Category: Cryptocurrency News

Strategy (MSTR) shares have fallen 30% since its executive chairman and former CEO, Michael Saylor, was featured on the cover of Forbes, according to stock price data from Yahoo Finance. Between Jan. 30 and March 10, Strategy’s shares dropped from $340.09 to $238.25. The tumble includes a 17% decline on March 10 amid the wider sell-off in the tech stock market.Strategy one-day stock price. Source: Yahoo FinanceAccording to Yahoo Finance, the Nasdaq Composite, to which Strategy belongs, has fallen over 4% on March 10. Renewed fears of a recession, with the Atlanta Fed projecting a negative -2.4% gross domestic product growth for the first quarter of 2025, along with the increased rhetoric of trade wars, have sparked fear among investors in the equities market. CNN’s Fear & Greed index sits at “16” for the day, which signifies “Extreme Fear.”Despite a falling stock price, Strategy remains unwavering in its commitment to a Bitcoin (BTC) strategy. The company announced on the same day plans to raise an additional $21 billion for “general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and for working capital.” On Feb. 24, Strategy purchased 20,356 Bitcoin for nearly $2 billion.Related: MicroStrategy, now ‘Strategy,’ records $670M net loss in Q4Although Bitcoin recorded the largest weekly decline in the asset’s history on March 10, Strategy’s Bitcoin investment is still profitable by 18.9%. The company has purchased its BTC at an average cost of $66,423, well below the price of the asset at this time of writing.While countless entrepreneurs have graced the Forbes cover over the years, some featured individuals have also fallen into controversy after the spotlight. One of those includes former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a bevy of financial crimes.Strategy sparks debate, spawns copycatsStrategy’s move to acquire more Bitcoin by issuing stock and using debt has been met with its fair share of proponents and critics in the crypto space. Some believe it is a stroke of genius, a bet on the digital asset’s track record that has caused it to rise from nothing to a market cap of $1.56 trillion in 15 years.Others have not been so kind, likening the company to a ticking time bomb or a Ponzi. In November, crypto investor Hedgex.eth called it the latter, writing on X that Saylor “will do more damage to Bitcoin than anyone else using endless leverage.” Haralabos Voulgaris wrote on X that “at some point, the next ‘unexpected’ BTC implosion will likely be tied to MSTR.”Still, Strategy’s move has spawned copycats throughout the business world, with some companies buying Bitcoin for their treasuries and seeing a surge in investor enthusiasm. One of those companies is Metaplanet, whose share price rose 4,800% in 12 months after it announced its BTC buying strategy.Magazine: Asia Express: ‘China’s MicroStrategy’ Meitu sells all its Bitcoin and Ethereum

