Bitcoin struggles to sustain momentum despite gains

Hola folks!

Welcome back to our weekly crypto newsletter, where we review the latest market trends and key updates from the crypto world.

We will discuss Bitcoin’s price movement over the past week, MicroStrategy's expansion of its BTC holdings, the US SEC's decision to drop its lawsuit against Ripple, and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady.

We will also dive into Ether’s recent volatility and analyze the broader altcoin market trends. Read on to stay on top of everything crypto.

The broader market saw a temporary boost after the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Ripple, benefiting altcoins. 

On the macro front, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and signaled an accommodative policy ahead, which could support risk assets like BTC. MicroStrategy added another 130 BTC, underlining corporate confidence in Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis’ proposal to sell US gold reserves to acquire 1 million BTC over five years highlights Bitcoin’s growing role in national economic discussions.

On the institutional front, Kraken made headlines with its $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader, marking one of the largest TradFi-crypto deals in history. The TON Foundation also secured over $400 million in token-based investments.

Elsewhere, the US Treasury lifted sanctions against Tornado Cash, reversing its 2022 decision, which could have broader implications for privacy-focused crypto services. 

Stablecoins crossed $232 billion in circulation, adding over $3 billion last week alone. Additionally, Pakistan is exploring cryptocurrency legalization to attract foreign investment, aligning with a broader trend of global regulatory shifts favoring digital assets. It will be interesting to see if the market can maintain its momentum in altcoins.

Bitcoin gained 3.6% last week, fluctuating between $81,000 and $87,000, and is now approaching $87K. Despite briefly hitting a 10-day high at $86,814, the world’s largest crypto asset struggled to sustain momentum. Meanwhile, ETH rose 6% over the past week, while its exchange supply has declined to 8.97 million ETH, the lowest level since November 2015. Ethereum developers postponed the Pectra upgrade, prioritizing thorough testing on the Hoodi testnet. 

In the altcoin market, altcoins, including SOL, XRP, and TRON, gained 8.1%, 4.4%, and 6.8% last week, and PancakeSwap surpassed Uniswap by 60% in 24-hour trading volume, processing $1.64 billion compared to Uniswap’s $1 billion. The surge was primarily driven by increased meme coin trading activity on Binance Smart Chain, as speculators migrated from Solana, where Raydium DEX saw a 27% drop in volume. Meanwhile, Solana continues to expand its ecosystem with the launch of PumpSwap, a native DEX by memecoin launchpad PumpFun. 

Weekly price movement: 

• BTC $87,326 ⏫ 4.73% (7d)

• ETH $2,089 ⏫ 9.87% (7d)

• XRP $2.46 ⏫ 4.97% (7d)

• SOL $140 ⏫ 8.60% (7d)

• TRON $0.22 ⏫ 6.10% (7d)

(All data here as of 2.44 p.m., 24 March 2025)

Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.

• US President Donald Trump dropped a video into a crypto event on March 20, amping up his pro-crypto sentiment with an assertion that crypto will spark economic growth. However, he didn’t offer any of the new policies attendees had hoped he might announce. Trump noted that his administration has already stopped selling seized bitcoin and has brought together industry leaders with his government’s officials. (Read more here) 

• Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on March 20 that his company’s legal battle with the US SEC has ended. The price of XRP, the token closely associated with Ripple’s business activities, quickly jumped by more than 8%. The SEC’s move to drop its appeal against Ripple comes after the agency has dropped several cases and paused investigations into crypto firms. (Read more here)

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks! 👋

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