Gate.io Blog Daily news | Eigenlayer Releases EIGEN Token; Hong Kong Officially Launches Asia's First Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF; More Than 50% of Runes in the Red, Questioned

Daily news | Eigenlayer Releases EIGEN Token; Hong Kong Officially Launches Asia's First Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF; More Than 50% of Runes in the Red, Questioned

30 April 13:24

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## Crypto Daily Digest:Eigenlayer Releases EIGEN Whitepaper, But No Airdrops to U.S. Users; Hong Kong Officially Launches Asia's First Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF; More Than 50 Percent of Runes in the Red, Rune Protocol in Question

Let's take a look at the trading activity of <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> ETFs first. According to Farside Investor data, on 29 April, the Grayscale Bitcoin Spot ETF (GBTC) saw continued outflows of $24.7 million; meanwhile, the Fidelity Bitcoin Spot ETF (FBTC) outflows of $6.9 million, the Bitwise Bitcoin Spot ETF (BITB) saw inflows of 29 million, and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin Spot ETF (ARKB) saw outflows of $31.3 million.

April proved to be a tough month for spot bitcoin ETFs. Previously, trust Grayscale was the driver of capital flight from ETFs, but we're also starting to see money flowing out of newly launched ETFs. Overall, though, the new ETFs have remained successful.

Eigenlayer, the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> restaking platform, released a whitepaper for its proposed new token, EIGEN, on 29 April. According to the whitepaper, the EIGEN token will be used for applications that rely on inter-subjective agreements, such as prediction markets, storage services, and gaming virtual machines. However, the soon-to-be-announced airdrop would exclude several jurisdictions such as the U.S. and Canada.

Staked ETH on Ethereum can be restaked to Eigenlayer and earn additional rewards by verifying transactions on both networks. The solution is considered by developers to be more secure than using separate tokens, as it allows Eigenlayer to inherit the security of Ethereum without the need to build a web of trust from scratch.

The primary use of EIGEN tokens is to form consensus around off-chain but easily verifiable data, such as determining whether someone has adequately stored data. According to the new whitepaper, staked ETH will continue to be used to form consensus around data that can be verified on-chain, such as the validity of a transaction. Five per cent of EIGEN's total supply has been allocated to current users who re-pledged ETH through the network, according to Eigenlayer's paper, which was snapshot on 15 March. The team has not yet announced when the second season will end.

Despite reports that the Eigenlayer team is preparing to airdrop new tokens to users, it has been observed that the webpage cannot be accessed from U.S. IP addresses or some VPN server addresses located in Europe, suggesting that the U.S., Canada, and several African and Asian countries will not participate in the airdrop.

Six spot bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded funds were officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, making them the first spot cryptocurrency ETFs to be listed in Asia.

They include Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (3008.HK), Bosera HashKey Ethereum ETF (3009.HK), Huaxia Bitcoin ETF (3042.HK), Huaxia Ethereum ETF (3046.HK), Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF (3439.HK) and Harvest Ethereum Spot ETF (3179.HK).

Previously, Hong Kong has approved a number of spot Bitcoin ETFs and spot Ethereum ETFs managed by Huaxia Funds, Harvest Global, Bosera and HashKey. the listing of Asia's first spot cryptocurrency ETFs will further enhance the HKEx's product diversity and liquidity, Brian Roberts, head of equity product development at the exchange, said in a statement.

These spot cryptocurrency ETFs are not only open to Hong Kong investors, but also to qualified investors outside of Hong Kong, although mainland Chinese investors are still restricted.

The launch of Runes has sparked massive hype about the potential of memecoin, as well as providing new functionality for the Bitcoin network. Runes can extend the functionality of the Bitcoin blockchain, enabling users to tokenise a wide range of real-world assets. This opens up new possibilities for DeFi apps and other use cases in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Despite its initial enthusiasm, Runes has received considerable criticism for causing bitcoin transaction fees to rise and for not being profitable for most investors. As of 29 April, the number of top 50 Runes holders had fallen by an average of 30 percent, with two-thirds of them losing money.

Supporters say it's too early to be pessimistic about Runes. They believe that as developers continue to improve the protocol and provide more substantial utility, Runes will be able to improve the trading experience and become more widely used in the Bitcoin ecosystem. As such, they look forward to the potential of Runes in the future.

## Market Trends: Crypto Markets narrow; Eigenlayer ready to issue tokens
### Broad Market Trend:
Bitcoin (BTC), which fell below $62,000 at one point last night, has bounced back above $64,000 in a narrowly oscillating trend. In the torrents market, it is generally showing a decline. On a macroeconomic level, US stocks have rallied, with Tesla shares notably up over 15%, adding some positive signals to the market.

