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Geopolitical Conflict on the Rise, while Ethereum Receives its Biggest Boost

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Ethereum Receives its Biggest Boost Expanding Geopolitical Conflict Throws Crypto in Turmoil, Hong Kong ETFs Revive Hope Ethereum’s Most Anticipated Application of the Year is Live

• Expanding Geopolitical Conflict Throws Crypto in Turmoil, Hong Kong ETFs Revive Hope

• Ethereum’s Most Anticipated Application of the Year is Live

Expanding Geopolitical Conflict Throws Crypto in Turmoil, Hong Kong ETFs Revive Hope

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released last Wednesday revealed a hotter-than-expected inflation rate of 3.5%, exceeding forecasts of 3.4%. This marks the fourth consecutive month where inflation has surpassed expectations, dimming hopes of rate cuts in the near future, resulting in a sustained high interest environment. This is further evidenced by interest rate futures currently pricing in just two rate cuts for the entirety of 2024, a significant shift from four months ago, when markets were predicting a more hawkish approach. Further, the conflict between Iran and Israel escalated more this weekend, as Iran launched a drone strike towards Israel, who are said to be potentially preparing for ‘retaliation’. This rise in geopolitical tensions coincided with a decline in the crypto market as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) prices fell by 8.22% and 11.29% respectively.

That said, it’s worth remembering that Bitcoin is viewed as a flight to safety during geopolitical conflicts. For instance, BTC grew by almost 17% during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was driven by the fact that the average Russian citizen was able to withdraw their capital out of banks promptly before the imposed sanctions. Similarly, Ukrainians leveraged Bitcoin’s decentralized nature to navigate the overall shutdown of their financial system, while leveraging it to resume raising donations, showcasing its value as a decentralized and globally accessible asset immune to disruptions.

However, Bitcoin’s response to Iran’s recent escalation may have been adverse. This is given the gravity and the complexity of the geopolitical situation and its potential to entangle several other actors into the conflict, potentially affecting a broader swath of the world, including global trade and economic stability. Nevertheless, Bitcoin’s properties uniquely position it to serve a dual function as both a risk-on and risk-off asset. This duality could explain why its behavior diverged from that of gold in recent days, facing a drawdown last week versus benefiting from Russia’s conflict in 2022, as shown below in Figure 1.

Figure 1: BTC vs Gold Performance in 2022 vs 2024 – On a Weekly Timeframe

Source: TradingView

Finally, while the industry showed signs of a tentative recovery following last week’s economic challenges, evidenced by BTC soaring to nearly $67K on Monday, it’s crucial to maintain vigilance and closely monitor Israel’s response as it could have additional repercussions on the global market. Bitcoin faces a pivotal week with the highly anticipated Bitcoin Halving event scheduled in just four days, which will cut the issuance of new BTC in half, further tightening its already limited supply. This scarcity narrative is often seen as a bullish signal, which potentially bolsters Bitcoin’s position as a store of value and a hedge against inflation, as investors seek refuge in the current environment.

Adding to the positive sentiment, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) recently granted conditional approval for the launch of the first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. The investment vehicle could unlock up to $25B in demand from Chinese investors via the Southbound Stock Connect program, according to Matrixport. The approval could also expand BTC’s market penetration into the wealth management sector in Hong Kong valued at $1.15T. The combined effect of the halving and the ETF approvals could provide a much-needed boost to the industry’s current momentum. A trend which is evident in Figure 2 below, indicating that flows into BTC have remained positive since the beginning of the year.

Figure 2 – *BTC Monthly Balance Change vs BTC Monthly Issuance vs ETF Cumulative Flows

Source: Glassnode

*Monthly Balance Change includes different cohort of investors that hold >1, >10, >100, >1K BTC

Ethereum’s Most Anticipated Application of the Year is Live

EigenLayer, a protocol that allows ETH users to “re-stake” their existing staked ETH to validate the security of external networks known as Actively Validated Services (AVS), has finally deployed on mainnet. EigenLayer has been long anticipated as it enables capital efficiency by allowing users to earn additional yield on top of their ETH staking yield. Further, it allows younger protocols to borrow the security assurances of Ethereum. This is crucial, as it circumvents the need for non-established protocols to develop their own security measures from scratch. This translates to a more cost-efficient approach while simultaneously bolstering their decentralization, as newer projects can anchor their security to Ethereum’s.

