This week in DeFi, a debate emerged about whether growing adoption among Wall Street participants may lead to the crypto market’s first extended “supercycle,” resulting in digital asset valuations rising beyond the historic four-year cycle’s time frame.
As the leading smart contract blockchain, Ethereum’s native Ether (ETH) token could be set to benefit from “Wall Street running into the blockchain,” according to BitMine, the largest corporate holder of ETH.
Despite the optimistic prediction, Ether’s price fell 13% over the past week, dropping below the $4,000 level for the first time since Aug. 8, Cointelegraph data shows.
In the wider cryptocurrency market, the Hyperliquid (HYPE) token’s vesting schedule will distribute about $11.9 billion HYPE tokens over 24 months for the team, which may be the “first true test” for the resilience of the token, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes’ family office fund, Maelstrom, said on Monday.
In what it dubbed a “Sword of Damocles” moment, it will introduce about $500 million worth of monthly unlocks, of which only about 17% will be absorbed by buybacks, leaving about $410 million in potential supply overhang, according to Maelstrom researcher Lukas Ruppert.
Whale wallet “0x316f” withdrew $122 million worth of HYPE tokens on Monday, shortly after Maelstrom’s warning of the incoming sell pressure.
Ethereum bulls tout supercycle; Wall Street is skeptical
The cryptocurrency market may experience its first extended cycle due to more institutional capital and trading products in the Web3 industry, making digital asset investments more accessible.
Some investors predict a crypto “supercycle” that may invalidate the theory of the four-year crypto market cycle related to the Bitcoin (BTC) halving, and see digital asset valuations rise beyond this historic time frame.
For the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, the supercycle may be catalyzed by Wall Street’s growing adoption of blockchain technology, according to BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder.
The first major driver for Ether may be “Wall Street running into the blockchain,” according to BitMine.
Despite the optimism around a potential supercycle, not all Wall Street participants are bullish on Ether’s price trajectory.
US investment bank Citigroup has set a $4,300 year-end price target for Ether, which is significantly below ETH’s all-time high of $4,953 on Aug. 24.
“Current prices are above activity estimates, potentially driven by recent buying pressure and excitement over use-cases,” Citi wrote in a Monday note seen by Reuters.
Ether has risen by about 108% in the past six months and traded at $4,177 at the time of writing, TradingView data showed.
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Circle explores “reversible” USDC transactions in break from crypto ethos
Circle, the world’s second-largest stablecoin issuer, is reportedly examining reversible transactions to help recover funds from fraud and hacks, which appears to counter one of crypto’s founding principles: That transactions are final and beyond centralized control.
Circle president Heath Tarbert told the Financial Times on Thursday that the company is examining mechanisms that could allow transactions to be rolled back in cases of fraud or hacks, while still maintaining settlement finality.
“We are thinking through [. . .] whether or not there’s the possibility of reversibility of transactions, right, but at the same time, we want settlement finality,” Tarbert told the FT. “So there’s an inherent tension there between being able to transfer something immediately, but having it be irrevocable […].”
Clash with crypto ethos
Supporters of reversibility argue it could help scam victims and bolster mainstream trust in stablecoins. Still, the idea challenges the decentralized model that underpins crypto, where transactions are permanent and immune from unilateral changes by issuers or validators.
Cointelegraph has asked Circle for comment on the details of transaction reversibility and the parameters that would be used to decide on reversals.
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Vitalik calls for open-source infrastructure in health, finance, governance
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called for open-source, verifiable infrastructure across critical sectors, including healthcare, finance and governance, warning that centralized systems risk eroding trust and security.
In a Wednesday blog post, Buterin argued that as digital infrastructure becomes embedded in everyday life, relying on closed, opaque systems increases the danger of abuse and monopolization.
“The civilizations that gained the most from new waves of technology are not the ones who consumed the technology, but the ones who produced it,” Buterin wrote, adding that “openness and verifiability can fight against…
cointelegraph.com