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Here’s what happened in blockchain and crypto this week.
Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new seven-month high at $23,800 this week after breaking above last week’s consolidation zone. BTC also continued to outperform ETH, with the ETH/BTC ratio dropping to the lowest level since October. The alternative layer 1 rally continued this week led by Aptos’ APT token which gained 60% on the week. It was also a strong week of price action for certain publicly listed crypto companies such as COIN and MSTR, suggesting that institutional conviction in the sector has strengthened amid the broader rally in tech stocks. Overall, major US stock indices wrapped up a winning week and are heading toward a positive month. In economic indicators, US GDP data in the fourth quarter of 2022 came in at a stronger than expected 2.9% showing that the US economy was still in solid shape in the fourth quarter of last year.
The US economy remained resilient in 4Q22, growing by an annualized 2.9% and thus at a slightly higher rate than consensus estimates. Although consumer spending dropped slightly vs. the previous quarter, it remained in positive territory after rising by 2.1% during the October to December period. Consumer spendingaccounts for roughly 68% of GDP. In addition, this week we saw the 3rd consecutive week of declines in initial jobless claims. While the technology and crypto sectors continue to be hit by layoffs, labor market data suggests that overall employment is fairly resilient. That said, increasing real wages and low unemployment could strengthen the Fed’s resolve to maintain its contractionary policy for longer than currently expected. Looking ahead, the US Fed is expected to increase interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows a 99.8% likelihood of a 25 basis point increase, bringing the target rate to 4.50-4.75%.
Cryptoasset turned in a mixed performance this week, with BTC outperforming ETH. The ETH/BTC ratio dropped to 0.068 – its lowest level since October amid BTC’s seven-month high. Meanwhile, alternative Layer 1 tokens continued to rally, led by a 60% gain in Aptos (APT). Launched with plenty of hype in October 2022, the price of the APT token has gained more than 400% YTD and is currently at a market capitalization of more than $2.8 billion and a fully diluted valuation of $17.9 billion, according to CoinGeckodata. Other alternative Layer 1 tokens such as Fantom’s FTM (+34% week-on-week), AVAX (+17%) and MINA (+16%) also had a strong week.
Market Overview
The global cryptoasset market capitalization currently amounts to $1.09 trillion – up from $1.03 trillion on Friday last week, with bitcoin accounting for 40.7%. Among the Top 30 cryptoassets by market cap, Aptos (APT) outperformed, gaining roughly 60% over the week. During the same period, the price of bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.2% to $22,985 while the price of ether (ETH) fell 4.4% to $1,586. The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi is sitting at $47.7 billion – with Ethereum accounting for more than 59.5% of TVL.
This Week’s Headlines
Notable Deals and Fundraising
Manuel Trojovsky, Head of Crypto Investments & Research
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