Uk Jin

Celo (CELO) has completed its migration to Ethereum (ETH) Layer 2 approximately 8 months after announcing the transition. On the 26th (local time), according to the cryptocurrency specialist media outlet CoinDesk, the Celo Foundation announced that the migration to Ethereum Layer 2 is almost complete. Celo is a Layer 1 blockchain network that was launched in July 2023 as a platform providing an environment for running decentralized applications (dApps). However, in September last year, it announced the transition to Ethereum Layer 2 by launching a Layer 2 testnet. After a total of 8 months, the migration process to Ethereum Layer 2 was completed on this day. Meanwhile, the new Layer 2 Celo is expected to be powered by the OP Stack.

Ethereum (ETH) spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) recorded a net outflow. On the 25th (local time), according to Farside Investor, the Ethereum spot ETF recorded a net outflow of $3.3 million. Grayscale ETH and Invesco QETH recorded net outflows of $1.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

The Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) has achieved net inflows for eight consecutive days. According to Farside Investor on the 25th (local time), a total of $26.8 million was net inflowed into the Bitcoin spot ETF on this day. While BlackRock IBIT saw a net inflow of $42 million, Bitwise BITB (-$10.1 million) and WisdomTree BTCW (-$5.1 million) recorded net outflows. No fund flows occurred in other spot ETFs.

According to the cryptocurrency media outlet Cointelegraph on the 26th (local time), Bitcoin and Ethereum have recorded declines of 6.49% and 37.98%, respectively, so far this first quarter. If this trend continues, Bitcoin will have its worst first quarter since 2020, and Ethereum since 2018. Previously, in the first quarter of 2020, Bitcoin experienced a price drop of 10.83%, and in the first quarter of 2018, Ethereum experienced a drop of 46.61%. However, the consensus is that a rebound within the first quarter is difficult. Fab Hundal, a senior analyst at the Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx, predicted, "The likelihood of Bitcoin staging a strong rally by the end of this first quarter is low." He explained that macroeconomic uncertainties need to be resolved. Analyst Hundal stated, "The cryptocurrency market is likely to remain quiet until mid-April when President Donald Trump's tariff plans are further clarified," adding, "However, recent economic indicators suggest that the global economy remains in a healthy state."

According to the top gainers in Token Mindshare (a metric quantifying the influence of specific tokens in the virtual asset market) of the AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito, the top 5 keywords related to virtual assets that people are most interested in as of the 26th are Particle (PARTI), Movement (MOVE), Solana (SOL), GameStop, and USDC. Particle, ranked first, has attracted the attention of global virtual asset investors as it was newly listed on major global exchanges such as Binance and OKX. As of 1:11 PM on this day, Particle is trading at $0.3570, up 20.18% from the previous day according to CoinMarketCap. Movement took the second spot. The Movement Network Foundation drew investor interest by announcing a buyback of MM quantities after recognizing issues with the market maker (MM) they had employed. The Movement Foundation stated, "We have identified fraudulent activities (unilateral selling) by a specific market maker on Binance and have recovered their illicit profits," and announced, "The recovered funds, amounting to $38 million, will be used for token buybacks on Binance over three months." On the morning of this day, Movement withdrew $5.47 million worth of Movement from Binance. Solana took the third spot. It is analyzed that Solana attracted investor interest as it surged during the day. At the same time, Solana is trading at $142.11, up 2.02% from the previous day. This is a sharp increase of 12.69% compared to the previous week. GameStop took the fourth spot. The major American game chain GameStop received a lot of attention from investors as it formalized its Bitcoin accumulation plan on this day. Finally, USDC took the fifth spot. As the virtual asset market shows signs of recovery, the issuance of stablecoins has increased, bringing USDC into the spotlight of investors. According to CoinGecko, USDC's market capitalization surpassed $60 billion, reaching an all-time high. Currently, USDC's market cap is at $60.17 billion. Additionally, investors are also showing interest in OKB, Banker (BNKR), OpenSea, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and Ronin (RON).

Recently, as Bitcoin (BTC) shows signs of recovery, an analysis has emerged suggesting that the accumulation by whales holding 100 to 10,000 coins is behind this trend. On the 25th (local time), Santiment stated on its official X (formerly Twitter) that "Bitcoin's price formed $77,500 two weeks ago, but recently soared to $88,350," explaining that "the number of whale wallets increased sharply right after the bottom, leading to the price rise." Meanwhile, as of 11:30 AM on the 26th (Korean time), Bitcoin is trading at $87,551 on CoinMarketCap, up 0.59% from the previous day.

