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First Mover Americas: Ether Flirts With $3K
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Feb. 20, 2024.
Updated Mar 9, 2024, 5:52 a.m. Published Feb 20, 2024, 1:01 p.m.
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This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
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Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, reached levels not seen for almost two years on Monday as investors anticipated approval of spot ether exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) in the U.S. Ether climbed to $2,984 yesterday, the highest level since April 26, 2022, according to data from TradingView. Ether is now hovering around $2,933. In the short term, analysts expect ETH to move higher, possibly reaching $3,600. “We are very close in this move to levels around $3,150-$3,300,” said Kenny Hearn, SwissOne Capital’s chief investment officer. “The next level after that would be $3,600 and we think this is quite easily attainable in the next month or so as the alts continue to play catch up.” Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was little changed on Tuesday. Altcoins gaining included Filecoin’s FIL, which climbed 17%, and Hedera’s HBAR, which added 8%.
Ethereum rollup Starknet initiated the distribution of 728 million tokens to around 1.3 million addresses in what is being dubbed the largest airdrop of the year. Starknet token’s STRK pre-launch perpetual futures were trading at $1.80 on decentralized futures platform Aevo. The token traded as high as $5 on Kucoin minutes after it was released and has since slumped to $3.50 in a volatile opening. With an initial total supply of 10 billion tokens, the fully diluted value (FDV), the theoretical market capitalization if the entirety of its supply were in circulation, stands at $35 billion. The actual market cap, which is the current circulating supply multiplied by the current price, is at $2.32 billion.
Demand for bitcoin exchange-traded funds accelerated again last week as they raked in a record $2.4 billion of the $2.45 billion that flowed into digital asset investment products, crypto asset management firm CoinShares said Monday. Allocations to the newly approved U.S.-based spot bitcoin ETFs overwhelmed the $623 million outflows from Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the incumbent fund that converted into an ETF structure. BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC attracted $1.6 billion and $648 million over the past week, respectively. "This represents a significant acceleration of net inflows, distributed widely among various providers, indicating an increasing interest in spot-based ETFs," said James Butterfill, CoinShares' head of research.
Chart of the Day
- The chart shows notional open interest or the dollar value of the number of active ether futures contracts on the CME.
- Open interest is fast closing on the $1 billion mark for the first time since late 2021, indicating renewed investor interest in trading ether.
- Source: Velo Data
- Omkar Godbole
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Bitcoin stuck near $88,000 as gold's and silver's record-breaking rallies show exhaustion signs
"Gold and silver casually adding an entire bitcoin market cap in a single day," wrote one crypto analyst.
What to know:
- Bitcoin is off its worst levels of the weekend, but still near the year's low at $87,700.
- Facing the same news cycle as crypto, precious metals continued to surge higher, but a quick retreat from their highs on Monday suggested a bit of exhaustion was setting in.
- Analysts remain dour on the outlook for crypto prices given the looming government shutdown as well as delays in passage of the Clarity Act.
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