BONK & FLOKI To Markets: "Hold My Beer" 🍺

BONK and Floki shake up the scene, XRP whales in action, Ripple’s playful payout, an artist's costly deal, BTC’s ETF surge, and Mythical's ETH-DOT switcheroo.

Author

Jonathan Morgan
April 23, 2024

OVERVIEW

BONK & FLOKI To Markets: "Hold My Beer" 🍺

The crypto market has spent most of the day flat to in the red - except for two memecoin monster players: Bonk and Floki Inu. 😲

Oh, and $FLOKI was trending on Stocktwits over $TSLA at one point today. Let that sink in:

In today’s Litepaper, we’re looking at BONK and Floki’s big moves, XRP whales buying the dip, and Ripple’s troll-ish settlement number to the SEC.

Also on deck: an artist was taken advantage of, the rise in Bitcoin inflows to spot ETFs, and Mythical Games dumping Ethereum for Polkadot.

Before we dive in, here’s today’s crypto market heatmap: 

And here’s a look at crypto’s total and altcoin market cap YTD:

MEMECOINS
BONK & Floki Inu Keep Pamping 😱

If there are signs that memecoins might be making a comeback, then BONK and Floki are leading that move. 🐂

The two memecoins have been near the top of trending all day on Stocktwits, and their gains since Friday have been insane.

Since Bitcoin’s halving, Floki has been on a tear, gaining as much as +48%. According to the $FLOKI stream, bulls are prepping for a big breakout - and it’s not hard to see why, with the Sentiment score at an extremely bullish level and the message volume extremely high. 🎯

FLOKIUSD Daily Chart - Click to enlarge.

Like Floki, $BONK’s moves since Friday have been insanely strong.

BONK is currently up +52% but within a hairsbreadth of +60%. Its Stocktwits sentiment score is rising and just hit extremely bullish, and the message volume has moved from neutral to high. 😲

BONKUSD Daily Chart - Click to enlarge.

XRP
XRP: Dips, Wallet Surges, And A Bold Legal Counter 👜

$XRP's nose-dive between April 12 and April 13 saw it fall from $0.62 down to $0.41. It's what happened after the dip that had Ripple bulls drooling with glee. Over the course of a week, whales gobbled up 32 million XRP relocated to new wallets in a mere seven days. 🐳 

Additionally, there's been a 3% increase in the number of XRP wallets harboring at least a million coins over the last six weeks, as highlighted by on-chain analytics firm IntoTheBlock.

Ripple Trolls SEC With $10 Million Settlement Offer vs. $2 Billion

Today is the final phase of the Ripple vs. SEC fight. The SEC $2 billion from Ripple, and Ripple, in the spirit of trolling, didn’t say no; they countered with the equivalent of tossing a dime at the SEC: $10 million to settle. 🤷 

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, took to the X platform to articulate their stance, dismissing any hints of recklessness or fraud. And CEO Brad Garlinghouse said these regulatory clashes will resonate like a persistent bad hangover, lingering beyond Chair Gensler's tenure. 🚀

From a price action perspective, XRP’s been as fun as an abscessed tooth. Its Stocktwits sentiment score has been neutral for months, but one noticeable change that’s happened is the spike in message volume - it’s turned high.

For some Stocktwits users, the rise in message volume when price action is flat can be a warning sign that a breakout may soon occur. ⚠️

NFTS
Assholes Are Everywhere 🤬

A 71-year-old artist from India, Shivaprasad R (not his real name), got a bitter taste of the dark side of NFTs. 🎨 

This seasoned accountant-turned-artist fell prey to scammers posing as NFT art dealers, losing a significant INR 1.58 lakhs (about $1,895).

These faux dealers lured him onto a platform dangling a hefty carrot—42 $ETH for his artwork. Tempted by the pay, Shivaprasad listed his art. After his supposed first sale, he was coerced into paying a "gas fee" to facilitate the transaction.

The real kicker came when he tried to withdraw his earnings, only to be hit with a mysterious "delay fee." Despite his reluctance, he paid this fee along with several others.

Shivaprasad eventually turned the police, and investigators are now working at peeling back the layers of deception and asshattery. 🕵️‍♂️

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BITCOIN
After the Halving: Bitcoin ETFs See Surge ⬆️

Days after the much-anticipated halving event, Bitcoin’s ETF inflows saw a massive uptick, pushing its price skyward. 🎢

According to on-chain analytics firm ArkhamIntelligence, Bitcoin spot ETFs enjoyed a net inflow of $62.10 million on Monday alone, with Fidelity’s FBTC leading the charge at $34.60 million.

The inflow frenzy didn’t stop there; Ark Investment ARKB added $22.60 million, and BlackRock’s IBIT also got in on the action with $19.70 million. Since the ETFs were approved in January, a historical cumulative net inflow of $12.38 billion has flowed into Bitcoin spot ETFs. 🚀

Here’s a quick rundown of how many $BTC have entered/exited some of the various ETFs post-halving

At $66,839 per BTC, that’s a mind-blowing $111,770,318 since Friday. 🤯

WEB3
Mythical Games Bids Ethereum Goodbye, Joins Polkadot 🎮

Mythical Games, a titan in the web3 gaming space, is packing up its virtual bags and moving from Ethereum ($ETH) to Polkadot ($DOT) to launch its new ecosystem, Mythos. 👾

This move comes as the gaming giant aims to tap into Polkadot’s promise of greater speed and scalability. CEO John Linden said Ethereum’s slow transaction speeds were a bottleneck they’re no longer willing to bear.

The shift coincides with Polkadot’s "2.0" upgrade and the worldwide release of NFL Rivals, setting the stage for what could be the most connected gaming ecosystem in web3. 🕹️

NEWS
Crypto News In Three Sentences 📰

📉 The SEC has requested a New York court to impose a staggering $5.30 billion fine on Terraform Labs and its founder, Do Kwon, for their roles in the $40 billion collapse of the Terra ($LUNC) ecosystem. This fine includes $4.74 billion in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and $520 million in civil penalties, asserting that these figures represent a conservative estimate of their "ill-gotten gains." The SEC also seeks to impose permanent injunctions and a ban on Kwon from serving as an officer or director in any SEC-reporting company, citing a lack of remorse and ongoing risk of repeat violations. CoinDesk has more.

🌐 Despite its long-standing skepticism, a recent IMF report marks a significant shift in its view of Bitcoin. The report acknowledges Bitcoin's potential role in alleviating economic imbalances through cross-border flows, particularly in underbanked nations. However, critics remain cautious, speculating that this shift could lead to increased regulatory efforts to control the digital currency. More from DailyCoin.

⚖️ The Blockchain Association has sued the SEC, challenging its expanded definition of "dealer" that includes DeFi protocols and transactions, which they argue could unfairly regulate decentralized projects. Filed in Texas, the lawsuit claims the SEC's action violates the Administrative Procedures Act by imposing traditional financial market rules on the unique structure of digital assets. From Decrypt.

📊 No one was shocked to hear the SEC has postponed its decision on the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs proposed by Grayscale and Franklin Templeton. The SEC's punting of the decision now extends the timeline to mid-June 2024. While we wait for a final verdict, the wider industry watches closely, as approval could significantly influence the landscape of cryptocurrency investment products. TheBlock has more.

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