Crypto under pressure
What's being bought and sold*
TOP TRENDING ASSETS
*Trading activity in the past 24 hours on the Uphold platform, as of 8 a.m. 19th March 2024.
The combined total of buy and sell percentages can exceed 100% due to customers who engage in both buying and selling the same asset within the 24-hour time frame.
Don’t invest in crypto unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
What’s up
GBTC Exodus Hits Record
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust yesterday reached a dubious milestone: biggest outflow ever.
According to CoinDesk, citing BitMEX research, some $643 million in assets fled GBTC ETF on Monday.
And, at the same time, inflows to lower-fee spot ETF products, such as BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), were not enough to offset the ongoing exodus from GBTC, such that the previously red-hot BTC ETF sector overall finally cooled with a net outflow of $154 million. That net selling helped put pressure on the market, alongside dumping by short-term profit-takers.
BTC remains up 20% over the past month.
What's down
Crypto Tumbles Fast And Slow
Talk about a tank job. In the past 24 hours, total crypto assets plunged 8% to $2.47 trillion, per CoinGecko.
As of 7 a.m. (EST), Bitcoin was on the verge of sinking below $63K after only last week reaching an all-time high above $73K. BTC has declined 12% in the past one week. Ethereum has plummeted 19% in that same ugly span. Many altcoins recorded losses in the double-digits, percentage-wise, overnight.
DOGE, DOT, UNI and MATIC, down 13%, all of them; but BTC is the one really leading the charge lower.
A combustible mix of sell-pressure factors seem to be conspiring with the Federal Reserve set to meet tomorrow, ETF momentum finally waning and also unnerving reports of a "whale" offloading a giant stash of BTC on BitMex, causing a "flash crash" to unnerving sub-$10K levels, although the price of BTC on BitMex quickly normalized.
What's next
CZ Tries To Turn The Page
After Changpeng Zhao, widely known as “CZ,” stepped down from Binance, the crypto exchange he founded carried on while the once titanic figure laid low. He's still stuck in legal hot water, though.
But CZ's back with something new. Earlier today, CZ announced on X that he was starting up a non-profit education venture, Giggle Academy. "Free basic education, for all," the Binance founder posted. "No revenue. Gamified. Adaptive. We are hiring."
He's looking for passionate educators who can craft engaging digital content in a move that would seem to be an attempt to both tidy his image and stand on the shoulders of Kahn Academy, a much-lauded-for-its-effectiveness online educational non-profit launched 18 years ago by Sal Kahn, a former hedge fund analyst.
In November of 2023, CZ agreed to plead guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and to leave his post as CEO as part of a negotiation with the U.S. Department of Justice. Also part of that deal was Binance's agreement to pay $4.3 billion in fines.
CZ was supposed to be criminally sentenced last month. He faces up to 18 months in prison. The fateful hearing has been pushed to the end of April. Zhao is currently free on a $175 million bond and residing in the U.S. His request to return to Dubai was denied.
"Building a high-quality and sticky education platform that is entirely free and accessible to all is the most impactful thing I could do for the next chapter of my life," CZ said.
