Banana Capital

🗓 Banana Capital: Web3 Market Report for Q3 2024 Geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties in the third quarter of 2024 are putting significant pressure on the market. However, monetary easing and a 0.5 basis point cut in the benchmark interest rate by the US Federal Reserve (FED) has historically preceded dollar weakness and stimulated global economic recovery. You can read more about the future of financial markets, our expectations on their dynamics, and the most important news #Web3 in this article: 🖥 Full Report: https://lnkd.in/gJzhNAdf We are pleased to share the results of our hedge fund for the third quarter of 2024. Overall returns in Q3: 1️⃣ Providing Liquidity in DeFi Protocols Strategy: 5,32%. 2️⃣ Stock Market Arbitrage Strategy: 10,54%. For more detailed information about our strategies, please contact our manager: hello@bananacapital.fund

💰 Top Web3 Trends for Venture Capital The current bull market has seen a decline in #venture capital activity compared to previous cycles. The main problem is a lack of innovation in business models and a shortage of promising new projects. Nevertheless, venture capitalists have invested more than $11 billion in #crypto projects since the beginning of the year. The largest #investments were made in October – $2.46 billion. By analyzing recent venture #capital investments, we can draw conclusions about which areas will be of interest to investors shortly and which projects to watch. Our analyst department reviewed the investments of ten well-known #funds such as a16z, Multicoin Capital, Polychain Capital, Paradigm, Delphi Digital, Binance Labs, Blockchain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, and HashKey Capital last summer and analyzed which #Web3 sectors they invest in the most. ✔️ General statistics: • Infrastructure: 17 • Blockchain Service: 12 • Decentralized Finance (DeFi): 11 • Gaming: 9 • Artificial intelligence: 4 • Layer 1: 4 • Social: 4 • Stablecoin: 3 • Liquid Staking: 3 • Lending protocol: 3 • Layer 2: 3 • Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN): 1 • Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO): 1 • Healthcare: 1 • Wallet: 1 Infrastructure projects, blockchain services, #DeFi, and Web3 gaming attracted the most interest from top funds, indicating the prospects for these sectors. ➡️ For more detailed statistics and to see which projects the most popular venture capital funds have invested in, check out our new article: https://lnkd.in/d7TvW7SS

💼 Portfolio Overview: Ditto Network This week, Banana Capital made a seed-stage #investment in the Ditto Network. Ditto Network – a platform for automating the execution of #blockchain transactions, allowing you to set conditions for their activation. Transactions are automatically executed when the set parameters, such as asset price, time, or other indicators, are reached. The project simplifies the task of safely and securely executing pending transactions by providing several key tools: 1️⃣ Ditto SDK is a software development toolkit that allows you to integrate smart contract modules into any system. 2️⃣ Ditto Execution Layer is a high-tech engine that manages transactions like an experienced manager, organizing each step without error. 3️⃣ Ditto BUILD is a constructor that allows you to create complex workflows as if you were building a complex model according to clear instructions. 4️⃣ Ditto AVS is a technology based on the Eigenlayer protocol that builds trust in the network by providing collaborative security. The use of ZK–proofs technology and penalty mechanisms further enhances security by providing action verification and objective dispute resolution. With ZK–proofs technology, a single computer can confirm that multiple computers have run a program correctly. Ditto eliminates many existing problems by allowing you to connect to any application and automate any blockchain workflow. P.S. The amount of the #investment and the participants in the round have not yet been disclosed.

