Resurgence of 'degenerate behavior' is behind 2023's crypto rally

Episode 6 of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and eGirl Capital Co-Founder Hedgedhog.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on AppleSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests can be sent to [email protected].


Since the start of 2023, the total crypto market cap has risen over 20%, and daily exchange volume has nearly tripled, according to data from The Block Research. 

In this Market Pulse edition of The Scoop, The Block's VP of Research Larry Cermak and eGirl Capital's Hedgedhog discuss the dynamics shaping the crypto market's current rally, and explain why they aren't holding out hope for a sustained uptrend.

According to Cermak, crypto is lacking a strong enough narrative to be able to break free from broader macro uncertainty.

"I think the biggest difference is that right now we don't really have anything to kind of drive the rally to have legs under it, and I think there's still a lot of uncertainty in the macro markets," he said.

Hedgedhog shares Cermak's doubts about the current trend, noting how quickly retail market participants have begun displaying risk-on behavior: 

RELATED INDICES

"We're seeing a lot of degenerate behavior coming back really quickly — Canto and all these new NFTs, and there are new Ohm forks … people haven't really learned anything, and they're really risk-on already."

During this episode, Chaparro, Cermak, and Hedgedhog also discuss:

  • How traders are positioning for Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade
  • Why the NFT market is set to decorrelate from crypto
  • A look inside the centralized exchange turf war

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Circle, Railgun, Flare Network, NordVPN

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit Circle.com to learn more.

About Railgun
RAILGUN is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let RAILGUN’s Zero-Knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance, and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with RAILGUN SDK and be sure to check out RAILGUN with partner project Railway Wallet, also available on iOS and Android. Visit Railgun.org to find out more.

About Flare
Flare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at Flare.Network

About NordVPN
NordVPN is essential for keeping crypto transactions secure, hiding your IP address, and protecting your devices from hackers and data theft. Get premium cyber-security on up to 6 devices for the price of a cup of coffee a month. Get your exclusive NordVPN Deal and try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee: Visit https://nordvpn.com/thescoop


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Ryan Weeks at
[email protected]