The past week has finally re-introduced a sense of Optimism within the wider crypto community, with the prolonged crypto winter interrupted by bright green candlesticks illuminating the charts. With the likes of Bitcoin accelerating by almost 25% and BNB nearing a 20% increase, this rapid onset bullish momentum has torn its way through the top 100 and sent various assets soaring in value. In light of this bullish momentum, BTC has added nearly one million non-zero addresses in under one month, which has led to analysts making more positive predictions about the coming months. However, the positive news appears to cease here, with international media giant, Playboy, announcing losses of over $4.9 million on ETH after it began to accept the asset in NFT payments. Also on the institutional side, the US has apprehended exiled Chinese business tycoon, Guo Wengui, after alleging his involvement with over $1 billion worth of crypto-related fraud.
The Latest News
BTC Adds Nearly $1 Million Non-Zero Addresses In Under A Month
In just under a month, the Bitcoin network has successfully onboarded nearly one million wallets that hold a non-zero balance. Having dipped throughout February from 44.2 million to 43.8 million, the number of non-zero wallets has accelerated to a new record high of 44.778 million as of the 15th of March in a ferocious recovery. Various analysts are speculating that the wallet increase directly correlates with the network’s adoption, operating under the assumption that this increase in wallets is indicative of a rising demand for Bitcoin, which could boost its value in the long run.
However, this metric isn’t the only one that is sparking hope for the BTC network. The seven-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) of new addresses interacting with the BTC network began to increase since the previous month, leading it to reach its highest level in early March since mid-2021. This signals that despite crypto winter hindering price growth, there is still unprecedented opportunities for BTC to grow in the coming months, with its community seemingly stronger than ever.
Playboy Loses $4.9M On ETH After Accepting NFT Payments
PLBY Group, the parent company of Playboy, has reported losses of $4.9 million on the Ethereum it held last year after it began to facilitate Ethereum payments for its NFT series. This comes in light of the crypto market has severely degraded in recent months, thus affecting the valuation of the ‘Rabbitars’ NFT collection which launched in 2021 and ultimately costing Playboy a reported $4.9 million.
In recent financial filings, Playboy’s digital asset value sat at $327,000, a staggering loss from September 2022’s reported $1.75 million. Playboy went on to justify the company’s accounts for its digital assets as being ‘indefinite-lived intangible assets’.
US DOJ Arrests Guo Wengui Alleging Links To $1 Billion Crypto Fraud Operation
The exiled Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui, was arrested in New York this week after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged his involvement with a more than $1 billion fraud conspiracy that included cryptocurrency. The DOJ has charged Guo with 12 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering on the suspicion of soliciting investments in various entities through false statements and representations to ‘hundreds of thousands of [his] online followers’.
The DOJ has alleged that Guo, alongside other defendants, had obtained more than $262 million in victim funds via the Himalaya Exchange, a cryptocurrency ecosystem, and further stated that the collective had obtained approximately $634 million from 21 different bank accounts linked to the alleged fraud.
Current Project Trends
Based on data provided by CoinMarketCap, the top-gaining project across the past week was BitTube, a multi-media rewards project that is comprised of several products that seek to incentivize user engagement with any type of payment. As a result, BitTube has accelerated by 139% in the past 24 hours and a staggering total of 483% across the past week.
The Current BTC Trend
Across the past week, Bitcoin remained in a horizontal trading trajectory for the start of the week, having entered the week at a low of $20.9k. After a brief dip below its 7-day SMA, BTC began to rebound above this threshold and progressively move into the $21k zone by the 13th. However, on the 13th, BTC began to gain some significant momentum and steeply climbed upward and started to push into the $23k zone. On the 14th Bitcoin’s price reached a multi-month high of $26,514.72 and began to decline moderately, leading it to close the week at a promising $25.41k.
Alongside this bullish momentum, Bitcoin has been subject to a surge in self-custodial holdings in light of the collapse of various crypto-banking and exchange institutions. With growing concerns in the banking sector, over 70,000 BTC has been withdrawn into self-custodial wallets since the collapse of Silvergate Bank last week. The switch self custody is indicative that in spite of growing concerns related to the actors within the market, investors are still standing strong by the ethos of crypto and are still interested in pursuing investments.
In light of this, Bitcoin’s MVRV (market value to realized value) bottomed at the start of the week, reaching a low of 1.077. However, it began a steep incline that ensued throughout the remainder of the week and pushed it to a high of 1.137. This suggests that BTC’s valuation is finally beginning to move away from the undersold territory and that its true value is being realized.
The Situation of ETH Staking
As of the 17th of March, the state of Ethereum staking remains relatively positive, likely due to the upcoming deployment of the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, which will enable all validators who have staked Ethereum to progressively redeem their tokens and subsequent yield earnt. In addition, the volume of Ethereum deposited to the Beacon Chain has continued to grow at a steep rate since the start of 2023, with this beginning to see a notable uptick in March. Check out current ETH price at Gate.io.
Here are some key figures from across the past week to consolidate this:
Total validators: 512,657
Depositor Addresses: 90,200
Total ETH Deposited: 16,353,927
Liquid Staking Percentage: 35.60%
Staked Share Of ETH Supply: 14.70%
The Current Macro Situation
International Gas And Oil Prices Decrease As Economic Outlook Improves
Across the past year, it has been reported that international gas and oil prices have substantially fallen due to a relatively mild winter and minimized demand. Various analysts have hypothesized that the decrease in prices may save the global economy from further jeopardy, yet it is important to be cautious as the impact of interest rate hikes is yet to be truly felt on the international stage.
What Could Be Coming In The Week Ahead?
With crypto winter seemingly momentarily disrupted, it appears as if the crypto market may have a positive week ahead as the market grapples with downward pressure and a bullish surge. With the market cap has soared by almost $200 million from the previous week to $1.1T, the market may be nearing recovery. Yet, it is critical to take caution, particularly due to the intense volatility seen within the market throughout the past month, which has flung the crypto stage from multi-month lows to highs.
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