Mar 17, 2025: Our weekly Institutional Insights explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

 explores the latest market developments — market performance, industry news, exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, trending topics, upcoming events and token unlocks — to help you supercharge your crypto trading.

Weekly highlight — consumer sentiment falls

US consumer sentiment has fallen to its lowest level in over two years, reflecting growing concerns about the economic impact of tariffs. According to data from the University of Michigan, the preliminary sentiment index for March 2025 dropped to 57.9 from 64.7 in February, the lowest level since November 2022. This decline was worse than expected by a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Inflation expectations surged, with consumers anticipating a 3.9% annual price increase over the next five to ten years, the highest rate over three decades. Additionally, consumers expect prices to rise by 4.9% over the next year from 4.3%, marking the steepest rise since 2022.

As US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies expand, consumers across the political spectrum increasingly worry that these extra duties will lead to higher costs. Despite recent inflation cooling, ongoing price pressures could lead households to reduce discretionary spending.

The survey also indicated a record low in consumer expectations regarding personal finances, with respondents estimating only a 48.7% chance of stock market gains in the coming year. Joanne Hsu, 

 the University of Michigan, emphasized that uncertainty surrounding economic policies complicates financial planning.

Some analysts warned that declining consumer confidence poses a significant threat to spending, as fears of an economic downturn may deter purchases of major items. Overall, the current conditions gauge and the expectations index fell to their lowest levels in several months, showcasing widespread consumer apprehension.

Weekly crypto highlight — Bitcoin see slight life in the past weekend

Bitcoin rebounded from a four-month low earlier this week alongside other risky assets recovering from recent market turmoil. Economic uncertainties driven by a wave of tariffs from President Trump and the threat of a government shutdown have led to significant sell-offs across various asset classes, including cryptocurrencies.

“As we conclude a week of widespread selling, markets are experiencing a relief rally from oversold conditions,” stated Ravi Doshi, Co-Head of Markets at FalconX. The avoidance of a US government funding shutdown has eased market uncertainty.

On Friday, Bitcoin rose by as much as 6.2%, reaching $85,301, while smaller digital assets surged even more: Solana gained over 9%, Chainlink increased by 13% and XRP rose nearly 8%. Earlier in the week, Bitcoin had dropped to around $77,000, a significant decline from its all-time high of $109,000 in January 2025.

This slump triggered record outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, and large liquidations in crypto derivatives markets. Crypto markets are bouncing back as macro-driven liquidations seem to be pausing. Analysts suggest that ongoing macroeconomic stability may support crypto prices.

Advanced

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Weekly Institutional Insights: Consumer sentiment falls as crypto recovers from 4-month low

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

The ongoing sell-off in risk-on assets has intensified bearish signals in derivatives markets for crypto assets. Funding rates indicate a demand for short exposure, futures prices are trading below spot prices and volatility smiles are showing a strong skew toward OTM puts as traders hedge against further declines. The at-the-money (ATM) volatility term structure has inverted again after a lack of clarity around Trump’s proposed strategic digital asset reserve caused short-dated volatility to fall briefly before last weekend.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Choppy spot price movements have had an impact on funding rates, with BTC and altcoin rates reacting primarily to spot fluctuations, rather than long-term market views. ETH has sold off more sharply during declines, and hasn’t participated as strongly in relief rallies, resulting in the worst YTD performance among the five tokens in Trump’s proposed digital asset stockpile. This is reflected in funding rates, with ETH perpetual swaps showing strong demand for leveraged short exposure to further downside risk.

Investors continue to protect against further decline

Despite higher realized volatility increasing both short- and long-tenor implied volatility, options trade volumes remain low. Last Friday’s expiration of significant open interest was mostly for downside protection against a deepening sell-off. However, the options market has reverted to an inverted term structure, which had dissipated during last Friday’s White House crypto summit, with strong relative demand for short-dated put contracts.

Open interest in Solana (SOL) options declined at the end of February, with over $5M in calls and more than $3M in puts expiring and most positions not rolled over. Despite SOL trading 44% below its January ATH, most new positions are in calls. However, this new positioning is disappointingly weak, given SOL's inclusion in Trump’s crypto reserve announcement alongside BTC, ETH, XRP and ADA.

Beginner

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Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report (Mar 14, 2025): Investors hedge further declines

BinaryX has rebranded to Four, uniting GameFi, IGOs, and MemeFi under one ecosystem. With BNX now FORM, Four continues to innovate in blockchain gaming."