By opting to earn additional yield, users subject themselves to heightened smart contract risks, as they become exposed to the vulnerabilities of both Ethereum and the additional protocol relying on its security. Further, a large portion of ETH could end up being “re-staked” in EigenLayer instead of just validating the security of Ethereum, creating a problem of misalignment. In simpler terms, some validators might focus on maximizing their profits by pursuing strategies that prioritize short-term gains over the long-term security of the network. Moreover, the growing enthusiasm for the protocol suggests that a significant portion of the crypto economy might rely on Ethereum’s security assurances. Currently, 14% of all staked ETH is being allocated towards Eigen’s re-staking strategy. The continuation of this trend could lead to centralization, posing a risk as Ethereum might inadvertently become a single point of failure over a longer time horizon.

Wide-spread slashing is another concern. In essence, if a substantial amount of ETH is restaked in a single protocol, then a slashing event due to malicious or unintended behavior could significantly impact honest ETH stakers. Thus, Eigen proposed a slashing committee, comprising esteemed ETH developers and trusted community members, empowered to veto such occurrences and safeguard Ethereum’s integrity.

The final risk concerns a new breed of tokens known as Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs), which operate atop EigenLayer. LRTs, akin to Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) issued by the established Lido protocol in 2021, aim to unlock similar capital efficiency by allowing users to use their re-staked ETH as collateral for lending and borrowing. Given that restaked ETH in Eigen can’t be used across DeFi platforms, users have turned to LRT protocols like Ether.fi and Renzo to seek higher levels of capital flexibility, with their restaked assets. For context, LRTs grew exponentially by a factor of 28 throughout Q1, increasing from nearly 100K units to the current figure of 2.8M, as can be seen below in Figure 3, showing its soaring demand.

Figure 3 – Growth of Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs) on EigenLayer

Source: @yulia_is_here on Dune

While LRTs can offer amplified gains through leveraged lending, they can also exacerbate losses, potentially increasing systemic risk in market downturns. Since some LRT protocols can’t offer withdrawal yet, users may be forced to swap their LRT token into ETH on thinly traded secondary markets and intensify their drawdowns.

All in all, the impact of Eigenlayer is not to be understated, as the excitement surrounding the new primitive has propelled it to become the second largest protocol on Ethereum by Total Value Locked (TVL), boasting an impressive $12.6B. This already eclipses the TVL of established players like Solana by fourfold, highlighting the immense potential and adoption that EigenLayer is witnessing despite its brief existence. Further, the excitement building up to its launch since they unveiled their roadmap in March has propelled the Ethereum validator entry queue to its highest level since September. The queue now necessitates a minimum waiting period of ~12 days before new validators can join the network, as seen below in Figure 4. Nevertheless, keep an eye out as we prepare to release a more in-depth exploration of EigenLayer risks over the coming weeks.

Figure 4: Ethereum Validator Entry Queue in Days

Source: ValidatorQueue

Bookmarks

Have you read our latest report, The Bitcoin Halving and Beyond? Click here to get a digital copy.

This Week’s Calendar

Source: Forex Factory, 21Shares

Research Newsletter

Each week the 21Shares Research team will publish our data-driven insights into the crypto asset world through this newsletter. Please direct any comments, questions, and words of feedback to research@21shares.com

Disclaimer

The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.

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Krypto-ETN från 21Shares ger tillgång till både Bitcoin och Ethereum

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En ny krypto-ETN utgivet av 21Shares har varit möjlig att handla på Xetra och Börse Frankfurt sedan i onsdags.

En ny krypto-ETN utgivet av 21Shares har varit möjlig att handla på Xetra och Börse Frankfurt sedan i onsdags.

