Institutional Sentiment, ETF Momentum & Ethereum’s Road to Pectra

 This week, we dive into the latest EY Digital Assets Survey and what it reveals about institutional sentiment: 85% of respondents increased their crypto allocations in 2024—and nearly the same expect to do so again in 2025. We unpack which assets are in focus, the critical role of regulation, and how institutions are beginning to engage with DeFi.
On the market side, ETF inflows remain strong, especially into IBIT, with ETH reversing its outflows from the previous week. We analyze current holder trends and potential upside scenarios. We also look at Bitcoin's increasing correlation with gold and how it's behaving around key geopolitical headlines.
In macro, we touch on updates from the White House and key economic prints—JOLTs, ADP, GDP, and the BoJ rate decision—all leading up to Friday’s NFPs.
In the news section, we discuss BTC treasury trends at 21 Capital and explore Solana-based DeFi treasury entities like Upexi and DeFi Development Corp.
Onchain, we review the implications of EIP-9698, early signs of renewed strength in ETH signals, and the Loopscale exploit. We also note Monero-BTC swap developments and DeFi TVL climbing back above $100B.
We close with key upcoming catalysts to watch: Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls, the May 7th FOMC decision, and Ethereum’s long-awaited Pectra upgrade.

Topics Covered:

• Institutional Trends: EY Survey highlights, asset preferences, regulatory priorities, and DeFi participation
• Market Update: IBIT-led ETF inflows, ETH reversal, BTC holders & gold correlation
• Macro Overview: White House, JOLTs, ADP, GDP, BoJ, and NFPs outlook
• News & Earnings: BTC treasury strategy at 21 Capital, Solana-based DeFi treasuries
• Onchain Insights: EIP-9698, ETH revival signals, Loopscale exploit, and TVL growth
• Catalysts Ahead: Non-Farm Payrolls (May 3), FOMC & Ethereum Pectra Upgrade (May 7)

Host:
 Ben Floyd, Head of Execution Services

Speakers:
 David Duong, Head of Institutional Research
 Brock Miller, Senior Staff Software Engineer
Joshua Pak, Senior CES Sales Trader

Coinbase News

1. CBAM BTC Yield Fund: A conservative Bitcoin strategy targeting 4–8% net annual returns over a market cycle, with subscriptions and redemptions in BTC.
2. UK Web3 Accelerator Launch: Coinbase joins Fabric Ventures, Animoca Brands, and Founders Factory to launch a new UK-focused Web3 accelerator.
3. Coinbase x PayPal Partnership: Coinbase expands its PayPal partnership to support seamless 1:1 PYUSD-USD conversions and explore new onchain use cases.
4. Coinbase International Exchange Q1 Recap: Highlights from Q1 performance and key growth initiatives planned for Q2 2025.

Links
EY-Parthenon Digital Assets Strategy Report

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