Gate Research Institute: BTC has first risen above 112,000 USD | Plasma DeFi TVL increased to 5.5 billion USD

crypto market overview

• BTC (+2.41% | Current price 112,462 USDT): The BTC price dropped below 110,000 over the weekend and once approached the lowest support level of 108,615 dollars since September. On Monday, the crypto market began to recover, with BTC leading the rise and breaking through 112,000 dollars. After surpassing the MA 5, 10, and 30-day moving averages, it continued to maintain an upward trend. The recovery of BTC has driven the total market capitalization of the crypto market back up to 3.958 trillion dollars, indicating that the market has regained upward momentum after a short-term consolidation. If BTC can stabilize above the 110,000 dollar level, it will provide a strong psychological support level for the market, which is expected to continue attracting institutional capital inflows and drive the market towards higher valuation levels.
• ETH (+3.12% | Current price 4,121 USDT): After consolidating over the weekend for two days, the ETH price reversed on Monday, rising from $3,978 all the way up to $4,146, breaking through the MA 5, 10, and 30-day moving averages. However, from the 4h candlestick perspective, the price quickly fell back after reaching a peak, and after testing upward near $4,150, it was pushed back down by bears again, indicating heavy selling pressure above. According to Lookonchain monitoring, the whale group has increased its holdings by over 430,000 ETH in the past two days, worth $1.73 billion, which constitutes a strong support force on the demand side. The current resistance level is $4,150, and the support level is $3,850.
• Altcoins: Mainstream cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH have started to rebound, with altcoins leading the surge, particularly FORM, ZEC, and COW showing significant increases. The Fear and Greed Index rose from 37 to 50 from the previous trading day, indicating a shift in the market from a state of panic to a neutral state.
• Macro: On September 26, the S&P 500 index rose 0.59% to 6,643.70 points; the Dow Jones index rose 0.65% to 46,247.29 points; the Nasdaq index rose 0.44% to 22,484.07 points. As of September 29, 10:00 AM (UTC+8), the spot gold price per ounce is temporarily reported at 3,777 USD, up 0.45% within 24H.

Popular Tokens on Juejin

KAITO Kaito (+13.2%, market cap 318 million USD)

According to Gate market data, the current price of the KAITO token is $1.33, up 13.2% in the last 24 hours, with a trading volume surge to $2,251, which is 22.3 times that of last Friday. Kaito is the native token and foundational building block of the AI-driven InfoFi network. Through artificial intelligence technology, the Kaito platform can index various web3 content that is difficult to access through traditional search engines, including sources such as social media, governance forums, research, news, podcasts, and meeting notes.

KAITO has recently been performing impressively, with the hype primarily coming from KAITO's Launchpad, where over $170 million has already been invested into projects like Everlyn and Play AI on its platform. Kaito AI is systematically building an early project financing ecosystem through its Capital Launchpad platform. The core of this model is that Kaito uses its own AI-driven data analysis and community influence to provide comprehensive support from financing to market promotion for the selected early projects. Kaito positions itself as a bridge connecting quality projects with community capital, rather than just a simple token issuance tool.

FORM Four (+23.11%, circulating market value 465 million USD)

According to Gate's market data, the FORM token is currently priced at $1.21, with a 24-hour increase of 23.11%. Four (FORM) is a rebranded version of the original BinaryX (BNX) token, marking a significant evolution in the vision of the project. The token plays a core role in the Four.meme fair issuance platform, which is incubated by the team and will launch on July 3, 2024. Four continues to drive innovation in the fields of GameFi, IGO Launchpad, and decentralized financial solutions.

FORM is triggering a new wave of market speculation, with traders analyzing that this may be caused by a "short squeeze" forcing shorts to exit. Coinalyze's derivatives data shows that the funding has turned positive, with open contracts nearly doubling to $26M, indicating that traders have accumulated long positions, focusing on whether FORM can hold above $1.14 and push towards $2.29.

COW Cow Protocol (+14.28%, circulating market cap 174 million USD)

According to Gate market data, the current price of the COW token is 0.34 USD, with a 14.28% increase in the last 24 hours. CoW DAO is an open organization composed of developers, market makers, and community contributors, with a mission to protect users from potential risks in DeFi. CoW DAO has developed a suite of products focused on creating user protection products in DeFi, including CoW Swap, CoW AMM, MEV Blocker RPC, and other features, aimed at enhancing security and minimizing concerns related to impermanent loss and front-running in DeFi transactions.

The rise in COW prices is mainly due to strong buying momentum and significant capital inflows, with demand outpacing selling pressure on exchanges. On-chain and trading data indicate that new liquidity is continuously flowing into this asset. This inflow not only emphasizes the growing interest in COW but also becomes a key factor in driving the token to maintain its bullish momentum and challenge key resistance levels. From a technical perspective, indicators such as EMA and MACD align with the bullish narrative, showing a consistent upward trend with higher lows and higher highs.

Alpha Interpretation

Plasma DeFi TVL increased to 5.5 billion USD, rising to the sixth place in DeFi deposit value.

According to Defillama data, the DeFi TVL of stablecoin L1 blockchain Plasma has increased to 5.5 billion USD three days after its launch, with a 24-hour increase of 12.9%, surpassing Base and Arbitrum to rank sixth in blockchain DeFi deposit value. Currently, there are a total of 17 protocols integrated on the Plasma chain, with a 24-hour DEX trading volume of 215.47 million USD. The total amount of loans in the Plasma official lending pool is currently reported at 2.91137 billion USD, with an APY reported at 23.85%.

The recent increase in TVL is mainly attributed to users locking assets in the Plasma lending vault and collaborating DeFi protocols, allowing them to earn the native network token XPL. The new public chain Plasma essentially still follows the typical model of "driving capital inflows through high yields," with the core being its lending vault providing nearly 24% APY, incentivized by the native token XPL, which has attracted a large number of users. Plasma's recent surge has had a significant impact in the DeFi space, marking a major shift in the decentralized ecosystem and indicating that the competitive wave is intensifying. This development highlights Plasma's increasingly strong ability to attract financial applications within its Layer 1 network.

ApeX announces the launch of the APEX token buyback program, covering an initial fund of 12 million dollars.

On September 29, Perp DEX ApeX announced the launch of the APEX token buyback program, with the official plan to invest a one-time amount of $12 million from past revenues to initiate the program. Starting this week, 50% of the daily revenue from the ApeX protocol will be used to buy back APEX tokens from the open market. In addition to the committed $12 million, the buyback ratio will gradually increase over time, reaching a maximum of 90% of total revenue. All repurchased tokens will be transferred and locked to a public on-chain address, fully visible to the community.

The buyback plan announced by ApeX is a typical token economic management strategy aimed at enhancing token value and community confidence through market operations and financial commitments. An initial investment of $12 million, combined with 50% of future protocol revenue for open market buybacks, demonstrates the project team's emphasis on long-term value support. ApeX further strengthens transparency and credibility by combining this with a gradually increasing buyback ratio (up to 90%) and an on-chain address locking mechanism.

Last week, the ETH spot ETF set a record for the largest weekly outflow in history.

Last week, the performance of ETH spot ETFs remained sluggish, with nine products experiencing net fund outflows for five consecutive days, totaling $795.8 million, marking the largest single-week outflow in history. Additionally, on September 27, there was a further withdrawal of $248.4 million. This outflow scale surpassed the previous single-week record of $787.7 million net outflow on September 5. This pullback can be associated with the 10.25% decline in ETH price over the week. Currently, the price of ETH has decreased by 11.08% over the past month, and the outflow phenomenon indicates that investors have fallen into panic.

There are possibly two aspects to the reasons. On one hand, the uncertainty of regulation casts a shadow over the cryptocurrency space, and the hesitation regarding the approval of altcoin ETFs injects a sense of caution into the market, prompting startups and individual investors to consider alternative assets instead of being constrained by ETF products. On the other hand, market analysts believe that the large amounts of funds withdrawn from ETFs are not impulsive but rather adjustments in investment strategies from heavyweight institutions such as Fidelity and BlackRock. It is worth mentioning that, contrary to these ETF outflows, recent on-chain metrics indicate a trend of investors directly hoarding ETH assets, pointing to a growing demand for asset management. This also solidifies ETH's position in the market, potentially providing better resilience against economic turmoil.
Reference Materials:

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• CryptoDNES, https://cryptodnes.bg/en/three-altcoins-surge-as-market-finds-pockets-of-momentum/
• CryptoDNES, https://cryptodnes.bg/en/apex-alpine-and-humanity-protocol-dominate-momentum-charts-despite-market-weakness/
• Blockchainreporter., https://blockchainreporter.net/plasma-network-tvl-surges-past-4-947-billion-overtakes-base-to-become-the-sixth-largest-blockchain-in-defi-investment/
• X, https://x.com/OfficialApeXdex/status/1972294501160141307
• OneSafe, https://www.onesafe.io/blog/ethereum-etfs-unprecedented-outflows-market-turbulence
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
• Coingecoko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/cryptocurrency-heatmap

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