On March 5th, Bitcoin surged to an all-time high, surpassing $69,000—a milestone that undoubtedly thrilled the meme-loving crypto community—before experiencing a slight retreat. This record achievement marked a remarkable rebound from the gloomy period of November 2022, characterised by rising interest rates dampening risk appetite and the collapse of FTX, a prominent crypto exchange. Amidst the ongoing bullish trend in the crypto market, with the total market capitalisation nearing the $2.6 trillion mark, altcoins are also making significant strides. This suggests that altcoins are poised for a substantial rally, with leading coins such as Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, and Shiba Inu spearheading the charge. For example, Ethereum is approaching the psychological threshold of $4,000, given its impressive performance over the past month, with the top altcoin recording a 61.1% increase to reach $3,852.
On March 5th, BTC spot trading volume across centralised exchanges hit a peak not seen in the past year, totalling $46.26 billion for the day. This surge suggests a growing interest among retail investors in acquiring the pioneering Crypto. Concurrently, the year-to-date record trading volume coincided with an unprecedented daily influx into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The ten U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively achieved a remarkable $10 billion in daily trading volume on March 5th, surpassing the previous week’s record of $7.7 billion. Despite a swift $10,000 decline shortly after reaching new all-time highs on March 5th, Bitcoin has since rebounded, creating an intriguing market scenario. The area of all-time highs represents a significant psychological threshold for current Bitcoin market participants. Looking ahead, there’s anticipation for further price discovery, while some long-term holders have been patiently waiting to break even on coins purchased at the previous highs in November 2021. Analysts’ predictions regarding the potential peak of BTC/USD vary widely, with some forecasting six-figure targets and others suggesting an imminent market peak.
On Wednesday, Ethereum (ETH) saw a rise in price while many other crypto assets experienced losses following Bitcoin’s recent surge and subsequent pullback on Tuesday. Despite widespread profit-taking by holders, Ether continued its upward trajectory toward the significant $4,000 mark. An important technical development, the Dencun upgrade, is slated to launch on the Ethereum mainnet on March 13. This upgrade represents a significant milestone for Layer 2 chains and rollups. With successful testing on the Sepolia and Holesky testnets, Dencun is set for deployment, promising a seamless integration into the Ethereum mainnet. The Dencun upgrade, also known as a hard fork, will be triggered once Ether’s blockchain reaches slot 8626176, expected to happen at 13:55 GMT on March 13. Additionally, the value of staked Ether has surged to $118 billion as of Wednesday, further reducing the circulating supply of the altcoin and potentially paving the way for the rally to persist.
On Wednesday, US stocks saw a modest uptick following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who indicated that the central bank anticipates a reduction in interest rates later this year. Powell emphasised that the United States is not currently considering implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and even if it were, any such CBDC would prioritise user privacy and not engage in surveillance. Echoing trends in global markets, gold prices surged in domestic trading, driven by optimism surrounding potential rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Powell’s remarks contributed to this sentiment, alongside increased gold purchases by central banks in January.
Technical Outlook:
Bitcoin:
Bitcoin after taking multiple supports at $40,000 resumed the up move and rallied up to $52,985. The asset was facing stiff resistance at $52,000 and started consolidating between $52,000 and $50,000. Post this move, BTC finally gave a breakout above the range and surged up to $69,000. The asset touched its previous all-time high and witnessed some profit booking and the prices dropped to $59,000. Currently, Bitcoin is consolidating between $68,000 to $62,500 and to further rally it needs to break, close and sustain above the key level of $69,000 whereas $60,000 will act as a strong support for the asset.
Ethereum:
ETH after giving a breakout above the long-held resistance of $2,146 rallied up to $2,717. The asset faced stiff resistance at the recent highs and failed to cross the key level of $2,750. The prices witnessed a correction and dropped 20% to $2,168. The asset retested and bounced again from the key level of $2,150 and broke the key levels of $2,750 & $3,000 by forming a ‘Higher High Higher Low’ pattern and made the high of $3,946. ETH has a strong resistance at $4,000 and $4,150 whereas $3,300 and $3,000 will act as strong support levels for the asset.
BNB:
BNB was facing multiple resistances at $255. The bulls finally gave a breakout above the resistance and the price rallied up to $338. Post this move, the asset made a ‘Bullish Flag’ pattern and broke the long-held resistance of $355 and made the weekly high of $477.2. BNB has a strong resistance at $505. Hence, to further rally it needs to break, close and sustain above this level whereas $425 and $400 will act as a strong support for the asset.
Weekly Snapshot:
| USD ($) | 29 Feb 24 | 07 Mar 24 | Previous Week | Current Week | |||
| Close | Close | % Change | High | Low | High | Low | |
| BTC | $61,198 | $66,925 | 9.36% | $63,913 | $50,562 | $69,171 | $59,324 |
| ETH | $3,342 | $3,874 | 15.92% | $3,519 | $2,907 | $3,940 | $3,224 |
| BNB | $400.00 | $475.00 | 18.75% | $427.05 | $369.40 | $477.21 | $363.22 |
| Crypto | 1w – % Vol. Change (Global) |
|---|---|
| BitCoin (BTC) | 33.37% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 26.31% |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | 37.25% |
| Resistance 2 | $83,500 | $4,150 | $1.15 | $575 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resistance 1 | $69,000 | $4,000 | $1 | $505 |
| USD | BTC | ETH | Matic | BNB |
| Support 1 | $60,000 | $2,750 | $0.75 | $425 |
| Support 2 | $56,000 | $2,400 | $0.55 | $400 |
Market Updates:
- Do Kwon, the co-founder of the bankrupt Terraform Labs, may be extradited to South Korea, rather than the United States, where he will face charges.
- The Arizona State Senate is considering a proposal to encourage the inclusion of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in two of the state’s retirement portfolios.
- Arts and music festival Coachella announced a collaboration with OpenSea to launch NFTs with utilities during the popular event. On March 5th, the festival revealed that its 2024 festival will have three NFT collections.
- Crypto data analytics platform Arkham Intelligence added Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet tracking feature to its dashboard. Tesla’s wallet now holds about 11,509 BTC at the time of writing, 1,789 more than the 9,720 BTC it reported during its last earnings report.