21Shares Bitcoin Ethereum Core ETP erbjuder investerare enkel och effektiv tillgång till prestanda för en kryptokorg bestående av de två kryptovalutorna Bitcoin (BTC) och Ethereum (ETH). Viktningen av de två kryptotillgångarna baseras på deras nuvarande börsvärde och justeras månadsvis.
Denna krypto-ETN är 100 procent säkrad av de underliggande tillgångarna BTC och ETH.

Handla 21XA

21Shares Bitcoin Suisse Index ETP (21XA) är en europeisk börshandlad kryptovaluta som handlas på bland annat Deutsche Boerse Xetra.

Det betyder att det går att handla andelar i denna ETP genom de flesta svenska banker och Internetmäklare, till exempel  Nordnet, SAVR, DEGIRO och Avanza.

NamnKortnamnISINAvgifterKryptotillgångar
21Shares Bitcoin Ethereum Core ETP21XACH04964846400,49Bitcoin + Ethereum

Produktutbudet inom Deutsche Börses ETF & ETP-segment omfattar för närvarande totalt 2 378 ETFer, 198 ETCer och 254 ETNer. Med detta urval och en genomsnittlig månatlig handelsvolym på mer än €19 miljarder är Xetra den ledande handelsplatsen för ETFer och ETPer i Europa.

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WGRU ETF köper kvalitativa utdelningsaktier

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WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF EUR Hedged Acc (WGRU ETF) med ISIN IE0007M3MLF3, försöker spåra WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth (EUR Hedged)-index. WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth (EUR Hedged)-index spårar utdelningsbetalande aktier på utvecklade marknader med tillväxtegenskaper. Aktierna som ingår filtreras enligt ESG-kriterier (miljö, social och bolagsstyrning). Indexet är ett fundamentalt viktat index. Valutasäkrad till euro (EUR).

WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF EUR Hedged Acc (WGRU ETF) med ISIN IE0007M3MLF3, försöker spåra WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth (EUR Hedged)-index. WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth (EUR Hedged)-index spårar utdelningsbetalande aktier på utvecklade marknader med tillväxtegenskaper. Aktierna som ingår filtreras enligt ESG-kriterier (miljö, social och bolagsstyrning). Indexet är ett fundamentalt viktat index. Valutasäkrad till euro (EUR).

Den börshandlade fondens TER (total cost ratio) uppgår till 0,43 % p.a. WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF EUR Hedged Acc är den enda ETF som följer WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth (EUR Hedged) index. ETFen replikerar det underliggande indexets prestanda genom samplingsteknik (köper ett urval av de mest relevanta indexbeståndsdelarna). Utdelningarna i ETFen ackumuleras och återinvesteras.

WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF EUR Hedged Acc är en mycket liten ETF med 4 miljoner euro under förvaltning. Denna ETF lanserades den 20 mars 2023 och har sin hemvist i Irland.

Fonden strävar efter att spåra pris- och avkastningsutvecklingen, före avgifter och utgifter, för WisdomTree Global Developed Quality Dividend Growth Index. Andelsklassen strävar efter att leverera exponering mot indexet samtidigt som den neutraliserar exponeringen mot fluktuationer i euron genom att implementera en valutasäkringsmetod. Läs mer om indexet som GGRE är designat för att spåra.

Varför investera?

  • Få tillgång till högkvalitativa, utdelningsväxande företag från globala utvecklade marknader som uppfyller WisdomTrees ESG-kriterier (environmental, social and governance)
  • Dra nytta av riskscreening för att utesluta företag baserat på egenutvecklade kvalitet och momentum
  • Direktavkastning och inkomstpotential kan vara högre än ett börsvärdesindex
  • Använd som ett komplement till globala högavkastande utdelningsstrategier eller som en ersättning för aktiva tillväxt- eller kvalitetsstrategier med stora bolag
  • Valutavolatiliteten minimeras genom användning av valutaterminskontrakt
  • ETFen är fysiskt uppbackad och UCITS-kompatibel

Handla WGRU ETF

WisdomTree Global Quality Dividend Growth UCITS ETF EUR Hedged Acc (WGRU ETF) är en europeisk börshandlad fond. Denna fond handlas på flera olika börser, till exempel Deutsche Boerse Xetra och Borsa Italiana.

