March 2021 in Numbers: New Coins Break into the Top 10, Bitcoin Seals Eight-Year Best Quarter

Trading Volume

In March, spot trading volume rose to $1.32 trillion. Asian platforms dominated again, Binance accounting for $757 billion, Huobi for $210 billion, OKEx for $173 billion. U.S. exchange Coinbase generated $87 billion in volume.

Futures and Options

• In March, total Bitcoin futures trading volume reached a record $2.15 trillion, with $720 billion on Binance.
• Open interest in March neared $23 billion for the first time.
• A similar picture in the options market — total Bitcoin options trading volume reached a record $28.5 billion, of which $26.7 billion was on Deribit.

• Ethereum-based DeFi ecosystem growth remained tepid. Total value locked (TVL) on smart contracts did not reach February’s peak of $45 billion. A probable reason for the slowdown is high gas fees, which deter retail investors. The latest flows show a shift toward alternative DeFi ecosystems—Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Huobi Eco Chain.
• The leading trio remained unchanged — Ethereum-based lending projects Maker, Aave and Compound.

• Major Ethereum-based DeFi segments are lending (46%) and decentralized exchanges (39%).
• In March, Terra sparked notable growth — 186%. Its market cap reached $7.5 billion ($2.7 billion on March 1). Also notable were assets of PancakeSwap and 0x on DeFi protocols — 47% and 45.9% respectively.

• Overall market value of tokenized Bitcoins approached $11 billion.
• The unassailable leader of the sector remains Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). Its market cap exceeded $8 billion.

• Total TVL of projects based on Binance Smart Chain rose 107%, breaking the $19 billion mark. Ellipsis Finance displaced Autofarm from third place. TVL of the new project already surpassed $2 billion.
• Total TVL of projects on Huobi Eco Chain reached $7.5 billion.

DEX

• In March, trading volume on decentralized exchanges reached $61.1 billion — the second-largest figure in 2021 to date.
• Uniswap remains the clear leader in the Ethereum-based DEX space — the platform’s turnover last month stood at $37.1 billion.
• Uniswap’s market share for the month rose from 46.5% to 74.3%. Likely, the rise was helped by the announcement of the third version of the protocol.
• The top three were completed by SushiSwap with $9.1 billion and Curve with $5.2 billion.

NFT

• NFT trading volume hit a new record. Nine leading marketplaces accounted for more than $600 million.
• Platform-wise leaders are NBA Top Shots ($196.3m), Nifty Gateway ($140.8m) and OpenSea ($137.1m).

Stablecoins

• Stablecoin market capitalization surpassed $60 billion for the first time in March, up 100% since the start of the year.
• The leading stablecoin USDT from Tether surpassed $40 billion ($42.4 billion as of 1 April). USDC from Centre exceeded $10 billion in capitalization.

Trading volume on LocalBitcoins p2p platform in March reached the lowest levels in 2021 by dollar terms. The total value of Bitcoin trades hit an all-time low since 2013.

On Paxful, by contrast, Bitcoin trading volumes began to recover from February’s trough. In dollar terms, turnover exceeded the averages seen in 2020-2021.

• The incomes of Bitcoin and Ethereum miners in March reached new highs.
• Miners earned $1.74 billion in March, with the bulk of revenue coming from block rewards ($1.57 billion).
• Ethereum miners earned $1.37 billion, just 1% above February; transaction fees comprised 47% of their revenue.

In mid-March, as Bitcoin pressed toward $60,000, the stock prices of mining companies began rising:

• Canaan — on 12 March, the company’s stock hit an all-time high of $39.10. The month finished up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. — price spiked sharply but did not set a new high. The shares finished March up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain Inc. — modest month-end gain, up 8%.

Meanwhile, the year-to-date return of shares outpaced Bitcoin by fivefold.

• Number of addresses with 1000 BTC and more fell sharply as Bitcoin rose above $60,000. This could indicate whales realising profits from long-term holdings.
• In contrast, the number of addresses of retail participants (≥ 0.01 BTC) continued to rise, signaling new entrants to the ecosystem.

• By March, the balance on centralized exchanges continued to decline as Bitcoin rose toward new highs. This may indicate investors moving funds to safer cold wallets.

• Despite slowing activity in the Ethereum DeFi niche, ETH transaction volumes rose 14% in March.
• On-chain activity in the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem remains well above Ethereum. The main driver of transactional demand is retail users, preferring the low fees of decentralisation.

In mid-March, amid Bitcoin’s move toward $60,000, the stock prices of mining companies rose:

• Canaan — on 12 March, the company’s shares hit an all-time high of $39.10. The month closed up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. — there was a sharp surge in stock price but no new highs. At month-end, shares were up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain Inc. — modest gain, up 8% for the month.

Meanwhile, year-to-date stock returns of the companies outpaced Bitcoin fivefold.

• Number of addresses with 1000 BTC and more declined as Bitcoin moved higher, suggesting profits may be realised by whales.
• Retail addresses (≥ 0.01 BTC) continued to rise, implying more participants entering the market.

• Ethereum’s hashrate cadence rose in March as the price of Bitcoin moved to new highs.
• The Ethereum network still grapples with high transaction fees, often higher than Bitcoin’s. The upcoming EIP-1559 activation and the introduction of Optimism on Uniswap are aimed at reducing gas price volatility and easing the load on Ethereum’s blockchain.

