Market Overview (Feb 26–Mar 3): Bitcoin’s Rise, Ethereum’s Upgrade and Memecoins Trends

Key points

• The past week in cryptocurrency saw Bloomberg predict Bitcoin Spot ETF surpassing Gold ETF within two years, the UK planning to legally recognize crypto as an asset, and more.
• In macroeconomics, US PCE inflation hit 2.4%, and several key economic events are set to unfold throughout the week.
• Bitcoin saw a significant increase, triggering a mini Altcoin season wave, and the memecoin trend wave notably increased.

Discover the latest news in cryptocurrency, including Bloomberg’s predictions, legal advancements in the UK, memecoins trends, investment trends, and more.

Last week’s highlights big news (Feb 26–Mar 3)

Bloomberg has made a bold prediction that within two years, the total amount of Bitcoin Spot ETF could surpass that of the Gold ETF. This indicates an increasing confidence and interest in cryptocurrency investment.

In legal news, the UK has made plans to recognize crypto as an asset protected by law. This move would provide added security and legitimacy to cryptocurrencies within the country.

However, it’s not all smooth sailing in the crypto world. Binance, one of the leading crypto exchanges, is under investigation in Nigeria. The company is alleged to have removed Nigeria’s currency (naira) from its P2P service.

In the meantime, the US government has made a significant transaction, transferring $922 million in Bitcoin from two electronic wallets containing the Bitcoin seized from the Bitfinex exchange hack in 2016.

In Hungary, a bill has been introduced that would allow banks, investment funds, and asset management companies to provide Bitcoin and other crypto services. This legislation could significantly expand the reach of cryptocurrencies in the country.

The Ethereum Foundation has announced a successful Dencun upgrade activation on all test networks. The upgrade, which will be deployed on the Ethereum main network on March 13, 2024, is expected to improve efficiency and reduce costs for layer 2 protocols.

In investment news, US Bitcoin ETF funds have attracted $6 billion in just 31 trading days, showing no signs of slowing down.

Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 is set to sponsor a new mining facility in Texas using its Bitcoin reserve. Fidelity has added a Bitcoin ETF to four of its asset management models, diversifying each model’s assets by 1% to 3% into Bitcoin ETF.

Uniswap has released a web extension for its wallet, making it easier for users to send, receive, buy, and exchange crypto directly on their web browser, similar to MetaMask.

In other news, Telegram will start sharing 50% of ad revenue with channel owners in March, paid via the TON blockchain with Toncoin.

And finally, for those affected by the Gemini Earn issue, Gemini has announced that Genesis has agreed to refund 100% of the crypto. This means that if you owned 1 BTC, you would be refunded 1 BTC, despite the price of BTC having quadrupled since they went bankrupt.

In a recent purchase, MicroStrategy bought another 3,000 BTC, totaling ~$155 million, at an average price of $51,813. As of February 25, 2024, they currently hold 193,000 BTC, valued at ~$6.09 billion.

However, it’s not all good news for MicroStrategy, as their X account was attacked, scamming MSTR token airdrop on Ethereum, which resulted in a loss of $440k.

Read more: Bitcoin Spot ETF Explained: All Things You Need To Know!

Macroeconomics (Feb 26–Mar 3)

The spotlight is on the macroeconomic landscape this week as US PCE inflation hits a mark of 2.4%, aligning with expectations. Similarly, the Core PCE stands at 2.8%, a figure that matches the forecast and is the lowest since April 2021. These are the numbers the Federal Reserve (FED) is keen on as it contemplates interest rate adjustments.

In addition to these inflation figures, several key economic events are set to unfold throughout the week, each of which has potential implications for the economy.

Monday, March 4

• Fed Philadelphia Chairman Tom Harker speaks

Tuesday, March 5

• Vice Chairman of the Fed in charge of supervision, Michael Barr, speaks

Wednesday, March 6

• ADP employment index
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell attends a Congressional hearing
• Fed San Francisco Chairman Mary Daly speaks
• FED’s Beige Book (economic situation statistics)
• Federal Reserve Chairman of Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, speaks

Thursday, March 7

• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell attends a Congressional hearing
• Fed Cleveland Chairman Loretta Mester speaks

Friday, March 8

• Fed New York Chairman John Williams speaks
• US Unemployment rate (3.7% last month, estimated 3.7%)

Read more: Bitcoin Price Prediction For 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2030: Super Crypto Bull Run

Prediction Market Crypto (Feb 26–Mar 3)

Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) saw a significant increase, which was followed by a slight sideways decrease. The Dominance (DOM) also decreased, leading to a surge in most Altcoins. This sequence of events triggered a mini Altcoin season wave, hinting at the possibility of many coins pumping x2, x3 in the upcoming week.

A hot trend that notably increased last week was the Memecoins trend. Given that March/April is typically the month of memecoins, this is a trend to watch out for. Some notable meme coins trends across various systems include:

• Ethereum ($ETH): $PEPE, $SHIB, $DOGE, $FLOKI
• Solana ($SOL): $BONK, $WEN
• Apt ($APT): $DOODOO, $GUI, $SHRIMP
• Ton ($TON): $TINU, $FISH, $NOT
• Fantom ($FTM): $CONK, $KIRBY
• Near ($NEAR): $LONK, $BLACKDRAGON, $NEKO
• Avalanche ($AVAX): $WOLF, $COQ, $KIMBO

In addition to monitoring these trends, it’s essential to keep an eye on major unlocks in March. These include:

• $DYDX: $114M on March 1
• $ZETA: $14M on March 1
• $SUI: $106M on March 3
• $AI: $17M on March 4
• $DYM: $23M on March 6
• $ENS: $32M on March 8
• $GMT: $29M on March 9
• $APT: $246M on March 12
• $ARB: $2.11 Billion on March 16
• $UNI: $91M on March 16
• $LMWR: $12M on March 16
• $ACE: $37M on March 18
• $MANTA; $40M on March 18
• $IMX: $114M on March 22
• $ALT: $52M on March 25
• $AXL: $38M on March 27

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.