Metamask & Moonpay Partner and DeSantis Proposed Legislation Banning CBDC's
Market Update
- Crypto and traditional markets moved higher today at the time of writing - $BTC was up 0.72%, $ETH was up 4.58%, and SPX and NDQ are up 0.74% and 0.50%, respectively. After a strong Bitcoin dominance run the past month, altcoins are beginning to show signs of life versus bitcoin. The ETH/BTC ratio is up 3.80%, and altcoins such as $FTM, $LTC, and $SOL are outperforming BTC today - up 6.70%, 5.11%, and 3.89% at the time of writing. Ethereum Layer 2, Arbitrum, has seen significant activity leading up to the $ARB airdrop this Thursday. The chain's TVL has nearly doubled in 2023 and is now at $1.85 billion. Many lower market cap tokens on Arbitrum have also been rallying this week as investors anticipate the $ARB airdrop will inject liquidity into the ecosystem. These tokens and their performance can be found here on DefiLlama.
- Crypto wallet, MetaMask, has partnered with payment company MoonPay to allow users in Nigeria to buy cryptocurrencies directly from their wallets using local bank transfers. The integration aims to make it easier for Nigerians to buy crypto. Currently, a ban by Nigeria's central bank prohibits commercial banks from servicing crypto exchanges. Many Nigerian banks have also suspended using their debit cards on international exchanges. These regulations have forced Nigerians to rely on peer-to-peer transactions for crypto purchases - both inconvenient and potentially dangerous. Metamask and MoonPay's integration should solve this problem and allow users to onboard faster and more safely.
- Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced legislation Monday banning Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) use as money, stating that CBDCs are about surveillance and control. DeSantis added that the proposed bill would protect consumers and businesses "from the reckless adoption of a 'centralized digital dollar' which would stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance." The governor also clarified that CBDCs differ from decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. This is one of many CBDC-related bills to be introduced recently. Last month, U.S. Representative Tom Emmer introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, which would "halt efforts of unelected bureaucrats from stripping Americans of their right to financial privacy," and last year, Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals.
Daily Technical Strategy
Mark L. Newton, CMT
Head of Technical Strategy
Ethereum's jump to multi-day closing highs Tuesday should help to jumpstart a further advance following its recent stallout over the last few days. Gains up to challenge last August's peaks at $2029.90 look likely and above that would argue for a lengthier rally up to 2405, or 2874 which represents strong overhead resistance to an intermediate-term advance into mid-to-late April. Given the recent underperformance to Bitcoin over the past few weeks, it's expected that Tuesday's relative strength should help $ETH start to trade relatively better than $BTC in the days and the weeks ahead. Momentum indicators remain positively sloped and not overbought. Bottom line, it's thought that Tuesday's gains should help prices follow-through higher, and any dips likely should find support at $1770-$1790 and prove brief before turning back higher.
Daily Important Metrics
All metrics as of March 21, 2023 1:57 PM
All Funding rates are on bps
Crypto Prices
Symbol | Market Cap | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
BTC | $544B | $28,129 | ↑ 1.54% | ↑ 70% | |
ETH | $220B | $1,797 | ↑ 2.45% | ↑ 50% | ↓ -20% |
ADA | $12B | $0.3530 | ↑ 5.19% | ↑ 43% | ↓ -27% |
MATIC | $10B | $1.15 | ↑ 1.45% | ↑ 50% | ↓ -19% |
DOGE | $10B | $0.0754 | ↑ 4.07% | ↑ 7.54% | ↓ -62% |
SOL | $8.7B | $22.70 | ↓ -0.08% | ↑ 129% | ↑ 59% |
DOT | $7.3B | $6.23 | ↑ 0.05% | ↑ 43% | ↓ -26% |
LINK | $3.7B | $7.25 | ↑ 0.50% | ↑ 31% | ↓ -39% |
NEAR | $1.8B | $2.03 | ↑ 0.90% | ↑ 60% | ↓ -10% |
Exchange Traded Products (ETPs)
Symbol | Premium to Nav | Last Price | Daily Change | Year to Date | Relative to BTC YTD |
GBTC | ↓ -36% | $15.90 | ↓ -0.63% | ↑ 92% | ↑ 22% |
BITW | ↓ -57% | $10.83 | ↑ 5.37% | ↑ 102% | ↑ 32% |
ETHE | ↓ -52% | $8.19 | ↑ 0.99% | ↑ 72% | ↑ 2.26% |
