Minseung Kang

Major Layer 1 (L1) projects that were once spotlighted as competitors to Ethereum (ETH) have recently been criticized for significantly reduced development and ecosystem activities. On the 12th (local time), cryptocurrency analyst Ignis pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that "most L1 projects that claimed they would surpass Ethereum are now forgotten without gaining attention." Ignis criticized 11 projects by releasing the 2025 version of the 'Ethereum Killer' funeral list. First, regarding EOS, he said, "It promised a fast and fee-less chain, but what disappeared were the developers and users." He continued, "EOS raised massive funds but is criticized for wasting them." Regarding TRON (TRX), he criticized it as a "USDT laundromat," saying, "Developers have left, and what remains are only degens and fake trading volumes." He added, "There are also criticisms that TRON's smart contract usage is virtually negligible." 'Degen' refers to market participants who heavily invest in speculative and high-risk cryptocurrencies. Particularly about Solana (SOL), he said, "The chain that claimed to kill Ethereum has killed itself seven times," adding, "It is now surviving not on technology but on memes." Regarding NEO, he stated, "The title 'Chinese Ethereum' has now become a coin more banned in China than Facebook," describing it as a "smart graveyard instead of a smart economy." About Cardano (ADA), he claimed it to be a "decentralized retirement home," saying, "The white paper that took 12 years ultimately just printed 'Hello World'." He added, "There are also evaluations that development activities are stagnant without visible progress." 'Hello World' is a basic example used to practice programming languages. Regarding Polkadot (DOT), he pointed out, "It created parachains (implementing interchain) but failed to create users," adding, "Only the Discord channel is active, but chain usage is nonexistent." He also criticized the lack of substantial activities, technological show-offs, and repeated failures of chains like Avalanche (AVAX), Algorand (ALGO), and Tezos (XTZ). Ignis added, "The term 'Ethereum Killer' should be understood as meaning that it will soon die if it doesn't find a niche market that no one cares about."

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is listing 3 spot trading pairs including BABY/EUR. On the 14th (local time), Binance announced on its official website, "Binance will list 3 spot trading pairs including BABY/EUR, ONDO/TRY, and PAXG/USDC." Trading for these pairs is scheduled to start at 17:00 (KST) on the 15th.

As Bitcoin (BTC) recovers to the $84,000 level, bets on Bitcoin's rise are surging in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) derivatives market. On the 14th, the virtual asset specialized media CoinDesk reported, "The size of call options betting that Bitcoin will reach $100,000 has surged to $1.2 billion on Deribit, the world's largest virtual asset derivatives exchange." Recently, Bitcoin has shown a rebound following U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff deferral announcement, recovering from last week's low of around $75,000 to over $84,000. Some traders are observed to be expanding their bullish bets by heavily purchasing call options in the $85,000 to $100,000 range. According to the distribution of open interest in options on this day, the demand for call options is concentrated in the $95,000 to $120,000 range. According to market data analysis firm Amberdata, the volatility skew in the Bitcoin options market, which showed a strong put option bias until last week, has recently turned positive. This suggests that market sentiment is in a recovery phase. The skew is recording values above 0 on the 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day bases, indicating that investors are leaning more towards a rise than a fall. However, the possibility of a short-term correction due to a sharp rise in spot prices is also raised. Deribit added, "We must also consider the possibility of a correction after a short-term surge in spot prices." Meanwhile, a call option refers to the right to buy a specific underlying asset at a predetermined strike price. A call option buyer can exercise the option if the market price of the underlying product is higher than the predetermined strike price at expiration, gaining the difference as profit. Conversely, a put option refers to the right to sell an asset at a predetermined strike price. Skew refers to the difference in implied volatility between call options and put options. A positive skew value indicates that call options are favored over put options, while a neutral or near-zero skew value indicates that demand for bullish and bearish bets is balanced.

