1. Goldman Sachs announces first OTC cash settled crypto trade with Galaxy Digital

The Facts:

• Goldman Sachs’s cash-settled trade through trading partner Galaxy Digital marks the first crypto over-the-counter trade of a major U.S. bank.
• The bank traded a bitcoin-linked instrument called a non-deliverable option.
• This offers direct, customizable exposure to the crypto market for institutional players while the bank is taking an increased risk by acting as a transaction principal.

Why it’s important:

• The move signals increased asset class maturity and constitutes an important step for further institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
• As more clients seek to secure access to digital assets, Goldman’s lead is expected to prompt other Wall Street banks to follow.
• Following the news, Goldman prominently featured cryptocurrency, the metaverse, and digitalization on their renewed website.

2. BTC and ETH exchange reserves hit new lows

The Facts:

• BTC and ETH hit new lows in exchange reserves, both indicating a clear downtrend throughout 2022.
• BTC resting on exchanges hit a new 4-year low of 2.305 million, 5.1% down in 2022 and 2.7% in March only.
• ETH hit a new low of 23.985 million, 4.7% down in 2022 and 2.9% in March along the launch of Kiln testnet.

Why it’s important:

• As sentiment is shifting to a less fearful environment, BTC and ETH reserves hit new lows on exchanges suggesting more reluctance towards centralized exchanges and an increased demand for decentralized storage and DeFi.
• It might also be a sign of long-term investors entering or increasing their position and flows into crypto funds such as Grayscale.
• The ETH reserve low comes on the back of a huge influx of validators who wish to join the ETH 2.0 Beacon Chain induced by the successful merge on Kiln testnet.

3. U.S. jobless claims fall to 187k, to lowest level since 1969

The Facts:

• As U.S. citizens on unemployment rolls steadily decrease to a two-year low of 3.8% in February, applications for jobless benefits dropped to a 50-year low.
• Initial jobless claims fell from 215,000 to 187,000, the lowest level since September 1969.

Why it’s important:

• The forecast was undershot as claims declined along lifted COVID-19 restrictions and a significant decrease in coronavirus cases.
• Moreover, there are no signs yet that the war in Ukraine has impacted the labor market in the US.
• The strength in the job market might push the FED to go for higher rate hikes.
• Due to low unemployment, wage inflation is also expected to rise further as labour market supply cannot meet demand.

4. Grayscale launches fund composed of Ethereum alternatives

The Facts:

• Grayscale, the largest digital currency asset manager, announced a new fund to offer exposure towards smart contract platforms outside the Ethereum ecosystem.
• The market capitalization-weighted portfolio holds ADA (24.6%), SOL (24.3%), AVAX (17%), DOT (16.2%), MATIC (9.7%), ALGO (4.3%) and XLM (4.1%).
• The “Grayscale Smart Contract Platform ex Ethereum Fund (GSCPxE)” is Grayscale’s 18th investment product, managing over $40 billion in assets across their product portfolio.

Why it’s important:

• As there is momentum building for alternative smart contract platforms to Ethereum, the new product is conceived as a response to an increased investor demand for diversified exposure.
• As many investors might already be exposed to Ethereum, the fund excludes ETH.
• GSCPxE launches along the news, that the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater is reportedly backing a crypto fund.

In other news

• Exxon explores Bitcoin mining program using excess gas (via Bloomberg)
• Avalanche announces native support for Bitcoin (via Avalanche)
• Thailand Bans Crypto as Means of Payment (via CoinDesk)
• Frosties NFT creators charged with fraud due to “rug pull” scheme (via The Verge)
• Stargate Finance captures $1.9b TVL in its first week (via Cointelegraph)
• Australian bank ANZ first to mint Australian dollar stablecoin (via Reuters)