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What to know:

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Investors are still rotating money into altcoins, lifting valuations for ETH, RAY, ENA, MKR and other tokens while leaving bitcoin (BTC) little changed above $100,000.

While the biggest cryptocurrency by market value is just 7% short of hitting a new high, its 30-day options-based implied or expected volatility, represented by Deribit's DVOL index, is hovering near the lowest level since June 2024.

This type of calm usually precedes big moves. Georgii Verbitskii, a market analyst and founder of TYMIO, a crypto investor app put it best: "Options implied volatility is extremely low, the market doesn't seem to believe in strong moves, and 1- to 3-month option pricing is still cheap. That kind of complacency often precedes a big move."

BTC could quickly break through $115,000, Verbitskii said, noting that, "If the liquidity thesis holds — where global liquidity supports bitcoin — we could see that breakout as early as May." Just to remind you, bitcoin hit a record high around $109,000 in January.

Still, the market faces potential headwinds. For instance, the U.S. Senate has its last opportunity to pass the bipartisan GENIUS Act, a bill introduced in February that calls for issuers to back digital currencies with safe reserves and report them monthly or deal with penalties. The bill was unable to advance in a recent vote. According to the Senate's rules another failure will kill the bill unless all senators agree to reconsider, according to Tagus Capital.

Further, the U.S. SEC delayed a decision on Tuesday on whether to allow in-kind redemptions for BlackRock's bitcoin exchange-traded fund while it asks for feedback.

In other news, DeFi Development Corp. purchased 172,670 SOL worth roughly $23.6 million, bringing its total Solana Treasury holdings to over $100 million.

That's less common, with more companies running to bitcoin: An update from bitcoin-focused company River points out: "Thousands of companies across all sectors are using bitcoin to offset inflation and build up their treasury." Stay alert!

Grayscale’s New Income-Focused ETFs

Grayscale, the world’s largest crypto-native asset manager, now offers two new income-focused ETFs:

• Grayscale Bitcoin Covered Call ETF (BTCC) seeks to maximize potential income generation, and is designed to serve as a complement to existing Bitcoin ownership.
• Grayscale Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BPI) seeks to balance upside participation with income generation, and is designed to serve as an alternative to direct Bitcoin ownership.

Through two different approaches to systematic covered call writing on Bitcoin, these two products deliver an alternative income stream for investors that’s less correlated to traditional income-oriented investments.

BTCC and BPI both offer monthly distributions for investors.* See the latest distribution amount on their respective product pages at etfs.grayscale.com

Important Disclosures

*The Funds intend to pay out dividends from net investment income, if any, and distribute any net unrealized capital gains to their shareholders at least annually.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Funds, please call (866)-775-0313 or visit our websites at etfs.grayscale.com/btcc and etfs.grayscale.com/bpi. Read the prospectuses or summary prospectuses carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee the investment strategy will be successful. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified. The Fund is actively managed and its performance reflects the investment decisions that the Adviser makes for the Fund.

Grayscale Bitcoin Covered Call ETF (“BTCC”) and Grayscale premium Income ETF ("BPI") (collectively, the "Funds") will not invest in digital assets directly. The Funds also will not invest in initial coin offerings. The Funds will, however, have indirect exposure to digital assets by virtue of its investments in derivatives on exchange-traded vehicles that hold digital assets as investments. Because the Funds will not invest directly in any digital assets, they may not track price movements of any digital assets.

BTCC and BPI are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC and Grayscale Advisors, LLC is the adviser. Foreside is not related to GSA or its affiliates.

Crypto:

• May 14: eToro (ETOR) shares begin trading on Nasdaq after being priced at $52 in IPO.
• May 14: Neo (NEO) mainnet will undergo a hard fork network upgrade (version 3.8.0) at block height 7,300,000.
• May 14: VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE) starts trading on Cboe BZX exchange.
• May 16, 9:30 a.m.: Galaxy Digital Class A shares to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GLXY.
• May 19: CME Group is expected to launch its cash-settled XRP futures.
• May 19: Coinbase Global (COIN) will replace Discover Financial Services (DFS) in the S&P 500, effective before the opening of trading.