The official website of Aergo(AERGO) is temporarily inaccessible due to a DDoS attack. On the 14th, Aergo announced via X (formerly Twitter) that "Our official website is currently inaccessible due to a malicious DDoS attack following a recent surge in traffic and increased interest." Meanwhile, Aergo is a hybrid blockchain platform that supports both public and private blockchains. It is designed to allow enterprises and developers to easily design and deploy various decentralized applications (DApp).

The cryptocurrency market, which had been in a correction phase due to global tariff conflicts, has rebounded, recovering a market cap of $2.68 trillion. According to CoinMarketCap, a global cryptocurrency market tracking site, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies as of today is $2.68 trillion. The cryptocurrency market cap has been steadily recovering since hitting a short-term low of $235 million on the 7th due to fears of Trump's tariff threats. In particular, major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) are showing an upward trend, improving investor sentiment. On this day, the cryptocurrency-focused media CoinTrackDaily reported, "Bitcoin showed an upward trend again at the $84,000 level, and Ethereum quickly broke through the $1,600 resistance level," adding, "Ripple surged about 20% over the past seven days. The market is regaining its vitality."

Recently, as the MANTRA(OM) token plummeted by nearly 90%, it was revealed that there was a suspicious large-scale token movement 5 hours before the incident. Earlier that dawn, the price of OM tokens plummeted from about $6.3 to $0.4 in just one hour. Approximately 8 trillion won in market capitalization evaporated. This is evaluated as the largest drop since the Terra·Luna incident in 2022. On the 14th, through the blockchain data analysis company Lookonchain X (formerly Twitter), it was revealed that "5 hours before the OM crash, a wallet that had been inactive for a year moved 2 million OM," and "the funds were transferred to a wallet suspected to be related to Shane Shin." Lookonchain said, "This transfer is noteworthy as it may be related to the rumored OTC transaction." According to Lookonchain, the wallet received 2 million OM, worth about $12.58 million at the time, but its current value has plummeted to $1.57 million. Some speculate that the transfer could be a market-making or large-scale sell-off preparation, while others suggest it could be a preemptive response to prevent market collapse. Meanwhile, the actual owner of the wallet or the purpose of the transfer has not yet been officially confirmed.

As the OM token of the real-world asset (RWA) based project MANTRA recently plummeted nearly 90%, John Mullin, the CEO of MANTRA, has made his first official statement. According to industry sources on the 14th, CEO Mullin stated in a keynote speech at the 'BTCON RWA SUMMIT 2025' held at the FKI Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, "The sharp decline in OM last night was due to illegal and unfair margin calls leading to forced liquidation," and "Neither I, my team, investors, nor partners have sold any OM." Earlier that dawn, the price of the OM token plunged from about $6.3 to $0.4 within an hour. This equates to a market cap evaporation of approximately 8 trillion won. It is also evaluated as the largest drop since the Terra·Luna incident in 2022. CEO Mullin explained, "After reviewing the on-chain records following the incident, it was not a hack or exploit," and "Some accounts within major exchanges were unwound without prior notice during the leverage position liquidation process, leading to a chain of margin calls and a sharp decline." He continued, "This situation is a chaotic one that we did not anticipate at all," and "However, we have survived price drops of over 90% in the past. We will recover this time as well, and we will take full responsibility and respond to minimize the damage to token holders." He also added, "We will never run away," and "If there are any wrongs, we will correct them and transparently share the situation with all communities and media. We will take strong action."

The market capitalization of stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USDC has slightly decreased compared to last week. According to the decentralized finance (DeFi) dashboard DeFiLlama on the 12th, the market capitalization of stablecoins including USDT was estimated at approximately 233.5 billion dollars (about 333 trillion 43 billion won). This is a 0.67% decrease compared to the previous week. Currently, Tether accounts for 62.05% of the total stablecoin market capitalization. Typically, an increase in the issuance and holding of stablecoins can act as a bullish signal as it may indicate increased buying pressure in the market. Conversely, it can be interpreted as a decrease in demand for virtual assets.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the listing of perpetual futures for PumpBTC (PUMP), Stakestone (STO), and Mind Network (FHE). On the 12th, Binance announced on its official website, "Binance will list PUMP perpetual futures at 23:30 (KST) today. Subsequently, STO and FHE perpetual futures will be listed at 15-minute intervals." Binance added, "Perpetual futures contracts are subject to up to 20x leverage."

