Thai Banks Could Soon Embrace Cryptocurrency; UNI Increases as Large Investors Reemerge

Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:

Asia Morning Briefing provides a concise overview of the key stories during U.S. hours, highlighting significant market movements and offering analysis.

Uniswap’s UNI token experienced a significant increase, rising from $6.00 to $6.65 within a day, marking a 5% gain. In contrast, the CoinDesk20 Index fell by 1.8%. This price rise coincides with Uniswap achieving its highest monthly transaction volume since February, with over $73 billion in trades and generating more than $380 million in revenue this year. Increased interest from institutional investors and a substantial purchase of nearly $4 million in UNI by a prominent investor have contributed to this surge.

Kaweewut Temphuwapat, the newly appointed CEO of SCB10X, the investment arm of Thailand’s SCB bank, sees promising intersections of AI, crypto, and Web3 technologies. He mentioned a strong inclination towards the convergence of AI and crypto, indicating these investments are a major focus for the company. Temphuwapat believes that improved crypto regulations in the U.S. will facilitate increased investment flow into resilient markets in Asia. He also noted SCB10X’s early investment in Ripple, which has effectively been utilized in the SCB App for the last five to six years.

Temphuwapat commended the innovative approach of Thailand’s regulators and emphasized the nation’s established payments infrastructure. He anticipates that Thai banks, including SCB, may soon begin holding cryptocurrency tokens directly on their balance sheets, initially through regulatory experiments, indicating a strong regulatory intention to allow such practices on a smaller scale.

James Wynn, a trader known for high-stakes bets on crypto, has shifted his strategy from billion-dollar investments in Bitcoin to focusing on memecoins. Recently, he placed a $1 million leveraged bet on Pepe (PEPE). Previously, Wynn had exited a massive $1.2 billion Bitcoin long position at a loss of $17.5 million and transitioned to a short position worth $1 billion at 40x leverage, risking his entire $50 million portfolio on Bitcoin’s decline. This short trade briefly netted him around $3 million in profit, marking one of the largest trades executed on-chain.

After securing a total profit of $25 million from an initial investment exceeding $3 million, Wynn announced his retreat from perpetual trading. His recent high-leverage PEPE position has already yielded a $500,000 gain due to a nearly 6% rise in its value.

Strategy (MSTR), recognized as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, acquired an additional 4,020 BTC between May 19 and May 25 at a cost of approximately $427 million, now boasting a total of 580,250 BTC in its portfolio. These acquisitions were financed through three distinct market equity programs, including sales of common and preferred stock.

The recent Bitcoin purchases were made at an average price of $106,237 per coin, raising Strategy’s total Bitcoin investment to over $40.6 billion, with an average cost basis of $69,979 per coin. This strategy highlights the company’s continuous commitment to expanding its substantial Bitcoin holdings through regular capital raises.

Market Movements:

• BTC: Bitcoin remains stable near record levels around $109,000, sustaining its gains amid tariff-induced fluctuations as long-term investors continue to accumulate under conditions of macroeconomic uncertainty.
• ETH: Ethereum demonstrates resilience above $2,500 despite volatility and cautious behavior among major investors, aided by persistent institutional inflow into spot ETH ETFs.
• Gold: Gold prices dipped slightly due to a tariff delay but remain above $3,310, benefitting from bullish sentiments surrounding deficit issues.
• Hang Seng: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng opened lower at 23,304, primarily driven by declines in the tech sector, including a 4.9% drop in Meituan shares.
• Nikkei: Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw a slight dip of 0.13% as markets reflected on the tariff delay announced by Trump.
• S&P 500: Markets were closed in observance of Memorial Day.

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