First Market Update | The U.S. Non-Farm Payroll report will be released tonight, and Strategy may increase its holdings by another $21 billion BTC.

Daily Summary: Strategy may increase holdings of BTC by $21 billion, Tether’s quarterly profit exceeds $1 billion

According to data from Farside Investors, a total of $422 million flowed into U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs yesterday. Among them, BlackRock’s IBIT saw an inflow of $351 million, Fidelity’s FBTC had an inflow of $29.5 million, ARKB experienced an outflow of $87 million, and other ETFs primarily saw small inflows. Since February of this year, BTC ETFs had been exhibiting a trend of net outflows, but a reversal trend has emerged since last week, indicating optimistic market sentiment. Yesterday, the overall trading volume of ETH ETFs was relatively small, with a total inflow of $6.5 million.

Strategy plans to raise $21 billion to purchase Bitcoin

According to Coindesk, Strategy (MSTR) reported a loss of $16.49 per share for the first quarter of 2025, due to a significant decline in Bitcoin prices over the first three months of this year, resulting in a $5.9 billion impairment of its Bitcoin assets. The company announced a new $21 billion public market common stock issuance plan and has raised its BTC yield target from 15% to 25%, and its BTC dollar revenue target from $10 billion to $15 billion. As of April, the company held a total of 553,555 Bitcoins, with a purchase cost of $37.9 billion, averaging $68,459 per coin. Strategy stated: “Our capital market strategy continues to grow our Bitcoin holdings while delivering exceptional value to shareholders.”

Tether Q1 Report: Holds nearly $120 billion in U.S. Treasuries, confirms quarterly operating profit exceeding $1 billion

Tether International today released its Q1 2025 report, which was completed by BDO, one of the world’s top five independent accounting firms. The report confirms the accuracy of Tether’s financial data and reserve report (FFRR), and provides a transparent breakdown of the assets backing fiat-collateralized stablecoins as of March 31, 2025.

The report states that Tether’s total exposure to U.S. Treasury securities (including indirect holdings through money market funds and reverse repurchase agreements) has reached a historic high of nearly $120 billion. This milestone not only confirms its conservative reserve management strategy but also highlights Tether’s important role as a major hub for the distribution of U.S. dollar liquidity.

Tether’s traditional investment portfolio achieved over $1 billion in operating profit in Q1, mainly due to the strong performance of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bonds, while gold investments nearly completely offset the volatility impact from the crypto market. Additionally, the circulation of USDT grew by approximately $7 billion in the first quarter.

Current mainstream CEX and DEX funding rates show a continued divergence in the market, with neutrality and bearishness coexisting

According to Coinglass data, the funding rates of mainstream CEX and DEX show a continuation of market differentiation, with a coexistence of neutral and bearish sentiments. The specific funding rates for mainstream coins are shown in the attached image.

Funding rates are the rates set by cryptocurrency trading platforms to maintain a balance between the contract price and the underlying asset price, usually applicable to perpetual contracts. It is a mechanism for the exchange of funds between long and short traders, and the trading platform does not charge this fee. It is used to adjust the cost or profit of the contracts held by traders, keeping the contract price close to the underlying asset price.

When the funding rate is 0.01%, it represents the benchmark rate. When the funding rate is greater than 0.01%, it indicates that the market is generally bullish. When the funding rate is less than 0.005%, it indicates that the market is generally bearish.

Market Analysis: AI agent sector surges, BOOP rapidly reaches a market value of 500 million dollars in two hours.

Market Hotspots

The AI agent sector, including AIXBT, AVAAI, and AI16Z, has risen significantly. Since mid-April, the overall performance of the AI agent sector has clearly outperformed the market, with multiple tokens having risen over 200% from their lows. The AI agent sector remains the most favored track for market funds.

The Solana chain meme coin BOOP was launched last night, reaching a market cap of 500 million USD within two hours of its launch; the BOOP token is the platform token of the meme coin launch platform boop.fun on Solana, founded by NFT whale and crypto KOL Dingaling. Unlike Pump.fun, boop.fun distributes the transaction fees to BOOP token holders.

Market Trends

BTC is fluctuating upwards, BTC ETF has resumed significant net inflows, and the market sentiment is optimistic; today’s AHR999 index is 0.95, indicating that the current price is still suitable for long-term investors’ regular investments.

ETH follows the market fluctuations without showing independent trends, and the ETH/BTC exchange rate has remained around 0.019 since mid-April.

Altcoins are generally rising, but the upward trend is relatively scattered, with the AI agent and meme coin sectors performing well.

Macroeconomic News: Major US stock indexes closed higher, non-farm payroll data to be released tonight.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed higher, with the S&P 500 index rising 0.63% to 5604.14 points; the Dow Jones index up 0.21% to 40752.96 points; and the Nasdaq index increasing by 1.52% to 17710.74 points. In terms of U.S. Treasuries, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.25%, while the 2-year Treasury yield, which is most sensitive to Federal Reserve policy rates, stands at 3.70%.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen warned that the likelihood of a U.S. economic recession has significantly increased. According to a report by CCTV News citing the Financial Times on May 1, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen stated that the government’s tariff policy will have an “extremely adverse” impact on the U.S., affecting both American consumers and businesses negatively. Due to the tariff policy, the “possibility of an economic recession in the U.S. has significantly increased.”

The last important data of this week - the US non-farm payroll report will be released tonight at 20:30, providing the latest clues about the labor market. The market generally expects Federal Reserve Chairman Powell to hold steady at next week’s interest rate meeting, as inflation remains above the 2% target and President Trump’s tariff measures are putting pressure on prices.

Author: Icing T., Gate.io researcher *This article only represents the author’s views and does not constitute any trading advice. Investment carries risks, and decisions should be made with caution. *The content of this article is original and copyrighted by Gate.io. If reprinted, please indicate the author and source, otherwise legal responsibility will be pursued.