This analysis report, backed by quality data, covers the major developments the Web3, Blockchain, and Crypto sectors have experienced this week.
1. Breaking News This Week
- Apple’s Mac Security Vulnerability Exposed
A critical flaw in Apple’s M-series chips poses a risk to users’ cryptographic private keys. Researchers suggest a workaround, but it may significantly impact device performance, highlighting the urgent need for a direct resolution to safeguard user data.
- Hackers Launder Funds Through Tornado Cash
Despite sanctions, hackers continue to move stolen assets, totaling $145.7 million, through Tornado Cash. The platform’s role in obscuring fund ownership raises concerns, emphasising the ongoing challenges in tracking illicit cryptocurrency transactions.
- Google Adds ENS Support for Ethereum Wallets
Google extends support to display Ethereum wallet balances using Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains. This integration streamlines cryptocurrency transactions by replacing complex wallet addresses with human-readable domains, enhancing accessibility and usability for users engaging with Ethereum-based assets.
- Blockchain Game Exploited Before Launch
Exploitation of a smart contract bug led to a $4.6 million loss for Super Sushi Samurai just before its anticipated launch. This incident underscore the importance of rigorous smart contract auditing and testing to mitigate vulnerabilities and safeguard user funds in blockchain-based applications.
- OKX To Halt Services in India
OKX announces the cessation of services in India, citing regulatory concerns. This move follows a broader trend of regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges by governments around the world.
- Tornado Cash Developer Accused of Money Laundering
Alexey Pertsev faces accusations of laundering $1.2 billion through Tornado Cash, despite denying involvement in breaching money laundering laws. The indictment from the Netherlands alleges over 30 illegal transactions on the platform.
- Binance Founder Launches Education Project
Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, initiates a non-revenue, free education project targeting underprivileged children in developing countries. This philanthropic effort aims to bridge educational gaps and empower marginalised communities through access to knowledge and opportunities in emerging technologies.
2. Blockchain Performance
In this section, we will analyse two factors primarily: the top-performing blockchains based solely on their 7-day change and the top performers among the top five blockchains with the highest TVL.
2.1. Top Blockchain Performers by 7-Day Change
This week’s top blockchain performers, based on their 7-day change, are Xai, Bittorrent, Merlin, Filecoin, and TON.
| Blockchain | 7-Day Change (in %) | TVL |
| Xai | 6723% | $931,142 |
| Bittorrent | +227% | $1.1M |
| Merlin | +171% | $38.49M |
| Filecoin | +115% | $39.21M |
| TON | +61.34% | $72.05M |
Among the top blockchain performers by 7-day change, Xai leads with an impressive 6723% increase, indicating significant market activity. Bittorrent follows with a substantial 227% growth, while Merlin, Filecoin, and TON also demonstrate notable uptrends.
2.2. Top Performers: 7-Day Change in Top 5 Blockchains with Highest TVL
Ethereum, TRON, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, and Arbitrum One are the top five blockchains in the market on the basis of TVL and market dominance. Let’s see how the top five blockchains have performed this week, using 7-day TVL change.
| Blockchain | 7d Change (in %) | Dominance (in %) | TVL (in Billion) |
| Ethereum | -8.23% | 61.19% | $48.497B |
| TRON | -5.37% | 11.18% | 9.505B |
| BNB Smart Chain | -4.17% | 7.07% | 5.594B |
| Solana | -5.03% | 4.83% | $3.954B |
| Arbitrum One | -5.88% | 4.63% | $3.159B |
| Others | 11.10% |
Among the top 5 blockchains with the highest Total Value Locked, Ethereum exhibits the largest decline with -8.23% over 7 days. Following suit, Arbitrum One, TRON, Solana, and BNB Smart Chain also experienced negative changes, indicating potential market corrections.
3. Crypto Market Analysis
The crypto price and dominance analysis and top gains and losers analysis are the two prime factors of the crypto market analysis.