Concerns have been raised about a cryptocurrency project related to President Donald Trump. On the 25th (local time), former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Tim Massad, in an interview with BeInCrypto, commented on the cryptocurrency businesses related to President Trump, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and Official Trump (TRUMP), stating, "It is clearly wrong for a sitting U.S. president or his family, who can directly dictate policy and issue related executive orders, to be involved in commercial ventures." According to the white paper of World Liberty Financial, the Trump family holds a 75% stake in the net profits of World Liberty Financial and a 60% stake in the holding company. Additionally, in the case of Official Trump, President Trump and his associates own most of the circulating supply. Former CFTC Chairman Massad further noted about World Liberty Financial, "There is a significant risk of conflict of interest and corruption when the president and those associated with him sell cryptocurrencies. World Liberty Financial and meme coins are examples of this," adding, "There is a potential for ongoing conflicts because people who want to curry favor with the administration might buy the coins."

Pi Network (PI), commonly known as 'Pi Coin', is experiencing a deepening decline. It is analyzed that the slowdown in buying pressure is the cause. As of 9:26 AM on the 26th (KST), Pi Coin is recording a sharp drop of 8.13% to $0.8638 according to CoinMarketCap. BeInCrypto analyzed that the decline in Pi Coin is due to decreased buying pressure. According to the On-Balance Volume (OBV) indicator, which shows the buying and selling pressure of virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), Pi Coin's OBV recorded an all-time low of -845.93 million. This is a drop of over 2000% compared to early March.

According to Alternative, a virtual asset (cryptocurrency) data provider, the Virtual Asset Fear & Greed Index recorded 47 points, up 1 point from the previous day. As a result, the Virtual Asset Fear & Greed Index has entered the neutral stage from the previous fear stage. As of 9:00 AM, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $87,374 on CoinMarketCap, up 0.04% from the previous day. Most altcoins also showed a sideways trend. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) recorded a 0.75% decrease to $2,065, and Ripple (XRP) recorded a 0.01% increase to $2.44. They rose by 3.99% and 0.58%, respectively. Additionally, Binance Coin (-1.14%), Solana (+1.89%), ADA (+1.74%), and TRON (-0.43%) all showed fluctuations around 2%. However, Dogecoin (DOGE) surged by 4.28% on this day. The Fear & Greed Index is an indicator that expresses market sentiment, with a score closer to 0 indicating extreme fear and closer to 100 indicating extreme greed. This index is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin market cap dominance (10%), and Google search trends (10%).

There is a claim that now is the best time to buy Bitcoin (BTC) in the market. According to the cryptocurrency specialist media outlet CoinDesk on the 25th (local time), Dominic Rizzo, a manager at T. Rowe Price, participated in the Exchange Conference event and explained, "Bitcoin is forming a price range similar to the recent average mining cost," and "If we equate it with traditional commodities, it means that now is a good time to buy Bitcoin." CoinDesk's analysis of MacroMicro's data shows that the current average cost of mining Bitcoin is recorded at $84,770. As of 8:57 AM on the 26th (Korean time), Bitcoin is trading at $87,491, up 0.05% from the previous day according to CoinMarketCap. Additionally, Manager Rizzo said, "Blockchain and digital payment methods are essential parts of the fintech and artificial intelligence (AI) era. The reason is that they are key to adopting a software-centric approach in fields that were not previously software-centric."

The major US game chain GameStop is showing an upward trend in the over-the-counter market. It is analyzed that investor sentiment has strengthened as GameStop's addition of Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet has been formalized. On the 25th (local time), GameStop is trading at $27.19, up 7.05% from the closing price on the New York Stock Exchange. A few hours earlier, GameStop announced in a shareholder letter sent with its earnings report that the board of directors had unanimously passed the matter of incorporating Bitcoin as a reserve. Last month, rumors began to circulate that GameStop could incorporate Bitcoin as a reserve asset after Ryan Cohen, GameStop's CEO, posted a photo on social media (SNS) with Michael Saylor, CEO of Strategy. Strive, a US asset management company known as a shareholder of GameStop, also directly urged GameStop to accumulate Bitcoin. At that time, Matt Cole, CEO of Strive, explained, "We believe GameStop can achieve financial improvement by purchasing Bitcoin."

The number of wallets representing Bitcoin (BTC) owners has hardly changed over the past year. On the 25th (local time), Jurrien Timmer, head of Fidelity Global Macro, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that "Bitcoin continues to follow the path of the demand model and the power law curve of the network," but "the actual number of addresses and wallets has hardly increased over the past year." He explained, "The number of wallets has hardly changed because there are many large-scale buyers like Exchange-Traded Products (ETP) or Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)," adding, "Unfortunately, it seems that it will become increasingly difficult to track Bitcoin with the curve model in the future."

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, who has been in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, shared his thoughts on the SEC's withdrawal of the lawsuit against Ripple. On the 25th (local time), CEO Garlinghouse stated in an interview with Fox Business News, "Due to the lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 95% of our customers were outside the United States," and "However, with this lawsuit withdrawal, we have entered the U.S. market, and now the situation will change." He added, "Since President Donald Trump took office, we have felt an increase in interest in the U.S. market. Compared to before President Trump's inauguration, we are currently signing a significantly higher number of contracts." After the interview, CEO Garlinghouse conveyed through his X (formerly Twitter) account, "With the SEC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) withdrawing (virtual asset-related) legislation, financial institutions are allowed to enter the virtual asset market," and "I believe this aspect is still underestimated in the market."

