How memecoins impacted crypto last quarter: Grayscale

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So no one’s surprised that the first quarter of the year wasn’t exactly a stellar one, right? 

(If it makes you feel better, tech stocks also sank, according to Grayscale’s Research Insights.)

Overall, the crypto sector’s price index fell 18% during the quarter, which ended on March 21. 

Source: All charts from Grayscale

If you break it up by segments, “Consumer & Culture” had it bad. Some memecoins — like DOGE — were included in this segment, which helps explain the dramatic decline. 

A look at Solana active users

That’s also the case for smart contract…

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LATEST: Ripple Partners with Chipper Cash to Revolutionize Cross-Border Payments in Africa

Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with Chipper Cash to enhance cross-border payments into Africa. By leveraging Ripple’s crypto-enabled payments solution, Chipper Cash will provide faster and cheaper transfers to its five million customers across nine African countries. This partnership aims to reduce the time and cost involved in transferring funds into Africa.

The integration of Ripple’s technology will allow consumers to receive payments globally 24/7 and drive economic growth throughout the continent. With blockchain technology at the core of this collaboration, businesses and individuals will benefit from seamless transactions and financial inclusion.

Ripple’s global payments network continues to expand across Africa, providing simple and secure services that help financial institutions tokenize and move digital assets. As the market for cross-border payments grows Ripple’s presence in Africa reflects the increasing demand for efficient and innovative solutions in global finance.

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Hyperliquid liquidation contributes to market uncertainty

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For a moment there, it really looked like Solana prices might hold. We saw a strong weekend rally, with SOL tapping $146 on Monday — its highest since the local top in early March, for what it’s worth — before retreating slightly on Tuesday.

But as of this afternoon, the price has fallen sharply to $137.

I think it’s fair to speculate that this drop was triggered (at least partially) by one of the year’s more chaotic memecoin events. It began when a trader opened a massive $6 million short position on JELLYJELLY — a thinly-traded token tied to the Jelly-My-Jelly video app,…

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