Synopsis
- Bitcoin bulls lead market rally
- Blast Protocol’s new update
- Eigenlayer secures $100 million in funding
- Biggest gainer and loser of the week
Key Observations
Analysis
Bitcoin bulls lead market rally
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a notable surge in value, with Bitcoin nearing $57,000 and Ethereum breaking past $3,200. This upward momentum can be attributed to several key factors including MicroStrategy’s substantial Bitcoin purchase and the momentum associated with Bitcoin-based spot ETFs.
In terms of performance, spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached a new daily record of $2.4 billion in trading volume. BlackRock’s IBIT emerged as a leader in trading volume recording $1.29 billion. The year-to-date inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have exceeded $5.5 billion, indicating strong investor demand for exposure to Bitcoin through regulated financial products. Additionally, Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF witnessed a record outflow amounting $22.4 million hinting at growing stability and investor confidence in the product.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin Layer-2 network tokens like Stacks (STX) and RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF) have witnessed impressive gains outperforming the broader market. Stacks has seen a significant increase in social activity, with interactions up nearly 16,000% over the past year. This heightened interest is fueled by the excitement surrounding Bitcoin layer 2 solutions and their potential to enhance the functionality and scalability of the Bitcoin network.
Blast Protocol has a new update
Blast protocol has announced the launch of its mainnet on Feb 29th. It serves as a scaling solution for the Ethereum network, offering users native yields in Ether (ETH) and stablecoins for staking their funds on the protocol.
According to data from DefiLlama, Blast’s TVL has surged by over 2,200% to over $2.1 billion since its bridging protocol went live on November 22. The substantial increase can be attributed to airdrop hunters.
However, the launch of Blast protocol hasn’t been devoid of controversy. Once funds were committed to the platform, users found themselves unable to withdraw them until the scheduled mainnet launch. Despite this, the allure of potential rewards from the upcoming token airdrop has attracted a considerable amount of capital to the protocol.
Eigenlayer injected with $100 million in funding
Eigen Labs, the firm behind EigenLayer, a groundbreaking crypto restaking project built on Ethereum, has secured a significant investment of $100 million from venture capital investor a16z crypto. The confirmation of this investment was made by Eigen Labs via a thread on the social media platform X.
Despite not yet being operational, EigenLayer has generated substantial traction within the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. EigenLayer has experienced a surge in interest after it did away with the deposit cap prompting its TVL to nearly $8 billion, according to DefiLlama.
EigenLayer’s appeal lies in its promise to enable actively validated services (AVSs), third-party networks that will utilize EigenLayer to enhance their security. While EigenLayer’s innovative ecosystem has garnered widespread attention, some Ethereum developers have raised concerns about its “shared security” model. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted these concerns in May 2023, warning of the potential high systemic risks to the ecosystem posed by restaking.
Biggest gainer of the week: Theta Network (THETA) up by 84.66%
Opinions:
Technical Analysis:
THETA has witnessed over 80% growth over the last week which is attributed to the massive buying pressure as depicted in the volume. There is a growing sentiment that GRT should witness a correction in the price down to the support level at 1.3.
Oscillator indicators: 1 bearish, 7 neutral, 3 bullish
Moving Average indicators: 0 bearish, 1 neutral, 14 bullish
Biggest loser of the week: Kaspa (KAS) down by 8.27%
Opinions:
Technical Analysis:
KAS has lost 5.5% of its price in the past week. However, the trend will continue to move within the expected range. Kaspa shall try to break past the resistance at 0.18, however it seems unlikely. In case the current levels fail to hold, we should see the support region of 0.169 being tested.
Oscillator indicators: 2 bearish, 9 neutral, 0 bullish
Moving Average indicators: 0 bearish, 1 neutral, 14 bullish
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency market was marked with important events. The crypto market cap has recorded a marketcap of $2.12 billion with Bitcoin reclaiming a 25-month high. The ETF performance and institutional buying have contributed to this rally. Eigenlayer secures $100 million in funding as Blast Protocol announces its mainnet launch. These events round up the highlights of the week as the markets echo a positive sentiment.
