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Trump’s Token Flops, Solana Soars, and $500M Token Unlocks

PLUS: Market Performance, Memecoin Resurgence, and SUI’s Hidden Gem!

Castle Labs7 min read
Trump’s Token Flops, Solana Soars, and $500M Token Unlocks

Gm, Castle fam! 👑

The crypto world never sleeps, and this week has been wild. Meme coins are pumping, SUI is climbing the ranks, and Trump’s $WLF token isn’t exactly making headlines for the right reasons (ouch).

Grab your coffee, and let’s dive into this week’s rundown, where we’ll find out what’s hot and what’s not. 🏃‍♂️💨


💧 SUI-EET YIELDS

As SUI has gained mindshare in the last few months trading volumes have seen a marked increase across native DEXes. One such is Aftermath Finance, dubbed "The Jupiter of SUI". Aftermath gives users the best swap rates SUI offers through their DEX aggregator and native pools, and it additionally offers a whole suite of products from LPing in Index pools to LSTs. August vs September saw a notable jump in trading volumes, averaging $1-2m of daily volume in August to $4-6m through September and October. To ensure the long-term stability and health of the network, Aftermath also runs a validator on the SUI network, staking just shy of 140m tokens on behalf of its users.

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For the DeFi natives, their Earn product allows LPs to earn healthy APRs on their SUI and stables with boosted APRs available for staked LP tokens.

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Currently, Aftermath has no token, so how can you gain exposure to the largest aggregator and DeFi suite on SUI? Back in February 2024, there was a limit run mint of 10k Egg NFTs, but little information since on their purpose. The speculator would say these could very likely play a role in any upcoming airdrops. Though the mint is now sold out, it is possible to purchase through secondary sales from Tradeport. If indeed SUI is here to stay, Aftermath Finance is likely to play a leading role in its future.

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Courtesy of Snipermonke - Bot Connoisseur


📈 PRICE ACTION

Gm frens!

No significant price developments this week. BTC is still stuck in a range that I anticipate to be either a re-accumulation (green scenario) or distribution (red scenario).

Although BTC is showing some strength right now within the range itself I wouldn’t touch it.

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What we can say:

  • HTF bullish market

  • Trending above 50 EMA

  • Consolidating around previous ATH

  • Expectation is bullish

While I wouldn’t necessarily trade any other cryptos right now due to BTC being stuck in a consolidation, some outperformers could be worth trading. One of them is SUI. Let’s take a look at the SUI chart because it’s a beautiful representation of a healthy uptrend

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What’s can we say about SUI:

  • Accumulation (green box)

  • Expansion out of accumulation

  • Price supported by 10/20 EMA

Often how we see strong trends develop is by having impulsive moves that pull back to the rising 10/20 EMA where they get bought back up (green dots).

Every now and then we’ll see a flush-out to the 50 EMA where we want to see accumulation play out on lower timeframes.

Once BTC starts trending up again we’ll want to get involved in markets that look like this.

But until that happens - Trade responsibly and I’ll see y’all next time!

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Courtesy of 0x_Vlad - trend-based trader and MentFX student


🔍️ MARKET WATCH

Project Updates:

  • Oct 14: PUFFER - Primary listing

  • Oct 14: Uniswap ($UNI) - Foundation roadmap dive

  • Oct 14: Litentry ($LIT) - TON Mini App Launch

  • Oct 15: WLFI - Token sale

  • Oct 15: Avalanche ($AVAX) - Summit & Off The Grid game

  • Oct 15: DEAI ($DEAI) - Cypher blockchain testnet

  • Oct 15: MESSIER ($M87) - Adastra Launch

  • Oct 15: DUSK - Mainnet launch

  • Oct 16: Frax Share ($FXS) - frxETH V2 launch

  • Oct 16: Immutable X ($IMX) - Frostmire Expansion

  • Oct 16: Guild of Guardians ($GOG) - Frostmire Launch

  • Oct 16: HashAI - Node Rental Service Launch

  • Oct 16: Guild of Guardians ($GOG) - New Game Character Release

  • Oct 17: DBR - Token release

  • Oct 21: GRASS - Airdrop checker

  • Oct 21: TAP - Token release

  • Oct 21: SCR - Token release

  • Oct 21: Equilibria ($XEQ) - bXEQ Token launch on BSC

Token Unlocks:

This week, about $500 million worth of crypto tokens will become available to trade.

This includes:

  • WorldCoin: $85 million

  • Arbitrum: $51 million

  • Eigen: $40 million

  • Axie Infinity: $43 million

  • Taiko: $18 million (15% of all their tokens)

Many of these tokens will go to project teams and early backers. This could affect prices, so traders should stay alert.

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Despite $500m unlocks, most tokens showed resilience with positive cumulative returns over the week. ADA and WLD emerged as top performers, both gaining over 30%. There's significant variation in performance, with APE and FIL struggling in contrast.

