đź’¬ SumCap Digest

The foundational sectors of the crypto ecosystem are broadly established and the necessary infrastructure is rapidly advancing. The current primitives and protocols are ripe for combination and future building through leveraging and integrating what they enable to extend crypto demand through more impactful applications, enhanced user experience, lower transaction fees, interoperable cross-chain experiences, and empowering people across the world with access and ownership they rightfully deserve.

Peak euphoria provides the opportunity for the world to dream about the future. Rock-bottom despair forces practicality and clarity.

While it’s impossible to predict the future, past crypto cycles give us some sense of what to be ready for. They can help us imagine the potential aftermath of this latest wave of euphoria. And they serve as a reminder that bouts of uncertainty and volatility are to be expected given the scale of the opportunity for crypto: a technology that could transform not just money, but the financial system and the internet broadly.

Embrace the opportunity.


đź“ś I. This Month in DeFi Land

Total Crypto Market Cap: $1.37T (-23.03%)

DeFi TVL: $107.55B (-46.19%)

Stablecoins: $155.5B (-14.35%)

🦅 FED Hawkish behaviour

Recent moves by the Federal Reserve have stoked fears of a policy error that could alternately lead to slowed growth or untamed inflation. Central bank policy is the critical headwind for markets and while recessionary risks are starting to appear, the FED remains committed - in other words, “Don’t fight the FED”.

The FED & FOMC make decisions regarding interest rates and assets purchases - known as Quantitative Easing (QE) and Quantitative Tightening (QT) - to maintain, in theory, an ordered economic growth, prosperity, stability and employment. By not “fighting” the FED means that your investments should be aligned with the monetary policies that the Federal Reserve devises.

So how do interest rates affect the overall economy? Generally, raising rates makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow money and conversely, lowering rates makes it less expensive for businesses to borrow capital. With inflation reaching a staggering 40y high of 8.5% p.a in March, the FED is forced to raise interest rates that will inevitably have the following outlook: