Market Insights: Mar 2025 | Week5
Wavebridge Research/
Bitcoin’s Future: Institutional Interest, Whale Accumulation, and Market Movements
Bitcoin's long-term outlook is positive, with Fidelity Investments predicting that it could approach the market value of gold in 10-20 years. However, selling pressure from short-term holders has been blamed for the recent failure to break through $90,000. ‘Bitcoin whales’, on the other hand, have bought 129,000 BTC since 11 March. Interest from institutional investors has also increased, with Marathon Digital Holdings and GameStop raising $2bn and $1.3bn respectively, which they plan to use to buy Bitcoin. On 28 March, $12.1 billion worth of Bitcoin options expire on the Deribit exchange, while BlackRock launched Europe's first Bitcoin ETP. Meanwhile, Michael Saylor declared that he would burn his wallet keys to 17,000 BTC as an inheritance, and Mt. Gox moved 11,500 BTC to a separate wallet
Ethereum Drops on Binance Rumors; Stablecoin Market Sees Record Growth
Ethereum's recent 13% plunge from around $2100 on rumours of a Binance delisting caused a $114 million liquidation in open interest in ETH futures, with the futures premium falling to a one-year low of 2% per annum. The rumours stemmed from Binance's new ‘vote to list’ and ‘vote to delist’ features, which were strongly denied by former CEO Changpeng Zhao as ‘completely false’. Meanwhile, there have been notable changes in the stablecoin market. USDC's market cap surpassed $60 billion, reaching an all-time high, while Ethena Labs' USDtb entered the top 10 with a 1500% surge in market cap; JPMorgan analysts predicted that yielding stablecoins could capture as much as 50% of the market; tokenised gold market cap also hit an all-time high, surpassing $1.4 billion; and the diversification and expansion of the stablecoin market continues, with Custodia Bank teaming up with Vantage Bank to issue its own stablecoin, “Avit”, on the Ethereum mainnet.
U.S. Crypto Policy in Flux: Key Legislative and Regulatory Shifts
The cryptocurrency policy landscape in the United States is changing rapidly. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has dropped its requirement to pre-approve banks' crypto-related activities, and the state of South Carolina has proposed legislation that would allow up to 10 per cent of state assets to be invested in digital assets such as bitcoin. Meanwhile, Democratic senators have called for tighter regulation of stablecoin projects led by President Trump, while the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange is developing new financial products utilising the Circle stablecoin. Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to prohibit the Fed from issuing CBDCs, and Congress has voted to repeal the ‘DeFi broker rule’. These moves demonstrate that the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the US is rapidly changing.
Global Crypto Developments: Payouts, Regulations, and New Digital Currencies
FTX will begin a $11.4 billion creditor payout from 30 May, and Burger King hinted at launching a ‘burger coin’. Panama released a draft bill recognising Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins as legal tender, while the United Arab Emirates will launch a ‘digital dirham’ in Q4 2025. The UK will introduce a new licensing regime for crypto firms from 2026, and Wyoming plans to launch a stablecoin in the coming months. Fidelity Investments and World Liberty Financial are also preparing to launch stablecoins, respectively, while the Malaysian central bank will study asset tokenisation in 2025. Meanwhile, Japan's Open House Group has started accepting payments for property purchases with cryptocurrency