3.1. Crypto 7-D Price Change and Dominance Analysis
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, and Solana are the top cryptocurrency as per the market cap and dominance indices. Let’s analyse their seven-day price change.
| Cryptocurrency | Dominance Percentage | 7d- Change (in %) | Price | Market Cap |
| BTC | 49.04% | -7.2% | $64,084.16 | $1,258,101,656,738 |
| ETH | 15.65% | -10.6% | $3,331.20 | $400,013,898,271 |
| USDT | 4.09% | +0.1% | $1.00 | $104,192,005,600 |
| BNB | 3.32% | -10.4% | $550.28 | $84,836,562,746 |
| SOL | 3.02% | -8.4% | $172.49 | $76,505,792,215 |
| Others | 24.88% |
In the realm of top cryptocurrencies, ETH and BNB experienced significant declines of -10.6% and -10.4% respectively over 7 days. SOL and BTC also saw notable drops of -8.4% and -7.2% correspondingly. However, USDT showed minimal fluctuation with only a +0.1% change.
3.2. Top Gainers & Losers of the Week in Crypto Market
Here is the list of top gainers and top losers of the week in the cryptocurrency market. The analysis is made using the 7-day Gain and 7-day Lose indices.
3.2.1. Top Gainers of the Week in Crypto
| Cryptocurrency | 7-Day Gain | Price |
| Ondo | +34.75% | $0.7029 |
| Toncoin | +26.89% | $4.79 |
| Stacks | +26.83% | $3.53 |
| Fantom | +13.38% | $1.09 |
| JasmyCoin | +10.44% | $0.02071 |
In the crypto market, Ondo emerged as the top gainer of the week with a significant 34.75% increase, followed closely by Toncoin and Stacks at +26.89% and +26.83 respectively. Fantom and JasmyCoin also saw notable gains at +13.38% and +10.44%.
3.2.2. Top Losers of the Week in Crypto
| Cryptocurrency | 7-Day Loss | Price |
| Sei | -27.27% | $0.8024 |
| Bonk | -26.18% | $0.00002225 |
| Injective | -22.95% | $35.36 |
| Algorand | -20.75% | $0.241 |
| Helium | -19.59% | $6.55 |
In the crypto market, Sei experienced the most significant loss of the week at -27.27%, followed closely by Bonk at -26.18%. Injective, Algorand, and Helium also saw notable declines at -22.95%, -20.75%, and -19.59%.
3.3. Stablecoin Weekly Analysis
Tether, USDC, DAI, First Digital USD, and Ethena USDe are the top stablecoins in the market in terms of market capitalization. Let’s analyse their weekly performance using seven-day market capitalisation, market dominance and trading volume indices.
| Stablecoins | Market Dominance (7d) [in %] | Market Capitalisation (7d) | Trading Volume (7d) | Market Capitalisation |
| Tether | 71.23% | $104,042,955,963 | $72,933,877,566 | $104,101,083,533 |
| USDC | 21.90% | $31,996,066,950 | $9,566,842,109 | $32,098,623,910 |
| Dai | 3.26% | $4,763,561,388 | $739,396,685 | $4,805,964,452 |
| First Digital USD | 1.79% | $2,619,642,987 | $8,929,619,191 | $2,625,007,732 |
| Ethena USDe | 0.87% | $1,270,115,281 | $116,077,978 | $1,274,113,067 |
| Others | 0.94% |
Among stablecoins, Tether dominates the market with a significant 71.23% market share over 7 days, indicating its widespread adoption and trust among users. USDC follows with a 21.90% share, while Dai, First Digital USD, and Ethena USDe hold smaller portions of 3.26%, 1.79%, and 0.87% respectively. This dominance reflects Tether’s role as a leading stablecoin for traders.