• In mid-March, as Bitcoin climbed toward new highs, the stock prices of mining firms climbed: Canaan hit an all-time high of $39.10 on 12 March, finishing the month up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. saw a sharp move but did not surpass its highs; March closed up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain rose modestly, up 8% for the month.

• March saw further hashrate growth as Bitcoin moved to new highs.
• The top five pools by Bitcoin mining: F2Pool, Poolin, Antpool, BTC.com and Binance Pool.

• Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain activity metrics moved higher in March as hashrate rose in tandem with price.
• Ethereum’s on-chain activity remains hampered by high transaction fees; a shift toward lower-fee ecosystems—such as layer-2 solutions on Ethereum and other chains—continues.

• In mid-March, as Bitcoin rose toward new highs, mining stock prices advanced: Canaan hit an all-time high of $39.10 on March 12. The month finished up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. saw a surge but did not set a new high. The stock finished March up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain posted a modest gain with an 8% return for the month.

• March continued to see mining hashrate push higher as Bitcoin climbed to new highs.
• The top five pools by hashrate: F2Pool, Poolin, Antpool, BTC.com and Binance Pool.

• Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain transaction fees increased in March, even as activity slowed for ETH.
• On-chain activity on the Binance Smart Chain remains well above Ethereum. The primary driver of transaction demand is retail users, preferring the lower fees of decentralisation.

• In March, as Bitcoin surged to fresh highs, mining stocks rallied. Canaan reached an all-time high of $39.10 on 12 March. The month ended up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. saw a sharp spike in price but did not surpass its highs; March finished up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain gained modestly, up 8% for the month.

• In March the hashrate continued rising as Bitcoin moved to new highs.
• Top five pools by hashrate: F2Pool, Poolin, Antpool, BTC.com and Binance Pool.

• Ethereum on-chain transaction volume rose by 14% in March.
• On-chain activity in the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem remained far above Ethereum. The main driver of transaction demand is retail users, preferring the lower fees of decentralisation.

• Mid-March saw the stock performance of mining firms pick up as Bitcoin climbed beyond $60,000. Canaan hit a record high of $39.10. The month ended up 17%.
• Ebang International Holdings Inc. saw a surge but did not set a new high. March closed up 5%.
• Riot Blockchain posted a modest monthly gain of 8%.

• March mining hashrate continued to rise as Bitcoin moved to new highs.
• Top five pools by hashrate: F2Pool, Poolin, Antpool, BTC.com and Binance Pool.

• Despite slowing activity in Ethereum DeFi, ETH transaction volume grew 14% in March.
• On-chain activity in the BSC ecosystem remains well ahead of Ethereum. The main driver of transactional demand is retail users, preferring the low fees of decentralisation.

• GBTC premium was negative for the entire March, prompting Grayscale to halt accepting new investments, while DCG, its parent, signalled readiness to buy up to $250 million of shares in the open market.
• Total assets under management reached a new high of $45 billion. Grayscale also launched five new trusts for Basic Attention Token, Chainlink, Decentraland, Filecoin and Livepeer.

MicroStrategy

On 1 March, the company added 328 BTC at an average price of $45,710. On 12 March, it announced a further purchase of 262 BTC for about $15 million. As of 1 April, MicroStrategy holds 91,326 BTC worth about $2.2 billion.

ETF on the Horizon

Four firms filed in March to launch Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Among them was the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), which also allowed resumption of Bitcoin futures trading. Others included Canada-based Evolve Funds, New York-based Simplify Exchange Traded Funds and asset manager WisdomTree.

Major Venture Rounds

In Q1 2021, crypto firms raised $2.6bn across 129 deals, per CB Insights. For all of 2020, the sector raised $2.3bn in 341 deals. Here are March’s notable rounds:

• Lending platform BlockFi raised $350m at a $3bn valuation.
• Blockchain.com raised $300m, valuing the company at $5.2bn.
• New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) raised $200m.
• Custodian Fireblocks raised $133m.
• Chainalysis raised $100m; its valuation topped $2bn.
• StarkWare, developer of scaling solutions for Ethereum, raised $75m.
• Soros family office invested in Lukka in a $53m round.
• Avanti Caitlin Long raised $37m ahead of a crypto bank launch.

Tesla to Accept Bitcoin Payments

On Monday, March 22, Elon Musk said that Tesla added an option to pay for its cars with Bitcoin. The feature is currently available to US residents, with plans to roll it out to other countries by year-end. Tesla will not convert the received Bitcoin to fiat. The company also supports running Bitcoin nodes.

Visa to Settle Using USDC Stablecoin

Visa, in partnership with Crypto.com, started a pilot programme to settle payments using the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin from the Centre consortium. The solution works on the Ethereum blockchain and eliminates the need to convert the digital asset into fiat for a transaction.

Uniswap Sets Date for v3 Launch

The launch of the new protocol version is planned for 5 May. The developers have promised to implement the Optimism layer-2 solution, potentially addressing high gas fees on Ethereum and introducing new features for liquidity providers, along with an updated fee structure.