Ethereum Leads, Dogecoin Fades: Crypto Market Trends

Market Outlook

The last two weeks have been driven by two main trends within cryptoasset markets: (1) the noticeable outperformance of Ethereum due to fundamental reasons; (2) the retail-driven rally of Dogecoin and other similar “meme”-based cryptoassets. The below chart shows the performance of both ETH and DOGE compared to that of Bitcoin — highlighting the fact that cryptoasset markets are both being driven at this stage by both fundamental innovation and speculation. The former driver is likely to persist over the coming years whilst the latter will be short-lived.

As we can see, from the start of the month ETH has returned 41% compared to DOGE’s 37%, and BTC’s -4% returns. Much of DOGE’s returns over the period retraced as the speculative fervour around the asset washed out following Elon Musk’s, the founder and CEO of Tesla, much-anticipated “Saturday Night Live” appearance where he mentioned the asset. Such a trend is common for purely speculative cryptoassets and this can be contrasted with Ethereum’s performance over the same timeframe which was driven by the upcoming launch of EIP-1559, a protocol change that will introduce deflationary pressures, as well as the adoption of Ethereum-based scalability solutions.

Over the long term, cryptoassets and blockchains with the largest amounts of fundamental traction and innovation will be those that thrive. By all measures, Ethereum has outperformed when it comes to developer interest, usage, and innovation and, at 21Shares, we imagine this will continue. A belief in this thesis has been a driver of some capital from Bitcoin holders likely diverting to Ethereum.

Weekly Returns

The returns of the top five crypto assets over the last week were as follows — BTC (4.06%), ETH (20.75%), BNB (3.03%), XRP (4.90%), and ADA (28.70%).

Monthly ETP Returns

The performance of our line of ETPs over the last 30 days is as follows: ABTC (-4.86%), AETH (89.59%), ABCH (110.08%), AXRP (11.65%), ABNB (14.86%), AXTZ (5.62%), HODL (9.53%), ABBA (9.34%), KEYS (14.50%), SBTC (0.51%), and ADOT -(2.85%).

Media Coverage

Our Cardano and Stellar ETPs were listed on Boerse Stuttgart, Finextra featured the listing in this article here. The journal German financial journal, Onvista, featured our Cardano and Stellar ETPs. Have a read of the full article here.

The new research firm, 21Treasury published a report covering our 21Shares Bitcoin ETP “Bitcoin Exchange Traded Products (ETP) from 21Shares - easy exposure to the new digital commodity”. Give it a read here.

Last week, our CEO, Hany Rashwan, joined the final live session of The Digital Asset Trading & Technology Series (DATTs), brought to you by CryptoCompare, Copper and Blockfills. The session explored the current landscape and opportunities for digital asset management and considered what the future of managing crypto assets may entail. Watch the full session here.

This past week, Hany was also interviewed by Finanzdiva discussing the structure of our ETPs and why 21Shares is one of the top crypto issuers worldwide. Watch the full interview here.

The leading Italian journal, Wall Street Italia, mentioned the comments of our Senior Research Associate, Eliézer Ndinga, on the institutional adoption of Ethereum. Give it a read here. In the same vein, Investing.com, one of the top three global financial websites in the world, mentioned Eliézer’s comments alongside Business Insider. Find the articles here and here.

Our Head of Switzerland, Sina Meier, was invited by Finance 2.0 Studio in Switzerland for an interview focused on the topic of crypto banking. Watch the full interview here (from 22.30 to 38:29). Sina also had a great interview with Fundplat on the story behind 21Shares titled "21Shares, the world's largest crypto ETP issuer? Well, if that's not a Swiss success story!". Give it a read here.

Morningstar, the leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia — published an article “Best and Worst Performing ETFs in April” which featured our ETPs. For the record, 3 out of the top 5 best performing ETPs/ETPs are 21Shares’ products. Give it a read, here.

News - Amun and 21Shares, the Largest Issuer of Cryptocurrency ETPs, Announces Investors Including Catherine Wood and Anthony Pompliano

Amun Holdings Limited, owner of 21Shares AG (“21Shares”) and Amun Inc., today announced successful fundraising efforts led by Morgan Creek Digital with participation from Anthony Pompliano, Managing Partner at Pomp Investments who previously co-founded Morgan Creek Digital; Collaborative Ventures; Quiet Ventures; and Catherine Wood, CEO of ARK Investment Management LLC, who serves as the independent member of Amun’s Board of Directors. The shareholders of Amun Holdings Limited held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) last week and the fundraising round is expected to close this week.

Since launching the world’s first physically-backed cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) in 2018, we have established ourselves as an innovative first mover providing the largest number of ETPs with exposure to cryptocurrency markets in the world. As of May 2021, we manage more than $2 billion in 14 cryptocurrency ETPs, including the world’s only ETPs tracking Binance, Bitcoin Cash, Tezos and most recently Stellar, Cardano and Polkadot.

We also focus on education through a series of data-driven research and insights in five languages. Reports include State of Crypto (a quarterly print publication), valuation methodologies (e.g., Ethereum Investment Thesis), and single-asset primers (e.g., Cardano Primer).

“We are excited to attract visionary investors such as Cathie Wood and Anthony Pompliano, as a great validation of our efforts and progress over the past three years,” said Ophelia Snyder, Co-Founder and President of 21Shares.

Our CEO and Co-Founder, Hany Rashwan, added, “We are seeing unprecedented investor demand for exchange-traded crypto products that can be bought and sold as easily as a stock. Based on market opportunity, this year we are looking to expand our ETP product suite globally. Our investors’ commitment to 21Shares and the quality of our Board of Directors will help us advance our mission.”

“*21Shares is forging a new path for crypto ETPs, by leading with research and a keen understanding of this developing asset class. I am thrilled to support its efforts,*” said Wood.

Pompliano added, “I am excited to invest in 21Shares and the company’s continued success providing institutional-grade research and products for the crypto market. It was obvious a few years ago that many more people would be hearing about Hany, Ophelia, and their innovative products, and I believe the same is true for 21Shares and its top-quality leadership team that is creating unique solutions at the intersection of finance and crypto.”