Japan's decentralized Internet of Things (IoT) project, JasmyCoin (JASMY), is showing an upward trend with a 24% surge. According to CoinMarketCap on the 12th, JASMY is trading at $0.016548, up 24.17% compared to the previous day. JASMY has rebounded significantly from its 12-month low of $0.012. On this day, the cryptocurrency specialist media CoinJournal analyzed, "Recently, the IoT-related narrative within the Japanese tech industry is gaining attention, and this trend may have positively impacted the rise in JASMY's price." Additionally, there is an analysis that the altcoin investment sentiment is improving following the Trump administration's mutual tariff deferral measure.

Bitcoin (BTC) is continuing its upward trend as the buying power of Long-Term Holders (LTH) flows in. Experts predict that if the buying trend continues, Bitcoin could rise to a maximum of $87,730. On the 12th, the cryptocurrency media outlet BeInCrypto reported, "Bitcoin's long-term investors have shown strong buying power since the 6th, raising the BTC price by 12%." According to CryptoQuant, the Net Position Change of BTC Long-Term Holders (Bitcoin: Long-Term Holder Net Position Change·30-day cumulative basis) has turned positive since the 6th. This indicator turning positive means that long-term investors are maintaining their holdings rather than disposing of assets, keeping the expectation of a rise. Burak Kecsmar, an analyst at CryptoQuant, diagnosed, "This indicator has consistently recorded negative since last October, but recently turned positive for the first time in six months," adding, "This could be a signal that long-term optimism about the market is recovering." Additionally, Bitcoin's funding rate remains in the positive range at 0.0037%. Generally, if the funding rate remains positive, it means that the buying position is dominant, reflecting the market's bullish sentiment. The media stated, "With the buying power of Bitcoin's long-term investors, it has surpassed the resistance line of $81,863," and predicted, "If individual investors' buying power flows in, Bitcoin could reach up to $87,730 beyond $85,000." On the other hand, if the selling pressure of long-term holders increases again, BTC could fall below $81,863 and be adjusted to $74,389.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and global virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Binance have jointly requested an additional two-month delay in the ongoing litigation from the court. On the 12th, virtual asset specialized media Cointelegraph reported, "The SEC and Binance have requested an additional two-month delay in the legal battle that has been ongoing for about two years." The media added, "It seems to be influenced by productive discussions between the two sides, centered around the newly established 'Crypto Taskforce' right after former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler resigned." The SEC explained that this request is due to the need for time for internal procedures such as adjusting the scope of litigation or approving potential settlement plans. If this request is accepted, the litigation between Binance and the SEC will be delayed for the second time this year by 60 days. Previously, the court accepted the first deferral request in February. Analysts suggest that the SEC's recent decision is also linked to the recent easing of conflicts with virtual asset companies. The SEC has recently withdrawn some lawsuits against Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Robinhood, and ConsenSys. Meanwhile, in June 2023, the SEC initiated legal proceedings against Binance, its subsidiary BinanceUS, and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, alleging a total of 13 charges related to the unregistered sale of BNB and BUSD securities, staking programs, and Simple Earn.

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly recovered to $84,000. As of 5:16 PM on the 12th, BTC is trading at $83,881 on the Binance USDT market, up 3.03% from the previous day (121,720,000 KRW on the Upbit exchange). Meanwhile, according to Cryprice, the Kimchi Premium for major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), is recorded at 1.86%.

The number of wallet addresses holding TRON (TRX) has surpassed 300 million. According to TronScan, the TRON blockchain explorer, the number of user wallets holding TRON is 300,091,844. The cumulative number of transactions processed on the network has also surpassed 10,095,810,000, showing a steady growth trend. The TRX price is trading at $0.2489, up 5.6% from the previous day, based on the Binance USDT market.