Let’s analyse the weekly performance of the top stablecoins further using the seven-day price change index.
| Stablecoins | 7-Day Price Change (in %) | Price |
| Tether | +0.1% | $0.9995 |
| USDC | +0.1% | $0.9995 |
| Dai | +0.1% | $0.9986 |
| First Digital USD | +0.1% | $1.00 |
| Ethena USDe | +0.3% | $0.9982 |
Among top stablecoins, Ethena USDe experienced the highest 7-day price change with a modest increase of +0.3%, followed by Tether, USDC, Dai, and First Digital USD, all showing a +0.1% change. These minimal fluctuations indicate stability in the prices of these stablecoins.
4. Bitcoin ETF Weekly Analysis
Bitcoin Futures ETFs and Bitcoin Spot ETFs should be analysed separately, in order to get the right picture of the Bitcoin ETF market, as they represent two different segments. Let’s start!
4.1. Bitcoin Futures ETF Weekly Analysis
ProShares (BITO), VanEck (XBTF), Valkyrie (BTF), Global X (BITS), and Ark/21 Shares (ARKA) are the top Bitcoin Future ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s use the price change percentage index to analyse these ETFs.
| Bitcoin Futures ETFs | Price Change (Gain/Loss) [in %] | Asset Under Management (in Billion) | Price |
| ProShares (BITO) | -2.15% | $598.78M | $29.16 |
| VanEck (XBTF) | +0.33% | $42.41M | $39.22 |
| Valkyrie (BTF) | -2.60% | $38.20M | $19.45 |
| Global X (BITS) | -4.10% | $26.10M | $67.12 |
| Ark/21 Shares (ARKA) | -2.37% | $8.01M | $62.17 |
Among Bitcoin Futures ETFs, VanEck’s XBTF showed the highest gain with +0.33% over the period, indicating slight positive momentum. In contrast, Global X’s BITS experienced the largest loss at -4.10%, followed by Valkyrie’s BTF, Ark/21 Shares’s ARKA, and ProShares’s BITO, all posting negative change.
4.2. Bitcoin Spot ETF Weekly Analysis
Grayscale (GBTC), Blackrock (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), Ark/21 Shares (ARKB), and Bitwise (BITB) are the top Bitcoin Spot ETFs, as per the Asset Under Management index. Let’s analyse them using the price change index.
| Bitcoin Spot ETFs | Price Change (Gain/Loss) [in %] | Asset Under Management (in Billion) | Price |
| Grayscale (GBTC) | -1.94% | $27.68B | $56.98 |
| BlackRock (IBIT) | -1.99% | $15.85B | $36.41 |
| Fidelity (FBTC) | -2.00% | $8.85B | $55.91 |
| Ark/21 Shares (ARKB) | -1.87% | $2.62B | $64.00 |
| Bitwise (BITB) | -2.00% | $1.96B | $34.84 |
In the Bitcoin Spot ETF category, Fidelity’s FBTC and Bitwise’s BITB both experienced a -2.00% decrease in price. BlackRock’s IBIT showed a slightly lower loss at -1.99%. Grayscale’s GBTC and Ark/21 Shares’s ARKB also show declines at -1.94% and -1.87% respectively.
5. DeFi Market Weekly Status Analysis
Lido, EigenLayer, AAVE, Maker, JustLend are the five top DeFi protocols on the basis of TVL. Let’s analyse its weekly performance using the 7d Change index.
| DeFi Protocols | 7d Change (in Total Value Locked) [in %] | TVL |
| Lido | -11.01% | $32.701B |
| EigenLayer | -5.80% | $10.892B |
| AAVE | -7.29% | $10.494B |
| Maker | -9.19% | $8.392B |
| JustLend | -6.33% | $7.189B |
Over the past 7 days, DeFi protocols experienced declines in Total Value Locked. Lido and Maker saw the largest decrease at -11.01% and -9.19%, respectively, suggesting potential withdrawals or decreased activity. AAVE, JustLend, and EigenLayer also showed declines in TVL, indicating a possible shift in user funds within the DeFi ecosystem.
