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

17 Mar 2025 Weekly Newsletter.png

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

block-scholes-x-bybit-report.jpeg

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

binaryx crypto.png

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.

bybit pay.png

How to use Bybit Pay for effortless payments

Investing

Keen on the potential of earning high yields? Learn what is liquidity mining and why it's one of the best passive income strategies.

In recent years, the use of blockchain and cryptocurrency has grown rapidly. While the main cryptocurrency investing strategy is to purchase and hold a crypto until it increases in value, also known as 

ing (holding on for dear life), there are several additional methods you can use instead to earn passive income. One such strategy involves liquidity mining, which leverages on the 

Simply put, liquidity mining is a way for users to earn a steady stream of passive income by using their cryptocurrencies to provide liquidity for 

 (DEXs). By providing liquidity, you’ll be rewarded with trading fees and governance tokens. In this article, we’ll be exploring what liquidity mining is, how you can start earning passive income with it, and its benefits and risks.

Before we learn more about liquidity mining, let’s take a quick look at DEXs, which make liquidity mining possible. 

Traditional finance exchanges typically use an order book model. An orderbook is a centralized database that stores all the buy and sell orders at different prices that have been inputted by users. Should there be a match between the buy and sell order of two different users, the transaction will then be carried out. 

DeFi introduced a new order book mechanism, known as the 

. AMMs facilitate permissionless cryptocurrency trading between users by utilizing 

, removing the need for a centralized entity to match transactions. These pools are created with smart contracts and are operated by algorithms, making them fully autonomous.

These pools achieve deeper liquidity as participants deposit their cryptocurrencies, allowing for more capital-efficient swaps for users, minimizing 

 and maximizing the number of cryptocurrencies they can receive.

 is a DeFi mechanism in which participants provide some of their cryptocurrency assets into various liquidity pools, for which they receive tokens and fees. Participants who provide their cryptocurrencies are known as liquidity providers (LPs) and often receive an 

, which they can eventually use to exchange for a percentage of the trading fees earned by the platform. Distribution of fees is based on the amount of liquidity each provider has contributed.

Liquidity mining gained significant traction in the summer of 2020, which is also known as DeFi Summer. DeFi became more widely known in the market, and the architecture of efficient and permissionless trading brought a lot of market participants on board. At the same time, protocols were offering extremely high rewards, with the 

 (APY) offered by some protocols reaching triple digits or even more, fueling DeFi’s growth even more.

Liquidity mining thus became extremely profitable, especially for LPs who could begin providing liquidity with large sums of capital, allowing them to grab a bigger portion of a protocol's transaction fees distributions. This in turn also improved liquidity within pools, making it more attractive to trade and increasing the activity taking place on the protocols.

Currently, the APYs offered by most protocols have come down significantly. This is, however, a relatively good sign, as it demonstrates the market is maturing and makes it more sustainable for market participants.

Nonetheless, activity on DeFi protocols is still high, with market participants constantly seeking the next best opportunity.

To begin liquidity mining, you can start with one of the oldest protocols: Uniswap.

Other protocols users can consider providing liquidity to are 

, one of the older DeFi protocols. Curve is recommended for users with a smaller risk appetite, given its lower risk of impermanent loss with stablecoin swaps (see below under 

Now that we understand what liquidity mining is, it’s time to learn about the benefits of utilizing this investment strategy. When you provide assets into liquidity pools, you can be confident in the returns that your investment will deliver. The primary benefits associated with DeFi liquidity mining are:

Liquidity mining is one of the best ways for cryptocurrency market participants to generate passive income. Providing liquidity into liquidity pools is often a passive strategy, as users just have to hold onto their LP tokens, and rewards will automatically be added to their LP token holdings.

More importantly, when users provide liquidity into a pool that manages to attract market participants, the growth in activity will translate to greater rewards for LPs. These rewards will automatically go toward the LP tokens held by the LPs. Thus, LPs can benefit from changing market conditions without having to actively manage their positions. 

Before beginning to participate in liquidity mining, it’s important to understand that your yield is proportional to the overall risk you take with your investment — which makes liquidity mining a beneficial strategy for any type of investor. If you want to make a sizable investment, the rewards you receive will proportionately match your contribution. The same holds true if you first want to dip your toes in before fully committing to the liquidity mining strategy.

DEXs can’t be operated unless a certain amount of liquidity is in place for traders who want to exchange tokens from different cryptocurrencies. When you provide liquidity in this manner, exchanges are incentivized to give you rewards for your contributions.

Since your investment is essentially used to facilitate decentralized transactions, your rewards usually come from trading fees that accrue whenever trades occur on an exchange. Since your share of the liquidity pool dictates what your yields are, you can essentially estimate what your rewards will be before you’ve even invested.

When markets are active and there’s a lot of trading activity going on, the rewards provided by protocols can be relatively high — and significantly higher than simple bank deposits.

Distribution of Governance and Native Tokens

A core benefit of DeFi liquidity mining is that it allows for the relatively equitable distribution of governance via native tokens. Before liquidity mining existed, token distribution was largely unfair and imbalanced. In many cases, DeFi protocol developers would favor institutional investors over low-capital investors, due to the amount of funds that institutional investors have at their disposal.

