Data & Insights: NFT Trader Spikes to 2022 Highs; Circle IPO Stats

(pump)Fun Times Ahead

• Over the past 30 days, pump.fun has generated an average of $1.38 million in daily revenue
  • Relative to January, this marks a notable pullback in fee generation.
  • For context, in the final week of January’s Solana meme coin frenzy, pump.fun recorded a peak of $5.4 million in daily revenue as memecoins and AI-themed tokens flooded the chain, which eventually culminated in the TRUMP memecoin.
  • Meanwhile, pump.fun’s total revenue for the month of May declined 0.8% month-over-month (MoM) from April, and sits 66% below its record monthly high posted in January.
• On the other hand, the average daily ratio of pump.fun coins that “graduate” from the platform has remained relatively flat over the past 90 days, reflecting a muted environment compared to earlier in the year
  • In January, this figure averaged 1.37%. Over the last 90 days, it has hovered around 0.77%, indicating a clear slowdown in successful token launches
• Last week, it was reported that pump.fun plans to raise $1 billion via a token sale that would value its upcoming PUMP token at a $4 billion fully diluted valuation (FDV)
  • If fully subscribed, this would place the token among the top 40 non-stablecoin crypto assets by FDV, a striking contrast to pump.fun’s current annualized run-rate revenue of ~$1.38 million per day.
• From a strategic perspective, this appears to be pump.fun’s effort to capitalize on the momentum and market position it captured earlier this year, even as on-chain activity has waned in recent months. 
  • If successful, the raise would grant pump.fun a treasury exceeding that of many top-tier DeFi protocols, enabling the project to aggressively expand into derivatives, creator tooling and potentially new verticals.

Are Ya Wynning, Son?

• On Thursday, May 5, 2025, BTC saw a significant amount of liquidations of long positions, with $306.5 million worth of longs wiped out in a single day.
  • This marks the highest long liquidation total since late February 2025, when $329 million in longs were liquidated on February 28.
  • The event was triggered by a sharp drop in BTC’s price, which fell over 5% from an intra-day high of $105.9K to a low of $100.5K.
• Meanwhile, total long liquidations across all assets on that day came in at $709 million, with 46% and 30% of those occurring on Bybit and Binance, respectively.
  • It is also worth noting that roughly 43% of the day’s liquidations originated from BTC positions, while the remaining 57% came from altcoins.
  • For comparison, in the previous week on May 30, total long liquidations reached a nearly identical figure of $705 million, yet only 29% of that came from BTC longs.
  • This suggests that the May 5 liquidation event was significantly more BTC-centric than the one seen the week prior.
• Additionally, last week’s liquidations were also more “concentrated” on a per-position basis.
  • The total number of liquidations on May 5 was 177K, which implies an average size of roughly $4,000 per liquidation.
  • In contrast, May 30 recorded 278K liquidations, meaning the average position size was just ~$2,500.

ETH ETF Finding Footing

• Ethereum ETFs are experiencing their strongest sustained momentum of 2025, recording 15 consecutive days of inflows totaling over $800 million. 
  • This represents the second-longest uninterrupted streak of positive flows since these products began trading, suggesting growing institutional and retail appetite for direct Ethereum exposure through traditional investment vehicles.
• The sustained inflow pattern indicates investors may be seeking higher beta exposure within the crypto ecosystem. 
  • Ethereum's position as the backbone of DeFi and smart contract activity offers a different risk-return profile that appears increasingly attractive to allocators.
  • Corporate treasury adoption is also emerging as a notable trend. SharpLink Gaming, a Nasdaq-listed company, announced plans to launch an Ethereum treasury strategy, sending their stock price surging. This development suggests that corporate adoption may extend beyond Bitcoin as companies explore diversified crypto treasury strategies.
• Despite this momentum, Ethereum ETFs remain substantially smaller than their Bitcoin counterparts, with approximately $8 billion in total assets under management compared to Bitcoin's $135 billion. 
  • This size differential suggests significant room for growth if investor interest continues to build, though it also reflects the more nascent understanding of Ethereum's value proposition among traditional investors.

Coming A Round on Circle

• Circle's public debut on June 5th under ticker CRCL has become a defining moment for crypto-native companies seeking traditional market validation. The stablecoin issuer opened at $31 per share before experiencing a dramatic 235% surge in its first trading session on June 5th, ultimately closing at $82 and reaching $107.70 by Friday's close, resulting in a market valuation of $21.6 billion.
  • The extraordinary market reception reflects significant pent-up demand for exposure to crypto-native businesses through traditional equity markets. 
  • Investors appear willing to pay substantial premiums for companies with direct cryptocurrency infrastructure exposure, particularly those with established revenue streams from the digital asset ecosystem.
• Circle's business model centers on USDC, which has maintained a relatively stable market share within the broader stablecoin ecosystem. 
  • The total stablecoin supply continues its steady upward trajectory, reaching new highs, with USDC representing a consistent portion of this growth despite sitting around $60 billion since late March.
• The valuation has drawn skepticism from some market observers who question whether Circle's fundamentals justify such aggressive pricing. 
  • The company's revenue model, while stable, may not traditionally command the high price-to-earnings multiples that the current market valuation implies, suggesting investor enthusiasm may be outpacing underlying business metrics.
• Circle's successful IPO has generated optimism for other potential crypto company public offerings, including rumored plans from exchanges like Gemini and Kraken. 
  • The market's enthusiastic response to CRCL could serve as a template for how traditional investors value crypto infrastructure companies, potentially opening doors for similar businesses seeking public market access.

NFTs Turning a Leaf?

• Total Ethereum NFT traders surged to nearly 40,000, approaching their June 2022 figures. This spike coincided with OpenSea’s OS2 exit from beta and the launch of its rewards program.
  • OpenSea’s “Voyages” program incentivizes users to use the platform to earn “XP” which are seen as counters for OpenSea’s future airdrop.
  • OpenSea also saw its highest monthly user count since 2022, following OS2’s exit from beta.
• The recent uptick in trader activity also comes after some key moves by major NFT companies to expand beyond traditional collectibles. 
  • Orange Cap Games, the company behind the Vibes trading card game, recently acquired the Moonbirds collection IP, hinting at the potential for a third edition of the card game featuring the Moonbirds collection. 
  • Mythical Games also announced that their upcoming FIFA Rivals will feature Adidas-branded digital assets and follow the company's successful NFL Rivals mobile game.
• The gaming synergies draw from proven centralized digital asset economies, particularly Steam’s in-game items, which have demonstrated substantial market success and user engagement. 
• This evolution comes as the speculative NFT traders of 2021 have largely migrated to other venues such as memecoins, potentially leaving behind a more focused user base interested in actual utility.