Having launched in May 2021, BinaryX, which started out as a 

 (DeFi) platform, has continued to evolve and adapt to the rapidly changing blockchain landscape. However, in the spirit of adaptability and innovation, the platform switched to 

, focusing its attention on play-to-earn (P2E) games.

As a GameFi platform, BinaryX has also created an 

 (IGO) launchpad from which developers can launch GameFi projects.

Now, BinaryX has rebranded to Four in order to align with the mission of its 

 product, a launch platform for the meme coin ecosystem.

Let's learn more about BinaryX and the way it continues to shape the crypto market with innovative products and adaptable business models.

 hub for the development of GameFi projects, includes an IGO launchpad to facilitate developers in launching games. 

BinaryX began in 2021 as a decentralized derivative trading system that featured the use of 

. But in 2022, the BinaryX team gradually evolved its project into a GameFi platform in order to adapt to the increased demand for P2E games. Its aim is to make web3 games more accessible and approachable to the vast community of gamers.

BinaryX also developed an IGO launchpad to serve as a comprehensive hub for gaming developers to launch their GameFi projects, and for investors to receive early access to promising new play-to-earn games. Furthermore, the BinaryX team announced the incorporation of a 

 (DAO) into its GameFi ecosystem so that its community of token holders could participate in voting on governance matters.

In February 2025, BinaryX rebranded to Four in order to align with its latest product, Four.meme, which was launched in July 2024. Following the rebrand, its native token, BNX, would now become FORM to reflect the project's commitment to innovation and adaptability.

As one of the top web3 platforms on BNB Chain, BinaryX has continued to innovate and experiment with different business models to adapt to the blockchain landscape's fast-paced nature. To this end, BinaryX has the following diverse products under its wing.

BinaryX launched its Initial Game Offering (IGO) launchpad in May 2022 as a dedicated platform to support blockchain gaming projects. The launchpad helps game developers secure funding for decentralized video games. They also get a platform on which to build communities and accelerate their web3 game development.

By leveraging BinaryX’s expertise in GameFi and its existing user base, projects gain exposure to a vast community of crypto gamers. The platform offers early access to promising blockchain games, allowing investors to participate in token sales and 

 presales. BNX holders can use their tokens to vote for games' listings on the BinaryX platform, and they also receive rewards, such as game tokens and NFT 

Some notable games launched on the BinaryX IGO launchpad include 

. These games showcase BinaryX’s commitment to innovation in GameFi, integrating play-to-earn mechanics, NFTs and decentralized governance to help create immersive gaming ecosystems.

BinaryX's GameFi trading platform is a marketplace designed for seamlessly trading blockchain gaming assets, including NFTs, in-game tokens and virtual items. Launched to support the growing GameFi ecosystem, the platform enables gamers and investors to buy, sell, trade and auction assets from BinaryX-powered games in a secure and efficient manner.

 and DeFi principles, BinaryX ensures transparent transactions with minimal fees, and enhances liquidity for in-game assets while empowering players to maximize their earnings.

The BinaryX GameFi trading platform supports transactions involving 

In January 2022, BinaryX launched the BinaryX DAO, a first for a GameFi project, through which BNX token holders can participate in the project's community governance, determine airdrop and dividend ratios, and submit proposals on how to improve the BinaryX ecosystem.

Case in point: BinaryX's community participated in voting for/against the platform's rebranding to Four during a community vote that was held from Sep 21–23, 2024.

The BinaryX Treasury serves as the financial backbone of the BinaryX ecosystem, supporting the development and sustainability of its GameFi projects. Some sources of assets used to fund the treasury include initial capital injection by the BNX team, income from gaming activities, income from the IGO launchpad and profit from external investment.

Profits in the BinaryX Treasury are used to reward BNX stakers, incentivize BinaryX sidechain node providers and finance strategic investments in third-party projects.

BNX is the native token for the BinaryX platform. Its original maximum supply of 2.1 billion tokens was adjusted to 580 million after a community vote in late July 2024.

Distribution of the 580 million BNX tokens is as follows:

Following BinaryX's rebranding to Four, BNX will change to FORM, and holders will be allowed to exchange to the new token at a ratio of 1:1 (details to follow at a later date).

BinaryX has integrated a multi-token model. Apart from BNX, the other two tokens associated with the platform are as follows:

BinaryX officially rebranded to Four on Feb 21, 2025, following an overwhelming vote via its DAO, marking a significant transformation in its vision for GameFi and DeFi innovation. This shift comes with a revamped website, which will serve as a hub for the GameFi platform, IGO launchpad and Four.meme, a new addition to Four’s expanding ecosystem.

