Key Points
- Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new all-time high above $70,000, while Worldcoin (WLD) also saw price increases despite regulatory concerns.
- Binance withdrew from Nigeria, and Montenegro approved the extradition of Do Kwon to South Korea.
Bitcoin (BTC) set a new record high this week as the cryptocurrency market experienced an uptrend.
This was driven by increased participation and trading volume, which reached $40 billion in a 24-hour period for the first time since May 2021.
Bitcoin Breaks New Ground
On March 5, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $69,170, which had a positive ripple effect across the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem.
This included the DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL), which rose to a two-year high of $101.3 billion.
However, the volatility of the market led some traders to close their positions shortly after the new high was reached.
This resulted in $1.05 billion in total liquidations across the market within 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s price then dropped below $60,000 on March 5, but it quickly recovered, providing a boost to the wider crypto market.
Bitcoin Surpasses $70k
As Bitcoin began to recover from its March 5 slump, other cryptocurrencies followed suit.
Meme coins, including dogwifhat (WIF), Floki (FLOKI), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), saw significant price increases.
Ethereum (ETH), the largest altcoin, also experienced a surge, reclaiming the $4,000 mark for the first time since December 2021.
On March 8, Bitcoin’s price exceeded $70,000, setting a new all-time high of $70,330.
This bullish market sentiment was reflected in the stock price of Coinbase, which exceeded its initial listing price for the first time in two years.
Spot Bitcoin ETF products saw increased inflows this week, contributing to the market’s uptrend.
On the first day of the week, these ETFs attracted $562 million in inflows, despite Grayscale’s GBTC experiencing steady outflows.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the inflows, hitting a daily record of $788 million on March 5.
Despite the success of Bitcoin ETFs, the U.S. SEC delayed decisions on filings from BlackRock and Fidelity for spot Ethereum ETFs.
Worldcoin (WLD) also saw a price increase this week, despite facing regulatory challenges.
South Korean authorities launched an investigation into Worldcoin for potential privacy violations, and Spain temporarily banned the project.
Despite these issues, WLD’s price increased by over 50% on March 9, reaching a new all-time high above $11.
Binance faced challenges in Nigeria, where two of its executives were detained amid allegations that the exchange contributed to the devaluation of the naira.
Following reports of a $10 billion fine, Binance removed the Nigerian Naira (NGN) from its P2P platform and delisted all NGN pairs, effectively exiting the Nigerian market.
In other news, Montenegro approved the extradition of Do Kwon, the founder of the collapsed Terra ecosystem, to South Korea.
This decision overturned a previous ruling to extradite Kwon to the U.S., although the U.S. Department of Justice plans to appeal.