### Market Hotspots:

1.ENA (Algorithm Stability token) jumped more than 20%. This price behaviour could be related to the upcoming token unlock. According to the on-chain data, ENA is due for a token unlock worth around $50 million next week. The current rally could be driven by the unlock pull in anticipation of the market.

2.Eigenlayer, the leading project in the restaking, announced that it would conduct a token airdrop on 10 May, with a 15 per cent airdrop ratio, of which 5 per cent would be allocated to the first tranche of participants, and the remaining 10 per cent would be allocated to the one-year tranche of participants.

The current futures price of Eigenlayer corresponds to a market capitalisation of $17 billion, a value that is much higher than that of fellow track Lido (LDO), which has a market cap of just $2 billion, even though Lido's Total Locked-in Value (TVL) is double that of Eigenlayer.

Of particular note, the number of EIGEN airdrops is not proportional to the assets deposited, a strategy that may be more favorable to retail investors. The Pendle yield token YT on the same track was counterjacked, causing Pendle to plummet. Users who staked in Pendle will not receive the first round of EIGEN airdrop tokens.

3.MSN, the token for Meson Network's decentralized broadband project, went live on Gate.io yesterday. valued at $250 million in a funding round 2 years ago, Meson Network currently has a market cap of $300 million. the price of MSN touched a high of $13 after it went live, but has since fallen back sharply to $2.80, with the price performance well below market expectations, reflecting the The price performance was far below market expectations, reflecting investors' cautious attitude towards the project.

The market is currently in a volatile state, with price fluctuations in Bitcoin and major altcoins reminding investors that they need to remain vigilant in the market. Various upcoming token events, such as the unlocking of ENA and the airdrop of Eigenlayer, may further affect market sentiment and price movements. Investors should keep a close eye on the market and manage their risk appropriately, as well as pay attention to various fundamental and technical information in order to make more informed investment decisions.

## Macro: The performance of the US stock market was lower than expected, while the Asian market opened well on Monday. The Japanese yen exchange rate fell below a critical level
US stocks closed higher on Monday, 29 April, led by Tesla and Apple shares, as investors focused on the Federal Reserve's outlook for interest rates following this week's policy meeting.

Tesla shares soared 15.3 per cent, making progress after gaining regulatory approval to launch its Advanced Driver Assistance programme in China. Apple shares rose 2.5 per cent, with gains linked to OpenAI's renewed discussions about using the startup's generative AI technology Other major tech company shares - including Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft - ended higher after recovering early losses.

As for the three major indices, the Dow Jones rose 0.38 per cent, the S&P gained 0.32 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 0.35 per cent.

Investors lowered their expectations for the timing and magnitude of a rate cut this year amid uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. interest rates, with the market pricing in a 57 per cent likelihood of a rate cut in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Traders now expect a 35 basis point rate cut in 2024, well below the 150 basis points priced in at the start of the year. This shift in expectations for US interest rates pushed up US Treasury yields and the dollar, dominating currency markets. The dollar was virtually unchanged against a basket of currencies at 105.73. The index was up more than 1 per cent in April and more than 4 per cent for the year.

Data releases this week include European inflation and a US labour market report, while the Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold a two-day meeting on Tuesday and is expected to remain unchanged on interest rates.

Asian stocks edged higher on Tuesday, April 30, as investors awaited a slew of economic data, corporate earnings and a Fed policy meeting. The yen weakened slightly a day after suspected interventions rescued it from a 34-year slump.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Equity Index was up 0.36 per cent and is on track to gain nearly 1 per cent this month, its third straight monthly gain. The Nikkei Japan reopened after Monday's holiday with shares up 1 per cent.

Among Asia's top companies, Samsung Electronics shares rose 1.8 per cent on Tuesday after the company reported a more than 10-fold increase in first-quarter operating profit. Samsung's demand for artificial intelligence will remain strong and tighten the supply of some high-end chips; chipmakers may benefit from a strong rebound in the hard-hit global memory chip market.

Oil prices fell slightly in early trading on Tuesday, with ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo helping to calm market concerns about the widening Middle East conflict, but worries about the outlook for U.S. interest rates pressured the market. U.S. crude fell 0.18 per cent to $82.48 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped 0.1 per cent to $88.31 a barrel.

Spot gold was flat at $2,334.79 an ounce.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:** Sherry S. & Icing. **, Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>

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Daily news | Eigenlayer Releases EIGEN Token; Hong Kong Officially Launches Asia's First Spot Bitcoin, Ethereum ETF; More Than 50% of Runes in the Red, Questioned

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