Whether he’s gone on an extended fishing trip or booked himself into therapy to try and put his time at the SEC behind him, Gary Gensler must be fuming. Having reluctantly signed off on spot ETFs for BTC and ETH before rage-quitting ahead of Trump’s inauguration, he now faces the prospect of living in a world where all manner of altcoins have ETFs of their own. Life sure does come at you fast, eh, Gary?
Indeed, the first ever staked SOL ETF is less than a month old and, if you thought that sounded exotic, wait till you see what else is coming down the pipe. Applications have been filed for a dizzying array of altcoins, ranging from the obvious contenders (SOL, XRP, LTC) to the, err… less obvious (PENGU). Yes, you read that correctly - Pudgy Penguins could perhaps have their own ETF product before too long.
It’s all threatening to get a bit bananas frankly, and there’s a lot of information to try and get your head around. Fortunately, that’s what today’s video is all about. It breaks down all the froth that’s starting to bubble up in the crypto ETF space and gives a cool, clear assessment of where all this might be heading. If you think 2025 has been a wild year so far, you'd better prepare yourself for what’s still to come.
You can watch that video here.
📈 Crypto Market Forecast 📈
The crypto market is finally pumping. Why? Because the crypto market is finally getting the key ingredient it’s been missing: attention. For context, most of the rally in stocks has been driven by retail, and speculation in penny stocks is multiples higher than what it was in 2021. The reason why we hadn’t seen this spread to crypto was because nobody was paying attention, until now.
The passing of the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act last week put crypto in the headlines. The White House discussing tax exemptions for crypto transactions and Trump planning an executive order to allow 401k retirement plans to invest in crypto also definitely helped. And, it looks like World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token will be listed on exchanges at any moment.
(World Liberty Financial is Trump’s DeFi protocol, in case you forgot).
This begs the question of what will continue to keep crypto in the headlines. The answer is the SEC’s temporarily exemptive relief order, AKA the ‘innovation exemption’, which would basically legalize everything in crypto in the US for a limited time. This means DeFi, airdrops, tokenized RWAs, GameFi, SocialFi, and a bunch of integrations with Web2 and TradFi firms for these.
Here’s one example of an announcement we could get. In case you missed the news, Meta is reportedly launching three stablecoins. As you’ll recall, Meta originally tried launching its own stablecoin called Libra in 2019. When it got shut down in 2022, it split into two new crypto projects - Sui and Aptos. Chances are, Meta will use one of these chains for its stablecoins.
As bullish as that might sound, it’s worth remembering that announcements aren’t the only thing you need for a crypto to rally - you also need accessibility. Thankfully, the SEC recently announced that it’s planning on streamlining its spot crypto ETF application process. This will make it possible for more altcoins to get ETFs, making them accessible to institutional investors.
On that note, you may have heard that BlackRock is looking to add staking to its spot Ethereum ETF. This seems likely to happen, given that the SEC recently approved the spot-staked Solana ETF. For reference, part of why the spot Ethereum ETFs struggled to get inflows was because they didn’t offer anything different from Bitcoin. Adding staking rewards would change this.
When you consider that flows into the spot Ethereum ETFs are already hitting record highs, you realize that the addition of staking could further supercharge these inflows. Now take a second to consider that it’s easy for spot Bitcoin ETF investors to rotate into spot Ethereum ETFs, and it will also be easy for them to rotate into other altcoin ETFs once they’re approved by the SEC.
In practical terms, this means the rotational flows that are characteristic of previous crypto bull markets are finally going to start, except this time it’s not just retail capital flowing - it’s institutional capital. First Bitcoin, which is what we’ve seen. Now Ethereum. Next up, whichever altcoin gets an ETF. There are literally dozens of applications pending, and more coming.
There’s just one small caveat, and that’s the macro. The US dollar index has been rising over the last couple of weeks, which foreshadows a mild liquidity drain in the next few weeks. At the same time, it looks like a lot of tariffs will be coming into force on August 1st. This could set the stage for a pullback in the markets towards the end of this month, or early next month.
Until then, though, the macro backdrop is stable enough for crypto to continue to rally, and the steady stream of bullish announcements we’re likely to get means that this macro liquidity will continue to flow into crypto. As Aaron and Dan discussed in their recent livestream on Coin Bureau Trading, pullbacks after a breakout like this only tend to happen after 4-5 weeks.
We are on week 1, going on week 2. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
👊 KAIA: The Underdog Super App Crypto 👊
In case you missed it, crypto exchange Coinbase recently announced the launch of its Base App – a new mobile application that seeks to serve as an “everything app” for users looking to engage with its Base layer 2 ecosystem.
The new super app, which is a rebrand and expansion of the company’s Coinbase Wallet, combines web3 functionality with a social feed powered by the Farcaster protocol. Users can use the app to access mini-apps, chat with friends, make payments, shop for items and trade tokens.
While the launch of Base App is primarily bullish for the future adoption of the layer 2 chain, it also marks a much more important development. Specifically, a visible penetration of the super app trend in the West. You see, in recent years, super apps have been a force of nature in the East, especially in countries with high internet-penetration and relatively low labour costs like China, Singapore, India, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia.