Following the rebranding, a 1:1 token migration from BNX to FORM is necessary in order to enhance the token's identity and align with the project's new direction. FORM remains on the BNB Chain, ensuring smooth compatibility with existing infrastructure.

 (CEXs) won’t need to do anything — the token swap to FORM will take place automatically. BinaryX will liaise with these exchanges to switch from the BNX contract address to the one for FORM.

 (DEXs), cold wallets and self-custody wallets will need to carry out a manual token swap based on a converter provided by BinaryX. To carry out this token swap, you’ll need to do the following:

 landing page (link will be provided at a later date).

4. Sign to authenticate your transaction to receive the FORM tokens.

5. Add the new FORM contract address into your wallet to see the new tokens.

You can buy BNX as a USDT Perpetual contract (

) on the Bybit trading platform. However, the BNXUSDT contract will be delisted on Mar 17, 2025, 9AM UTC, so make sure to close your open positions and cancel your active orders for BNXUSDT as soon as possible.

Over the years, BinaryX has consistently demonstrated strong performance. The rebranding of BinaryX to Four marks a bold step forward in its mission to impact the web3 space. This transformation reflects the project’s commitment to expanding its ecosystem, enhancing token identity and integrating innovative elements, such as Four.meme, alongside its GameFi platform and IGO launchpad.

By adapting to the evolving crypto landscape, Four is positioning itself as a comprehensive hub for web3 and gaming enthusiasts so that it can offer a seamless experience for gamers, investors and meme culture participants. The introduction of the FORM token ensures a more cohesive and recognizable branding, reinforcing Four’s long-term vision. Thanks to the smooth migration process from BNX to FORM, users can continue participating in the ecosystem while benefiting from enhanced liquidity and utility.

Four remains dedicated to GameFi innovation, supporting successful blockchain games such as 

, all of which feature play-to-earn mechanics, NFTs and decentralized governance. The revamped platform is designed to foster a dynamic gaming economy, support new game launches and provide a secure environment for trading digital assets. With its rebranding and expanded offerings, Four is set to lead the next wave of blockchain gaming and DeFi innovation, uniting gamers, developers and investors in a vibrant web3 ecosystem.

Intermediate

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From BinaryX to Four: A unified hub for GameFi, IGOs and MemeFi

Learn about the benefits of using Bybit Pay and the step-by-step instructions to get started with Bybit Pay now.

Traditional financial systems and blockchain-based ecosystems have long operated in silos, creating friction for users and businesses alike. 

 is a new payment solution that’s been designed from the ground up to solve this issue to make cryptocurrency transactions seamless for any users.

With the aim of mainstreaming crypto payment options, Bybit Pay has already begun partnering with traditional payment solution providers, enabling users to transact with cryptocurrencies through existing infrastructure. For example, with its recent 

, Brazilian users can now shop by using cryptocurrencies in a quick and effortless manner. 

In this article, we’ll explain the benefits of using Bybit Pay and provide step-by-step instructions for new users who want to get started with the platform.

With more than 60 million users on the Bybit platform, Bybit Pay empowers merchants with access to the global network of its vast user base. Meanwhile, users benefit from a seamless integration with web3 wallets that makes paying with crypto as easy as paying with fiat currency. The platform also offers collateralized payment tools that allow users to borrow against their NFT and crypto holdings. 

Through these innovative features, Bybit Pay blends the ease of traditional finance with the flexibility of cryptocurrencies, creating an ecosystem that benefits both users and merchants.

Bybit Pay can be accessed using the Bybit App on mobile and desktop. 

While filling in the form, make sure that the information you enter matches the information you’ve already provided during 

: As of now, only verified users in Brazil can make transactions using a Pix QR code.

Since the Pix integration, Brazilian users can use Bybit Pay wherever Pix is accepted. This opens up a vast network of offline establishments in the country, since Pix is Brazil’s leading instant payment system provider. 

In addition to offline establishments, Bybit Pay can also be used with a number of e-commerce providers for online shopping using cryptocurrencies. Bybit Pay will be available to users from other regions soon.

With the launch of Bybit Pay, Bybit is integrating crypto payments with traditional payment services providers — and vastly expanding the number of places where cryptocurrencies can be used.

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How to use Bybit Pay for effortless payments

Blockchain

DeFi

An impermanent loss will only incur on paper and only becomes realized once it's withdrawn from the liquidity pool. Learn how it works.

