Bitcoin Reached A New All-Time High of $73,737

Stay up to date with our monthly market commentary:

• Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers continue to see capital inflow. 
• Memecoins are the big winners this month, with new projects and use cases emerging.  
• Bitcoin (BTC) is up 11.6%, while Ether (ETH) is up 1.8% versus last month.*

Market Overview - March 

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 11.6% in March, reaching a new all-time high of $73,737.  

Bitcoin continued its impressive start to 2024 with a strong performance in March. It surpassed its previous all-time high of around $69,000 in November 2021, reaching a new all-time high of $73,737 on March 14 before closing the month a leg lower.  

Most of that performance can be attributed to the continued capital flows into the new spot Bitcoin ETFs and the return of retail investors, who are reportedly slowly coming back to the digital asset market. 

The biggest winner in the Bitcoin ETF market was BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which surpassed all expectations, according to Larry Fink. The ETF has been the most successful ETF launch ever for the Wall Street institution, climbing to the top spot for all ETFs traded worldwide for the first 50 trading days, and continues to see new capital inflow. 

Altcoins, especially memecoins, also saw upward momentum bolstered by Bitcoin, increasing user numbers and liquidity. The standout performers were memecoins Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, and Solana. Many new memecoins have been launched on Solana, helping to attract investors to the Solana ecosystem. 

The next Bitcoin halving is around the corner, and the continued capital flow into the Bitcoin ETFs, as well as the reemergence of the altcoin market, will potentially have the most significant impact for digital asset investors in 2024.

Crypto Asset Market Performance Review 

In March, the digital asset market continued to rally, and many assets reached new highs. Memecoins, especially, were the big winners. 

The standout performers were Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Solana (SOL), rallying 115.5%, 60.6%, and 48.3%, respectively.

Bitcoin’s price increased steadily, boosted by capital inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs. Their launch on Wall Street was the most successful in ETF history, with daily trading volumes in the billions, suggesting that the demand for Bitcoin is there. 

However, the big winners this month were memecoins. It seems like retail investors' interest is slowly returning. 

Shiba Inu, with its loyal fan base, is one of the most popular assets from previous cycles. The second-largest memecoin, after Dogecoin, profited from the immense boost of memecoin investors this month. Shiba Inu performed best of all, finishing the month up 115.5%.

Overall, sentiment in the digital asset market has changed, and investors and builders are eager to see what the future holds. Many prominent media outlets and fellow experts have started to call this the first leg of the next bull market.

Bitcoin Tech Update

Bitcoin’s Layer 2 season continues. With many announcements of new and exciting use cases to scale Bitcoin, we saw the first implementations or tests on various networks this month. 

One of the most prominent scaling solutions is the Liquid Network by Blockstream, which uses a Bitcoin pegging mechanism on a Sidechain. This allows users to lock up their Bitcoin and either profit from Liquid's faster block times or lower transaction costs. 

In March, we saw an emergence of various Bitcoin-Liquid wallets, which utilize the technology for their customers through Atomic Swaps. The most popular wallet to do so is the Aqua wallet, which introduced Liquid Swaps from Bitcoin on-chain to the Lightning Network, Liquid Bitcoin (LBTC), and stablecoins. 

Bitcoin Layer 2 scaling solutions aim to utilize technologies such as Sidechains, State Channels, and Rollups. All of these different approaches will inevitably help everyday users lower costs, use their Bitcoin for DeFi solutions, or connect their Bitcoin tech stack to other networks.

Institutional Interest in Bitcoin

March was an eventful month for institutional investors, with BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) breaking records. 

According to Larry Fink, the ETF has surpassed its expectations and is on track to become an essential product for the company. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) had a different month, with constant outflows and worries about the continuous selling pressure by shareholders. 

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF is the most successful ETF launch its history

Larry Fink appeared in multiple interviews this month, educating TV hosts about the immense interest in their Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), and his long-term vision for Bitcoin. 

BlackRock’s first Bitcoin ETF has been the most successful ETF launch in history. According to Eric Balachunas on X, IBIT climbed to the top spot for all ETFs traded worldwide for the first 50 trading days. It was closely followed by Fidelity’s FBTC Bitcoin ETF. 

At the end of March, IBIT’s net assets reached more than $17.7 billion, holding over 250,000 BTC. If the outflows with GBTC continue, the BlackRock ETF is on track to become the largest spot Bitcoin ETF out of all 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on the market. 

Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF has sold more than 50% of its Bitcoin 

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) had a rough start with its spot Bitcoin ETF. It is not only the ETF with the highest costs, currently sitting at 1.5%, but also the one with the largest outflows. 

When it launched, the ETF held just over 619,000 BTC; by the end of March, it held only 333,673 BTC. Over the past 30 days, the ETF has had more daily outflows than inflows.

One of the main reasons for the significant outflows has been Genesis's sale. The former Bitcoin lender is in the middle of bankruptcy and previously bought GBTC shares before the trust turned into an ETF. 

Genesis agreed to sell $1.6B in GBTC shares to the bankruptcy judge in February. This wasn’t the first sale of GBTC by a bankrupt lender or company; FTX did the same in February. 

Such large sales and the continued loss of trust in GBTC started a fire sale by the vast majority of shareholders. While Grayscale managed to stop some of the bleeding, towards the end of the month, they’ve also seen inflow-positive days. The overall sentiment is uncertain, and only time will tell how many more shares will be sold. 

The price of Bitcoin, however, hasn’t been too affected by Grayscale’s selling. 

Bitcoin on Balance Sheets

There have been several announcements this month by MicroStrategy and Michael Saylor. 

Throughout March, they bought over 21,246 BTC, with the latest purchase announcement of 9,245 BTC, bringing the Bitcoin on their balance sheet to 214,246 BTC. 

MicroStrategy’s continuous buying of Bitcoin as a treasury asset highlights the digital currency’s use case as a cash reserve alternative for corporate treasuries. 

‍*Closing price data is from March 30, 2024

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