📈 Stock Indices VS Cryptocurrencies: Growth Leaders in 2024 Despite a challenging global macroeconomic environment, geopolitical uncertainty, and inflationary pressures, equity, and #cryptocurrency markets have demonstrated high volatility and sustained #growth since the beginning of 2024. ✔️ Since the beginning of the year, the S&P 500 Index, which tracks the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies by market #capitalization, has risen 25.4% to 6,030 pts. The rally was driven by strong earnings reports from tech giants (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and others), a robust U.S. economy, and the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates in the second half of the year. ✔️ The NASDAQ Composite Technology Index posted even more impressive gains, rising 26.3% YTD to 20,620 pts. Developments in #artificial intelligence, cloud #technology, and #cybersecurity have served as major growth drivers. Nvidia ($NVDA) stock is the undisputed leader. It is up 184% YTD and, at one point, overtook Apple ($APPL) in terms of market cap. ✔️ The Dow Jones Industrial Average #index is rising at a more modest pace, up 16% YTD to 44,484 pts. The performance of the Healthcare, Industrials and Financials sectors drives growth. The Dow Jones is less exposed to the technology sector than the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Shares of Walmart ($WMT) are up more than 60% and have contributed to the index's gains this year. ✔️ Since the beginning of the year, the primary cryptocurrency, Bitcoin ($BTC), has risen 94% to a price of $92,800 per $1BTC. The main drivers of digital gold's growth have been its recent halving (a double reduction of mining fees), the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., and growing institutional interest. ✔️ Ethereum ($ETH), the second most capitalized cryptocurrency, also showed significant growth, gaining almost 30% to a price of 4.095$ since the beginning of the year. The positive impact on the #price was due to the approval of spot ETFs on Ethereum and the Dencun update, which significantly reduced commissions in the ecosystem's networks. The outlook for #global economic growth is mixed. A recession in major #economies remains a risk, which could negatively impact equity markets. However, the technology sector, closely linked to cryptocurrencies, is showing resilience. Fighting inflation remains a key challenge for central banks. Although the peak of interest rate hikes is likely to have passed, rates are expected to remain high until 2025. This could restrain the growth of equity indices and cryptocurrencies.

💵 Digital Expansion of The Dollar: Stablecoins in The Global Economy Over the past few years, stablecoins have become an important part of the global #financial ecosystem. Since the emergence of the first #stablecoin, BitUSD, in 2014, their total capitalization has exceeded $170 billion, with more than 98% pegged to the US dollar. Currently, the stablecoin #market is controlled by two major players, Tether ($USDT) and Circle ($USDC), which hold 75% and 22% of the market, respectively. There are more than 150 million active unique #cryptocurrency #wallets with a non-zero stablecoin balance. In the first half of 2024, the number of #transactions using stablecoins reached 2.6 trillion, exceeding the #volume of transactions conducted through traditional #payment networks such as Visa. Main uses: ✔️ Cryptocurrency and #NFT #trading. ✔️ Saving funds in US Dollars. ✔️ Cost-effective currency conversion. ✔️ Generate income through #decentralized financial platforms (#DeFi). ✔️ Payment for goods and services. ✔️ International #transfers. Stablecoins offer advantages over traditional payment systems, including fast settlement speeds, self-depositing, transparency, and robust auditing mechanisms. 🟠 The stablecoin ecosystem is going through an important phase. A growing number of individuals and businesses, especially in emerging markets, use stablecoins for savings, cross-border payments, and corporate #liquidity management, confirming their stable place in the modern financial system.

❔Trump is Coming Back: What Changes Await The Financial World? Following Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election on November 6, the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 stock indexes and Bitcoin hit new all-time highs. $BTC reached $75 thousand on election day and is trading above $90 thousand. In parallel, there is a record demand from institutional players on the dynamics of inflows into BTC ETFs – $1.36 billion on November 7. During the campaign, Donald Trump promised several major policies that could affect the U.S. and global economies. Key rhetoric: ✔️ Taxes. Trump has said he will cut the corporate tax rate for companies that manufacture in the US from the current 21% to 15%. ✔️ Support for cryptocurrencies. Donald Trump has emphasized the importance of digital assets in every speech and his intention to make America the crypto capital of the world. ✔️ Weakening regulation. Trump has promised to send the head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, to resign. ✔️ Creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. A national strategic reserve of $BTC will be created. ✔️ Counter the digital dollar. The development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be halted. The U.S. economy strongly influences the global economy due to its size: the U.S. accounts for more than 1/4 of the global GDP. 🟠 We asked our Executive Director, Vlad Alexandrov, to comment on the new president's reforms and share his vision for the future of financial markets: The U.S. stock market, and with it the crypto sector, is optimistic about the prospects of Trump's first decisions: Trump has the image of an enterprising billionaire who will support U.S. companies with words and money. The transition to a soft monetary policy will weaken the dollar and, at the same time, provide the markets with a breath of fresh air in the form of liquidity. In practice, however, I think this thesis is questionable: Trump as president has no direct influence on the Fed's decisions. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell can only be fired by a court order. All interest rate decisions are made by not one but 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee. Simply put, the system of checks and balances at the Fed is effective, and Trump's thesis is largely populist. 