 (DeFi) is liquidity mining, which is how users place their cryptocurrencies into liquidity pools on 

 (LPs) earn rewards for increasing the liquidity available in these DEXs for market participants to swap.

These AMM DEXs utilize algorithms that drive the token rebalancing formula for the pools, allowing for sustainable swapping. However, using such algorithms result in divergence between the new price of the cryptocurrency in the liquidity pool and the original price at which LPs have deposited it. This difference in price is known as impermanent loss, and becomes greater when the change in price is larger.

In this guide, we’ll discuss impermanent loss, the pros and cons involved in providing liquidity, and how you can avoid or minimize your level of impermanent loss.

Liquidity Pools and Automated Market Makers (AMMs)

In order to understand how impermanent loss works, it’s vital to be familiar with AMMs and liquidity pools.

DEXs were developed to enable token exchanges that don’t need to use a reliable intermediary. Assets never leave users’ wallets, and are never in the possession of the exchange, unlike when using a centralized exchange (CEX). DEXs preserve decentralization through AMM algorithms and liquidity pools, two blockchain-based inventions.

Understanding Automated Market Makers (AMMs)

Traditional order book models depend upon the matching of buyers and sellers in order to carry out transactions. When you use an AMM DEX, you’re trading against pools of tokens instead of other traders, with the liquidity in the pool provided by LPs. Although liquidity pools can be made up of multiple tokens, they are usually just made up of two pools of tokens. The ratio of tokens available within these pools is controlled by the following algorithm:

 represent the value of each type of token in the pool. 

 is the fixed constant that keeps the total liquidity of the pool constant.

According to this formula, the total value of each liquidity pool are always equal to each other. The fixed constant creates an automatic pricing mechanism  that maintains the equal value of each token pair.

A liquidity pool (LP) usually comprises two tokens, known as a pair. For instance, DAI and ETH form a pair. The weightage of both cryptocurrencies is equal in value to make it simpler for users to conduct trading. The number of tokens can be different in each pool but the total value of each pool must equal each other. For example, in terms of dollar value, the ratio will be 50% DAI and 50% ETH in this pool.

Liquidity pools are essentially smart contract–enforced deposits of two tokens needed to enable swaps on a DEX.

, there’s a constant formula-based algorithm that ensures the values of the two cryptocurrencies remain the same. Moreover, the algorithm allows liquidity to be provided, no matter the trade’s magnitude.

 increasing a token’s price as its desired quantity rises. As a result, the price of a token in a liquidity pool is dictated by the proportion of that currency.

For example, when you purchase DAI from an ETH/DAI pool using ETH, you are essentially reducing the supply of DAI in the pool. At the same time, the supply of ETH increases as you add ETH to the ETH/DAI pool. In such a situation, the quantity of ETH increases and DAI decreases, which results in each ETH being worth less DAI. 

Since these pools offer a better trading experience, some systems have begun to incentivize liquidity providers with additional tokens to provide liquidity to some pools. This process is more commonly called liquidity mining.

When you deposit into a liquidity pool and the price of the tokens change compared to when you deposit them, this is referred to as impermanent loss. 

Another way to look at impermanent loss is when you provide liquidity by depositing two cryptocurrencies in a liquidity pool, and make a profit that’s less than what you would have made by simply holding the two cryptocurrencies. It occurs when a cryptocurrency’s market price shifts, depreciating the value of the cryptocurrency you deposited in a liquidity pool below its current market value. The loss is even greater with a greater price change.

Impermanent loss can be negated if the token price reverts to its previous value, making the loss "impermanent", or “temporary”. It's also critical to remember that this loss does not account for trading fees that investors receive in exchange for supplying liquidity, which can cancel out losses.

If investors remove their cryptocurrencies from the pool, the impermanent loss becomes realized. In order to make up for this loss, pools have trading fees that go to liquidity providers to hopefully make up for their impermanent loss.

Which Pools Are Prone to Impermanent Loss?

Some pools are more prone to impermanent loss than others. Typically, these pools contain volatile cryptocurrencies. If the price of a cryptocurrency has been volatile for a while, it makes for a risky cryptocurrency pair, since price fluctuations will likely result in impermanent loss.

Likewise, a pool with cryptocurrencies that are correlated, such as a liquidity pool consisting of ETH and cryptocurrency correlated to ETH such as frxETH, or USDT and USDC that are both correlated to the USD, will have no impermanent loss as prices move in tandem with each other. 

