Bitcoin adjusts, meme speculation shifts to Base chain

Author: Mary Liu, BitpushNews

Today, the cryptocurrency market showed mixed results. By the close of the U.S. stock market, Bitcoin fell below $70,000, while Ethereum hovered below $3,600. According to CoinmarketCap data, the biggest gainers in the past 24 hours were Dogwifhat (WIF), Internet Computer (ICP), APTOS, BEAM, and SUI, with increases ranging from 9% to 19%.

Affected by negative regulatory news, the KuCoin platform token saw a decline of over 14% in 24 hours. Earlier that day, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused KuCoin of operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange, while the U.S. Department of Justice charged KuCoin and its two founders with violating the Bank Secrecy Act and unlicensed money transmission.

Base Chain Dominates Meme Speculation

The rotation of speculation in the cryptocurrency sector is accelerating. Multiple indicators show that cryptocurrency traders are seeking profit opportunities on the Base blockchain, which is dominated by meme coins.

Base, built by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on the OP Stack, went live for developers in August and initially grew slowly. However, in the past few weeks, its total value locked (TVL) has increased from $450 million at the beginning of the month to nearly $1 billion by Tuesday.

Blockchain data shows that the average daily transaction volume on Base has increased from less than 500,000 transactions in recent months to over 1.5 million transactions daily. The number of unique addresses has doubled, reaching 65,000 wallets.

Some market observers suggest that direct access to Base from Coinbase's exchange and wallet applications may have stimulated massive retail interest in the network. In the past 24 hours, the network has generated $1.8 million in fees.

CoinmarketCap data shows that in March 2024, 21 out of the top 25 tokens by trading volume on Base were meme coins.

In the past week, meme coins such as cat-themed toshi (TOSHI), thank you base god (TYBG), normie (NORMIE), and brett (BRETT) saw price increases of 1,300%, while tokens from tech projects like Aerodrome's AERO and Seamless's SEAM rose by as much as 90%. Coinmarketcap data indicates that the overall increase of tokens in the Base ecosystem currently ranks first, followed by TON.

Meanwhile, Optimism developer Michael Silberling pointed out on X that the popularity of meme coins on Base has led to high gas fees, exceeding the amounts users paid before the Dencun upgrade. Most transactions come from meme coin trading and trading bots aiming to buy tokens within minutes of their issuance, causing network congestion.

Spot Bitcoin ETF Ends Five Days of Net Outflows

According to data released by investment firm Farside, the total inflow of funds into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs yesterday was $15.4 million, ending five consecutive days of outflows.

Fidelity's FBTC led the inflows with $261.8 million, followed by BlackRock's IBIT with $35.5 million. Other funds such as BITB, BTCO, EZBC, and BRRR received between $11 million and $20 million each. Meanwhile, Grayscale's ETF (GBTC) continued to see outflows, with an outflow slightly above $350 million.

Additionally, the London Stock Exchange announced that it will launch Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded notes (ETNs) on May 28. The notice stated that the exchange will begin accepting applications for cryptocurrency ETN trading starting April 8. The market will be subject to approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. ETNs are similar to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as they aim to reflect the performance of an index or benchmark.

BTC Rebound Imminent?

Amberdata charts track the 24-hour changes in the number of active Bitcoin options contracts at different strike price levels on Deribit. The data shows a significant increase in open contracts for call options with strike prices of $90,000 and $105,000, indicating market expectations that BTC will continue to rise to six figures in the coming months.

Trader and analyst Matthew Hyland is optimistic about BTC's future prospects, stating on the X platform: "If this support holds strong enough, the likelihood of Bitcoin rising to $100,000 will increase."

Matthew Hyland believes that the daily relative strength index (RSI) value fell below the critical 50 level on March 20, which is a "good signal" for a rebound. As of now, the daily RSI is slightly above 60, still below the classic bull market zone above 70.