. Jedi is very big on Hermes (deploying their omnichain version soon). Keep your eyes peeled on blocmates.com in the coming weeks here, too. 

Linea (+Airdrop)

Linea had been a bit forgotten lately, but beware, this L2 backed by Consensys raised $726M from types of BlackRock, Coinbase and other big players. It might not be a bad idea to join the ongoing Voyage campaign and get one of their NFTs.

zkSync (+Airdrop)

ZkSync has become an OG pick by now, and we are sure you completed all the airdrop objectives by now. The last piece of the puzzle you might not want to overlook is creating a Gitcoin passport and completing these Guild.xyz quests.

For the attentive reader: the dark horse of L2 and LST/LRT season is Redacted Cartel. As the creator of top-yielding LST and future solver of fragmented liquidity across the L2 ecosystems, I just know a lot of things are cooking for this one. 

👀 DeFi insights.

The important bits.

• Hyperliquid (Perp DEX) - Reached top perp. DEX volume - read

• Protectorate (NFTFi) - Presented the NFT Capsule product - read

• Smilee Finance (DeFi) - Received grant from Arbitrum - read

• Persistence One (LSTs) - Released LST for DYDX - read

• Shogun (DeFi) - Teased “Berarollups” for Berachain - read

• Milkyway (TIA LST) - Announced Expansion to MOVE - read

• Redacted Cartel (DeFi) - Released Marionette vote optimizer - read

• Pandora (ERC404) - Partnered with Peapods Finance - read

• Mog Coin (Meme) - Added to CEXs & Released New Trailed - read

• Prisma (LST) - Launched ‘Ultra’ to revolutionize stablecoins - read

• NFTPers (NFT Perp DEX) - Launched V2 & partnered with Protectorate - read

• Cow Swap (AMM) - Presented Cow Swap AMM - read

• Algebra DEX Engine (DeFi) - Able to reduce gas waste up to 20% - read

• Rage Trade (DEX) - Added Hyperliquid perps - read

📰 DeFi news.

Even more important bits.

• Tron unveiled a roadmap for Bitcoin L2 development - read

• Robinhood listed TIA, PEPE, and APT - read

• Genesis cleared by court to sell GBTC shares ($1.3B) - read

• Telefónica integrates Chainlink - read

• Gary Gensler says Bitcoin is a leader in ransomware - read

• Ripple acquired ‘Standard Custody & Trust Co.’ - read

• Citi Bank explores tokenization on Avalanche - read

• USA CPI inflation numbers came in hot - read

• Gaming platform PlayDapp suffers $290M exploit - read

• Grayscale parent DCG’s revenue rose 59% - read

• Polygon Labs plans to convert EVMs into validiums - read

🫠 ICYMI.

Life gets busy so here’s what you’ve missed.

Find all of it on blocmates.com and media network →

🐥 Tweet of the day.

To save you doom scrolling.

Hsaka does have a point here not gonna lie.

🦍 And finally…

As the ETF inflows mania churns on, the market cannot help but look forward to the next leader.

You might have heard that Franklin Templeton, a global asset management leader, just filed for Ethereum spot ETF. Are we going to see ETH spot ETF as soon as May 2024? Let your imagination run wild as you compare the above-mentioned inflow numbers with possible future price impacts on the ETH side…