Ether (ETH) price dropped below $2,600 on Feb. 24 and has since struggled to sustain a meaningful recovery. The latest correction toward the $2,000 level triggered over $918 million in leveraged long (bull) liquidations in ETH futures within 15 days, according to CoinGlass data.Traders now question what needs to happen for ETH to break above $2,500.Ether/USD (left) vs. total altcoin market cap (right). Source: TradingView / CointelegraphEther has underperformed the altcoin market by 10% during this period, as shown in the chart above.More concerningly, this decline followed a memecoin frenzy that boosted Ethereum’s main competitor, Solana (SOL). This suggests that additional factors are hampering ETH’s price, and four major issues need to be addressed before Ether can reclaim a bull market.Ethereum’s upgrades and increased competition For some, the upcoming Pectra upgrade on the Ethereum network falls short of what is needed to drive a meaningful turnaround, whether it lowers base-layer transaction fees or significantly enhances usability.Even if the changes do improve the user experience, analysts argue that Ethereum still lacks interoperability across different layer-2 solutions, both in terms of liquidity and user accessibility.Recent reports of empty blocks on the Ethereum testnet have added to risk perception at a time when investors were already skeptical. Regardless of whether this issue is unrelated to the upcoming upgrade or easily fixable, some traders worry that any potential delay could be perceived negatively by the market.In essence, fear remains the dominant sentiment, and for this to change, several pressing issues must be resolved.Critics argue that part of ETH investors’ disappointment stems from the rise of indirect competitors, such as the modular layer-1 Berachain, which focuses on integrating liquidity and governance for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.7-day protocol fees ranking, USD. Source: DefiLlamaBerachain has successfully captured over $3 billion in deposits, as measured by total value locked (TVL) on DefiLlama.Similarly, Hyperliquid, a perpetual futures application hosted on its own blockchain, has surpassed $2.8 billion in open interest, outpacing competitors on the Ethereum network. In many ways, competition is growing beyond the traditional model.For ETH’s price to regain bullish momentum, traders need reassurance that the Ethereum network offers practical and clear advantages for its projects and users. Ultimately, Ethereum’s focus on decentralization and incremental improvements—whether justified or not—could be stemming demand compared to its competition.  Weak onchain activity and institutional demandThe lack of demand from institutional investors is evident in the spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, which were negative in nine of the last 10 trading days, resulting in $406 million in net withdrawals.Some analysts suggested that demand could surge following the eventual approval of native staking on Ethereum ETFs, but this theory is now less certain, given that the ETH supply is increasing at 0.7% annually.Lower demand for blockchain processing has reduced the burn-fee mechanism, causing Ether to become inflationary. As a result, the adjusted native staking reward is now below 2.5%, while deposits in stablecoins yield up to 4.5% in most DeFi projects.Ultimately, the eventual inclusion of staking in spot ETFs is unlikely to be a game-changer for institutional demand.Related: DeFi TVL drops by $45B, erasing gains since Trump electionLastly, traders are concerned that the US Securities and Exchange Commission may approve a spot Solana ETF in 2025, creating direct competition for investors who currently only have access to Ether and Bitcoin (BTC) ETF products.Therefore, for ETH price to reach $2,500 and beyond, investors need clearer evidence that Ethereum offers sustainable advantages beyond its first-mover advantage.In summary, Ether’s future depends on Ethereum network upgrades, increased network usage, a subsequent decline in supply, and reduced friction for layer-2 interoperability, ensuring that the entire ecosystem benefits from its growth.This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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The cryptocurrency industry will benefit more from US regulatory clarity than from President Donald Trump’s plan to create a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, several cryptocurrency executives told Cointelegraph. Trump’s March 6 executive order creating a US strategic Bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile for altcoins left crypto industry executives underwhelmed. Meanwhile, they are still waiting for the White House to provide detailed guidance on issues like securities regulation and taxation, the executives said. “Markets expect a roadmap for innovation and clear guidelines on stablecoins, institutional adoption and taxation,” Max Giammario, CEO of Web3 artificial intelligence startup Kindred, told Cointelegraph.“Instead, the vague rhetoric and lack of immediate action only deepened uncertainty.”Trump signed a crypto executive order on March 6. Source: Margo MartinRelated: Bitcoin reserve backlash signals unrealistic industry expectationsCampaign promisesIn July, Trump promised to turn America into the “world’s crypto capital” and create a US Bitcoin reserve akin to the nation’s gold stockpile. Trump’s March 6 executive order delivered on his campaign promise but left traders disappointed. Instead of instructing the US government to buy crypto, the reserve and the stockpile will initially only comprise digital assets seized by law enforcement. Bitcoin is down approximately 13% from March 6 as traders react to the news amid a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty. Altcoins have clocked similar losses, with the total crypto market capitalization shedding more than $400 million. Those losses could worsen without clearer US policy guidance soon, industry executives said.“If Trump’s administration provides clearer regulations on stablecoins, ETFs and institutional adoption, altcoins could regain momentum,” Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.“Otherwise, Bitcoin dominance may continue, as it remains the primary macro asset.”Reasons for optimismEven so, crypto industry executives remain optimistic, citing Trump’s pro-crypto rhetoric and his appointment of industry-friendly leaders to key US regulatory posts. “The future of US crypto policy under Trump […] remains to be seen,” Theodore Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ director of Web3, told Cointelegraph. “However, given the people in all the crucial positions, we should expect to see a stream of ongoing and positive initiatives and news for crypto in general and especially crypto projects in the US.”Magazine: Legal issues surround the FBI’s creation of fake crypto tokens