After news of a partnership between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), founded by President Donald Trump, and the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com emerged, criticism has been forming in the community. On the 25th (local time), renowned cryptocurrency detective ZachXBT stated on X (formerly Twitter), "Cronos is no different from a scam," questioning why Trump Media & Technology Group chose Crypto.com as a partner instead of Coinbase, Kraken, or Gemini, just a week after 70 billion Cronos tokens, which were permanently burned in 2021, were reissued. Earlier that day, according to some foreign media reports, Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto.com signed a partnership to explore opportunities to sell digital asset ETFs in addition to U.S.-focused investment products through their platforms. Specifically, Crypto.com plans to provide the cryptocurrency and technology that underpins digital asset ETFs and operate them through Foris Capital, a New Hampshire-based company acquired last year. Conversely, Trump Media will include Cronos, a cryptocurrency linked to Crypto.com, in the ETF as part of the partnership. Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency business that benefited from President Trump's election. Last year, it was warned of a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for operating an 'unregistered securities exchange,' but after President Trump was elected, the SEC withdrew the lawsuit. However, the community sentiment towards their partnership is not very positive. The reissuance of tokens permanently burned by Crypto.com's subsidiary Cronos (CRO) appears to be problematic. On the 2nd, Crypto.com unveiled a proposal to reissue 70 billion Cronos tokens, which were permanently burned, to be included in strategic reserve assets after President Trump announced a cryptocurrency reserve plan. The reissued amount accounts for 70% of the total supply of 100 billion Cronos. As more than half of the supply enters the market, there has been backlash among investors. One whale expressed concern, saying, "This is a massive dilution of token value," and "No one benefits except the company." In this situation, as the partnership between Trump Media Group and Crypto.com was announced, investors are expressing negative reactions such as "It's unethical," and "Crypto.com tends to change rules impulsively without considering investors." Meanwhile, as of 2:48 PM on the same day, Cronos is trading at $0.1107, up 34.21% from the previous day according to CoinMarketCap.

Blockchain-based identity verification protocol World announced on the 25th that more than two-thirds of domestic gamers have had negative experiences due to bots, according to a survey. This is the result of a survey conducted by World on the impact of AI and bots on games, commissioned to Macromill Embrain, targeting 800 domestic gamers on the 18th. First, 54% of domestic gamers said they had encountered bots. In response to questions about 'the impact and perception of bots,' 79% said, "Bots are ruining multiplayer competition," followed by "Bots are changing the multiplayer environment" (78%), "Bots reduce the fun of certain games" (78%), and "Bots make in-game cheating more serious" (74%). Additionally, 91% of the 800 domestic gamers responded "A mechanism to distinguish between machines and humans is essential in the future" to the question of whether there is a demand for human verification technology to combat bots. Furthermore, most domestic gamers agreed with "Verifying human players through biometric technology" (83%) and "Knowing whether the opponent is a bot or a human is necessary" (76%), raising the need for human verification technology in relation to games. Meanwhile, on the 18th, World announced a partnership with Razer to combat bots in online games. The 'WorldID-based RazerID' introduced by both companies is a cutting-edge single sign-on (SSO) based Proof of Human (PoH) technology that certifies gamers as real humans. Tiago Sada, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Tools for Humanity, said, "World plans to lead the creation of a game environment where fair competition can thrive while maintaining gamers' privacy and autonomy through human verification technology."

According to the top gainers on the Token Mindshare of the AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito, the top five keywords related to cryptocurrencies that people are most interested in as of the 25th are Berachain (BERA), Nillion (NILLION), Particle Network (PARTI), Coinbase (COINBASE), and FOMO. Berachain, which launched a liquidity proof system and attracted significant interest from investors, took the first place. The purpose of Berachain's liquidity proof system is to enable on-chain governance by distributing the supply of the governance token BGT. As this news spread, Berachain, which was on the rise, was trading at $7.57, up 13.25% from the previous day, as of 01:09 PM. Nillion took the second place. Nillion raised concerns among investors as an incident occurred on the Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone the previous day. After being listed on Coinone, Nillion experienced a temporary inability to sell, causing a buying frenzy that led to a 2000% surge, reaching 50,000 KRW. However, controversy arose as it fell 97% once selling became possible. Particle Network took the third place. Particle Network is attracting investor interest by announcing its listing on major global exchanges such as Binance and Bitget. The fourth place went to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Investor interest surged as rumors of Coinbase's acquisition of Deribit surfaced. The previous day, Coinbase closed at $203.04 on the Nasdaq, up 6.94% amid these rumors. Finally, FOMO took the fifth place. FOMO surged 108.50% in just one day, drawing significant investor attention. Additionally, investors are also showing interest in OKB, DYDX, Propchain (PROPC), Polymarket, and Sui (SUI).