Weekly Market Review - March 10th

Njani Ruetsch

We compile the top news stories weekly within the crypto, blockchain, metaverse, and NFT space. The weekly wrap-up covers everything from BTC & ETH updates, recent investments, developments of exciting new projects, and other relevant topics.

Here is everything you need to know for the week of March 4th to 10th.

📈 Weekly BTC and ETH Overview

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum prices started flat at the beginning of the week, despite the news from Silvergate Bank failing to deliver payments and meet annual report deadlines. Bitcoin traded at around $22.4K, and Ethereum at around $1.5K. Both cryptocurrencies didn’t fluctuate much until mid- this week, leading up to FED Chair Jerome Powell’s awaited testimony.

The market turned red after Powell’s hawkish remarks about the FED potentially hiking rates. FTSE and Silicon Valley Bank stocks & index plummeted after the news, taking the global crypto market with them, as Bitcoin sank below $19.8K, down over 8% in the previous 24 hours. Similarly, Ethereum took a plunge after the New York State lawsuit accused the blockchain of security fraud.

At the time of writing, BTC is still down -8.36%, trading at $19.79, falling back into the range we saw after the FTX downfall. Amid lawsuit allegations, ETH has yet to recover, with its current trading price at $1.38K, down -9.62% in the last 24 hours.

🗞️ Top Market News

Crypto bank Silvergate will shut down after plummeting stock prices. Known as one of the biggest crypto lenders in the space, Silvergate announced an orderly wind-down of the bank, and liquidation is the best path forward. The bank’s stock price has fallen over 98% since its all-time high in November 2021, after the fall of FTX. Due to its inability to deliver its annual report on time, coupled with several major crypto companies – Coinbase and Circle halting relations, Silvergate saw it best to announce a shutdown. Read more about the liquidation here.
New York Attorney files lawsuit against KuCoin. The suit argues that Ethereum is a security as opposed to a commodity and is investigating security fraud. The price of ETH plummeted 8% just 30 minutes after the suit was released, broadly affecting the wider crypto market. According to the NYAGs press release, “The petition argues that ETH, just like LUNA and UST, is a speculative asset that relies on the efforts of third-party developers in order to provide profit to the holders of ETH. Because of that, KuCoin was required to register before selling ETH, LUNA, or UST.” Read more about the lawsuit here.

🚀 New Project Developments

Coinbase announces “Wallet as a Service.” Announced this week, Coinbase aims to make Web3 tech more approachable for both companies and consumers by simplifying digital wallets. The Wallet as a Service feature will allow developers to embed custom digital wallets directly into their applications. Read more about the new feature here.
AI-powered HUMAN Protocol goes live on MultiversX Mainnet. The protocol will utilize MultiversX’s blockchain technology to handle the verification and dissemination of tasks at scale efficiently. Users can receive payments in HUMAN protocol tokens directly through the MultiversX network. Read more about the launch here.
Bware Labs announces Blast API mainnet launch. The highly anticipated flagship product aims to help developers gain access to blockchain infrastructure efficiently and seamlessly, allowing projects to be scaled in a fully decentralized environment. Read more about the launch here.
Ethereum Layer-2 Scroll raised $50M in recent funding round. Participants in the funding round include; Polychain Capital, Sequoia China, Bain Capital Crypto, and more. The funding round brings Scroll’s total estimated valuation to $1.8B. The funding will support Scroll to onboard the next billion users to Ethereum and aid the blockchain’s scalability. Read more about the funding here.
Covalent partners with Polygon to support the scaling of the Ethereum Ecosystem. The collaboration will enable developers, analysts, and other Web3 decision makers to a new data set from Polygon’s suite of solutions. Read more about the partnership here.

🔍 More Featured Stories…

China’s super App WeChat integrates digital Yuan. The aim is to make payments faster via the app. WeChat users can use the recently launched e-CNY to make seamless payments. However, transactions are limited to 2,000 Yuan – around $300. Read more about the integration here.
UK’s largest bank HSBC bans customers from purchasing crypto with credit cards. As recent regulatory concerns with the digital asset industry arose, HSBC has barred customers from making purchases via credit cards. Alternatively, it is imposing a 5000 GPB daily limit for purchasing crypto via debit cards. Read more here.
Meta is working on a decentralized social networking app. The global tech giant is looking to create a decentralized text-based app where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests. The platform will be overseen by Instagram and require people to log in with their existing credentials. Read more about the app here.