Dear Investor,

 

This year’s drumbeat of positive news in crypto continued in April as events continue to signal a full thawing out from last year’s crypto winter. Ethereum successfully completed its latest upgrade, Bitcoin hit $30,000, and the EU Parliament approved sweeping new regulations that will make it far easier for crypto businesses to operate in Europe. 

We have a few big events coming up that will cover these topics and more about the current investment environment for crypto. This Monday, May 8, Hashdex is hosting a Twitter Spaces event with Michael Saylor. The business he founded, MicroStrategy, is the public company with the largest BTC holdings and Saylor is one of the world’s most vocal Bitcoin supporters. It’s sure to be a dynamic discussion! Set a reminder for the event here.  

And on Wednesday, May 17, our CIO Samir Kerbage will be joining CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung for a webinar to discuss the most relevant emerging trends in crypto investing. You can sign up for the webinar here.  

As always, the Hashdex team is here to answer any questions you have about these markets. 

 

-Your Partners at Hashdex 

 

 

NCI PERFORMANCE (USD) SINCE INCEPTION 71.2% 

 

 

APRIL NCI PERFORMANCE 4.5%

 

 

 

Market Review

 

In April, the Nasdaq Crypto IndexTM (NCITM) rose 4.5%, marking its fourth consecutive monthly gain. The month was also positive for the major stock indices, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rising 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively. After a few days of sideways trading, the crypto market was boosted by optimism regarding the containment of the banking crisis and US monetary policy and Bitcoin surpassing the $30,000 mark for the first time since mid-2022. On April 12, the success of the Shanghai upgrade boosted Ethereum, which surpassed $2,000 the next day.

By mid-month, the NCITM had risen more than 9%. However, on April 19 crypto assets suffered a sharp drop, apparently caused by a large sale of bitcoins on Binance. In the following days, there were further declines, reversing all the gains of the month. However, the NCITM recovered late in the month.

Despite the positive month, gains were concentrated in the assets with the largest market capitalization. Only the three assets with the highest participation in the NCITM—Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin—recorded gains. This phenomenon impacted the performance of the other indices followed by Hashdex products. The only sectoral index to show a positive result was the CF Benchmarks Smart Contracts index, with a 3.2% gain driven by Solana's appreciation of more than 26%. The DeFi and Digital Culture indices fell 3.1% and 2.1%, respectively. The Vinter Hashdex Risk Parity Momentum Index had a slight drop of 0.1%.

With April's result, the NCITM accumulated a 71.2% gain for the year, leaving behind the 2022 winter. We believe that crypto assets are poised to continue to demonstrate good results in the coming months, especially if there are no negative surprises on the macroeconomic front. We remain confident in the long-term prospects for the main investment theses of the crypto market.

 

Top Stories

House Financial Services Committee members grill SEC Chair Gensler 

 

SEC Chair Gary Gensler testified before the US House Financial Services Committee to discuss SEC oversight. The committee had previously issued a letter to Gensler, urging him to work with Congress to provide regulatory clarity and protections for innovators and investors. During the hearing, Chair Gensler was unable to give an answer when questioned about whether ETH is a commodity.

Venmo to offer fiat-to-crypto payments this month

 

Venmo announced it will allow crypto transfers within Venmo, PayPal, and to external wallets and exchanges beginning in May. The company has over 90 million US accounts so this development helps strengthen crypto’s use case as a payment tool. 

Franklin Templeton expands its money market fund on Polygon
Franklin Templeton, a $1.4 trillion asset management giant, has expanded its money market fund on Polygon, a scaling solution for Ethereum. This will bring more liquidity to Polygon's decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and demonstrates institutional adoption and confidence in DeFi solutions.

 

Tokenization is the 'Killer App' for TradFi: JPMorgan

 

JPMorgan has identified tokenization as the "killer app" for traditional finance (TradFi), stating that it has the potential to transform asset classes like real estate and art into digital assets. The bank is reportedly working on several related projects, including tokenizing gold bars and creating a blockchain-based trading platform for private companies. TradFi institutions continue to recognize the disruptive potential of blockchain technology and crypto assets.

Coinbase offers fiery response to the SEC's threat of enforcement action
Coinbase sent the SEC a 50+ page response to the agency’s Wells notice, concluding that the agency’s case against the company “will fail as a matter of fact and law.” CEO Brian Armstrong released a video stating that the company is willing to go to court if necessary.

 

 

 

 

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