The cryptocurrency industry will benefit more from US regulatory clarity than from President Donald Trump’s plan to create a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, several cryptocurrency executives told Cointelegraph. Trump’s March 6 executive order creating a US strategic Bitcoin reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile for altcoins left crypto industry executives underwhelmed. Meanwhile, they are still waiting for the White House to provide detailed guidance on issues like securities regulation and taxation, the executives said. “Markets expect a roadmap for innovation and clear guidelines on stablecoins, institutional adoption and taxation,” Max Giammario, CEO of Web3 artificial intelligence startup Kindred, told Cointelegraph.“Instead, the vague rhetoric and lack of immediate action only deepened uncertainty.”Trump signed a crypto executive order on March 6. Source: Margo MartinRelated: Bitcoin reserve backlash signals unrealistic industry expectationsCampaign promisesIn July, Trump promised to turn America into the “world’s crypto capital” and create a US Bitcoin reserve akin to the nation’s gold stockpile. Trump’s March 6 executive order delivered on his campaign promise but left traders disappointed. Instead of instructing the US government to buy crypto, the reserve and the stockpile will initially only comprise digital assets seized by law enforcement. Bitcoin is down approximately 13% from March 6 as traders react to the news amid a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty. Altcoins have clocked similar losses, with the total crypto market capitalization shedding more than $400 million. Those losses could worsen without clearer US policy guidance soon, industry executives said.“If Trump’s administration provides clearer regulations on stablecoins, ETFs and institutional adoption, altcoins could regain momentum,” Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.“Otherwise, Bitcoin dominance may continue, as it remains the primary macro asset.”Reasons for optimismEven so, crypto industry executives remain optimistic, citing Trump’s pro-crypto rhetoric and his appointment of industry-friendly leaders to key US regulatory posts. “The future of US crypto policy under Trump […] remains to be seen,” Theodore Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ director of Web3, told Cointelegraph. “However, given the people in all the crucial positions, we should expect to see a stream of ongoing and positive initiatives and news for crypto in general and especially crypto projects in the US.”Magazine: Legal issues surround the FBI’s creation of fake crypto tokens

The second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum (ETH), dipped to $1,809 on Monday, hitting a notable low. Meanwhile, the BTC/ETH ratio slipped under 0.24, a level not seen since February 2020. Bitcoin-Ether Ratio Taps Multi-Year Lows Ethereum is down 8% at the time of writing over the last day, and earlier it down 10% against the U.S. dollar […]

Crypto analyst Trend Diva has provided an in-depth analysis of the current Ethereum price action. She revealed that ETH is still moving inside an ascending triangle but warned that it could suffer further downside pressure if it fails to stay above a crucial support level.  Ethereum Price Still Inside An Ascending Triangle Despite Recent Crash In a TradingView post, Trend Diva revealed that the Ethereum price is moving inside a clear ascending triangle. The upper boundary acts as long-term resistance, and the lower boundary provides dynamic support. This analysis comes amid ETH’s recent decline below $2,000.  Related Reading: Ethereum Retests Symmetrical Triangle Pattern, Analyst Sets Next Target The analyst noted that after a steady climb, the Ethereum price started showing weakness, confirmed by a head and shoulders pattern, which she claimed is a common sign that the trend might reverse. This weakness led to a strong drop for ETH, bringing its price down to the key support zone around $2,000.  Trend Diva stated that this support area is important for the Ethereum price because it meets with a major trendline, making it a likely spot where buyers could step in. She added that the volume profile also shows a lot of activity in this zone, meaning traders have been interested in these levels before.  The analyst further remarked that if the Ethereum price holds above this $2,000 support, it could bounce towards the $2,800 level, which represents a previous resistance. However, she revealed that a breakdown below the trendline shifts the bias bearish towards $1,414.  For now, as long as ETH stays above $2,000, a rebound to $2,800 is still on the horizon.  It is worth mentioning that the Ethereum price briefly lost the $2,000 support level following a crypto market crash on Sunday. As such, there is also the possibility that it could drop to as low as $1,414 as Trend Diva warned.  A Drop To As Low As $1,250 Is Also On The Cards In an X post, crypto analyst Ali Martinez said the Ethereum price seems to be breaking out of a parallel channel. He added that ETH could drop to as low as $1,250 if momentum sustains. ETH whales look to be doing everything possible to defend the $2,000 support zone and prevent Ethereum from dropping to these new lows.  Related Reading: Analyst Says You’ll Regret Not Buying Ethereum At These Prices, Here’s Where It’s Headed Martinez revealed that the largest whales on the network have bought 330,000 ETH in the last 48 hours. This massive whale accumulation could help prevent further downside pressure and possibly spark a bullish reversal for the Ethereum price.  At the time of writing, the Ethereum price is trading at around $2,065, down over 5% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com

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