Weekly Market Index

Last week’s crypto market price and volume indices dropped by -3.89% and -17.45%, respectively, while the volatility index was up +50.73%.

Bitcoin (BTC) settled at close to US$66,000 by the end of last week. On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve announced it will keep interest rates steady, as expected, and maintained the outlook of three rate cuts this year. It also raised the US real GDP growth outlook for 2024 to 2.1% (1.4% previously). The dovish remarks sent BTC higher, reaching above $68,000 intra-day, compared to its weekly lows near $61,000 earlier in the day.  

The recent surge in volatility was led mainly by Dogecoin (DOGE) and Solana (SOL). SOL surpassed the $200 mark on 18 March following the high demand for meme coins like dogwifhat (WIF). However, SOL’s price retraced and was down 7% to end the week as meme coins generally followed a similar downward trend.

Check price

Chart of the Week

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw five consecutive days of net outflows last week, marking the largest week of net outflows since the 10 Spot ETFs started trading in January 2024. 

The total net outflows for the week amounted to $888 million. However, this is mainly led by the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) which had a record weekly net outflow of $2 billion. Other large players, including BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s FBTC, had a weekly net inflow of $828 million and $79 million respectively.

Weekly Performance

BTC and Ether (ETH) fell by -1.4% and -3.5%, respectively, in the past seven days. On the other hand, the price action for other selected top market cap tokens was mixed. Notably, ICP and BCH outperformed.

Selected key categories showed minor fluctuations in terms of market capitalisation changes in the past seven days, with the Layer-2 category outperforming the rest by a significant margin.

News Highlights

• BlackRock unveiled its first tokenised fund on the Ethereum network. The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, or BUIDL, is backed by cash, US Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. It allows token holders to earn a yield. BlackRock also made a strategic investment in Securitize, an asset tokenisation company.

• MicroStrategy, founded by Michael Saylor, acquired an additional 9,245 Bitcoin on 19 March 2024, bringing its total holdings to 214,245 BTC. This represents over 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply. 

• Alipay, an online payment platform, collaborated with Avalanche on a Web3-enabled voucher programme. The programme was rolled out across Southeast Asia milk tea stores, with  Alipay users being able to obtain discount vouchers by playing a mini game. This is reportedly the first phase out of a two-part proof of concept. Alipay aims to roll out the programme to over 2,000 stores and reach more than 100 million users.

• The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, one of the world’s largest pension funds, said it is looking for “basic information on illiquid assets”. These assets include cryptocurrencies and gold. This is part of the fund’s long-term plan to explore portfolio diversification strategies.

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission postponed its decision deadline on 4 Ethereum ETF applications to late-May. These include VanEck, Hashdex, and ARK 21Shares’ Spot Ether ETFs as well as Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust Futures ETF.

• Multiple interest rate decisions were made last week:

  • The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady at 5.25%-5.50% in its recent meeting and maintained its forecast of three interest rate cuts in 2024. 

  • The Bank of Japan raised its policy target rate to 0.0%-0.1%, ending negative interest rates. 

  • The Bank of England held interest rates steady at 5.25%. 

  • The Swiss National Bank lowered its main policy rate by 25bps to 1.5%, becoming the first member to cut rates since the pandemic, out of the ten-most traded currencies in the world.

Recent Research Reports

• Research Roundup Newsletter [February 2024]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring trending market insights in February, charts of the month, and our deep dive into the DePIN market.

• DePIN: Crypto’s Rising Narrative: DePIN is currently one of crypto’s hottest narratives. We introduce what DePIN is, how it works, and the current market landscape.

• Alpha Navigator [February 2024]: Crypto and equities were up in February, while fixed income was under pressure. Interest rate decisions from major central banks upcoming in March.

Recent University Articles

• What Is dogwifhat and How to Buy WIF: dogwifhat has taken the meme coin narrative by storm. Here’s what to know about the latest dog coin and why it’s so successful.

• Crypto Market Cap — What It Is and Why It Matters: Learn what market capitalisation means in the crypto space and how to use this metric to assess cryptocurrencies.

• What are Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and how do they work? : Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are investment vehicles that track the price of BTC and ETH — and could bring increased liquidity and mainstream adoption.

Catalyst Calendar

We’re all ears.

Your feedback helps make our reporting more insightful. Tell us how we can improve this newsletter by taking the survey below. It will take less than a minute of your time. Thank you!

Take the survey now

Author

Research and Insights Team

Disclaimer:

The information in this report is provided as general market commentary by Crypto.com and its affiliates, and does not constitute any financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other advice. This report is not intended to offer or recommend any access to products and/or services. While we endeavour to publish and maintain accurate information, we do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information in this report nor do we adopt nor endorse, nor are we responsible for, the accuracy or reliability of any information submitted by other parties.

This report is not directed or intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of, or located in a jurisdiction, where such distribution or use would be contrary to applicable law or that would subject Crypto.com and/or its affiliates to any registration or licensing requirement.

The brands and the logos appearing in this report are registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Thank you for reading! We hope you find Market Pulse, our new weekly market insights newsletter enlightening!

Hungry for more? Visit our Research Hub and University to access other insightful crypto research! 

Share with a friend if you like our email!

Share