💛 Banana Capital at The Binance Blockchain Week Dubai 2024 Our founder, Dinar Fastkhutdinov, attended one of the most popular #Web3 conferences – Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, UAE. Many Web3 market leaders gathered at the event to share their experiences and discuss the industry's future. One of the main guests of the event was the founder of the largest #cryptocurrency exchange Binance – Changpeng Zhao (CZ). ✔️ The main topics of his presentation are: – How did he get tried, and what happened to him in U.S. Prison? – Crypto market outlook for 2025. – His plans and the creation of a new project. CZ (Changpeng Zhao) is one of the most influential leaders in the #Web3 industry. His visions and insights often become reality.

💎 The Future of Finance and Insurance Technology Lies Behind DeFi The #RWA sector has become one of the key #trends in 2024. Growing interest from large international #banks and #fintech companies is stimulating the active growth of this sector's #ecosystem. ✔️ One of the world's four largest asset #management companies, Fidelity Investments, is about to launch its tokenized #fund. ✔️ Visa, one of the largest electronic #payment companies, has announced the launch of the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), a platform for tokenized assets on the Ethereum #blockchain. ✔️ BlackRock and Securitize are creating a tokenized fund, which we've detailed in previous posts. As well as many other companies that are primarily interested in #RWA lending protocols. Lending protocols provide a way to borrow funds in #cryptocurrency using real assets as collateral or #credit assessment. Insurance companies also seek to diversify the risks they hold and use the process of reinsurance. This is a way of transferring someone's insurance company's financial risks to another. The #Web3 space for #financial giants is more than $1 trillion of alternative #capital where insurance companies can transfer their business risks for higher returns and diversification.

⚙️ Modernization of DeFi's Liquidity Provision Strategy We are proud to announce the completion of our new smart #contract. It is currently undergoing the final internal audits and stress tests, but will be launched into our DeFi’s liquidity provision #protocol strategy next week. We have achieved significant improvements: the new contract reduces commission costs by 2.5 times and optimizes asset #exchange costs for position placement. These changes significantly increase the overall profitability of our #strategy. Key improvements: ✔️ Return of funds from the #liquidity pool. ✔️ Automatic calculation of the return on a new liquidity pool. ✔️ Efficient #asset swaps based on new algorithms. ✔️ Immediate placement of liquidity in the new liquidity pool. All of these processes take place within a single #blockchain and a single transaction, increasing the speed of the strategy to 0.5 seconds! Despite challenging #market conditions and geopolitical uncertainty, our strategies continue to show positive momentum thanks to our unique hedging #technology. We are moving forward with confidence and optimism! For more information about the strategy, DM us!

📈 Layer 1 Networks: Key Trends and Metrics #Cryptocurrency is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors in the #financial world. Since the beginning of 2024, many developments have impacted the #Web3 market. The most significant changes have affected the Layer1 networks. The changes at the top of Total Value Locked (#TVL) and growth catalysts are discussed below. ✔️ The dominance of $BTC in Layer1 networks has grown steadily. At the beginning of 2024, bitcoin accounted for 60% of the total capitalization of Layer1 networks, and by the end of the 3rd quarter, its share exceeded 66%. ✔️ Trending mini-apps in Telegram Messenger contributed to the rapid growth of the $TON network. The number of active users on the TON network has increased from 0.39% at the beginning of the year to 7.31%. The TON network's dominance has also increased from 0.81% to 1.45%, making it the fifth largest Layer1 network. ✔️ The hype around #memetokens and the unique solution of the Fun.Pump project, which allows you to create your meme token in a few clicks, has allowed the Solana network to grow rapidly. The network has added almost 80 million new active users, and Solana currently accounts for 56% of the top–20 Layer1 networks. Understanding on-chain metrics is an important part of analyzing the #cryptocurrency market. They allow you to assess the network's health, understand participants' behavior, and determine whether an asset is overvalued or undervalued. 🟠 For a more detailed breakdown of on-chain metrics for Layer 1 networks, you can check the full article: https://lnkd.in/dcZhkpwW