Det betyder att det går att handla andelar i denna ETF genom de flesta svenska banker och Internetmäklare, till exempel  Nordnet, SAVR, DEGIRO och Avanza.

Börsnoteringar

BörsValutaKortnamn
gettexEURWGRU
Borsa ItalianaEURGGRE
XETRAEURWGRU

Största innehav

NamnKortnamnLandVikt %
1. Microsoft CorpMSFT USUS5.60%
2. Apple IncAAPL UQUS4.15%
3. Broadcom IncAVGO USUS2.76%
4. Johnson & JohnsonJNJ UNUS2.27%
5. Procter & Gamble Co/ThePG USUS2.16%
6. Coca-Cola Co/TheKO UNUS2.06%
7. Novartis AGNOVN SWCH1.98%
8. Nestle SANESN SWCH1.76%
9. Roche Holding AGROG SWCH1.56%
10. Morgan StanleyMS UNUS1.55%

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A hypothetical U.S. withdrawal from NATO

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withdrawal from NATO Donald Trump’s return to the White House has forced European leaders to reconsider their defence capabilities. Trump’s administration has stated that it expects European countries to take on a greater role in their own security, as well as giving overt signals that it has less interest in the future of the continent’s security. In a worst-case scenario, there are growing fears about the US’ continued commitment to the NATO alliance. This article will outline the scale of the task ahead for Europe to prepare for a world where it can potentially no longer rely on the US for its security.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has forced European leaders to reconsider their defence capabilities. Trump’s administration has stated that it expects European countries to take on a greater role in their own security, as well as giving overt signals that it has less interest in the future of the continent’s security. In a worst-case scenario, there are growing fears about the US’ continued commitment to the NATO alliance. This article will outline the scale of the task ahead for Europe to prepare for a world where it can potentially no longer rely on the US for its security.

Europe alone?

First, it is worth noting that the prospect of a US pullout of NATO remains unlikely. While members of Trump’s cabinet have endorsed a withdrawal, the president himself has not. Key members of Trump’s cabinet such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio appear to remain strong believers in the alliance. Crucially, in 2023, the US Congress passed a law requiring a two-thirds majority vote before any President can withdraw from the alliance. Given the current makeup of Congress, such a vote passing seems unlikely.

However, European leaders are taking the risk seriously. Even if the worst-case scenario of a total US withdrawal from NATO does not come to pass, the prospect can no longer be discounted. At the same time, even if the US continues as a member, there is a growing expectation of Europe to develop its own defence capabilities. There is, therefore, a renewed sense among European leaders that they must develop credible security deterrence in the absence of the US.

What is needed?

A recent analysis by Bruegel and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy provides insights into the measures Europe would need to undertake to deter potential aggression from Russia in the absence of US support. [1]

First, soldiers. Currently, the US has around 100,000 troops stationed on the continent, with NATO military planners assuming an additional 200,000 would be rapidly dispatched to Europe in the event of conflict.

A theoretical absence of US support, therefore, means considering how Europe may replace these 300,000 soldiers. Europe, including the UK, currently has almost 1.5 million active-duty military personnel. In theory, this makes replacing the 300,000 US troops easy enough. However, as analysis by Bruegel notes: “The combat power of 300,000 US troops is substantially greater than the equivalent number of European troops distributed over 29 national armies.”

A crucial weakness of European troops will be fragmentation. A Europe without US support, therefore, is faced with two choices: replace the 300,000 with substantially more soldiers – to offset the fragmented weakness – or rapidly enhance cooperation.

The challenge is also stark when it comes to equipment. The Bruegel analysis claims that preventing a rapid Russian breakthrough in the Baltic states would, at a minimum, require “1,400 tanks, 2,000 infantry fighting vehicles and 700 artillery pieces (155mm howitzers and multiple rocket launchers)”. To put this into perspective, that is more firepower than the French, German, Italian, and British land forces combined. And that is just for providing a credible deterrence in the Baltic states.

