Crypto markets breach $2trn market cap as institutional inflow surges

Hola folks!

Happy Monday! Welcome to our weekly update on the crypto market. The start of the workweek is doubly special as Bitcoin continues to trade above $52k, and the global crypto market cap soared past the $2 trillion mark. The past few weeks have been great for the crypto market, and investors are understandably upbeat. 

Read on to learn more about what lifted and shook the crypto market in the week gone by. 

Crypto markets surged last week, with Bitcoin leading the charge as institutional inflow and interest continue to strengthen. The newly launched spot BTC ETFs have overcome the initial selling pressure and outflows from GBTC and witnessed a steady acceleration in BTC accumulation last week. 

We are now witnessing daily net inflow on a consistent basis of around $500m, which is exceptionally high volume even weeks after the initial launch euphoria. Blackrock and Fidelity are leaders in the race, with BTC holdings now over $5bn and $4bn, respectively, making them the most successful ETF launches ever. Even 21Shares and Bitwise's ETF have accumulated over $1bn in BTC inflows. In unison, BTC price has been on a tear and is trading back above the $52k mark, a level which was last seen in November 2021.

Overall, the crypto market cap too has surged past $2trn in value. On the macro front, there was a shocker, with higher-than-expected inflation reading sending risk-on assets lower in prices as the hopes of a rate cut were dashed. But it was only a temporary blip for BTC, which continued its upward march and will continue to do so if the ETF inflows remain so strong.

There is a similar and stronger upswing in ETH prices as well, now trading above $2.9k levels as the long-awaited Dencun Upgrade is approaching, along with increased chatter that spot ETH ETF applications will also get approvals.

Franklin Templeton was the latest TradFi giant to file for a spot ETH ETF, along with Blackrock and Fidelity in the mix. ETH's price increase has been sharper than BTC's and will keep investors on the edge before deciding where to make future allocations among crypto blue chips. 

The broader crypto markets were a sea of green as most crypto assets traded higher.

Worth highlighting is Vechain's VET token, which was higher by over 50% during the week, as  Account Abstraction went live on the network - unlocking programmable smart contract wallets for a better user experience and improved security on Vechain.

The launch of OpenAI's text-to-video creator Sora has further ignited investor interest to the intersection of AI and crypto! Last week saw an unprecedented >150% surge in prices of WorldCoin's WLD token, as the project is backed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman.

With the launch of more Web3 games lined up this year, gaming-focused Immutable X's IMX token saw major buying pressure, too. On the flip side, Celestia's TIA token witnessed a price correction after months of near-vertical price increases. The TIA token came under selling pressure as investors looked at booking profits as the valuation seemed stretched.

• BTC $52,135 ⏫ 8.37%

• ETH $2,907 ⏫ 16.61%

• WLD $7.32  ⏫ 180% 

• VET $0.04515 ⏫ 49%

(All data here is as of 2:25 p.m., 19 February 2024)

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

• Bitcoin (BTC) price hit $52,000 on Feb. 14, surpassing the $1 trillion market capitalization after 26 months, with traders eyeing even more gains anticipating the rally has room to run. Read more here. 

• Illicit crypto activity dropped significantly last year, partly because of lower crypto trading volume and partly because sophisticated threat actors like the Lazarus Group are developing methods to evade detection, Chainalysis said in its annual report on crypto money laundering. Read more here. 

Take a break and catch your breath with our crypto crossword!

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

See you later, folks! 👋

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