From South Africa approving dozens of new cryptos into the market to Bitcoin continuing its latest record run, the crypto market is boomingDiscover the latest Bitcoin market trends and how to capitalize on its explosive growth.In this article, Finxocap, examines the latest cryptocurrency trends.

Bitcoin hits $73,000: Record-Breaking Crypto High

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw their single biggest inflow on record on March 12, totaling $1.05 billion and shattering the prior record, according to Bloomberg data.That’s up 56% from the previous daily record on February 28, when the world’s biggest available bitcoin ETF saw an inflow of $673 million.Spot Bitcoin ETFs rallied to an all-time high of $73,000 by March 14.Record-Breaking Inflows into Bitcoin ETFsThe biggest push was Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which gathered a record $849 million in inflows alone, representing institutional investors continued confidence in crypto.That’s the equivalent of 14,706 BTC entering ETFs in a single day Expressed as Bitcoin, that’s equivalent to 14,706 BTC entering ETFs in a single day.That tells you how much mainstream traders are warming up to Bitcoin as an investment; since the start of January 2024, total net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs have amounted to $4.1 billion).Other big bitcoin ETF inflows on the same day included ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) with $93 million, Fidelity’s FBTC spot bitcoin ETF (FTBC) with $51.6 million, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) with $24.6 million; and $39.6 million for Valkyrie ‘BRRR’. WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) netted $3 million that day.The company’s 100% allocated HODL earned $82.9 million in inflows.It announced plans to temporarily waive the management fee for its spot Bitcoin ETF – from 0.2 % to zero until March 2025 or after reaching $1.5 billion in assets (whichever comes first).

Reduced Outflows from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)Meanwhile, the founder of Grayscale, the biggest US digital asset manager, that oversees the largest Bitcoin trust in the world, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), said: “GBTC traded at a 19% premium up until the end of February.” And then it just collapsed.As of March 12, only $79 million was left in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. That’s down from the $394 million outflow the week prior, which was a record for the fund at the time, and the $494 million record set on March 11.Citing increased competition, Grayscale filed what is known as an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to bring to market a Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, which provides tax advantages and reduces outflows by providing a more accessible, ‘lighter’ version of a Bitcoin ETF.As Bitcoin’s price climbs towards unimaginable highs, speculation concerning the effect on its price path of imminent ‘halving’ is fervently debated.