European states will also have to invest substantially in developing their own transport, missile, drone, communications, and intelligence capabilities.

Historic underspend

Future-proofing European defence against a potential absence of US support, therefore, is a tremendous task. Achieving anything approaching what is needed to shore up the continent’s defence will cost tremendous sums.

This has been made harder by the underspending on defence among European NATO members over the past few decades. The euphoria of the post-Cold War era saw European governments slash their defence spending. Money that had previously been spent on military security could be reallocated to spending on social security.

With Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, NATO took steps to reverse this, principally by setting a defence spending target of 2% of GDP for members. But very few NATO members actually reached this target. As late as 2021, just 6 members of NATO spent 2% or more on defence.

However, as the graph below shows, the number of NATO members hitting the 2% target has rapidly ramped up, with 23 members now hitting the 2% target.

Source: NATO, June 2024. Data excludes the U.S. For illustrative purposes only. Chart displays expected data.

Yet the historic underspending by Europe leaves a hole in European defence capabilities. Figures from Exante Data shows that the cumulative underspend since 2014, relative to the 2% targets, among European NATO members equals €850bn. [2]

The road to 5%

The task for both readying Europe for defence challenges in a world without US support, as well as addressing the historic underfunding of European defence, will require defence spending rising significantly above 2% of GDP.

Currently, European (and Canada) NATO members spend, on average, around 2% of GDP on defence. If NATO ex-USA members were to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, what would this look like? If certain assumptions are made, we can map out the bullish and bearish scenarios for NATO defence spending.

In our bull case scenario, we assume NATO ex-US defence budgets to increase to 5% of GDP by 2029, while assuming equipment spending as % of total NATO budget growing by 1% per year. It also includes assumptions of GDP growth per year standing at 2%.

In this scenario, equipment expenditure would increase by $350billion, over half the total revenue generated by defence companies in 2023.

Meanwhile, in our bear case scenario, equipment expenditure still grows by almost $100billion over the period. This bear case scenario assumes NATO ex-US defence budgets grow to 3.5% by 2029, with equipment expenditure remaining steady as a percentage of defence spending (31.6%) and GDP growth of 1% per year. This would see additional equipment expenditure increase by $92billion.

Source: NATO, HANetf analysis. Charts display projected data. For illustrative purposes only. Additional sources available upon request.

The Future of Defence

While the complete withdrawal of the US from NATO is a hypothetical scenario, these estimates underscore the significant investments and structural changes Europe would need to implement to maintain a credible defence posture independently.

Future of Defence UCITS ETF (ASWC) seeks to provide exposure to the companies generating revenue from NATO and NATO+ ally defence and cyber defence spending. The “NATO screen” seeks to align with the values of investors who may have concerns about defence investing, but cannot ignore the current political climate, and therefore seek a smarter and more considered approach.

NATO is a defensive alliance and itself states that “deterrence and defence is one of its core tasks” – focusing on companies operating in NATO allied countries limits the possibility of constituents of the ETF being companies operating in countries that could one day be adversaries to the alliance.

Key Risks

• Thematic ETFs are exposed to a limited number of sectors and thus the investment will be concentrated and may experience high volatility.

• Investors’ capital is fully at risk and may not get back the amount originally invested.

• Exchange rates can have a positive or negative effect on returns.

• For a complete overview of all the risks, please refer to the “Risk Factors” in the Prospectus.

Handla ASWC ETF

HANetf Future of Defence UCITS ETF (ASWC ETF) är en europeisk börshandlad fond. Denna fond handlas på flera olika börser, till exempel Deutsche Boerse Xetra och London Stock Exchange. Av den anledningen förekommer olika kortnamn på samma börshandlade fond.

Det betyder att det går att handla andelar i denna ETF genom de flesta svenska banker och Internetmäklare, till exempel DEGIRONordnetSAVR och Avanza.

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