IN THIS ISSUE
🎙️ Hermetica Makes Saylor's List
🎬 Jakob Meets The Drapers
🗞️ April Receipts Are In
💰 Yield Recap
📈 Weekly Market Review
Jakob TL;DR
I was in Vegas this week, and Hermetica was in the air.
I had a proud founder moment watching Saylor name Hermetica live at Bitcoin 2026 as one of the protocols bringing digital credit on-chain.
Still in Vegas, I was one of the founders invited by the Drapers to pitch live for Meet the Drapers. Keep an eye out for the Hermetica pitch when it airs.
Busy week, but our priorities have not changed. The April attestations are in. USDh remained fully backed, independently verified by Copper and Ceffu. The work speaks. The receipts back it up.
Hermetica Makes Saylor's List
Hermetica got a shoutout from Saylor live on stage at Bitcoin 2026.
Saylor sees Bitcoin-backed digital credit as a foundation for global finance on Bitcoin. Instruments like STRC could help banks earn Bitcoin-backed yields and pass that value on to users worldwide.
Saylor made clear that digital credit extends to DeFi too, and he named Hermetica as one of the teams already bringing it on-chain.
stUSDh converts yield from STRC into digital dollars, opening Bitcoin-backed credit to anyone with a phone.
Jakob Meets The Drapers
Hermetica went on air as Jakob pitched on Meet the Drapers.
Meet the Drapers is the Draper family’s TV show, where founders pitch directly to one of venture capital’s most influential families. The Drapers have spent decades backing category-defining companies across crypto, fintech, and frontier tech.
The season winner receives up to $1 million from Tim Draper, plus access to his broader network and ecosystem.
Jakob took the seat to pitch Hermetica.
Keep an eye out for the episode when the next season airs. In the meantime, see the behind-the-scenes footage on X.
April Receipts Are In
The April 2026 proof of reserve attestations are live. USDh remains fully backed and independently verified by Copper and Ceffu.
Get ready to see STRC exposure next month.
In summary, as of the snapshot time:
USDh supply: $9,152,643.40
Copper custodied assets: $8,636,064.67
Ceffu custodied assets: $367,789.22
Redeeming Reserve Stacks: $145,312.53
Redeeming Reserve Ethereum: $3,490.05
Minting Wallet: $0.00
Total backing assets: $9,152,656.47
Reserve Fund: $100,148.12
• USDC: $100,148.12
• USDh: $0.00Total % of USDh: 101.09%
Yield Recap
4.26% on hBTC. 5.00% on USDh.
Bitcoin showed up. Stablecoins showed up.
Did your wallet?
Market Review
Bitcoin briefly traded in the high $79,000s near $80,000 before pulling back to ~$76,000. Strategy (MSTR) disclosed an April 27 purchase of 3,273 BTC for about $255 million at a $77,906 average, lifting holdings to 818,334 BTC.
U.S. equities remained resilient: the S&P 500 closed Wednesday at 7,135, and the NASDAQ Composite at 24,673.
Data Summary:
DVOL: 39.55%
Equal-weighted futures basis spread: 1.19% APR
Futures curve: In normal contango beyond the front contract, with May 8 in backwardation and March 2027 at 2.68%
Perp funding: Near zero to slightly negative
Aggregated altcoin market caps fell to $995.02 billion from $1.01 trillion last week
Bitcoin dominance fell to 60.45% from 60.63% last week
Figure 1: BTC Price, Daily Candles, & Moving Averages; 2 years; Source: Binance
Figure 2: Crypto Market Cap Excluding Bitcoin, Daily Candles, & Moving Averages; 2 years
Figure 3: Bitcoin Dominance, Daily Candles, & Moving Averages; 2 years
Simple Moving Averages (SMA) in Figure 1:
Current Price: $76,000
7-Day SMA: $77,000
30-Day SMA: $73,700
180-Day SMA: $81,300
360-Day SMA: $96,400
200-Week SMA: $60,300
Bitcoin is below the 7-day SMA, but above the 30-day SMA, tempering short-term momentum while keeping the April recovery intact. Price remains below the 180-day and 360-day SMAs, leaving the intermediate trend bearish until the $81,300–$96,400 zone is reclaimed.
The 30-day SMA at $73,700 is the first support level, followed by $72,000, $67,000, and the 200-week SMA at $60,300. Resistance levels are $77,000, $80,000, $81,300, and $86,000.
BTC ETF Flows
Net outflows totaled $0.253B this week.
Flows reversed from last week’s $1.276B inflow. Farside’s April 23–29 data show net outflows of $252.8M, pausing the inflow streak that supported Bitcoin’s move toward $80,000.
Figure 4: Bitcoin ETF Flows, Daily Bars; Source: The Block
Volatility
DVOL fell to 39.55% from 42.48% last week despite a Bitcoin spot pullback, a spike in oil, and a marginally more hawkish Fed. DVOL is now back inside its pre-February 28 range of 35%–45% and sits near one-month Deribit ATM IV at roughly 38%. Realized volatility remains muted, with Bitcoin range-bound between $73,000 and $80,000 over the past two weeks.
The vol-suppression trade is working again, though with a less bullish setup. Covered-call selling in Strategy, IBIT, and miners continues to add upside vol supply, while dealer hedging may help keep spot pinned near large options strikes.
Figure 5: DVOL 2 Years; Bitcoin Index Price; Source: Deribit
Basis Spread
The equal-weighted basis spread is 1.19% APR, down from 1.77% last week. Figure 6 shows the May 8 maturity at -1.15%, a backwardation print. The rest of the curve remains positive.
Beyond the front contract, the curve is in contango: May 29 at 0.50%, June 26 at 0.95%, September 25 at 1.80%, December 25 at 2.37%, and March 2027 at 2.68%.
Figure 6: Futures Curve; Maturity Date, APR %
Macro
The Fed held rates at 3.50%–3.75% on April 29. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.41%, the 2-year to 3.93%, and the DXY to ~98.95.
The macro backdrop is unchanged from the past four weeks: geopolitical tension, Hormuz disruption, and tighter energy conditions. This week, oil prices increased as Brent traded above $120 intraday and WTI near $108, from roughly $102 and $93 last week.
The VIX near 18.8 remains within the calm 15–20 zone. Gold fell into the mid-$4,500s as the dollar strengthened. Bitcoin is in the middle of two; holding at current levels as equities stay near record highs and Strategy keeps buying, but still unable to rise as ETF flows turn negative and basis stays compressed.
Sincerely,
The Hermetica Team