The trend, which refers to mobile or web applications that integrate multiple services into a single platform, was pioneered by web2 platforms like WeChat, Paytm, Gojek and Grab. Conversely, there aren’t many super apps in the West, and any that do exist operate at half the capacity of their eastern counterparts. Their rise in the western world has been much slower due to a fragmented app market, regulatory barriers, labour costs and cultural differences.
This is why we believe Base App, which operates primarily on crypto rails, is uniquely positioned to offer most western crypto investors their first taste of the digital convenience enjoyed by their eastern counterparts. On that same note, we believe this soon-to-grow realisation of the potential of super apps will likely trigger a broader interest in web3 projects building super app experiences. In other words, there’s a good chance we see an influx of western crypto investors paying attention to super app cryptos.
We reckon it’s therefore a good time to start paying attention to super app cryptos. That said, similar to the web2 landscape, most crypto projects building super app experiences have predominantly been from the East. In fact, the most recognizable pair within this narrative has been Telegram and its TON blockchain.
While TON currently sits at a massive $8B market cap, there’s another project that has just as much potential, despite the relatively smaller total addressable market. We’re talking about the layer 1 blockchain KAIA and its ties to KakaoTalk and Line. While the active userbase of KakaoTalk and Line together make up just 25% of Telegram’s userbase, we believe KAIA could pose as a viable rival to TON given the culture of the regions in which they operate.
Notably, KakaoTalk is the most popular messaging app in South Korea, while Line is the most popular messaging app in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan. For context, these countries rank at the very top when it comes to the global grassroots adoption of crypto. Given the synergy between these applications and the consumer adoption of crypto, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that KAIA offers an asymmetric upside once certain growth catalysts align.
In our opinion, much of KAIA’s relative underperformance thus far can be attributed to a few factors. First, its lack of presence outside Asia. Unlike Telegram, much of KakaoTalk and Line’s presence is restricted to South Asian countries. If Base App triggers a broader interest in super app cryptos, we should see more investor interest for KAIA.
Second, despite its popularity in South Korea, the KAIA token is yet to be listed on Upbit, the region’s largest centralised exchange. In fact, until recently, even Bithumb did not list KAIA. We should see more capital flow to the token once it secures an Upbit listing.
Given South Korea’s recent push for Korean won-denominated stablecoin, a Kaia listing on Upbit is inevitable, especially since KakaoPay (Kakao’s fintech arm) has expressed clear intentions of participating in the KRW stablecoin issuance race. With Kaia set to naturally benefit from Kakao’s participation, the odds of Upbit continuing to not support KAIA fall considerably.
Third, the support for web3 functionality within KakaoTalk and Line is quite diminished when compared to Telegram. Unlike Telegram, which features a web3 wallet within its native app interface, both Line and Kakao don’t offer native support. To access web3 dapps on Line, users must first search for the ‘Dapp Portal’ messaging account and interact with it. Every mini-app you’d like to use needs to be added as a ‘friend.’
By creating additional steps, it makes discoverability hard and presents a barrier to entry for retail adoption of web3 within these apps. Not to mention, KakaoTalk is yet to integrate a mini-app portal for Kaia apps. But, once both apps integrate a built-in Kaia wallet and create better discoverability for Kaia apps, we could see Kaia adoption jump leagues ahead.
Nevertheless, with these regions becoming increasingly friendly to crypto, the resolution of these issues is just beyond the horizon. It’s safe to say, Kaia’s potential at this moment may be the best it has ever been.
You’ve been warned.
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🔮 Video Pipeline 🔮
* Roman Storm: The trial of Tornado Cash developer - what you need to know!
* Wintermute Report: Their OTC trading data and what it means for you?
* Bitcoin Games: Earn free BTC! Is it worth it?
* Bitcoin & Ethereum ETFs: Which is best?
🏆 What's New at CoinBureau.com This Week? 🏆
* Fan Tokens Explained: Discover Their Role in the Digital Sports World
* Top Protocols for Bitcoin Staking and Restaking: A Comprehensive Overview
* Is Axiom Trade a Legitimate Trading Platform? Find Out Here!
* Best Platforms to Trade Pi Coin: A Review of Top Exchanges
* Learn Crypto Mining: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Courses
📖 Quote of the Week 📖
Last week, Bitcoin broke new all-time highs. This week, it looks like altcoin season could finally be upon us. Congratulations if you stuck around - the next few months are going to be epic!
“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” - Billie Jean King
Team Coin Bureau
Disclosure: Authors may own cryptoassets named in this newsletter. These are unqualified opinions, and a Coin Bureau newsletter, is meant for informational purposes only. It is not meant to serve as investment advice. Please consult with your investment, tax, or legal advisor.
The Coin Bureau Editorial Team are your dedicated guides through the dynamic world of cryptocurrency. With a passion for educating the masses on blockchain technology and a commitment to unbiased, shill-free content, we unravel the complexities of the industry through in-depth research. We aim to empower the crypto community with the knowledge needed to navigate the crypto landscape successfully and safely, equipping our community with the knowledge and understanding they need to navigate this new digital frontier.