High volatility was evident across many tokens, likely due to speculation around the upcoming unlocks. Overall, the market appears to have largely priced in the expected supply increases, with most tokens maintaining positive momentum leading up to their unlock events.

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Sector Performance Overview:

The week saw positive returns across most sectors, with Solana leading the pack. For the first time in recent weeks, multiple sectors experienced significant gains, potentially signalling a shift in market sentiment.

The leading sector this week was Solana, finishing with an impressive 7.32% return. Megaprotocol followed closely behind with a 5.69% gain, while the Meme and Seed sectors also performed well, posting returns of 4.46% and 3.30% respectively.

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Among individual tokens, BOME emerged as the top performer with a remarkable 31.35% return. SPELL and ENA also showed strong performance, with gains of 23.86% and 22.08% respectively. Other notable performers in the top 10 included SAGA (+18.98%), TIA (+17.37%), and WLD (+14.74%).

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Memecoin Hype:

The memecoin market is experiencing a notable resurgence. PumpFun, for instance, has maintained a 12-day streak of over $900,000 in daily revenue, signaling a renewed interest in this sector.

Among the top 100 coins by market cap, 10 are now meme-related tokens, showcasing their growing influence and popularity.

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PumpFun's performance has been particularly noteworthy, generating over $120 million in revenue since its launch 10 months ago. This indicates sustained interest in the memecoin market segment.

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According to Kaito AI's analysis, the memecoin market share is reaching yearly highs. This trend persists even as established memecoins like Dogecoin and Pepe experience a plateau, suggesting a broader interest in the sector.

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The meme coin market is experiencing a significant resurgence, demonstrating resilience and continued potential for substantial revenue generation

Trump's New Crypto Token Not Doing So Well:

Trump's new token $WLF has raised only $10M in the first 12 hours since its announcement. This can be compared to some Solana presales that raised larger amounts in a similar timeframe earlier this year.

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Notable Onchain movements:

In notable on-chain moves this week so far:

  • Justin Sun dumped his whole PUFFER airdrop (3.97M tokens) into HTX.

  • Ethereum Foundation did their usual small ETH sell-off. Just 100 ETH this time.

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  • FTX/Alameda unstaked a chunk of SOL again. 178k tokens heading to exchanges probably.

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Click for solscan

Polymarket's Trump's chances of being elected president rise to 60.1%, a record high

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According to data from the forecasting website Polymarket, the probability of Trump being elected as U.S. president in 2024 is currently estimated at 60.1%, while Vice President Harris's probability stands at 39.3%.

Keep an eye on Politifi memecoins!

That's all for this week.

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Courtesy of @MarketsAlpha - Telegram channel for sharing crypto market research and Intel Alpha


🔑 KEY NEWS

MAJOR HEADLINES

  • U.S. CPI: +2.4% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +2.3%)

    U.S. CORE CPI: +3.3% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +3.2%)

  • Zach exposed Murad's wallets

  • FBI created their own memecoin (NexFundAI)

  • SEC Charges Three So-Called Market Makers and Nine Individuals for Manipulation

  • SEC filed complaint against Cumberland and Cumberland responded

  • UAE's Central Bank has approved the launch of an AED stablecoin

PROJECT UPDATES

  • Duo Exchange DETH depeg due to 15k ETH phishing attack

  • Morpho Labs PAXG/USDC market oracle exploited

  • Karate Combat plans to launch L2

  • Puffer Finance token and airdrop launched while World Liberty Fi’s IDO went live

  • Uniswap announces UniChain

  • Arkham Intel planning to launch derivatives exchange next month

  • Avalanche Foundation to repurchase AVAX sold to Luna Foundation

  • Ethena Labs proposal to onboard SOL as USDe backing asset

  • Grass Foundation announced airdrop snapshot on 21 October

  • HyperFND introduces $HYPE

  • Sui Network addresses allegation of insider selling

  • Sonic Labs reveals whitepaper

INTERESTING NEW PROJECTS

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Courtesy of CJ - check out his telegram channel for daily news, project updates and new releases.

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That’s a wrap on another week of crypto madness! With $500M in token unlocks, meme coins on the rise, and BTC stuck in consolidation, it's clear that the markets are keeping us on our toes. Whether you're riding the wave of meme coin hype or patiently waiting for BTC to break ATH, make sure you stay informed and trade wisely.

See you next week for more alpha, market moves, and, of course, a healthy dose of fu


In our newsletter, we may discuss projects or tokens in which we hold positions. While we aim to provide informative content, our views are not financial advice. Please conduct your research and consult professionals before making investment decisions. Crypto markets are volatile, and past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Invest responsibly, and be aware of the risks. Your capital is at risk, and we do not accept liability for any losses.

Originally published in the Castle Labs newsletter. Subscribe at research.castlelabs.io.