Summary of the last 24 hours of social chatter.

Crypto Market Report: March 19-20, 2025

Summary

The crypto market experienced a surge in activity over the past two days, driven by a combination of positive regulatory news, institutional interest, and new token launches. The SEC's decision to drop its lawsuit against Ripple (XRP) sparked a wave of optimism, while institutional players like Flow Traders and Kraken continued to demonstrate their growing involvement in the space. New token launches, including Benjamin AI (BENJI) and Bedrock (BR), attracted significant attention, highlighting the ongoing innovation and development within the crypto ecosystem. However, the market remains volatile, with concerns about potential scams and the need for careful due diligence persisting.

News and Developments

Regulatory News

• SEC Drops Lawsuit Against Ripple: The SEC officially dropped its appeal against Ripple, marking a significant victory for the company and the broader crypto industry. This development has led to a surge in XRP's price and renewed optimism about the future of the token. https://x.com/bgarlinghouse/status/1902345706636992720
• Gotbit Founder Forfeits $23 Million: Aleksei Andriunin, founder of Gotbit, reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities to forfeit $23 million in crypto assets in connection with market manipulation charges. https://decrypt.co/310816/gotbit-founder-forfeits-23m-crypto-market-manipulation-plea-deal
• Garantex Relaunches as Grinex: Sanctioned exchange Garantex relaunched under a new name, Grinex, after allegedly laundering millions in ruble-backed stablecoins. https://cointelegraph.com/news/sanctioned-exchange-garantex-launches-reboot-exchange-grinex

Institutional Activities

• Flow Traders Secures $10 Million Loan: Flow Traders successfully secured a $10 million USDC loan on Clearpool Prime, highlighting the growing institutional demand for tokenized private credit. https://x.com/clearpoolfin/status/1902344961389219950
• Kraken Nears $1.5 Billion Deal: Kraken is close to acquiring NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, which would allow the exchange to offer crypto futures and derivatives in the US. https://x.com/cointelegraph/status/1902510403713695936
• Blackrock's ETF Flows: Blackrock's iShares Bitcoin ETF saw inflows of 2,660 BTC ($224.24 million), while its Ethereum ETF saw outflows of 21,194 ETH ($43.05 million). https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1902018556826722324

Project Updates

• Uniswap Fee Switch: The Uniswap community voted in favor of activating the long-promised "fee switch," granting the Uniswap Foundation $165.5 million in new funding. https://vote.uniswapfoundation.org/proposals/83
• IOTA Identity Alpha Release: IOTA unveiled the alpha release of its IOTA Identity Framework, enabling self-sovereign identity and verifiable credentials on the upcoming IOTA Mainnet. https://blog.iota.org/iota-identity-alpha-release
• Hedgehog Protocol Deployed on Sonic: Hedgehog Protocol (HOG) deployed on Sonic (S), aiming to create an asset mirroring transaction fee prices on Ethereum. https://x.com/thehedgehog_io/status/1902359994814857400
• Gearbox Permissionless Lending: Gearbox launched a new instance with Lido, P2P, and Mellow Protocol, marking a step towards becoming permissionless and allowing anyone to launch lending markets. https://x.com/GearboxProtocol/status/1902363660716306690
• Raydium LaunchLab: Raydium announced the launch of its own version of pumpfun called "LaunchLab," a token launchpad. https://t.me/top7ico/9583
• Sahara AI Data Services Platform: Sahara AI launched Season 3 of its Data Services Platform. https://x.com/SaharaLabsAI/status/1902153923651399859
• Jambo Integrates Peaq: Jambo integrated Peaq's DePIN ecosystem into its devices, starting with the JamboPhone 2. https://x.com/JamboTechnology/status/1902325827821277673
• Helius x Crossmint Smart Wallets: Helius and Crossmint published an article explaining the benefits and implementation of smart wallets on Solana. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-smart-wallets

Market Trends

• BTC Dominance: Bitcoin's dominance increased slightly, reaching 60.7%. https://dropstab.com
• Altcoin Season: The Altcoin Season Index remained at 21, indicating a continued focus on altcoins. https://dropstab.com
• Whale Activity: Whales were active in various markets, including BTC, ETH, VIDT, and BONK. https://bit.ly/3D1QT9a
• Meme Coin Hype: Meme coins like FARTCOIN and KOMA gained significant attention, highlighting the ongoing popularity of this trend. https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/fartcoin
• Degen Alpha: Traders discussed potential degen alpha opportunities in various tokens, including $NAV, $LOFI, $TABIBI, and $OCD. https://dexscreener.com/bsc/0x8701eb5c7e325864f7a87f964753f3bda8547146

Other Notable Events

• President Trump to Address Blockworks Conference: President Trump is scheduled to address the Blockworks Crypto Conference. https://x.com/Blockworks_/status/1902447898329043096
• FED Leaves Rates Unchanged: The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 4.25-4.5%. https://velo.xyz/news
• Uniswap Community Call: The Uniswap community held a call to discuss the fee switch and other governance proposals. https://vote.uniswapfoundation.org/proposals/83

Degen Alpha

New Token Launches

• Benjamin AI (BENJI): BENJI is a new AI agent on Base, launched on March 20th. It is trading at ~$0.0023 with an FDV of ~$2.3 million. https://dexscreener.com/story/0xfd061584f1f88f24fe11dfa12b9d283afe2fc9f8
• Bedrock (BR): Bedrock is a multi-asset liquid restaking protocol that enables Bitcoin staking through uniBTC. It launched a token sale on Binance Wallet on March 20th. https://x.com/BinanceWallet/status/1902646302854553756
• Nillion (NIL): Nillion is a secure computation network that decentralizes trust for high-value data. It launched farming on Binance Launchpool on March 21st. https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/2608d3a348a44a33b04a133b90d45dc2
• Shield Protocol (SHIELD): Shield Protocol aims to be the smartest AI-powered Hedgefund on BSC, powered by the $SHIELD token. It is currently below its private sale price. https://dexscreener.com/bsc/0xA976a4ba5076f1264e0f8fFB5b9ff4aC9Fd615fa
• Gekkou (GEKKOU): Gekkou is a meme play on Base, with good volume and chart performance. https://t.me/gekkoumaruonbase

Airdrops

• Nillion (NIL): Users can stake BNB, FDUSD, and USDC on Binance Launchpool to receive NIL airdrops. https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/2608d3a348a44a33b04a133b90d45dc2

Patterns and Insights

• Shifting Market Dynamics: The market is transitioning from a "flippers market" to a "holders market," with a greater emphasis on long-term value and utility.
• Degen Strategies: Traders are increasingly relying on on-chain data and whale activity to identify potential degen alpha opportunities.
• Institutional Onboarding: The launch of Coinbase's KYC-only pools and Kraken's acquisition of NinjaTrader indicate a growing trend of institutional onboarding into the crypto space.
• The Importance of Due Diligence: The prevalence of scams and the need for careful due diligence remain crucial considerations for investors.
• The Future of Finance: The development of innovative infrastructure projects like DoubleZero and the advancements in ZK technology suggest a future where crypto could transform the financial landscape.

Disclaimer: This report is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Always conduct your own research (DYOR) before making any investment decisions.