Crypto Market Week Recap: Bulls Return After a Shaky Start?

The week began with a slow grind down in both equities and crypto markets simply a continuation of the prior week’s price action. But as the days went on, things shifted. The latter half of the week brought stronger bullish action as macroeconomic conditions turned slightly more favorable. The total crypto market cap rose by 4.49%, moving from $2.739 trillion to $2.862 trillion. Altcoins finally showed some renewed interest, riding alongside Bitcoin’s strength.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead the Charge

Bitcoin (BTC) ended the week up by 3.82%. However, the real surprise came from Ethereum (ETH), which outperformed with an impressive 6.44% gain from the previous week. Daily liquidations stayed mostly muted, rarely crossing $250 million. 

The only notable spike occurred on the 19th of March when $259 million worth of shorts were wiped out after the initial reaction to the FOMC. Funding rates remained largely directionless, hovering in the low positive range. Yet, some rates stayed negative a reminder that the market still holds a risk-off stance toward altcoins.

Major Headlines: Strategy and Solana ETFs

There was no shortage of big headlines this week. Saylor’s Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) announced Strife (STRF), a new $5 million perpetual preferred stock offering that will accumulate dividends at 10% per annum. On top of that, Strategy acquired 130 BTC for $10.7 million at an average price of $82,981 per Bitcoin one of their smallest purchases to date.

Another major milestone was achieved with the launch of two Solana futures ETFs by Volatility Shares LLC in the US. These are the first of their kind and mirror existing products like BITX and BITO for Bitcoin.

Macroeconomics Take Center Stage

This week’s market performance was closely tied to macroeconomic events. The crypto market largely mirrored the action in traditional markets. A dovish FOMC led to a strong pump across both equities and crypto. While crypto markets did not quite see solid follow-through as much of the market was still nervous. The S&P 500 gained 1.66% on the week, and the Nasdaq lagged slightly with a 1.15% gain.

Bitcoin dominance dipped slightly this week, falling by over 0.4% to 61.43%. This shift reflected traders’ willingness to bid on altcoins once again. Among the outperformers were DeFi tokens like LayerZero (ZRO), Frax Share (FXS), and Pendle (PENDLE). Even memecoins like Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) and SPX6900 (SPX) showed surprising strength. Other notable gainers included Plume Network (PLUME) and PancakeSwap (CAKE).

Why This Matters

The focus has once again shifted to interest rates and inflation. The FOMC’s decision to leave rates unchanged, alongside expectations of two rate cuts worth 50 bps this year, was well-received. 

The Fed’s slower pace of balance sheet reduction added fuel to the rally. Yet, market participants remain cautious, especially with tariffs taking effect on April 2nd something that markets seem to be ignoring for now. Jerome Powell’s comments calling tariff-driven inflation “transitory” add another layer of uncertainty.

All eyes are now on how the markets will react in the coming weeks. Will caution continue to dominate, or will we see risk-on sentiment return in full force?