As of March 17, 2025, the crypto market shows mixed dynamics with moderate fluctuations. Bitcoin (BTC), the main benchmark of the market, failed to overcome the level of $85,300 over the weekend, remaining in the range of $81,981-$85,117.
At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $83,322. The total capitalization of the crypto market is $2.680 trillion, of which $799.10 billion is accounted for by altcoins (excluding BTC and ETH). The dominance of bitcoin remains at 61.64%. The Fear and Greed Index is at 32, indicating investor caution.
Despite the current weakness, bitcoin's weekly bar closed in the green with an increase of 2.9%, which is encouraging. Some altcoins showed positive dynamics over the weekend:
- ATOM (Cosmos): The native token of the Cosmos ecosystem, which focuses on creating a network of blockchains that can interact with each other. It is used for staking, transactions, and management in the network.
- TON (The Open Network): A blockchain token originally developed by Telegram, designed for fast and scalable transactions. It is used in decentralized applications and smart contracts.
- MNT (Mantle): A token of the Mantle project, a modular Layer 2 blockchain that works with Ethereum. It is used to pay for gas and participate in network management.
- Cake (PancakeSwap): A native token of the PancakeSwap decentralized exchange on the Binance Smart Chain. It is used for staking, voting in management, and receiving rewards in liquidity pools.
- AUCTION (Bounce Token): A token of the Bounce platform, which offers decentralized auctions and Initial Token Offering (IDO) tools. It is used to access auctions and rewards.
- VANA (VanaCoin): A token of the Vana project that is likely related to decentralized data management or the data economy (exact details may vary). It is used in the ecosystem for transactions and incentives.
- BNX (BinaryX): A token of the BinaryX ecosystem that started as a derivatives trading platform and now focuses on GameFi. Used in gaming, DAO management, and initial game offerings (IGOs).
These altcoins have become growth leaders, demonstrating resilience amid general market uncertainty.
In recent days, the cryptocurrency community has been actively discussing the actions of a large wallet (https://hyperdash.info/trader/0xf3f496c9486be5924a93d67e98298733bb47057c) that opened a short on bitcoin worth $426 million with a pending closing order at $68,774.
This move increased panic among traders. Later, the same wallet opened a long on the MELANIA coin for $388k. Interestingly, this trader had already successfully "caught" the market movement by opening a long with a leverage of 50 before Trump's speech. Such actions only fuel speculation and nervousness in the market.
For further growth, the key is to close above $85,000, which will open the way to the levels of $86,000-$88,000. If this does not happen, the short of the "insider" wallet may be justified.
If the support at $82,000 is broken, attention will be focused on the buying zone of $80,200-$81,100. A swing below $80,000 without consolidation is possible and will not necessarily break the bullish scenario, but consolidation below this level will significantly increase the likelihood of a drop to new local lows at $71,000-$73,000. The next 4-hour bars will be crucial for understanding the direction of the movement.
This week, the crypto market may be affected by important economic events. On Wednesday, March 19, the Fed will announce its key rate decision, which could affect investor sentiment and asset volatility. On Friday, March 21, Japanese inflation data for February will be published, which will also be important for global markets, given the sensitivity of crypto to macroeconomic factors.
Currently, the market is in a state of limbo: bitcoin is balancing between potential growth and the risk of correction, and altcoins are showing local success. Everything will depend on technical levels and external economic triggers.