DeFi liquidity mining provides low-capital and institutional investors alike with equal opportunity to obtain native tokens. These tokens give you a certain amount of voting power within the DEXs that you’ve invested in. When you have tokens for a specific exchange, you can use them to influence that protocol’s characteristics. The primary privileges of holding native tokens include:

Even though tokens are primarily used for governance, they’re highly versatile and can also be used to stake, earn money via yield farming or take out a loan.

Engaging in liquidity mining is permissionless. As long as a user owns a noncustodial wallet, such as 

, and holds onto a certain amount of cryptocurrency, they can provide liquidity. Rewards earned from providing liquidity can also be redirected into the pool, which grows the user’s base capital and stake in the pool, allowing them to receive a larger share of the rewards over time.

Liquidity Mining Benefits the DeFi Market

It can be argued that liquidity mining is an essential component of DeFi.

LPs play a part in making the DeFi ecosystem more robust, helping more people to participate in DeFi when they have access to more capital efficient swaps. This increased liquidity also permits more applications to be built to tap on the ecosystem.

One benefit of liquidity mining that’s often overlooked is the fact that it nurtures a trusting and loyal community, since many investments occur within new exchanges. When a liquidity mining program occurs, the investors who provide liquidity typically become active in the community, while the exchange itself continues to grow.

The individuals who provide liquidity also tend to use the protocol and hold tokens well after they’ve invested their cryptocurrency assets. With liquidity mining, the benefits don’t end with the income that you receive as a liquidity provider. By continuing to engage with the protocol, you’ll continue to receive additional benefits.

Despite the many benefits of liquidity mining, there are also some inherent risks to be aware of before you engage in it. Once you understand the potential risks, you should be able to mitigate these issues and reduce their chance of occurring in the first place.

Before you begin liquidity mining, it’s important to know about 

 and how it can affect you. This can occur when the price of the tokens that you’ve contributed to liquidity pools changes in comparison to what it was when you first invested. A more substantial price difference makes it more likely that you’ll encounter an impermanent loss.

If the tokens have a lower price when you decide to withdraw them than they had when you first placed them into the liquidity pools, you lose money. You can offset this particular risk with the gains you obtain from trading fees. However, the volatility of the cryptocurrency market means that you should be at least somewhat cautious when depositing your money into DEXs.

In addition, in the event that you receive more of a cryptocurrency that has decreased in price, then you would have made fewer losses by holding onto the cryptocurrency itself, instead of providing liquidity.

There are also some technical liquidity mining risks to be aware of that are inherent to any protocol. The more highly advanced the protocol, the more complex the source code that it runs on. This complexity means that protocols are open to technical liquidity mining risks. If you don’t perform an in-depth audit of the code, it’s possible for cyber criminals to exploit the protocol and the assets within.

Of the several liquidity mining risks in this guide, the one to focus on is the potential risk to the protocol and its project. Even though all projects can be exploited, it’s still highly recommended you perform extensive research on a project and its platform before you decide to place your assets into its liquidity pool. 

The research and due diligence you perform should provide you with an acceptable level of protection against hacks and similar exploitation. It’s also important that the projects you invest in are audited on a regular basis by independent agencies.

Despite the many advantages that come with decentralized investing, the system does have a few built-in risks that could arise. One of these involves the potential for 

, a type of fraud that occurs when liquidity pool developers and protocol developers decide to shut the protocol down and take all of the money that’s been invested in the project.

Since all decentralized protocols offer anonymity, projects can be started without any kind of verification or registration. One example is the now-defunct 

), whose developers closed the project in 2020 and ran away with $10.8 million of investor assets, allegedly via a backdoor coding mechanism.

If you don’t want to fall prey to liquidity mining fraud, it’s essential that you perform your due diligence to learn as much as you can about a project before investing in it.

Liquidity Mining vs. Other Passive Investment Strategies

Before you settle on an investment strategy that’s right for you and your portfolio, be sure to compare DeFi liquidity mining to other passive investment strategies. 

The first type of passive earning strategy to consider alongside liquidity mining is 

, which allows users to pledge their cryptocurrency as a form of collateral within proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithms. When users lock up their cryptocurrency, they’re helping to validate transactions and secure the blockchain. This is a rather passive strategy, as users can simply delegate their cryptocurrency holdings to validators.

Users who stake higher amounts typically receive higher rewards, similar to what occurs when liquidity mining crypto. 

Another clear advantage of staking is that the risks are comparatively low. While project failure is possible, liquidity mining risks are considerably more severe, given the volatility of the market and the increased chances for exploits. 

 interchangeably, it’s important to understand that liquidity mining is a subset of yield farming, which involves locking crypto assets in various blockchain protocols to earn passive income.

While liquidity mining results in an investor earning native tokens, the investments that occur with yield farming will result in the investor earning interest. The two strategies share similar benefits and risks.

Even though you now may have a firm grasp of the concept of liquidity mining, this strategy isn’t right for everyone — and may not be worth it for you personally, depending on your current investment strategy. To determine if liquidity mining cryptocurrency is right for you, make sure that you weigh the pros and cons. 

What Is Liquidity Mining: How to Profit from a Decentralized Ecosystem

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards