Daily News | BTC Halved Block Paid an Additional $2.4M in Reward Fees; Merlin Chain Launched Token MERL; Marinade DAO Proposed to Allocate 50M MNDEs

2024-04-22, 03:58

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## Crypto Daily Digest: Bitcoin halved block paid an additional $2.4 million in reward fees; Merlin Chain launched token MERL; Marinade DAO proposed to allocate 50 million MNDEs
First, let's look at <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> ETFs' trading activities. According to Farside Investor data, on April 22, Grayscale Bitcoin spot ETFs (GBTC) had a fund outflow of $45.8 million. Meanwhile, Fidelity Bitcoin spot ETF (FBTC) inflow was $54.8 million, Bitwise Bitcoin spot ETF (BITB) inflow was $4.9 million, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin spot ETF (ARKB) inflow was $12.5 million, and iShares Trust Bitcoin spot ETF (IBIT) net inflow was $29.3 million.

After five consecutive days of losses, investments in the Bitcoin ETF market recorded a net positive inflow before Bitcoin halved. The market value of Bitcoin is expected to increase after halving, and global investment strategies suggest adding Bitcoin to existing investment portfolios. The Bitcoin ETF market reflects this while ending the continuous outflow of funds since April 12th.

Confirming the fourth Bitcoin halved block is important compared to the Bitcoin network and the entire crypto industry. By halving, the supply of Bitcoin is halved, which means that mining rewards for Bitcoin are halved, thereby impacting the inflation rate and supply growth rate of Bitcoin.

According to the blockchain browser, this halved block appears to come from the ViaBTC mining pool, and miners received a reward of approximately 37.6256 BTC through mining as payment for verifying and processing 3050 transactions in the block. This number reflects the trading activities on the Bitcoin network and the importance of miners contributing to it.

The launch of Merlin Chain's native token, MERL, marks a critical moment in the project's development. As an important enhancement of the Bitcoin network, Merlin Chain aims to promote the development of decentralized applications (DApps), covering various fields, including decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and social platforms.

Since its debut in February 2024, Merlin Chain has experienced explosive growth, with a total value locked (TVL) of over $3.6 billion, and has incubated a vibrant ecosystem with over 200 native DApps. The launch of MERL provides enhanced governance, security, and ecosystem development opportunities for Merlin Chain users.

MERL tokens operate under the Bitcoin-compatible blockchain standard BRC-20, with a total supply of 2.1 billion. Among them, 20% of the total token supply will be airdropped to participants through the Merlin's Seal event. This event showcased an impressive $3.6 billion TVL, with 91% of the funding from the Bitcoin community, including $1.75 billion in BTC and $980 million in BRC-20 assets. The strong support of the Bitcoin community is crucial for Merlin Chain's rapid growth and expansion in recent months.

<a href="/price/solana-sol" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Solana</a> staking protocol Marinade DAO has proposed a new proposal to unlock 50 million MNDE tokens for the “Marinade Earn Season 3” reward activity. The main difference between Season 3 and the previous Seasons 1-2 is that it will focus more on deepening the on-chain liquidity of mSOL, a relative weakness of Marinade in the SOL LST protocol compared to other protocols such as Jito.

Specifically, the proposal proposes to allocate 25 million MNDEs by implementing a strategy on Solend, thereby increasing the profitability of the cycle of staking from Meteora mSOL/SOL compared to current mSOL pools (such as Solend and Kamino) and other SOL LSTs, thereby deepening the liquidity of mSOL in DeFi.

In addition, the proposal also suggests allocating an additional 25 million MNDEs to incentivize the pairing of existing and upcoming Solana ecosystem tokens with mSOL, thereby further embedding mSOL into the Solana economy and deepening its liquidity.

## Market Trends: BTC has completed halving, and the market is experiencing broad fluctuations
Last Friday night, Bitcoin briefly fell below $60,000, but after completing its fourth Bitcoin halving on Saturday morning, the price rebounded to $65,000. The overall crypto market is showing a wide range of fluctuations, and in this wave of rebound, the Meme sector has been the most active.