BTCC | ↑ 0.05% | $5.22 | ↑ 1.56% | ↑ 72% | ↑ 2.48% |
News
QUICK BITS
Coin Telegraph Core Scientific to transfer $20M of equipment to settle bankruptcy dispute Millions of dollars worth of electrical equipment will be transferred to the crypto miners' exclusive energy negotiato... |
The Block MetaMask and MoonPay partner to let Nigerians buy crypto via bank transfer MetaMask has expanded its partnership with web3 payment company MoonPay in Nigeria to enable users to buy crypto tokens directly from their wallets. ... |
Coin Telegraph OKX latest proof-of-reserves reveal $8.9B in assets Lennix Lai, managing director of Global Institutional at OKX spoke with Cointelegraph about what it means to be transp... |
The Block Circle applies for French crypto license as stablecoin issuer expands in Europe Stablecoin issuer Circle has applied for a French crypto asset license as part of a wider growth strategy for Europe. The post Circ... |
REGULATION
Bitcoin.com FL Gov. DeSantis Proposes Ban on Central Bank Digital Currency Use as Money Governor Ron DeSantis of the U.S. state of Florida has proposed legislation to prohibit the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money in his state. “... |
FUNDRAISING AND M&A
CoinDesk Ethereum-Based Carbon Tracker Carbonable Raises $1.2M to Tackle Greenwashing Carbonable was launched on Ethereum layer 2 scaling system StarkNet, whose parent company Starkware is also an investor. |
CoinDesk Crypto Trading Firm Auros Secures $17M Investment as It Recovers From FTX Woes Auros Global, the trading firm that reportedly lost $20 million on FTX’s implosion, was released from provisional liquidation of British Virgin Island court aft... |
PRODUCT UPDATES AND PARTNERSHIPS
CoinDesk Dfyn Version 2 Goes Live With On-Chain Limit Orders and Enhanced DEX Security New vault contracts aim to protect users against liquidity pool exploits. |
CryptoSlate Zilliqa mainnet EVM compatibility set to go live in April Zilliqa users will be able to transfer original ZILs using wallets such as MetaMask and deploy Solidity smart contracts via developer tools like Truffle and Har... |
HACKS, EXPLOITS, AND SCAMS
Coin Telegraph Euler Finance to enter talks with exploiter over the return of funds The flash loan exploiter claims they have “no intention of keeping what is not ours” and wants to “come to an agreemen... |
Reports you may have missed
It has been a challenging day for crypto prices, with $BTC giving back yesterday's gains to fall to $68.5k, $ETH declining to $3,500, and $SOL currently trading around $176. Most altcoins are also experiencing downturns. The lone standout among large cap crypto assets today is $TON, which is rallying on rumors of USDT launching on the TON Network. Equity indices also faced a drawdown earlier in the day, sliding after...
Crypto assets are building on the weekendâs gains. $BTC (+3.47%) eclipsed $72.7k this morning before paring gains to approximately $71.8k. $ETH (+5.58%) is showing relative strength today, gaining to $3,650, helping the ETHBTC ratio reclaim the .05 mark. Last weekâs ETF net flows totaled $484 million, displaying the continued demand for exposure among traditional investors. Equity indices are relatively flat today, with the SPY and QQQ both gaining about 0.05%...
Despite March Non-Farm Payrolls blowing expectations out of the water (303k vs 214k exp.), equity indices are rebounding, with the SPY and QQQ gaining 1.23% and 1.50%, respectively. Although crypto assets held up during yesterdayâs equity sell-off, they fell overnight, with $BTC (-1.06%) reaching the low $66,000s before rebounding to $67.7k at the time of writing. $ETH (-0.53%) is trading slightly above $3k as the ETHBTC ratio has fallen below .05%,...
Flows Turn Positive and Coinbase Premium Returns, PayPal Enables Free International Transfers with PYUSD
The trading day began on a positive note, with rates decreasing and risk assets rallying following disinflationary pricing data from the latest ISM services PMI report. However, equity indices relinquished their gains and dipped into the red late in the trading session, influenced by comments from Fed President Neel Kashkari, which implied the Fed was concerned over persistently high inflation. Crypto rallied along with equities in the morning, and has...