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First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Busts Through $26K
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for March 17, 2023.
Updated Mar 17, 2023, 8:07 p.m. Published Mar 17, 2023, 12:10 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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Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is back trading above $26,000 for the second time this week, up 7.5% in the last 24 hours. The coin has been trading between $24,000 and $26,700 over the past week. Investors who went away for a while are back and adding bitcoin, according to Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital. “We expect to see significant demand as bitcoin moves further past $25,000,” Thorn wrote in a note. Ether is up 5.1% in the past 24 hours and up 20% over the last seven days.
Bankrupt lender Genesis has requested a May 22 deadline for creditors to say how much they are owed by the company and June 27 for an auction, according to bankruptcy court filings dated Thursday. Bidders considering buying Genesis would have to show interest by May 5. The sale would comprise lenders Genesis Global Capital and Genesis Asia Pacific, as well as Genesis Global Trading, the last of which hasn't filed for bankruptcy. All three fall under the umbrella of Digital Currency Group, a crypto conglomerate that also owns CoinDesk.
Tokens related to artificial intelligence have had a strong week with the Graph’s GRT up 30% and up 45%. AI-related tokens have rallied following ChatGPT’s release of its latest version of the technology that powers the popular chatbot tool. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced the release in a blog post on Tuesday, stating the latest version can pass a simulated bar exam with a score at around the top 10% of test takers. SingularityNET is a decentralized AI marketplace running on blockchain, and The Graph is an open-sourced indexing platform used to collect, process and store data from various blockchain applications.
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- The chart shows ether's bitcoin denominated price (ETH/BTC) has declined to its lowest level since last July.
- Traders seem to be worried that Ethereum's impending Shanghai upgrade, which is set to open withdrawals of staked ether, could potentially create a significant supply overhang.
- These fears are likely to keep sentiment in the ether market weak ahead of the upgrade, Bernstein said early this month, adding that the actual increase in supply after the upgrade is likely to be negligible on a daily basis.
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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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Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest files for two crypto index ETFs tied to CoinDesk 20
One proposed fund will attempt to exactly mimic the CoinDesk 20, but the other would track the index, excluding bitcoin.
What to know:
- ARK Invest has filed with U.S. regulators to launch two cryptocurrency ETFs tracking the CoinDesk 20 index.
- One proposed fund would track the CoinDesk 20, which provides exposure to major tokens, including bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and cardano. The other would track the same index, but exclude bitcoin, by pairing long index futures with short bitcoin futures.
- The funds, which would list on NYSE Arca if approved, aim to offer diversified crypto exposure without direct token custody and follow similar, still-unapproved crypto index ETF proposals from WisdomTree and ProShares.
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