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Get your daily, bite-sized digest of blockchain and crypto news today – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s news.
In crypto news today:
- Why is crypto up today?
- 400% Surge in Interest for AI Tokens
- Turkey, Thailand, and Argentina’s Crypto Ownership Rate in 2023 Was Double That of the US and Europe
- Mining Stocks About to Pump?
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Why is crypto up today?
The crypto market is seeing another green day.
Total crypto market capitalization is up 2.6% in 24 hours to $2.69 trillion.
The large majority of the top 100 coins are up today, according to CoinGecko.
As for the top 10 coins, only two are down, and barely so.
Cardano (ADA) and XRP both dropped 0.3% in the past day. At the time of writing, the former traded at $0.7335 and the latter at $0.6235.
BNB and Dogecoin (DOGE) went back to being the top gainers. BNB’s price appreciated 9% to $471. DOGE went up 6.6% to $0.1636.
Bitcoin (BTC) increased 0.6%, trading at $67,194. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) was up 3.7% to $3,940.
Lastly, Solana (SOL) and Lido Staked Ether (STETH) saw increases of 3.2% to $145 and 3.7% to $3,936, respectively.
Meanwhile, as reported, the current wave of enthusiasm hints at an optimistic “Bitcoin price prediction.” There is a potential for substantial market impact and wider cryptocurrency adoption.
Travala.com unveiled a Bitcoin cashback program, offering a 10% incentive for its Smart Diamond tier users.
Furthermore, recent wallet data revealed Tesla’s ownership of 11,509 Bitcoin, more than initially disclosed. This has sparked speculation about the electric vehicle giant possibly ramping up its Bitcoin investment.
At the same time, the memecoin sector has surged over 80%, outperforming AI tokens.
400% Surge in Interest for AI Tokens
A recent report from crypto exchange Bitget showed a “significant growth” in February in investors’ interest in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.
Per the research, the growth was largely driven by OpenAI’s launch of its Sora model, which saw “considerable” market interest. Sora is paving the way for growth in the AI sector in 2024.
Moreover, Bitget’s AI zone witnessed a “remarkable” 400% surge in trading volume.
The average daily number of traders went up by 80% in February.
Furthermore, the average market capitalization in the AI zone increased by 77% since January.
Additionally, there was a “more significant” increase between February 15 and February 29.
The number of daily trading users in the AI zone went up 179%. The trading volume was up by 480%.
AI concept coins like Worldcoin (WLD), Livepeer (LPT), and Arkham (ARKM) lead the way, with the AI market projected to exceed a valuation of $1.8 trillion by 2030, said the report.
Per the report,
“The shift in investor behavior and market trends reflect the constant search for affordable assets with low entry barriers, high-value potential, and significant gains.”
As of March, WLD token trades for about 350% more than when it was listed in 2023. LPT and ARKM have grown by nearly 140% and over 100%, respectively, since they launched.
Also, Bitget data shows that the top AI and Big Data related coins had a market cap of over $30 billion on March 5.
Moreover, Nvidia’s Q4 financial report showed its earnings exceeded expectations, reaching $22.10 billion.
“The company’s success can be attributed to the AI boom, driving a further rise in the demand for AI concept coins,” said the report.
Meanwhile, Bitget announced that its user base exceeded 25 million. Its platform token BGB surpassed the $1 mark in February 2024.
Turkey, Thailand, and Argentina’s Crypto Ownership Rate in 2023 Was Double That of the US and Europe
Turkey, Thailand, and Argentina had the highest crypto ownership rate in 2023. It was almost twice as high as the rates in the US or European countries, according to data presented by AltIndex.com.
The Global 2024 Digital Overview Report found that Turkey has been at the top of the global crypto ownership chart for years.
Last year, 21.7% of the country’s internet users aged 16 to 64 owned some form of crypto, a survey showed. This is nearly 10% more than in the US or India. It’s also 14% more than the global average.
Thailand ranked second with 19.5% of internet users who owned a digital currency last year. This is only 2% more than Argentina.
Moreover, Brazil and South Africa rank in the top five countries, with 17.1% and 16.8%, respectively.
Meanwhile, India, though the largest and fastest-growing crypto nation, ranked 16th on the global crypto ownership rate chart.
Some 13% of Indian internet users aged 16 to 64 owned a cryptocurrency last year.
At the same time, the US is the world’s second-largest crypto nation, yet it ranked 18th.
In 2023, 12.8% of American survey respondents owned cryptos. This is above the global average of 9.7%.
Per the report,
“Crypto adoption remains mostly a non-Western trend.”
Internet users from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America were most likely to own or use cryptos in 2023, statistics said. They have “a much higher ownership rate than Western countries.”
The UK, as one of the top crypto markets in terms of revenue, recorded 8.3% of respondents having crypto last year. This is nearly three times less than Turkey.
Germany and Spain were also below the global average, with some 8% of respondents saying they used and owned cryptos in 2023. Canada saw 9.3% of crypto owners last year.
Meanwhile, China, Russia, Ghana, and Morocco stood low on the global crypto ownership list.
3.6% of Chinese internet users owned cryptocurrency, 1% more than in Russia.
Ghana and Morocco saw 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively.
Crypto ownership rate in 2023: percentage of internet users aged 16-64 who owned crypto last year.
Mining Stocks About to Pump?
While Bitcoin set an all-time high this week after more than 840 days, mining stocks “remained on the sidelines,” according to the recent Miner Weekly report by BlocksBridge Consulting.
Bitcoin started this year at some $42,000 and gained 50% year-to-date as of March 6.
Compared to BTC, mining stocks “largely underperformed,” except for CleanSpark. It matched up with the coin’s rally.
However, it is noticeable that “none of the mining stocks is even close to the highs” they set around November 8, 2021 when BTC touched $69,000.
Nearly every mining stock is down more than 60% compared to their November 2021 highs, the report found.
This may be the result of investors rotating to spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The difference is that they can now get a direct exposure to BTC and not use mining stocks as a proxy.
That said, per the report,
“They could rotate back into mining stocks seeking higher volatility once the bull market signal becomes too obvious to stay on the sidelines.”
Meanwhile, historical trading data shows that mining stocks have lagged behind BTC’s push to all-time high before.
For example, in December 2017, the coin hit $19,500 for the first time. It didn’t return to that level until December 2020.
There were only five public mining stocks in North America between those two highs: Marathon, Riot, Hut 8, HIVE, and Bitfarms.
“They all underperformed compared to bitcoin at the time. What’s interesting, though, is what happened in the year afterward.”
The coin surged again in December 2020, hitting the ATH in November 2021.
Yet, “during those 11 months, the five mining stocks that existed before December 2020 all managed to outrun bitcoin by notable margins.”
Therefore, if there is another bull run, history may repeat itself, said the report.
However, additional factors this time include the existence of spot ETFs and BTC touching its ATH even before the halving.
