BTC struggles at $85K, Risks dropping to $73K
Market overview
Overall market trend:
- On March 17, the US stock market saw a modest rebound, with the Nasdaq closing in the green. Meanwhile, BTC briefly spiked to around $84,700 before retracing.
- On the 4-hour chart, $85,000 is acting as a key resistance level. If BTC fails to break through this range, staying below it for longer will likely weaken upward momentum. On the 1-hour chart, a bullish breakout signal appeared at 4 PM on March 14, but the market largely consolidated sideways over the weekend, with declining trading volume reflecting low activity.
- If BTC drops sharply below $83,000 in the near term, it would signal weakness on the 1-hour chart and increase the chances of a second decline, potentially targeting the $73,000 demand zone, where significant accumulation has occurred.
Meme sector:
- On March 17, Binance launched the Alpha section within its app, allowing users to trade various on-chain tokens without switching wallet pages. This significantly improves on-chain interaction efficiency. The Alpha section functions similarly to a startup board, enabling users to quickly invest in various projects. Meanwhile, memecoins related to CZ, HEYI, and Middle Eastern concepts are experiencing a surge in speculation. MUBARAK has soared over 300x, with value reaching over $200 million, while AI-themed memecoin TUT has skyrocketed 12x in a short period, reaching a valuation of $16 million. These memecoins have temporarily boosted user activity within the BSC ecosystem, but their sustainability still depends on the shilling effect of key influencers and top KOLs like CZ.
AI sector:
- With the opening of NVIDIA's GTC conference, market interest in AI projects continues to rise. However, AI tokens have shown mediocre performance. Currently, Web3 AI agents are undergoing a valuation restructuring phase, as Web2 AI products significantly outperform them in both practicality and iteration speed. Most Web3 AI products primarily integrate Web2 AI interfaces, aggregate social platform data from sources like X, automate content publishing, and introduce attractive tokenomics to draw in capital during speculative phases. However, due to the rapid iteration of Web2 AI, Web3 AI projects struggle to integrate substantial productivity improvements. As a result, once capital exits, valuations of AI-related tokens suffer unlimited compression. This situation calls for a new narrative to break the current valuation decline.
Key events
- Japanese listed company Metaplanet Inc. has announced the issuance of 2 billion yen (approximately $13.38 million) of zero-interest ordinary bonds to purchase more Bitcoin.
- According to the World Liberty initial token sale issuance documents, Donald Trump and his associated company DT Marks DEFI LLC have profited $390 million from the WLFI token issuance.
- Independent L1 blockchain platform Aptos has launched the Liquidity Funding Mechanism (LFM) program to assist ecosystem projects in preparing for TGE (Token Generation Event) by providing customized deep support based on their readiness.
- Donald Trump's crypto project WLFI has added BTC, ETH, TRX, LINK, SUI, and ONDO to its strategic token reserves.
- Ethereum L2 Arbitrum's core developer, Offchain Labs, has partnered with the Arbitrum Foundation, to launch the Onchain Labs initiative to support early-stage developers and teams.
- RWA tokenization company Securitize and stablecoin developer Ethena have partnered to launch the Ethereum-compatible blockchain Converge, designed for tokenized assets and institutional investors in DeFi.
- Telegram-based token trading tool pepe boost is testing BSC Bot.
- Hashdex has submitted an index change amendment to the US SEC, adding tokens including SOL, XRP, and ADA.
- Derivatives marketplace Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) has launched Solana futures.
- According to a research report by Standard Chartered Bank, ETH's structural decline is expected to continue, with its end-2025 price target set at $4,000.
- According to Onchain Lens monitoring, stablecoin issuer Circle has minted $250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain, bringing the total issuance on Solana to $10.25 billion so far in 2025.
- Binance co-founder He Yi tweeted that the anti-sandwich feature has been fully launched on the BNB Chain, assuring users that in the event of serious sandwich attacks, they can DM Binance employee Sisi Binance for compensation within 24 hours, while also urging users to update the app, hinting at imminent changes and potential enhancements in Binance's operations.
- Trusta.AI, a project within UXLINK's Web3 ecosystem, will conduct its TGE (Token Generation Event) in Q2 in 2025.
- ai16z founder Shaw has tweeted that ElizaOS v2 1.0. 0 version is in development and will soon release a beta version for testing.
- AI consumption layer MyShell has announced an $8 million USDT buyback plan for SHELL tokens, to be executed over 90 days, while also launching Shell Launchpad to facilitate AI Agent deployment and tokenization.
- Cobo co-founder and CEO Shenyu has stated on X that Strategy (MSTR) has been cleverly designed to amplify Bitcoin's high volatility by 2.5 times and transfer it to the US stock market, allowing professional institutions to arbitrage and capture short-term profits from this increased volatility.
- Bitcoin L2 scaling solution GOAT Network has launched Alpha Mainnet, unlocking passive BTC and DOGE yields through decentralized sequencers.
Hot projects
Exchange updates
- Coinbase International Station announced that Ripple (XRP) is now accepted as collateral for perpetual futures trading on the Coinbase International Exchange.
- Bybit will delist EVERY/USDT, GG/USDT, CUSD/USDT, BUBBLE/USDT, TAVA/USDT, PLANET/USDT, and IRL/USDT trading pairs on March 22.
- Crypto exchange Kraken has announced that it will launch an ultra-low latency (colocation) trading service in the coming weeks, providing customers with millisecond-level trading execution speeds.
- Bitget has listed Mubarak (MUBARAK) for spot and futures trading.
- Binance has introduced a new Alpha section on its main market page to streamline the buying process for select crypto assets, enhancing user experience for traders and investors, while also listing DF/USDC, EPIC/USDC, GMX/USDC, MKR/USDC, and RPL/USDC spot trading pairs, StraitsX USD (XUSD), and launching BMT/USDT and MUBARAK/USDT perpetual contracts with up to 25x leverage.
Industry landscape
- Delphi Ventures, a thesis-driven, high-conviction firm, has invested in Ekubo Protocol, which was originally a DEX in the Starknet ecosystem and has been deployed to the Ethereum mainnet through version 2.
- According to the Electronic Times, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has imposed a 0.6% regulatory fee on crypto exchanges.
- Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarms has completed its acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining.
- Web3 community-driven gaming ecosystem Slingshot DAO has raised a $16 million funding round, participated in by Animoca Brands.
- On-chain gaming project Kamigotchi secured $1.3 million in funding, participated in by Seed Club VC.
- YZi Labs, formerly known as Binance Labs, has invested in a fully integrated modular blockchain Plume Network to bring real-world assets on-chain and advance RWAfi.
- According to Fox, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, emphasizing the United States' commitment to becoming a global hub for digital assets.
Emerging projects
Other opportunities
On-chain DeFi mining yield products:
Risk: Investors should proceed with caution and conduct their research.
Disclaimer
The development and market cap of stablecoins mentioned in the above content are speculative and based on market analysis at the time of writing and should not be interpreted as guaranteed outcomes. Market conditions can fluctuate widely and unpredictably due to numerous factors such as regulatory changes, market demand, and global economic developments.
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