Weekly Beluga Insights

Despite a very rough start to this week where once again we saw hundreds of millions in leveraged positions being liquidated, things have picked up following news of asset manager VanEck filing for a Solana ETF. While I honestly don’t think this has any chance of getting approved (as we discussed in a previous newsletter), it’s a good sign for Solana that ETF issuers are being as aggressive as possible. If it were to be approved, given Solana doesn’t meet a number of the currently accepted criteria for ETFs (no history of futures trading on CME, currently being argued as a security by the SEC), it would open the floodgates for many other crypto assets as well.

Major Movers of the Week

• Kaspa (KAS) +24.18%

• Bonk (BONK) +14.23%

• Akash Network (AKASH) +13.33%

• Pendle (PENDLE) -11.11%

• Gnosis (GNO) -8.62%

• Ethena (ENA) -8.60%

Public Trading Wallet Update

This week saw the long awaited launch of the Blast token, alongside a massive airdrop to those who have farmed the chain over the last few months. On the Beluga Public Trading Wallet, while we joined the farming very late in the process, we were able to generate an airdrop of about 65,000 tokens worth $1,500 at current prices with about 20 minutes of work. This was done entirely through playing on Fantasy.Top, a social finance app that has taken the space by storm. For those interested, you can read our previous newsletters which discussed our strategy on that front to gain insights into how to maximize your earning potential on Fantasy through this next season.

While a free $1500 falling out of the sky is nothing to shake your fist at, Blast currently trades at a $2.5B FDV which, in my opinion as well as the general consensus heading into the launch, is extremely mispriced. If we are to use common metrics for comparisons to other coins such as TVL, fees generated (can be considered revenue), users and activity, it should be priced in a similar echelon to other L2 giants such as OP and ARB. I had estimated a $7B valuation prior to the launch so obviously I was quite off, but it’s my opinion this low valuation was done intentionally by the team. They set the launch price themselves so it was definitely by design, and I believe this was their strategy to emulate the crazy price run-up and attention grab that Celestia had when they launched.

To give some context, one of the biggest issues for traders has been coins launching at ridiculously high valuations, meaning there is almost no upside to be captured by the average user. If you launch at a lower valuation and give room for appreciation, traders will make money and shill your token for you. Making users money is the fastest way to secure sticky users, so I’m interested to see if that is indeed what Blast is doing and if we’ll see more of this going forward. Personally, I find it to be a much better system for both teams and users/traders alike.

Quick Quips: Catch Up on What You Missed

• VanEck Files for Solana ETF

• Coinbase sues FDIC, SEC

• Vitalik Buterin-Backed “MegaLabs” Completes $20M Seed Round

• Galaxy Digital Estimates Ethereum ETFs May See $1B in Monthly Net Inflows

Tweet of the Week

Despite being one of the more popular market makers in the space for projects, Gotbit logged their latest public scam by claiming they dumped their tokens on investors to save those very same investors. The mental gymnastics here are astounding.

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Disclaimer

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. While Beluga strives to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information, there may be discrepancies when comparing our data to that of financial institutions, service providers, or specific product websites. Always consult with a professional before making any financial decisions.

Will McKinnon is the Head of Content for Beluga and has spent every day for many years trading coins. For that reason there are too many to name, however his largest holdings by a significant margin are Ethereum and Bitcoin. NFA DYOR