Tuesday, Nov 7, 2023

the myth of tokenization, the rise of crypto leverage, the growing power of labour

“Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.” – Alfred North Whitehead  ||   

Hello everyone!

You’re reading the daily premium Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, where I look at the growing overlap between the crypto and macro landscapes. There’s also usually some market commentary, but NOTHING I say is investment advice. For full disclosure, I have held the same long positions in BTC and ETH for years, and have no intention to either buy more or sell in the near future.

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Also, I’m now host of the CoinDesk Markets Daily podcast – you can check that out here.

Programming note: we have another public holiday where I live on Thursday (I love living in Spain!), but instead this newsletter will take off Friday, which is Veterans’ Day in the US. I figured that was more efficient, plus there’s the appeal of a three-day weekend break 😁.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• Crypto leverage is coming back

• Tokenized real world assets should NOT be a key narrative

• The impact of strikes on unemployment

• Economic support vs green initiatives

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

Crypto leverage is coming back

In previous editions, I have mentioned the climb in USD notional open interest for bitcoin futures on the CME, the “institutional” derivatives exchange.

Well, it continues to climb. As of yesterday, the USD notional open interest for bitcoin futures on the CME was at its highest point since late 2021.

(chart via velodata)

This is especially astonishing since BTC spot volumes are almost half what they were back then, according to data from The Block.

(chart via The Block)

Does this mean leverage is picking up in the crypto market? Yes. And this is a good thing.