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First Mover Americas: BRC-20 Tokens Skyrocket
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for May 2, 2023.
Updated May 2, 2023, 2:54 p.m. Published May 2, 2023, 12:42 p.m.
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This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
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Interest in "Bitcoin Request for Comment," or BRC-20, tokens built with Ordinals and stored on the Bitcoin base chain has skyrocketed, lifting their market value by several hundred percent. As of writing, the combined market cap of more than 8,800 BRC-20 tokens was $137 million, a staggering 682% rise from $17.5 million seen a week ago, according to data tracked by Ordspace. A pseudonymous on-chain analyst named Domo created the BRC-20 token standard in early March to facilitate the issue and transfer of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The experimental invention came weeks after Ordinals Protocol went live, allowing users to inscribe digital art references into small transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.The BRC-20 standard sounds like the popular ERC-20 standard, but the two are different, with the former lacking the ability to interact with smart contracts.
Crypto lender Celsius Network is seeking to mingle its U.K. and U.S. entities as court filings allege the distinction between the two was a “sham.” The bankrupt crypto firm is the latest to face allegations of poor record-keeping in its corporate structure, in a court fight which is pitting its customers against Series B investors. In 2021, the firm – whose Celsius Network Limited arm had been warned to cease U.K. operations by that country's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – set up a limited liability company (LLC) in Delaware and sought to transfer assets through a series of financial transactions.
Tron founder Justin Sun on Monday said that he has arranged a full refund of a $56 million transfer to exchange platform Binance after a warning from the latter's CEO against a potential token grab of the new SUI token. After the substantial transfer made in trueUSD (TUSD) got flagged by Whale Alert early Monday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to say his platform has warned Sun it will take action if he used any of the funds to buy up large amounts of SUI tokens from Binance's Launchpool. "Binance LaunchPool are meant as air drops for our retail users, not just for a few whales," Zhao said. The SUI token drop, the native token of layer1 blockchain Sui, is set to take place once the mainnet goes live on May 3. On Sunday, Binance announced the SUI token will be available via its Launchpool, which allows users to stake their crypto assets to provide funds into a liquidity pool and get rewards in return.
Chart of the Day
- The chart shows the net inflow of ether into centralized exchanges going back to November.
- On Monday, exchanges registered a net inflow of more than 285,000 ETH, the biggest single-day tally since Dec. 9.
- Exchange inflows are often equated with investor intention to sell or use coins as a margin in derivatives trading.
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Why 98% of gold investors don't actually own a gold bar—and why that’s a problem
Aurelion has shifted to Tether Gold (XAUT), a blockchain-based token backed by physical gold, to address potential market vulnerabilities in the "paper gold" market.
What to know:
- Björn Schmidtke, CEO of Aurelion, warned of risks in "paper gold," with 98% of gold exposure being essentially IOUs rather than physical assets.
- Aurelion has shifted to Tether Gold (XAUT), a blockchain-based token backed by physical gold, to address potential market vulnerabilities.
- The company sees gold and bitcoin as complementary assets, focusing on long-term value through digital gold tokens.
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