Bitcoin – Understanding the Halving The halving refers to a periodically scheduled update to Bitcoin’s system that slows the new-bitcoin-mining rate by half.The system’s enigmatic founder, Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto, set the 21 million-bitcoin supply limit and periodic halving events into the cryptocurrency’s code.As of now, a little less than 19 million bitcoins have been mined.Mechanics of the HalvingThrough the process of mathematically challenging ‘proof of work’, miners confirm each block of transactions, bundling them together in a process called mining.Those who succeed get rewarded with new bitcoins. Whenever this happens – every 210,000 blocks in the chain, there’s a halving event.This halves the reward for mining fresh blocks, which helps to make the mining of new bitcoins less lucrative and less frequent.Timing of the HalvingThe exact date is not fixed but it is due to occur sometime in late April.Halvings are scheduled after every 210,000 blocks on the blockchain – every four years or so.Impact on Bitcoin’s PriceThere’s been a debate about the halving’s effect on the Bitcoin price.On the one hand, it’s wise to think that reducing the amount of Bitcoin in circulation will have a positive effect on the price, especially if demand remains constant.On the other hand, many have argued that, to the extent that the halving does raise the price, this is already reflected in the price.Currently, there is no way to know, given how everything is anonymous.Furthermore, we need to consider the possibility of massive sales of mined reserves.Historical Halvings and Market DynamicsWhile past halvings have been followed by price increases, there’s no reason we should expect a causal connection – the last halving, in 2020, was followed by a price surge that’s been attributed to other factors (including a change in monetary policy).The halving before that, in 2016, was followed by a short-lived price spike before a subsequent fall.All told while the halving is a major event within the Bitcoin ecosystem, reducing hurdles in price movements to this alone paints a misleading picture of how other forces interact with this emerging asset class.As regulators reminded in February: “The price volatility of Bitcoin may result in significant price movements or trapped trades.”The entry of new trading products such as Bitcoin ETFs indicates that going mainstream is becoming increasingly plausible, though is also likely to increase exposure to hype and investor sentiment.Top 3 cryptos booming in March 2024Three cryptocurrencies are almost guaranteed to make big moves in the run-up to and aftermath of Bitcoin’s anticipated halving event.Here’s which cryptos are worth paying attention to:Ethereum (ETH): As the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, Ethereum follows Bitcoin’s bullish trajectory. It recently hit the $4,000 benchmark, a figure that wasn’t seen since late 2021. It is presently 17.2% below its all-time high of $4,878.26 in November 2021. Since things seem to be looking up for Bitcoin, and an upward trend is likely to continue, thanks to its imminent halving, an Ethereum recovery could take it back to its peak – and even go over it.Some speculate that adding a spot Ethereum ETF could also help it rise in price.Toncoin (TON): The last few weeks have been particularly good for the value of Toncoin, which has risen 14.5% in daily charts, 61.6% in weekly, and 97.8% in 14 days, so the last week has seen its equity increase by 105.7%.Since March 2023, TON has risen nearly 81% As of now, it is 17.9% below its all-time high of $5.29 that it reached in November 2021.If the bullish run for Bitcoin continues, TON could breach or exceed that all-time high.Solana (SOL): Solana blew through the gate in 2023 and has continued moving up into 2024. SOL is just 41.5 % away from its all-time high of $259.96, peaking in Nov 2021 not long before Bitcoin did in early 2021.With Bitcoin’s next halving event due in April, Solana may have the mojo to put its all-time high behind it.These three altcoins are often compared to Bitcoin because they are following the wider market and, more importantly, in anticipation of the halving of Bitcoin.South Africa approves 59 crypto licensesOn Wednesday, the country’s financial regulator said it had approved 59 operating licenses for cryptocurrency businesses, a key step in regularising the asset class in South Africa, one of the most industrialized economies.In 2022, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) classified crypto assets as a financial product, regulated for consumers’ safety and to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism.The regulator’s step allows the Financial Surveillance Department of the country’s central bank to require South African cryptocurrency exchange platforms to disclose transactions of crypto assets.“As of today, we have processed 59 of the 355 applications received, and 262 applications are still in progress,” Felicity Mabaso, a divisional executive at the FSCA, said at the 4th Financial Sector Conference in SA.Licenced service providers will be subject to ongoing operating in the crypto space that is not authorised to offer crypto-related financial services.’Grayscale Investments to spinoff ETFGrayscale Investments recently announced plans to spin off its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into a new entity, to provide more cost-efficient ways for investors to dive into Bitcoin.The GBTC – once a trust, then reclassified as an ETF in January – has cost investors more than other ETFs.Investors have been turning away from GBTC, according to Reuters, which pointed out that the world’s biggest bitcoin trust has seen almost $11.05 billion in the outflows since it was reclassified; while its competitors are seeing huge inflows.How the GBTC spin-off is structured is still unsure. After the spin-off takes place, GBTC and Miny Trust will be subjected to different rules, Grayscale recently wrote in a blog explaining the spin-off.Grayscale’s legal case won a landmark against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January and allowed for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to authorize in the US.OkCoin signed a cooperation agreement that same month that paved the path for a giveaway of free Bitcoin to Xinjiang residents.Meanwhile, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund have welcomed $10.59 billion and $6.37 billion inflows, respectively.ETF excitement, coupled with expectations of a Fed rate cut, contributed to pushing the bitcoin price beyond $72,000 – it reached  $72,095 at the time of writing, a dip of 0.09% on the day.Cryptocurrency exchange OKX said on Thursday that its Singapore subsidiary secured the in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a payments license.The license will enable the company to continue offering services on digital payment tokens and provide cross-border remittance services as well as the waiving of domestic remittances.Singapore gained new prominence as a cryptocurrency hub in Asia, against the background of its recent expansion into the broader cryptocurrency industry with the introduction of new rules in October.OKX’s president, Hong Fang said Singapore is a strategic market for the exchange.It also makes it easy for us to expand in the region Seeing higher global bitcoin prices recently, OKX announced in January that it secured one of the very first regulatory licenses issued in Dubai, to continue its expansion by servicing retail customers with cryptocurrency services.Market Snapshot – March 13The global stock market index ran a bit flat on March 13, taking a breather following European and U.S. stock markets ripping to all-time highs in the previous session.We are in a pause ahead of more data on inflation and consumer health.The Stoxx Europe 600 and the S&P 500 both struck record highs, shrugging off U.S. consumer inflation that rose marginally above expectations.The S&P 500, in particular, got an outsized boost from a substantial leap in Oracle shares in the wake of its quarterly earnings report.Moreover, markets anticipate some rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, evident from the fact that the CME’s FedWatch Tool puts the odds of 25 basis points (basis points) cut at the Federal Reserve’s meeting next month at 65.5%.Before the Federal Reserve’s next meeting next week, data on inflation (such as the US producer price index or PPI) and consumer spending, and the labour market are expected to be out.Could the central bank over the next handful of meetings, be a bit more hawkish to manipulate market expectations on interest rate policy? Sure.Stocks took back modest gains in Friday afternoon trading as the Dow Jones Industrial Average pared an earlier loss, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both declined.Bond yields kept rising in the wake of that consumer price index data. The yield on US 10-year notes and the 2-year note both inched up again.The MSCI all-country world stock index barely moved. European stock markets also rose.The STOXX 600 index and the FTSEurofirst 300 index reported gains.The dollar index dropped barely on the back of a basket of currencies. The euro and sterling edged up by a small amount against the dollar.While commodities moved higher, Us crude and Brent crude spot prices rose, with gains coming on the back of reduced US crude inventories, supply disruption prospects, and robust demand signals.