The Bitcoin (BTC) based staking protocol Babylon (BABY) token has surged nearly 70% from the previous day, continuing its bullish trend. On the 12th, on Binance, the BABY price is trading at $0.1361, up 69.74% from the previous day. Previously, on the 10th, Binance listed the BABY perpetual futures product. According to NFT Evening, a media specializing in virtual assets (cryptocurrency), "Babylon currently records a total value locked (TVL) of over $3.8 billion, which accounts for 80% of the Bitcoin ecosystem's TVL," and evaluated that "Babylon still has high growth potential due to its structure that attracts unused liquidity of Bitcoin." Meanwhile, as Bitcoin rises after the Trump administration's re-inauguration, the growth potential of Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) projects is also being highlighted. Babylon allows users to stake Bitcoin directly without a third party.

As volatility in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market increases, there are observations that options trading for major altcoins such as XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) is surging. According to the social news platform YoloWire on the 11th, the options trading platform PowerTrade stated, "Recently, short-term options trading in the altcoin market is rapidly increasing," and "market participants are adopting a 'momentum trading' strategy, betting on short-term price fluctuations." In particular, in the case of XRP, it was recorded that the options trading volume on the platform surpassed $5 million (approximately 7.1 billion KRW) over the past week. Additionally, investors are actively participating in options trading for Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE). PowerTrade analyzed, "Traders are mostly focusing on options with short maturities," adding, "This seems to be a response to the high short-term volatility across the stock and virtual asset markets."

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly surpassed $83,000. As of 10:40 PM on the 11th, BTC is trading at $83,107 on the Binance USDT market, up 2.43% from the previous day (121.52 million KRW on the Upbit exchange). The U.S. March Producer Price Index (PPI) released earlier fell short of market expectations, which is interpreted as slightly easing inflation concerns. Meanwhile, according to Cryprice, the Kimchi Premium of major virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) including Bitcoin (BTC) is recorded at 2.33%.

An analysis has emerged that the investment sentiment for Pi Coin (PI) is rapidly weakening. According to the cryptocurrency specialist media CoinGape on the 11th (local time), the daily trading volume of Pi Network was recorded at $158 million, a 44% drop compared to the previous day. This suggests that the interest of investors in the market is rapidly waning. Cryptocurrency analyst Dr. Altcoin warned, "Every month, 134 million Pi Coins are expected to be unlocked and distributed in the market. Additional selling pressure is inevitable," adding, "If there are no measures such as token burning or ecosystem demand expansion, the price of PI could plummet below $0.30." Meanwhile, signs of miner exodus from Pi Coin are also appearing. The media added, "Many miners seem to have given up on the project as the already mined PI is not being transferred to personal wallets." Miner exodus can generally lead to a decline in market confidence in the project's sustainability.

The United States' March Producer Price Index (PPI) fell short of market expectations. Producer prices are considered a leading indicator of consumer prices as they are reflected in final consumer goods prices after a certain period. According to the US Department of Labor on the 11th (local time), the US March PPI fell 0.4% from the previous month. This figure is below the market expectation of a 0.2% increase. Compared to the same period last year, it rose 2.7%, also below the market expectation of 3.3%. Following the announcement that the wholesale price, a leading indicator of consumer prices, is cooling, Bitcoin (BTC) saw a slight increase. As of 21:32 on this day, BTC was trading at $82,227 on the Binance USDT market, up 0.28% from the previous day.

In the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) derivatives market, the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin (BTC) has surged, raising the possibility of increased short-term volatility. On the 11th, virtual asset analyst Maartunn stated on X (formerly Twitter), "Bitcoin's OI increased by 9.9% from $24.3 billion to $26.7 billion in just a few hours," adding, "Such leverage expansion is usually a precursor to significant volatility. Be well prepared." Meanwhile, open interest refers to the number of contracts in the derivatives market that traders have not yet liquidated. An increase in open interest indicates that funds are flowing into the market. Generally, as open interest increases, the likelihood of increased volatility in coin prices rises.

