Hodler’s Digest, March 3-9 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Bitcoin price hits a new all-time high

Bitcoin price reached a new all-time high above $69,200 on March 5, only to break records again on March 8, when it touched the $70,000 mark. The world’s first cryptocurrency rallied over 8% over the week, backed by large inflows from the new spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. The ETFs have introduced passive, price-agnostic demand for Bitcoin, which has fortified its status as a store of value and led to its price appreciation, according to a research report by Bitfinex analysts shared with Cointelegraph.

SEC pushes back decision to open up options trading on spot Bitcoin ETFs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on whether to approve options trading on spot Bitcoin ETFs — which could open the door for more institutional capital into Bitcoin. In a March 6 filing, the SEC extended its time to respond to Cboe Exchange and the Miami International Securities Exchange on their bids to offer options on Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC also delayed deciding on Nasdaq’s bid to offer options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, saying the delay ensures it has “sufficient time to consider” its request.

Pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis pushes stablecoin bill

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis is reportedly drafting regulations for stablecoins in collaboration with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. They anticipate announcing the regulations soon, after receiving technical feedback from the New York Department of Financial Services, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the National Economic Council. Previously, in October 2023, Lummis campaigned against Tether, urging the Department of Justice to consider criminal charges against the firm. Lummis has also opposed central bank digital currencies.

Digital Currency Group files motion to dismiss $3B NYAG lawsuit

Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its CEO, Barry Silbert, have moved to dismiss a $3 billion lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General’s Office (NYAG), arguing that the fraud allegations are baseless. A lawsuit filed by the NYAG against Gemini, Genesis and DCG in October 2023 alleges 230,000 investors, including 29,000 New Yorkers, were defrauded with the Gemini Earn investment program. DCG and Silbert denied the allegations, describing the claims as “baseless innuendo, blatant mischaracterizations, and unsupported conclusory statements.”

BlackRock wants to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs for global allocation fund

BlackRock is planning to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs for its Global Allocation Fund (MALOX). According to a March 7 update to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, BlackRock wants to purchase its own spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust, as well as ETFs by other issuers. It is not only MALOX that BlackRock wants to hold spot Bitcoin ETFs. The updated filing comes just a few days after BlackRock submitted a similar request for its Strategic Income Opportunities Fund on March 4.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $68,852, Ether (ETH) at $3,928 and XRP at $0.62. The total market cap is at $2.6 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are FLOKI (FLOKI) at 139.40%, Pepe (PEPE) at 122.59% and Shiba Inu (SHIB) at 127.85%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Kaspa (KAS) at -12.61%, Flare (FLR) at -11.97% and Sui (SUI) at -9.02%.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“Will we see this many L2s in five years or so? I don’t think so. Only a few will survive.”

Kenny Li, co-founder and chief operating officer at Manta Pacific

“Because NFTs are established segments of ecosystems, [after the halving] interest from Bitcoin will spill over into NFTs together with altcoins.”

Oscar Franklin Tan, chief financial officer at Atlas Development

“Let’s have a regime that encourages a safe form of digital assets that’s backed by pounds rather than have a parallel to USDT in the U.K.”

Varun Paul, senior director and business lead for CBDC and financial market infrastructure at Fireblocks

“I’m investing in Bitcoin over gold all day, every day.”

Mark Cuban, billionaire businessman

“The fact we now have [Bitcoin] ETFs potentially means that any decline following the top of the current cycle could be less drastic than previous downturns.”

Bitfinex Research

“People enjoy saying the metaverse is dead, but it’s definitely not for us. For Facebook, it’s not. […] Having a metaverse with crypto, with NFTs and avatars, it’s still very meaningful.”

Arthur Madrid, CEO of The Sandbox

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin accumulation phase ends as ETFs fuel new $100K BTC price target

Figures from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode show Bitcoin accumulation addresses declining for the first time since the first quarter of 2023. Since Feb. 11, accumulator balances have fallen 2.6% to 3,176,293 BTC ($212 billion) and show no sign of reversing.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs keep having a unique impact on supply dynamics. Analyzing the current trajectory, Timothy Peterson, founder and investment manager at Cane Island Alternative Advisors, suggested that ETF demand could propel Bitcoin to six figures as early as 2024.

“It appears that the Bitcoin Spot ETF approval launched an accumulation that, if sustained, puts $BTC at $100K by October 2024,” Peterson told subscribers on X on March 7.

FUD of the Week

SEC claims Binance.US ‘unwilling’ to give info, requests court intervenes

Binance’s United States arm, Binance.US, hasn’t been providing answers to key questions relating to customer assets and other core elements of an ongoing investigation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims. The regulator is now asking the court to intervene to speed up the discovery process. Binance.US pushed back on the SEC’s allegations, saying it had complied with all of the regulator’s “exceptionally broad” requests for information and asked the court to end the expedited discovery process.

MEXC says ‘clawbacks’ only affect delinquent traders as users report missing funds

Customers of crypto exchange MEXC are increasingly reporting funds missing from their accounts under the company’s clawback policies. In a recent X post, the exchange denied claims of stealing traders’ funds, noting that “users engaging in normal trading activities will not be affected” by its policies, allegedly meant to protect the exchange from alleged market manipulation.

Cryptoqueen’s brother is freed after 3 years jail over OneCoin scheme: Report

The brother of Ruja “Cryptoqueen” Ignatova has been released from prison after spending 34 months behind bars for his role in OneCoin’s infamous $4.4 billion fraud scheme. Ignatov is ordered to spend the next two years under court supervision and hand over $118,000 of the funds he made while working at OneCoin. He was arrested in 2019 and pled guilty to money laundering and fraud charges later that year.