Charting the Q1 market chaos

Insights.
Our Data Debrief and Deep Dive insights are published twice a week and you can subscribe to them here.

ETF
14/04/2025 Data Debrief
XRP's Liquidity Race As Crypto ETFs Deadlines Loom.Markets declined Friday after China announced 125% tariffs on U.S. goods starting April 12, following the U.S. president’s selective 90-day tariff pause that excluded China. Ripple acquired Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, while Bin...
Macro
07/04/2025 Data Debrief
Liberation Day Frees Investors From Election Gains.The markets are still digesting last week’s sweeping tariff announcements. Meanwhile, USDC issuer Ci...
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamDEX
31/03/2025 Data Debrief
DeFi faces new test as low-liquidity token gets manipulatedBitcoin fell alongside equities as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data and weak sentiment indic...
Written by The Kaiko Research Team
Ethereum
11/04/2023 Data Debrief
ETH Markets Lag BTC Ahead of UpgradeBTC hit $30k for the first time since June 2022. Also, peer-to-peer exchange Paxful announced that it would be suspending operations, U.S. job openings hit a two-year low, and the U.S. Treasury released a report on illicit finance risks in DeFi.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamLiquidity
06/04/2023 Deep Dive
Q1 Liquidity Ranking For Crypto AssetsThis week we are providing a Q1 update to our Liquidity Ranking Model for Crypto Assets, highlighting the winners and losers along the way.
Written by Conor Ryder, CFABinance
03/04/2023 Data Debrief
Binance Market Share Tumbles 16%Bitcoin closed the week slightly up despite a major CFTC lawsuit against Binance and news that the U.S. government had sold 9,861 BTC connected to Silk Road (with plans to sell more).
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamBinance
30/03/2023 Deep Dive
CFTC v. Binance: The Data Behind the SuitThe centralized exchange space has experienced two major shocks in the past two weeks, first with Binance ending zero-fee trading for most BTC pairs, then with the CFTC alleging Binance has violated U.S. federal laws.
Written by Riyad CareyCEX
27/03/2023 Data Debrief
Binance Volume Plummets After End of Zero-Fee TradingBitcoin continues to trade at 9-month highs after the Fed hiked rates by a quarter percentage point, suggesting increases are nearing an end. Crypto markets largely ignored news that Coinbase was served a Wells notice, the SEC charged Justin Sun with market manipulation, and Sushi received a subpoena from the SEC.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamLiquidity
23/03/2023 Deep Dive
The State of Liquidity in Crypto MarketsLiquidity is all the talk in financial markets at present, and crypto has seen its fair share of liquidity incidents this month. We explore market depth, spreads, slippage and volumes to bring you up to date with all things crypto liquidity.
Written by Conor Ryder, CFACEX
20/03/2023 Data Debrief
Trade Volume Soars As BTC Crosses 28kBitcoin is on an absolute tear, currently trading at 9-month highs and up 30% in the past seven days. The rally kicked off after the USDC turmoil subsided, and continued throughout the week despite ongoing stress in the banking sector and uncertainty around this week’s Fed meeting.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamDeFi
16/03/2023 Deep Dive
USDC's Depeg or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust the BotsWhat happened with USDC?
Written by Riyad CareyStablecoin
13/03/2023 Data Debrief
The Aftermath: What Happened to USDCToday, the Kaiko Research team presents a post-mortem of the mass chaos crypto markets experienced amid SVB’s collapse.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamLiquidity
09/03/2023 Deep Dive
The Scramble for Silvergate AlternativesLast night, Silvergate decided to voluntarily liquidate, leaving the crypto industry scrambling for banking alternatives. Today, we explore the implications of Silvergate’s collapse on cryptocurrency markets and the viability of alternative fiat on-ramps for institutions and exchanges.
Written by Conor Ryder, CFACEX
06/03/2023 Data Debrief
The Future of Fiat On-RampsMarkets are steady to start the week after a volatile Friday in reaction to the closure of SEN, Silvergate’s instant payment network.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamCurve
02/03/2023 Deep Dive
Whales vs. Retail: Who's Using Curve?This week we explore a pillar of the DeFi ecosystem: Curve Finance.
Written by Riyad CareyLiquidity
23/02/2023 Deep Dive
A Crypto Friendly Asia: What It Will Mean For MarketsThis week, reports emerged that Hong Kong could soon enable retail investors to trade certain cryptocurrencies. Will Asia lead the next bull run as US regulators continue to clamp down? What will this mean for Asia-based crypto projects and exchanges? How do indices play a role? We dive into the narrative and explore its ramifications.
Written by Conor Ryder, CFADeFi
20/02/2023 Data Debrief
BLUR’s Big DebutCrypto markets continued to soar despite another week packed with regulatory punches. Last week, the SEC formally charged Terra founder Do Kwon, alleging a “multi-billion dollar fraud” against investors in the UST stablecoin and LUNA.
Written by The Kaiko Research TeamLiquidity
09/02/2023 Deep Dive
How to Spot Artificial VolumeOften times investors are left scratching their heads when they see a small exchange high up the volume ranking on certain websites. The assumption is that some, or a significant amount of these volumes figures are artificially inflated by wash-trading on that exchange. This week, we present a framework that can be used to spot cases of wash-trading, pointing out potential examples of our own on the way.
Written by Conor Ryder, CFA