Regarding macroeconomics, the US stock market experienced a sharp decline, with Nvidia recording its largest decline in four years. According to data observed by the CME Federal Reserve, the probability of the Fed maintaining interest rates unchanged in May is 96.2%, while the likelihood of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 3.8%.
### Market Hotspots:
Meme sector rebounded: During the weekend rebound, tokens such as BONK, PEPE, and FLOKI performed the most brilliantly, with an average increase of over 20%. Among them, BONK proposed a destruction proposal. This is consistent with previous expectations, as tokens in the Meme sector typically rebound the fastest after a market downturn.

Runes and related tokens: In_script_ions such as SATS and RATS have shown some performance in the market rebound, while runestone, the rune leader, has collapsed; its airdrops have not covered its decline. The overall expectation for competitor runes is low, with high operating thresholds and on-chain gas costs, which has led to a large number of users being discouraged. Runes allow project parties to pre-excavate, which is not decentralized and fair enough, and fairness is a major advantage of the meme sector.

AI+Depin concept: io.net has released an integration system and is currently in the beta testing phase. The project plans to be airdropped in the future, and investors should pay attention to its further development and announcements to seize potential investment opportunities.

Overall, although the market is volatile, the Meme sector still shows strong market momentum. After halving the BTC, approximately 450 BTCs are currently produced per day. Investors should continue to monitor macroeconomic trends and industry-specific news to make timely investment decisions.

## Macro: Wall Street index fell on Friday, Asian market is expected to rebound, gold and oil slightly declined
Last Friday, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes closed lower, but the Dow Jones index remained stable, mainly influenced by the quarterly financial reports of American Express. The market sentiment has been further weakened by the pessimistic sentiment that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates soon.

Gold and safe haven US dollars have fallen from near highs, and crude oil prices have also fallen. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index recorded its longest consecutive decline since October 2022. Nvidia in the technology sector plummeted by 10%, dragging down the NASDAQ index, while the demand for safe haven treasury bonds, gold, and Swiss francs rose.

Specifically, the Dow Jones index rose 0.56%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.88% and the Nasdaq index fell 2.05%. The S&P and NASDAQ indices have fallen for six consecutive trading days, setting the longest downward trend since October 2022. Although chip-related stocks have become one of the best-performing stocks this year due to their association with artificial intelligence, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen significantly.

In the Asian market, Monday is expected to rebound from last week's slump, with bond yields rising. However, due to hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve, tensions in the Middle East, and weak technology stocks, Monday's recovery is not easy.

TSMC's stock price fell 6.7% on Friday before releasing its first-quarter financial report. The data and conclusions were unexpected as the company lowered its expectations for growth in the chip industry and did not revise its capital expenditure plan. Despite this, as the world's largest OEM chip manufacturer, TSMC expects its sales to grow by up to 30% in the second quarter, driven by the surge in demand for chips in artificial intelligence applications. In addition, TSMC's first-quarter profit also exceeded expectations.

In early Asian trading on Monday, the euro and yen remained relatively stable, while the US dollar remained near high after last week's tense policy and geopolitical developments. This week, the market is focused on the Japanese yen, and Friday's policy review by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has become an essential item on the economic calendar.

Despite news of the Israeli attack, the Asia Pacific stock index rose 0.93%, while the Nikkei index in Japan rose 0.48%. However, due to the high concentration of stocks in the chip industry, the Japanese stock market's performance is inferior to that of other regions.

Regarding commodities, crude oil prices have fallen as traders shift their focus back to fundamentals. Against increased inventory in the United States, Brent crude oil futures fell 54 cents, or 0.6%, to $86.75 per barrel.

The May West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract expires on Monday fell 12 cents to $83.02 per barrel. The more active June contract fell 47 cents, or 0.6%, to $81.75 per barrel.

The price of gold fell to $2,376.40.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:**Sherry S. & Icing**, Gate.io Researcher
<div>Translator:Joy Z.
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
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