Summary
gm, The cryptocurrency market has witnessed significant shifts recently, including a record $1.7 billion outflow from crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) last week, the highest since 2015. As Ethereum's ecosystem gears up for the Pectra upgrade, Layer-2 networks are increasingly aligning with dominant technologies like the OP Stack. Security issues have prompted OKX to temporarily halt its decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator following recent cyber-attacks, underscoring the persistent security hurdles in the DeFi sector. Meanwhile, Solana marked its fifth anniversary with robust growth and the launch of futures contracts by CME, reflecting heightened institutional interest. Additionally, the market is buzzing with the onset of an "altcoin season," as several key altcoins begin to surpass Bitcoin's recent performance.

News Headlines
📉 Standard Chartered drops 2025 ETH price estimate by 60% to $4K

  • Standard Chartered has significantly revised its price estimate for Ethereum, lowering its end-of-2025 forecast from $10,000 to $4,000, reflecting a 60% reduction.
  • Analysts cite issues such as increased supply, reduced transaction fees, and competition from layer 2 blockchains as reasons for the downgrade.

💼 FalconX Completes First CME Group Solana Futures Block Trade

  • FalconX executed the first block trade for CME Group's newly launched Solana futures, in partnership with StoneX.
  • This transaction reflects growing client demand for Solana futures and is seen as a precursor to a potential Solana ETF launch.

🚨 Crypto users report new scam emails spoofing Coinbase, Gemini

  • Crypto users have reported a surge in scam emails impersonating Coinbase and Gemini, falsely claiming users must transition their crypto to new wallets.
  • The fraudulent emails suggest that due to a class-action lawsuit, users are required to manage their own wallets and cite a court directive mandating this action.

🐳 Michael Saylor's Strategy makes smallest Bitcoin purchase on record

  • Michael Saylor's Strategy has reported its smallest Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 130 BTC for approximately $10.7 million amidst a drop in Bitcoin prices below $80,000.
  • With this latest transaction, Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 499,226 BTC, valued at around $33.1 billion.

🔮 Robinhood shares up 8% after launching betting markets hub

  • Robinhood launched a betting markets hub, partnering with Kalshi to create an event contract platform.
  • The new feature allows users to trade contracts predicting variables such as the fed funds rate and outcomes of college basketball tournaments.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Slingshot DAO (Undisclosed, $16M) - DAO focused on gaming innovation
2. Ephyra (Series A, $10.5M) - AI-powered Web3 gaming platform
3. PlaysOut (Seed, $7M) - Web3 mini-game SDK & platform.
4. Kamigotchi (Seed, $1M) - Blockchain-based game

On-chain Data
1. Melania Meme (MELANIA) token unlocked today ($17.67M, 4.89%)
2. Oasis Network (ROSE) token unlocked today ($405.85K, 0.19%)
3. Safe (SAFE) token unlock in 2 days ($4.85M, 2.12%)
4. Space ID (ID) token unlock in 4 days ($19.47M, 8.74%)

Regulatory
🏛️ Paul Atkins Nears SEC Chair Confirmation

  • Senate hearing scheduled for March 27 to review Paul Atkins' nomination as SEC chair.
  • Atkins is expected to adopt a more collaborative approach to cryptocurrency regulation compared to his predecessor.

💰 Trump's $390 Million Payday from World Liberty Token Sale

  • Donald Trump and associates earned approximately $390 million from the sale of the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token.
  • The project raised a total of $550 million in two sales rounds, with Trump holding rights to 75% of the net revenue.

💼 Cumberland SG Receives Approval for Singapore Payment License

  • Cumberland SG has received in-principle approval for a Major Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
  • This approval allows Cumberland to offer regulated digital payment token services once fully granted.

🌐 Hashdex Seeks to Add Altcoins to Crypto Index ETF

  • Hashdex has filed with the SEC to amend its Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF to include Solana, XRP, Cardano, and other altcoins.
  • The move follows the SEC's recent approval of Hashdex's fund, which primarily focuses on Bitcoin and Ethereum.

🛡️ NymVPN Launches Decentralized VPN Amid Privacy Concerns

  • Nym has launched NymVPN, a fully decentralized VPN using mixnet technology for enhanced user privacy.
  • The launch comes amid increasing governmental scrutiny and demands for backdoors in encryption.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin is in a falling trend channel in the short term. This shows that investors over time have sold at lower prices to get out of the currency, and indicates negative development for the currency. The currency has support at points 80000 and resistance at points 92600. The currency is assessed as technically negative for the short term.

Ethereum - Investors have accepted lower prices over time to get out of Ethereum and the currency is in a falling trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing pessimism among investors and indicates further decline for Ethereum. There is no support in the price chart and further decline is indicated. In case of a positive reaction, the currency has resistance at 2750 points. The volume balance is negative and weakens the currency in the short term. RSI diverges positively against the price, which indicates a possibility for a reaction up. The currency is overall assessed as technically negative for the short term.

Governance & Code
☁️ Sky DAO | Smart Burn Engine Parameter Update (Active Vote)
- This poll aims to increase the Smart Burn Engine's rate of activity from ~400,000 USDS per day to ~500,000 USDS per day by decreasing the 'hop' parameter from 2,160 seconds to 1,728 seconds.

👻 Aave DAO | Aave Permissionless Acqui-Hire Framework
- This proposal seeks to introduce a permissionless acqui-hire framework for Aave to attract talent.

💰 Cryptex DAO | Regulatory Advocacy & Public Affairs Strategy
- This proposal requests $189,000 from the Cryptex SubDAO to fund a six-month advocacy initiative and a three-month public relations campaign.