6. NFT Marketplace: A Basic Weekly Analysis
Blur, Blur Aggregator, Opensea, Cryptopunks, and Gem are the top NFT marketplaces on the basis of market share. Let’s analyse them using the Volume Change (change of last 7d volume over the previous 7d volume) index.
| NFT Marketplaces | Market Share | Volume Change [Last 7 Day over the Previous 7 Day Volume] | 7-day Rolling Volume | 7-day Rolling Trade |
| Blur | 56.19% | -14.31% | 21198.54 | 33197 |
| Blur Aggregator | 22.09% | +1.20% | 11750.04 | 14868 |
| Opensea | 15.97% | -27.13% | 6115.22 | 22155 |
| Cryptopunks | 1.98% | +228% | 6128.92 | 25 |
| Gem | 1.62% | -20.29% | 1217.31 | 3793 |
| Others | 2.149% |
In the NFT marketplace sector, Cryptopunks exhibited a significant surge in volume, with a remarkable +228% change over the previous 7 days, indicating heightened activity and interest. Conversely, Opensea, Gem and Blur experienced decrease in volume at -27.13%, -20.29%, and -14.31% respectively, suggesting a potential slowdown in trading activity.
6.1. Top NFT Collectible Sales this Week
CryptoPunks #7804, CryptoPunks #9206, Art Blocks #78000229, CryptoPunks #5526, and CryptoPunks #1085 are the top NFT collectable sales reported this week in the NFT market landscape.
| NFT Collectibles | Price (in USD) |
| CryptoPunks #7804 | $16,382,444.00 |
| CryptoPunks #9206 | $226,990.00 |
| Art Blocks #78000229 | $220,357.62 |
| CryptoPunks #5526 | $216,732.47 |
| CryptoPunks #1085 | $215,497.58 |
This week’s top NFT collectible sales feature crypto CryptoPunks #7804 as the highest-priced item at $16,382,444.00, indicating strong demand and scarcity. Following, CryptoPunks #9206, Ark Blocks #78000229, and CryptoPunks #5526 and #1085 show significant prices. These sales highlight the continuing popularity of CryptoPunks collectibles.
7. Web3 Weekly Funding Analysis
7.1. ICO Landscape: A Weekly Overview
Oxya Origin, Bowled, Dappad, and Castle of Blackwater are the major ICOs that ended this week. Let’s analyse how much they have received.
| ICO | Received | Token Price | Fundraising Goal | Total Tokens | Token (Available for Sale) |
| Oxya Origin | $2,310,000 | $0.02 | $330,000 | 1,000,000,000 | N/A |
| Bowled | $3,430,000 | $0.07 | $400,000 | 500,000,000 | 19% |
| Dappad | $1,720,000 | $0.02 | $500,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 17% |
| Castle of Blackwater | N/Al | $0.1 | $200,000 | N/A | N/A |
Among the major ICOs ending this week, Bowled raised $3,430,000, Oxya Origin received $2,310,000, and Dappad collected $1,720,000. These amounts signify investor interest and potential funding for blockchain projects, indicating the market’s appetite for new digital assets and decentralised applications.
8. Weekly Blockchain Hack Analysis
As of March 23, 2024, hackers stole a massive $7.69 billion. Most of this, about $5.84 billion, was taken from decentralised finance platforms. Another $2.83 billion was stolen from bridges connecting different blockchain networks.
On March 8, 2024, Unizon lost around $2.1 million to hackers. On March 5, WOOFI was targeted, losing $8.5 million. Seneca lost $6.5 million on February 28, while Tectonica lost $0.25 million on February 22.
However, the biggest hit this year was taken by FixedFlot, which lost $26.1 million to a hacking attack.
Endnote
In this week’s comprehensive analysis of Web3, Blockchain and Crypto, we have brought out powerful insights that can be used to stay relevant to market developments. As the landscape evolves, the strategic integration of technology and data-driven decision-making becomes paramount for stakeholders navigating the dynamic realms of decentralised technologies.
Source: https://coinpedia.org/research-report/weekly-crypto-roundup-current-news-blockchain-trends-bitcoin-and-stablecoin-analysis-and-more-insights/