You can take some precautions, discussed further in this article, in order to avoid impermanent loss.

How Does Impermanent Loss Happen in DeFi?

Let’s use an example: As a liquidity provider, Jack stakes 1 ETH and 100 USDT. According to the AMM concept, the staked tokens need to be of equivalent value. Thus, Jack’s 1 ETH would be equal in value to 100 USDT. At that moment, Jack’s stakes translate to 10% of the total of 10 ETH and 1,000 USDT in the liquidity pool.

One week later, the price of 1 ETH is equivalent to 400 USDT. Thus, the pool is now imbalanced as 10 ETH is worth 4,000 USDT but the pool is paired with only 1,000 USDT. 

Arbitrageurs will quickly spot this pricing inefficiency in this pool and buy up ETH from the pool with USDT, removing ETH and adding USDT, until the total value of ETH in the pool is equal to the total value of USDT in the pool, also known as rebalancing the pool. In this case, arbitrageurs will rebalance the pool until there is 5 ETH and 2,000 USDT left, as 5 ETH at 400 USDT is equal to 2,000 USDT. 

To know if Jack will suffer an impermanent loss or profit from his stakes, he’ll have to withdraw 10% of his share from the liquidity pool of 0.5 ETH and 200 USDT, which amounts to $400:

200 USDT + $200 = $400. However, Jack would have made $500 if he’d held onto his ETH and USDT because 1 ETH has increased in value to $400.

By providing liquidity in an AMM, Jack’s gains are 50% less than they would have been if he’d held his cryptocurrencies. 

This loss is called “impermanent” because it is not realized before the LP position is withdrawn. Also, if ETH’s value returns to 100 USDT in the above example, the loss will be reversed. Therefore, it’s an 

 loss that changes with the dynamism in the market.

As discussed above, liquidity providers don’t always experience a monetary setback because of impermanent loss. However, it can happen in some cases, such as the example below.

Suppose you have $500 worth of two cryptocurrencies. We’ll use UNI and ETH for this example. Let’s assume you have 150 UNI and 1 ETH, that 1 ETH is worth 150 UNI, and that the total value of each is $500. However, once you deposit both the currencies in the pool, the ratio will differ, since the currencies will fluctuate in terms of price as trades occur in the market.

, you might have more UNI or more ETH in the pool. So, what happens when the rate differs from the time you deposited both the currencies? You’ll suffer from impermanent loss once your cryptocurrencies are withdrawn from the liquidity pool. 

Keep in mind that the rates have changed since you first deposited the currencies. Therefore, when you withdraw them, you may have more of one currency and less of the other — or vice versa.

What if you’d just held your assets and hadn’t provided them as liquidity? You would have more of both currencies, which would translate to a higher value.

For an advanced impermanent loss calculation with formula, 

By becoming an LP and providing liquidity to AMM DEXs, you receive rewards in the form of platform trading fees. With increased trading activity and higher volatility, the rewards earned by LPs also increases. Hence, with sufficient trading volume on the platform, it’s likely that the accumulated fees earned by LPs will be able to cover their impermanent losses, making the liquidity provision profitable.

More recently, AMM DEXs have also begun to reward LPs with their governance tokens. Examples include UNI, CRV and BAL. Such tokens can either be utilized elsewhere in the DeFi ecosystem or traded on exchanges for a profit.

However, the profitability of being an LP is highly dependent on the time and pool you choose to provide liquidity to. Picking a pool with high trading activity fueled by market conditions is often profitable for LPs.

The most prominent disadvantage of liquidity pools is impermanent loss, because it can occur regardless of the direction in which the market moves.

In some cases, if the market is volatile an impermanent loss is inevitable, since prices are bound to fluctuate. However, you can take some steps to make sure you avoid impermanent loss— or at least don’t suffer a heavier blow when prices move.

If you want to avoid impermanent loss altogether, you can consider providing liquidity to a stablecoin pair. For example, if you provide liquidity using USDT and USDC, there will be no risk of impermanent loss, since stablecoin prices are meant to be stable.

However, the major downside to this approach is that you won’t benefit from any rise in the market. If you’re liquidity mining in a bull market, there’s no point in holding stablecoins, because you won’t receive any returns on them.

However, if you’re liquidity mining in a bear market, try to provide liquidity with stablecoins and earn trading fees. This way, you’ll be profiting through trading fees without losing any money.

How to Avoid Impermanent Loss When Providing Liquidity in DeFi

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