Macro

• May 14, 3 p.m.: Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census releases April inflation data.
  • Inflation Rate MoM Est. 3.1% vs. Prev. 3.7%
  • Inflation Rate YoY Est. 47.7% vs. Prev. 55.9%
• May 15, 8 a.m.: The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics releases March retail sales data.
  • Retail Sales MoM Est. 1% vs. Prev. 0.5%
  • Retail Sales YoY Est. -0.5% vs. Prev. 1.5%
• May 15, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases April producer price inflation data.
  • Core PPI MoM Est. 0.3% vs. Prev. -0.1%
  • Core PPI YoY Est. 3.1% vs. Prev. 3.3%
  • PPI MoM Est. 0.2% vs. Prev. -0.4%
  • PPI YoY Est. 2.5% vs. Prev. 2.7%
• May 15, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Census Bureau releases April retail sales data.
  • Retail Sales MoM Est. 0% vs. Prev. 1.5%
  • Retail Sales YoY Prev. 4.9%
• May 15, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Department of Labor releases unemployment insurance data for the week ended May 10.
  • Initial Jobless Claims Est. 230K vs. Prev. 228K
• May 15, 8:40 a.m.: Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell will deliver a speech ("Framework Review") in Washington. Livestream link.

Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)

• May 14: Bitfarms (BITF), pre-market
• May 14: IREN (IREN), post-market
• May 15: Bit Digital (BTBT), post-market
• May 15: Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR), pre-market
• May 15: Fold Holdings (FLD), post-market
• May 15: KULR Technology Group (KULR), post-market
• May 28: NVIDIA (NVDA), post-market

Governance Votes & Calls

Unlocks

Token Launches

By Shaurya Malwa

📍Synthetix is considering buying Derive, an Ethereum-based options trading platform, in a $27 million token-swap deal, absorbing Derive’s treasury, codebase and operations.

📍Derive holders would receive 27 SNX tokens for each DRV. The tokens face a three-month lockup and nine-month vesting period.

📍Some members of the Derive community expressed dissatisfaction, citing unfavorable valuations and lack of benefits.

📍Derive, originally Lyra, was spun out from Synthetix in 2021 but diverged by ending sUSD support and launching independent products, making this a rare DeFi reacquisition.

📍Elsewhere, "Launch Coin on Believe" (LAUNCHCOIN), formerly Pasternak, surged 130% in the past 24 hours, aligning with the Clout platform’s transition into token issuance platform Believe in a move that has boosted visibility and investor interest.

📍The token had over $100 million in trading volume in the past 24 hours, up from a $5 million average over the past week.

📍Believe’s platform gained rapid traction since the weekend, attracting attention for its low-barrier model that lets Web2 and traditional companies offer tokens for fundraising.

📍These tokens are inherently valueless, however, representing no equity rights, and a strict policy by Believe that does not allow profit sharing with tokenholders.

Spot BTC ETFs

Spot ETH ETFs

• The chart shows BTC's spot volume delta, which measures the net difference between buying and selling trade volumes.

• The metric has flipped positive, confirming that the move above $100,000 is backed by real demand in the spot market.

💰 Synthetix Considers Purchase of Options Platform Derive in $27M Token-Swap Deal (CoinDesk): A proposed 27:1 SNX-to-DRV token conversion with a lockup schedule requires approval from both communities and has sparked backlash from Derive users over valuation and unclear benefits.

💃 Ether Nears $2.7K, Dogecoin Zooms 9% as Crypto Market Remains Cheery (CoinDesk): A broad altcoin rebound is losing steam as traders brace for profit-taking, with bitcoin’s momentum clouded by macro headwinds, including a firmer dollar and revived trade tensions.

💲 Dollar Steadies With Trade Talks in Frame After Sliding on Muted U.S. Inflation (Reuters): Commonwealth Bank analysts expect the dollar index to rise 2%–3% in the coming weeks after the U.S.-China tariff truce, but see no return to early-year highs near 108.50.

🇺🇸 U.S. Scraps 'AI Diffusion' Rule in Revamp of Biden-Era Chip Curbs (The Wall Street Journal): The Commerce Department removed export curbs it said harmed U.S. innovation and diplomatic relations, boosting AI chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD by expanding overseas sales.

🏦 Standard Chartered Will Provide Banking Services for FalconX to Enhance Cross-Border Settlement (CoinDesk): FalconX will gain access to new currency pairs and global banking rails, supporting its effort to link digital assets with traditional finance for institutional clients.

😱 Exporters ‘Shocked and Elated’ as China Trade Cranks Back Into Gear (Financial Times): Chinese exporters anticipate a near-term jump in shipments to the U.S., but are still diversifying abroad, viewing the tariff truce as only a short-term reprieve.

CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets.

L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal.

Edited by Sheldon Reback

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