Bitcoin Closes Best Q1 Ever Looking to Reclaim $60K: The Weekly Crypto Recap

This week was undoubtedly bullish for the entire cryptocurrency market, which came inches away from $2 trillion. This happened as Bitcoin looks to reclaim $60K, Ethereum surged above $2,000, and BNB saw a brand new all-time high.

In retrospect, it was up only for the entire market during the last seven days. Bitcoin started trading at around $54K and progressed slowly but steadily through the week. On Monday, the price skyrocketed to above $58K before another leg up Tuesday, which saw the price testing $60K. Unfortunately, as of yet, it was unable to decisively break above it, and we are yet to see if it will be able to conquer the coveted level. Nevertheless, BTC is up a nice 10%. With this, the cryptocurrency also closed its best Q1 so far, with gains of around 100%.

Regardless, it’s safe to say that it was altcoins’ time to shine. Bitcoin’s dominance was reduced to 57.3% as major, mid, and small-caps took off. Ethereum is up by a whopping 23% as it currently trades above $2K, setting a new ATH at around $2,080. Binance Coin (BNB) is up by more than 30% and also painted a fresh all-time high.

In total, the market capitalization came inches away from $2 trillion but was unable to climb above it, and we have yet to see this massive milestone will take place.

Elsewhere, it was a week of institutional advent in the market. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, revealed that it had exposure to Bitcoin’s price through CME futures contracts. Going forward, another legacy financial institution in the face of Morgan Stanley also sought SEC’s approval to further its exposure to Bitcoin.

Exciting news came from Coinbase as well. In their latest blog post, the exchange revealed that the direct listing of its Class A common stock would go live on Nasdaq Global Select Market in less than two weeks. Trading should start on April 14th, under the ticker symbol COIN.

PayPal, the world’s leading online payment processor, also came out with a major announcement. The company launched a crypto checkout service that allows US customers to pay with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies throughout its network comprised of millions of merchants.

In any case, it was a very exciting week, full of bullish news to which the market reacted quite positively. Will the momentum sustain? Only time will tell, but the industry is looking ripe to prosper.

Market Data

Market Cap: $1931B | 24H Vol: 157B | BTC Dominance: 57.3%

BTC: $59,288 (+10.24%) | ETH: $2,073 (+24.81%) | XRP: $0.599 (+8.40%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Save the Date: Coinbase Going Public on April 14.  After delaying its public listing from March to April, the leading US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has provided an exact date for the listing of its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. It will happen on April 14th under the ticker symbol COIN.

Morgan Stanley Files to Receive BTC Exposure of up to 25% for a Dozen Funds. One of the most influential legacy financial institutions, Morgan Stanley, has filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking permission for 12 of its funds to gain BTC exposure through Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust or cash-settled futures contracts.

World Largest Asset Manager BlackRock Reveals $360K Bitcoin Gains Through CME Futures. In a recent filing with the SEC, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, revealed a purchase of Bitcoin futures contracts through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). In fact, the filing suggests that the fund has charted gains in the range of $360K given the increase in bitcoin’s price.

Goldman Sachs to Launch Its Bitcoin Offering for Wealth Managers In Q2 2021. The giant American investment bank, Goldman Sachs, plans to offer cryptocurrency infrastructure to its wealth management clients in the second quarter of 2021. According to the bank’s incoming global head of digital assets, they are working with teams across the firm to come up with the appropriate set of tools.

One Bitcoin Will Buy a Lambo This Year and a Bugatti in 2022, Kraken CEO Says. Jesse Powell, the CEO of the veteran US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken, declined to provide a precise price prediction for Bitcoin going forward in 2021. However, he did say that one BTC will buy a Lambo this year and went even further to say that it will buy a Bugatti in 2022.

Not Just Ripple: SEC Goes After Another Blockchain Company. The Securities and Exchange Commission of the US continues to clamp down on what it considers to be unregistered securities offerings. After Ripple, now it goes after another blockchain-based project called LBRY. The latter operates a decentralized content publishing platform.

Charts

This week we have a chart analysis of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Cardano, and Polkadot – click here for the full price analysis.