Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | March 19, 2024

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Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Volatility and Whale Movements

• Bitcoin and Ethereum's Sharp Declines
• Massive Liquidations Amid Price Fluctuations
• MicroStrategy's Bold Bitcoin Acquisition
• Genesis Settles with the SEC

Exchange and Regulatory Updates

• BitMEX Addresses Flash Crash
• Fidelity Eyes Ethereum ETF with Staking
• OKX Adjusts to EU's Regulatory Landscape
• Binance Strengthens KYC Amid Regulatory Heat

Innovation and Expansion

• Japan's GPIF Eyes Bitcoin Diversification
• Arbitrum's Unlocking: Whales Stay Put
• SLERF's Post-Presale Surge

Blockchain and Financial Integration

• Nomura Bank's Web3 Foray with Libre
• Giggle Academy: Education Meets Blockchain
• Citi and BNDES Join Hyperledger Foundation

New Developments and Standards

• MANTRA Chain's Funding Milestone
• Ethereum Welcomes CARV's NFT Standard

Bitcoin and Ethereum's Sharp Declines

The crypto market witnessed significant volatility with Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing sharp declines, alongside the overall crypto market cap contracting. Bitcoin's rapid descent below the $63,000 threshold triggered over $500 million in long and short position liquidations, before recovering to above $64,000. The downward trend was echoed across various cryptocurrencies and sparked by factors such as upcoming Bitcoin halving expectations and large-scale Bitcoin withdrawals from exchanges, signaling a shift towards accumulation by whales. 

Amidst these market movements, Grayscale's record outflow and slowed inflows into Bitcoin ETFs underscored growing investor caution. Notably, an on-chain demand zone around $61,000, where over 466,000 BTC were purchased, could potentially offer support. This period also saw the creation of new Bitcoin whales and a significant $750 million withdrawal from exchanges, indicating a mix of profit-taking and strategic accumulation. 

Massive Liquidations Amid Price Fluctuations

The crypto market faced over $624 million in leveraged position liquidations in 24 hours, with Ether potentially seeing over $283.5 million liquidated if prices fall below $3,194. ETH whales offloaded 26,946 ETH worth $95.7 million amid the price drop, realizing profits of $39 million. The price of Ethereum dropped over 11% since the week's start, with CoinGlass reporting $120 million in liquidations, 85% being long positions, highlighting sell-offs and profit-taking trends.

MicroStrategy's Bold Bitcoin Acquisition

MicroStrategy, led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, acquired 9,245 bitcoins for $623 million, now owning more than 1% of the total 21 million bitcoins. With approximately 214,246 BTC valued at $13.5 billion, it has paid an average of $35,160 per coin and experienced a 10% pre-market share decrease.  

Genesis Settles with the SEC

Genesis Global Capital has settled with the SEC by agreeing to pay a $21 million civil penalty for securities law violations related to the defunct Gemini Earn program. The SEC will receive the penalty after other claims are paid. This settlement followed a judge's denial to halt the SEC case against Genesis and Gemini.  

BitMEX Addresses Flash Crash

BitMEX is investigating a flash crash that caused Bitcoin's price to drop to $8,900 before rebounding to $64,284. The exchange detected aggressive selling behavior from a small number of accounts. Bitcoin has experienced a 14% decline from its record highs and is currently down over 30% in the past week but still up 20% in the last month.  

Fidelity Eyes Ethereum ETF with Staking

Fidelity filed for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) and amended its filing to include staking options. The move caused Lido, an Ethereum staking protocol, to surge by 9% before pulling back. Other potential ETF issuers include BlackRock, Ark Invest, 21Shares, and Grayscale. This development signals a growing interest in offering ethereum-based investment opportunities to traders.  

OKX Adjusts to EU's Regulatory Landscape

OKX is discontinuing USDT pairs in the EU due to impending MiCA regulations. They will support USDC and euro-based pairs only. The move follows the EU's draft standards on stablecoins set to start in June. OKX cites regulatory requirements for the changes and plans to introduce 30 new trading pairs to offset delistings.  

Binance Strengthens KYC Amid Regulatory Heat

Binance, following a $4.3 billion settlement over sanctions and money-transmitting violations, is instructing prime brokers to intensify Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures to prevent U.S. nationals from accessing the platform. Documents unveiled in November revealed significant growth fueled by U.S. customers, prompting stricter compliance measures. Former CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao allegedly encouraged U.S. clients to disguise their connections using VPNs and APIs.  

Japan's GPIF Eyes Bitcoin Diversification

The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, valued at $1.5 trillion, is exploring diversification with Bitcoin and other unconventional assets. With 225 trillion yen under management, the initiative reflects a shift towards broader investment horizons. Japan's regulatory changes and the GPIF's cautious approach indicate significant potential implications for global investment strategies.  

Arbitrum's Unlocking: Whales Stay Put

Arbitrum's recent unlocking of 1.1 billion ARB triggered concerns of a sell-off, but Lookonchain data revealed that only a small fraction was transferred to exchanges. Whales are holding onto their ARB, indicating strong confidence in the project. The broader Ethereum community remains bullish, with the "Dencun" update slashing transaction fees, making layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum more attractive.  

SLERF's Post-Presale Surge

The SLERF community raised over $500K in SOL within 12 hours post-presale issue. HTX, Bitget, and BingX pledged trading fees to assist the affected. Despite a $10M presale fund mishap, SLERF surged by 5,000%, exceeding $1. Major exchanges supported, while MEXC remains uninvolved. Uncertainty looms for the burnt pre-sale investors amid community efforts to bolster SLERF.  

Nomura Bank's Web3 Foray with Libre

Libre, the Web3 platform by Nomura Bank and WebN, enables on-chain tokenization of alternative assets through Polygon integration. It offers access to BlackRock-managed money market funds, with plans to introduce collateralized lending. The Libre Gateway aims to expand services to accredited investors globally, emphasizing scalability and efficiency in blockchain services.  

Giggle Academy: Education Meets Blockchain

Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, plans to launch Giggle Academy, a non-profit educational platform offering free basic education to underprivileged communities. Designed to complement traditional schooling, the initiative has garnered community support, with volunteers contributing to its development. Amid legal battles and the possibility of an 18-month sentence, Zhao remains under US jurisdiction.  

Citi and BNDES Join Hyperledger Foundation

Citi and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) have recently joined the Hyperledger Foundation to advance enterprise-grade blockchain solutions. The Foundation hosts 134 members like IBM and American Express, fostering collaboration among traditional financial institutions. Accenture, Mastercard, and Visa are part of the newly formed financial services working group under Hyperledger.  

MANTRA Chain's Funding Milestone

MANTRA Chain secured $11 million funding for its network focusing on tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) in the Cosmos ecosystem. It aims to facilitate compliant issuance and trading of RWAs, pending regulatory approval in the Middle East. The project targets the crypto-savvy demographic and aims to be the go-to platform for RWA businesses.