Tether was the seventh largest buyer of US treasuries in 2024; Crypto.com secured its Virtual Asset Service Provider registration in Argentina; US SEC clarified that Proof of Work mining does not involve the offer and sale of securities
US spotbitcoin ETFs had a net inflow of US$744 billion last week, after five consecutive weeks of net outflows. Spot ether ETFs saw a net outflow of $103 million last week, 46% less than the week before.
On the macro side, the US Fed kept interest rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.50%, inline with expectations, and still sees two rate cuts in 2025. It currently sees the US economy increasing 1.7% in 2025 (down 0.4% compared to previous estimate in December), while core inflation is expected to grow 2.8% annually (up 0.3% from previous estimate). The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed a 87% probabilityof a May rate cut in the US. Bank of England and Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged at 4.5% and 0.5%, respectively. Swiss National Bank (SNB) reduced interest rates by 0.25% to 0.25%.
Notable updates: Cronos completed its v5 upgrade on 18 March, EOS will transition to Vaulta to focus on Web3 banking; the Crypto.com App listed Bubblemaps (BMT)
Notable events in the coming week: US S&P Global Manufacturing & Services PMI and Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index
Weekly Market Index
Price and volatility indices were up last week by +2.84% and +3.33%, respectively. Volume index was down by -41.34%, led by LINK (-49.08%) and ONDO (-47.75%).
Chart of the Week
Tether was the seventh largest buyer of US treasuries in 2024 at $33.1 billion, exceeding Canada. The acquisition is to provide backing for the issuance of its USDT stablecoin, which has a market cap of $144 billion as of 23 March, 2025. This also coincided with an increase in stablecoin adoption in 2024, with USDTâs market cap increasing 50% ($46 billion) in the year.
Weekly Performance
BTC and ETH increased by +2.3% and +5.9%, respectively, in the past seven days.
Most of the selected top-cap tokens increased in price, which coincided with the US Fed maintaining its forecast of two more rate cuts in 2025. Price increase was led by APT (+10.8%) and NEAR (+8.7%).
Most key categories increased in market capitalisation in the past seven days, led by DeFi category. Meme and layer-2 categories saw a drop.
Cronos completed its v5 upgrade on 18 March, which includes the plan to reissue 70 billion CRO that was burned in 2021 to the Cronos Strategic Reserve escrow wallet. The upgrade also changes the mint moduleâs minimum and maximum inflation parameters to 0.85% and 1%, respectively (previously 1.2% and 3.7%).
EOS Network Foundation announced that EOS will transition to a new network called Vaulta to focus on Web3 banking. It aims to focus on four pillars â wealth management, consumer payments, portfolio investment and insurance â to bridge traditional finance with digital assets. The transition is scheduled for the end of May, but is subject to change.
As of 23 Mar 2025 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, protocolsâ websites
Bubblemaps is a blockchain analytics platform designed to simplify complex on-chain data through intuitive visual representations. It analyses token distribution and wallet connections using interactive bubble visualisations, simplifying the understanding of token ownership patterns and potential risks. BMT serves as both a utility and governance token.
As of 23 Mar 2025 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, Protocolsâ websites
A Senator from the US state of Minnesota introduced the Minnesota Bitcoin Act, which proposes to allow the Minnesota State Board of Investment to invest state assets in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
German financial authority BaFinidentified âserious deficienciesâ in Ethenaâs USDe token, and forbids the issuer from offering it to the public. In particular, Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations were found to be violated, including those related to asset reserves and capital requirements.
Pakistan is planning to legalise crypto trading and is working on establishing a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. This aims to boost the local Web3 ecosystem and position the country as the first South Asian nation to legalise crypto. In addition, Pakistanâs Crypto Council proposes to use the countryâs excess energy for bitcoin mining.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse mentioned on X that the US SEC is expected to drop its appeal against Ripple. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020 for selling XRP without registering it with the agency.
Fidelity filed to register for Onchain, which tracks transactions of the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) that consist of almost entirely US treasury bills. The US treasury bills will not be directly tokenised.
Research Roundup Newsletter [February 2025]: We present to you our latest issue of Research Roundup, featuring our deep dives into âWill Bitcoin Be Another Assetâ and âInstitutional Crypto Market: From Liquidity to Global Adoptionâ.
Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [February 2025]: Asset performance was mixed. Crypto and Equities led the drop, while Real Assets and Fixed Income increased. Eurozone, Australia, and New Zealand cut interest rates; China kept rates unchanged.
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đ° Tether was the 7th largest buyer of US treasuries in 2024; Crypto.com secured its Virtual Asset Service Provider registration in Argentina
Tether was the 7th largest buyer of US treasuries in 2024; Crypto.com secured its VASP registration from Argentina; US SEC clarified that PoW mining does not involve offer and sale of securities
