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First Mover Americas: All Eyes on Ether
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Feb. 19, 2024.
Updated Mar 9, 2024, 5:53 a.m. Published Feb 19, 2024, 1:01 p.m.
This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
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Bitcoin's (BTC) recent rally has been driven by the spectacular introduction of exchange-traded funds (ETF). It may now be time to focus on ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, broker Bernstein said in a research report on Monday. Ether is "probably the only other digital asset likely to get a spot ETF approval by the SEC," the report said. Bernstein says there is about a 50% chance of ether spot ETF approval by May and near-certain probability of approval in the next 12 months. Ether rose over 3% on Monday, while bitcoin gained just over 1%. Ether has outpaced bitcoin over the past week, gaining over 16% in seven days to trade above $2,900 for the first time in nearly two years while the bitcoin price rose a more sedate 8.5% to $52,300.
Japan's cabinet approved a bill that adds crypto to the list of assets the nation's investment funds and venture capital firms can acquire, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday.Japan has been a global leader in framing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, and has indicated plans to promote Web3 while remaining tough on user protection. In September 2023, Nikkei reported that the country planned to relax rules for VC firms to invest in crypto startups. Now the cabinet has approved the move, the amended bill will be introduced and debated in the current session of parliament, the Diet.
Layer-1 blockchain Sui has experienced a sharp increase in inflows this month, a spike that has seen it overtake Cardano, Near and Aptos in terms of total value locked (TVL). The network, which was built by former Meta (META) employees, now has over $593 million in capital locked across various decentralized finance (DeFI) protocols, more than double its total at the turn of the year when it had $211 million, DefiLlama data shows. Data published by wormholescan.io, which tracks the flow of funds through the cross-chain bridge Wormhole, shows that $310 million had been bridged to Sui from Ethereum in the past 30 days.
Chart of the Day
- The chart shows the best-performing cryptocurrencies of the past seven days.
- HBAR leads the pack with 29% gains, followed by KAS, MATIC, ADA, and ETH.
- The market rally is broadening, with ether's recent bitcoin-beating move of 17%.
- Source: Velo Data
- Omkar Godbole
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Exchange Review - March 2025
CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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Solana CME Futures Fell Short of BTC and ETH Debuts, but There's a Catch
When adjusted for asset market capitalization SOL's relative futures volume looks better, K33 Research noted.
What to know:
- Solana's SOL futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Monday, with a notional daily volume of $12.3 million and $7.8 million in open interest, significantly lower than the debuts of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures.
- Despite the seemingly lackluster debut, when adjusted to market value, SOL's first-day figures are more in line with BTC's and ETH's, according to K33 Research.
- Despite the bearish market conditions, the launch of CME SOL futures offers new ways for institutions to manage their exposure to the token, said Joshua Lim of FalconX.
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