The trading volume of the US dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD, issued by Ripple, has decreased by 56% in one day. Some analysts suggest that this decline could be a temporary adjustment following the exchange listing. On the 11th, the cryptocurrency-focused media U.Today cited CoinMarketCap data, stating, "RLUSD's daily trading volume plummeted from $114.3 million the previous day to $35.8 million today." The media analyzed, "This sharp decline in trading volume may be a natural adjustment following the abnormal surge after RLUSD's listing on Kraken, rather than an overall withdrawal from RLUSD." It also explained, "RLUSD has previously shown significant trading volume fluctuations, such as $49.7 million and $13 million, in the two days immediately following its listing on exchanges." Recently, RLUSD has been listed on Kraken and Bitstamp, significantly increasing its liquidity. The market anticipates further trading volume expansion, as major exchange listings like Binance and Coinbase are still pending.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is listing Ondo (ONDO), Big Time (BIGTIME), and Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL). On the 11th (local time), Binance announced on its official website, "Binance will support spot trading for ONDO/USDT, ONDO/USDC, BIGTIME/USDT, BIGTIME/USDC, VIRTUAL/USDT, VIRTUAL/USDC starting at 23:00 (KST) on this day." Withdrawals for these tokens will be supported from 23:00 on the 12th.

Bitcoin (BTC) is reportedly consolidating near $80,000, seeking a potential rebound. On the 11th, cryptocurrency-focused media Cointelegraph reported, "Technical analysis suggests that Bitcoin may already be forming a bottom," adding, "The likelihood of a Bitcoin rebound has increased following the recent Nasdaq plunge." John Bollinger, the creator of the Bollinger Bands, analyzed on X (formerly Twitter), "Bitcoin is forming a double bottom pattern," but noted, "The pattern is not yet confirmed." Bollinger Bands are indicators based on probability and statistics that can be useful for timing stock trades. Timothy Peterson, a network economist, stated, "Bitcoin is at the top of the risk asset pyramid, so it fell before the Nasdaq," adding, "The rebound is likely to be led by the stock market first, followed by Bitcoin." He also noted, "However, it should be noted that the Nasdaq could fall an additional 10%."

The token ORCA of the decentralized exchange (DEX) Orca based on Solana (SOL) is continuing its bullish trend, surging 57% from the previous day. On the 11th, the ORCA price is trading at $3.06, up 57.46% from the previous day based on the global virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Binance. Previously, on the 2nd, Orca introduced 'Liquidity Terminal Phase 2' to the experimental protocol Orca Beta, improving the user experience. On this day, Moralis, which tracks DEX data, announced through X (formerly Twitter) that "the number of user wallet addresses of Orca (Beta) has surpassed 57,650, setting a new record high. It is gearing up for a rise." In the community, expectations for demand expansion are growing along with the increase in ORCA holders.

Synthetix (SNX)'s stablecoin sUSD has deviated from its $1 price, raising concerns that the recently implemented structural technical overhaul is causing market confusion. On the 11th, cryptocurrency research media Parsec analyzed, "The recent de-pegging of sUSD may not be due to technical flaws or bad debt, but rather the impact of the recently introduced SIP-420." On this day, the price of sUSD was trading at $0.8988, up 6.35% from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap. The recently introduced SIP-420 involves a shift from the previous method where individual stakers directly issued sUSD and were responsible for the debt, to a protocol-owned pooled staking structure (420 Pool). However, there are concerns that in a structure where stablecoins are issued with joint collateral, individual stakers have no incentive to clear debt through bargain purchases even if debt arises. Parsec stated, "The recently introduced SIP-420 has removed the concept of individual debt. This had effects such as lowering the collateral ratio and improving user experience (UX)," but also analyzed, "Subsequently, the sUSD price defense mechanism was unintentionally weakened." Meanwhile, Synthetix plans to secure demand through integration with external platforms like Aave (AAVE) and Athena (ENA), and to expand sUSD demand by strengthening incentives through collaborations with Curve (CRV).