Network activity Ethereuem layer 1 has remained subdued since the 14 of March
The longer this trend persists, the more we can attribute this subdued activity to the Dencun upgrade which the largest Layer 2 protocols are fully utilizing
Average cost to transfer ETH (21,000 Gas)
Ethereum Blob Gas Used
Blobspace utilisation on the Ethereum network has decreased significantly since last week
This decrease can be explained by the reduced utilisation of blobs by the BlobScription protocol as demand for minting new BlobScriptions has now subsided
Excess Blob Gas
Borrowing and Lending
Liquidity-weighted average lending yields across Aave & Compound
Lending markets continue to exhibit their weeks-long period of subdued activity
Apart from the occasional spikes, yields offered by stablecoins continue to trade rangebound between 5% and 15% on an annualised basis
Stablecoin TVL’s across both Aave and Compound have since little change in the last 2 weeks
Total Stablecoin value locked in Aave and Compound
After a double-digit rally in April, BTC has continued its ascent, even briefly trading past $82K — its highest level since end-January. As such, Block Scholes’ Risk Appetite Indices for both BTC and ETH have surged past a value of 1 and into a region that has typically marked further bullish price momentum. Since 2021, BTC has rallied by more than 12% on a monthly basis on 17 occasions, 9 of which were followed by a second month of higher spot prices. However, despite a backdrop of easing geopolitical tensions and a major crypto bill in the "red zone", derivatives markets are sending mixed signals.
Strong institutional demand has helped underpin a close to 12% rally in BTC’s spot price month-to-date, while derivative markets continue to fade the rally. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their longest consecutive inflow streak since the 10/10 liquidation event, vacuuming more than $2.1B worth of bitcoins. Meanwhile, Strategy and BitMine have continued to showcase their insatiable appetite for bitcoin and ether, respectively: Strategy made its largest purchase since November 2024 earlier this month; BitMine recently purchased over 100,000 Ether. April is also on track to break 5 straight months of Spot Ethereum ETF outflows.
As the two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran was on the cusp of expiring, President Trump announced an indefinite extension, marking yet another reversal from his comments on Monday that an additional extension would be “highly unlikely”. Risk-appetite rose following the announcement with BTC trading up past $78K, its highest since the onset of the war, though it fell short at the $78.5K resistance wall. Our in-house Risk Appetite Metric has continued to tick higher too, and now moves at a year-to-date high for both BTC and ETH. Block Scholes’ Risk-Appetite Indexes for both major assets have once more crossed over the -0.5 threshold from below; a crossing that has typically marked a transition into a more bullish market regime.