Bitcoin
Bitcoin decreased by 5.5% from March 7 to March 14, 2025. Throughout the week, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization fell below the $77,000 mark. This has not happened with BTC since November 10, 2024.
On Wednesday, March 12, new inflation data in the US was published. The figures for February turned out to be positive. The consumer price index slowed its growth to 2.8%—compared to 3% recorded in January. The indicator was better than the consensus forecast (2.9%). Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.2%. Here, a slowdown was also observed compared to January when price growth was 0.4%. Price statistics give reason to hope for further reductions in the Fed's key rate. Based on the inflation data, Bitcoin rose above $84,000 in the middle of the week.
Nevertheless, positive price data did not become decisive in determining the sentiments of crypto investors. Much greater influence was exerted by "Trump tariffs." This week, Canada imposed a 25% tariff on imported goods from the US worth $29.8 billion. Plus, the European Union will introduce tariffs totaling about €26 billion starting in April. These are retaliatory measures against the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum that Trump enacted for the EU.
The rising costs of economic processes will create problems for businesses and people, increasing prices for goods and, consequently, may lead to further price increases. If this happens, there will be no talk of rate cuts. And if so, the appetite for risky assets like Bitcoin will be minimal. Taking all this into account, after rising to $84,000, Bitcoin has slightly decreased in price.
The dynamics of spot ETFs on Bitcoin also leaves much to be desired. Last week, there were again recorded outflows of funds. In total, over $870 million was withdrawn. This indicates that cryptocurrency is currently not a priority investment direction for large institutional investors.
From a technical analysis perspective, Bitcoin has formed a bearish trend. Indicators are signaling a continuation of the trend: the price is below the 50-day moving average, and the stochastic does not reach the 50 mark. At the same time, the latter has exited the oversold zone, indicating a probable rebound, at least in the short term. Current support and resistance levels: $76,600 and $89,164, respectively.
Ethereum
Ethereum fell another 11.52% last week. On Tuesday, March 11, the price of ETH dropped to $1,754.2. This is the lowest price at which the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has traded in the last six months.
Although the price of Ether continues to fall, its amount in staking has begun to gradually increase. Over the past month, the figure has risen by 1% to nearly 34 million ETH. The divergence between the price and the amount of Ether in staking indicates investors' confidence in the cryptocurrency. Instead of selling, holders are keeping their coins with the aim of multiplying them in the future.
However, interest in Ether is currently declining, including from institutional investors. Outflows from spot ETFs on ETH have been observed over the last seven trading sessions. Just in the past week, $143.13 million was withdrawn from exchange-traded funds.
Ethereum has decided to launch a new test network called Hoodi starting March 17. This is largely due to the difficulties developers faced when deploying the Pectra update in other test networks, Sepolia and Holesky. According to Ethereum's lead developer Tim Beiko, Hoodi's functionality differs somewhat from its predecessors in that it allows for testing validator outputs. Otherwise, their operation is similar. If the deployment of Pectra in Hoodi is successful, the update will be released on the main network approximately a month later, that is, in late April or early May 2025. The upcoming hard fork should make Ethereum faster, more efficient, and more user-friendly. One of its main features will be the addition of smart contract functionality to addresses, allowing users to pay transaction fees in currencies other than Ether.
From a technical analysis perspective, Ethereum continues to experience a downward trend. Indicators support this. For example, the price is below the 50-day moving average (marked in blue), and the RSI does not reach the 50 mark. Last week, the situation worsened as a strong support level of $2,112 was broken, which has now become resistance. The new support level is the minimum from March 11, $1,754.2.
Ripple
Ripple lost just over 2.5% from March 7 to March 14, 2025. The week was divided into two halves for this cryptocurrency: it declined in the first three days and rose in the following four. On March 11, Ripple updated its monthly low when it fell below $1.9.
The overall news background is positive, despite the price drop. This week, Ripple received official approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to provide cryptocurrency payment services in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Thus, the organization became the first licensed blockchain provider in the Middle East region. Currently, one-fifth of Ripple users are from this part of the world. Their numbers will only continue to grow.
The topic of an ETF on XRP is gaining more attention. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) filed a Form 19b-4 application to list shares of the new Franklin XRP ETF fund. This is the second step toward the approval of a spot ETF on XRP. Previously, the company had already filed a Form S-1 application. Now, it is up to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which can either approve or reject the new product. If the green light is given, institutional and retail investors will have another way to invest in crypto assets.
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez shared information that the number of XRP addresses has reached a historical maximum of 6.87 million. This shows that more and more users are interested in and believe in Ripple. Interestingly, among major players (whales), there has been a lull over the past week. No major purchases or sales of XRP tokens have been recorded. This situation may indicate the beginning of a phase of accumulation by institutional investors in Ripple.
From a technical analysis perspective, Ripple is in a sideways trend. The weakness of the trend is confirmed by a low value (below 30) of the ADX indicator. Currently, sellers, not buyers, hold the initiative. This is supported by the price being below the 50-day moving average (marked in blue). The situation may change if it manages to establish itself above the resistance zone of $2.27-$2.28. The support level is around $1.95.
Conclusion
Thus, the week was marked by a decline for the largest cryptocurrencies. The dynamics of the cryptocurrency market is influenced by the threat of a trade war, which may unfold against the backdrop of the introduction of new import tariffs. Against this backdrop, even the positive inflation statistics in the US faded.
