🏆 Pioneers of STRC On-Chain 
🌅 USDh on Runes Chapter Closes
💰 Yield Recap
📈 Weekly Market Review

We made the news again.

Hermetica was named by Saylor on Strategy’s Q1 earnings call as one of the teams driving STRC’s $270M+ of on-chain growth. We already account for 2% of on-chain STRC, and we are just getting started.

This week, we brought one of Hermetica’s earliest chapters to a close to make room for what comes next. We have decided to sunset support for USDh on Runes on May 15 to better serve today’s users. If you hold USDh on Runes, read on for details on the redemption path.

We turned a page this week, and we’re looking forward to our next chapter.

STRC exposure in DeFi has surpassed $270 million in just eight weeks.

On Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call, some of Wall Street’s most-followed analysts pressed Saylor on where Bitcoin-backed credit is going. His answer pointed straight to DeFi. 

More than three dozen initiatives have brought STRC on-chain in the past eight to twelve weeks. Hermetica was named among the leaders with stUSDh.

Today, stUSDh represents 2% of the over $270 million in DeFi STRC exposure, and it is growing. 

Saylor sees digital credit as Bitcoin’s killer app. We share that conviction and are already building the digital money layer on top of STRC.

We are sunsetting support for USDh on Runes on May 15.

Runes activity has shifted materially over the past year, and we’re consolidating support to keep USDh simple, safe, and better supported to accommodate today's users. 

USDh on Stacks remains live and unaffected. 

Hermetica will contact select users through May 13, 2026, for assisted conversion of USDh from Runes to Stacks.

Remaining holders with balances above $10 at the May 13, 00:00 UTC snapshot will be eligible to redeem for BTC through Hermetica’s official sunset app. 

Redemption instructions will be shared after snapshot through official Hermetica channels only.

To everyone who held and built with USDh on Runes, thank you. Stay tuned for what comes next.

Week 18:

Bitcoin yield → 4.44% (hBTC)
Dollar yield → 8.00% (USDh)

No need to pick a side. You can have both.

Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000 for the first time since late January, supported in part by $1.99B of net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The S&P 500 and NASDAQ reached record highs on AI and semiconductor earnings while oil fell on geopolitical headlines.

Data Summary:

Simple Moving Averages (SMA) in Figure 1:

Bitcoin is above its 7-day and 30-day SMAs, which now act as rising support. Price is testing the 180-day SMA at $80,400 for the first time since the February selloff; a weekly close above it would improve the intermediate trend. The 360-day SMA at $96,000 still marks major overhead resistance, while the 200-week SMA at $60,600 remains structural cycle support.

Support levels are $79,700, $76,400, $73,700, $60,600, while resistance levels are $80,400, $82,800, $86,000, $96,000.

Net inflows totaled $1.699B this week.

Inflows extended the post-April reversal and were concentrated around Bitcoin’s breakout back above $80,000. IBIT remained the dominant source of issuance. ETF demand appeared to absorb profit-taking without pushing Bitcoin below short-term moving averages. That dynamic suggests the ETF complex acted as the marginal buyer, rather than a source of supply.

Bitcoin implied volatility compressed as Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000. DVOL declined to 38.42% from 42.48%, moving back toward the lower end of its pre-tension 35%–45% range. Options markets appear to be pricing steady ETF demand and a benign macro/geopolitical backdrop, rather than near-term convexity.

The February move toward 90% increasingly looks like an isolated shock rather than a new baseline. Meanwhile, renewed covered-call supply from IBIT-linked strategies, Strategy-related products, and miners is rebuilding short-vol inventory on Deribit, which may help anchor spot near high-open-interest strikes while realized volatility remains subdued.

Basis is positive across all maturities. The equal-weighted spread rose to 2.29% APR from 1.77%, driven by spot strength and the end of front-week backwardation. The recovery is constructive but still well below the 5%-8% range typical of durable bull trends. 

The futures curve shows a front-week kink rather than a clean upward slope. May 15 trades at 2.82%, late May and June compress to 1.62% and 1.53%, then rise to 2.42% in September, 2.98% in December, and 3.10% in March 2027. The lowest-to-highest maturity spread is 1.57 points. Perp funding near zero to slightly positive indicates that this rally is spot and ETF-led rather than a perp squeeze.

Macro still centers on Hormuz. The U.S. and Iran are discussing a phased framework that would address immediate de-escalation first, with nuclear limits and full Strait reopening left for later talks. As of Thursday evening, markets were reacting to reduced escalation risk.

Brent fell below $100 intraday on Wednesday on improving sentiment, settled near $101.27, and rebounded. A reopening of Hormuz could reduce the inflation premium, ease yields and the dollar, and support further gains in equities and Bitcoin. 

Cross-asset positioning is risk-on. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are at records, earnings growth is tracking at its strongest pace since Q4 2021, and Bitcoin has joined the AI-led risk trade. Gold remains near $4,700, while 10-year Treasury yields are holding around 4.33%.

The Fed remained on hold at 3.50%–3.75% on April 29, as inflation stayed above target, with headline CPI at 3.3% and core CPI at 2.6%.

Sincerely,
The Hermetica Team