The month of June witnessed an intriguing turn of events, as BlackRock’s application to launch a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) caused quite a stir in the crypto industry. Leveraging its potential, Bitcoin’s price rallied from a low mid-June to close the month with a solid +12%. The move served as a beacon, heralding the rise of institutional investment in the crypto sphere.
While such an ETF greenlight and subsequent rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve could serve as catalysts for another bull run, not every sector reacted in the same manner to this bullish news. For instance, while stocks related to cryptocurrency, primarily mining ventures, immediately benefited, sectors traditionally inclined towards altcoin activity like decentralized finance (DeFi) persevered in a bearish market unbothered.
Layer-2 scaling solutions for Ethereum are widely examined as big winners for the impending bull season. As space becomes increasingly crowded, emerging technologies like Zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup technology, which condenses transaction batches and smart contract executions, could take the lead.
In the race for dominance, ZK protocols like zkSync, zkEVM, and Starknet have all been vying for space in recent headlines. While zkEVM recorded a 71% growth in terms of total value locked (TVL), the reigning champion continues to be zkSync with a TVL of $120 million. Striking partnerships with reputable DeFi protocols like QuickSwap and Balancer have contributed to zkEVM’s noticeable ascendency.
Notably, the security tokens market continued to march along, apparently unaffected by the ETF filings that jolted the rest of the industry. From the start of 2021, security tokens’ market cap saw a jump from $14.93 billion to $16.76 billion. This sector of the crypto industry, proliferated with tokenized securities, remains controversial, albeit with banks predicting billions being channeled to future blockchains.
The potential risks and opportunities of the evolving crypto landscape have stirred consequential discussions within community members, and as we journey farther into this promising sector, it’s critical to balance optimism with informed caution. As new trends and technologies emerge, the crypto industry is poised to offer an ever-expanding realm of possibilities – making this an exciting space to watch as we move forward.
Source: Cointelegraph
