By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
While Bitcoin and other major tokens remain under pressure, an AI-generated memecoin on the Solana blockchain shines.
Pippin (PIPPIN), which started as a ChatGPT-generated image of a unicorn and evolved into an autonomous AI agent that interacts on social media platforms, has surged 135% over the past four weeks, increasing 10% in just 24 hours.
According to business news platform LunarCrush, the rally in the token created by Yohei Nakajima, an innovator and thought leader in the AI venture capital space, appears to be driven by speculation.
“Pippin’s price action is currently driven by strong speculative interest and rapid market capitalization growth, but concerns over manipulation and ‘crime’ suggest the current price may be driven by artificial pumps rather than organic demand, creating a volatile environment,” he said.
Several social media accounts claimed that the rally involved money laundering, thereby increasing the reputational risk of the digital asset ecosystem.
Regardless, PIPPIN’s performance reflects persistent speculative froth in the market, despite bitcoin’s fall of nearly 50% since October. This suggests the potential for additional suffering to come.
As Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone said, “a Bitcoin bottom could require additional cleaning of millions of cryptos that don’t track anything and a resumption of stock market volatility.”
Bitcoin fell below $63,000 during Asian hours and has since stabilized near $63,200. Still, it’s down about 4% over 24 hours, with ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP and the CoinDesk 20 index falling at least that much.
U.S. tariffs and fears of disruptions to global growth and employment due to AI are keeping risk assets under pressure.
According to CryptoQuant, there is a lack of stable institutional demand, as evidenced by the consistently negative Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the price premium of Bitcoin on Coinbase relative to Binance.
Observers continue to point out that $60,000 is the key level.
“If we lose $60,000, violent cascading liquidations will ensue and you can say goodbye to any recovery, at least until the next halving. You will likely see a bunch of BTC and ETH treasury companies explode, as well as MSTR fall below $100 if we lose $60,000,” said Vinny Lingham, serial entrepreneur and tech investor.
“I expect a 2022-type explosion if we lose $60,000,” Lingham said.
In traditional markets, the yen weakened 1% against the US dollar following reports that Japan’s prime minister would take a tough stance against the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates. The yen and bitcoin have developed a strangely positive relationship in recent months. Stay vigilant!
Read more: For analysis of current altcoin and derivatives activity, see Crypto Markets Today
What to watch
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Cryptocurrency
- Macro
- February 24, 8:15 a.m.: weekly change in ADP employment in the United States (previous 10.25 K)
- February 24, 9 a.m.: S&P Case-Shiller real estate prices over one year (previous 1.4%)
- February 24, 10:00 a.m.: American CB consumer confidence estimated at 86 (previous 84.5)
- February 24, 1:00 p.m.: US money supply for January (M2) (previous $22.4 T)
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- February 24: Cipher Mining (CIFR), pre-market, $0.03
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Votes and calls on governance
- February 24: KAST will host an X Spaces session on the Pengu Card launch.
- GMX DAO votes to neutralize CEX’s oversupply by restructuring liquidity, establishing a temporary $5 buy wall, and suspending staking rewards until the token’s price reaches $90. Voting closes on February 24.
- Unlocks
- Token Launches
- February 24: WAR (WAR) will be listed on Kraken.
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of this week’s events, check out CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 2.05% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $63,257.26 (24 hours: -4.54%)
- ETH is down 1.95% at $1,826.78 (24 hours: -4.92%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 1.95% at 1,826.19 (24h: -4.53%)
- Ether CESR composite staking rate is up 5 basis points to 2.81%
- BTC funding rate is -0.0032% (-3.5489% annualized) on Binance
- The DXY is up 0.1% at 97.81
- Gold futures are down 0.69% at $5,189.50
- Silver futures are up 1.32% at $87.71
- The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.87% at 57,321.09
- Hang Seng closed 1.82% lower at 26,590.32
- The FTSE is down 0.25% at 10,657.66
- The Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.13% at 6,106.15
- DJIA closed Monday down 1.66% at 48,804.06
- The S&P 500 closed down 1.04% at 6,837.75
- The Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.13% at 22,627.27
- The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 0.12% at 33,776.50
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed down 1.48% at 3,743.45
- The 10-year US Treasury yield is up 0.8 bps to 4.035%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.22% at 6,866.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.33% at 24,843.50
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.15% at 48,922.00
Bitcoin Statistics
- BTC dominance: 58.35% (-0.51%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02881 (0.32%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,014 EH/s
- Hash price (spot): $27.70
- Total fees: 2.6 BTC / $170,446
- CME Futures Open Interest: 113,640 BTC
- BTC valued in gold: 12.2 ounces.
- BTC vs. gold market capitalization: 4.23%
Technical analysis
- The chart shows the daily price fluctuations of ether in candlestick form.
- Ether is facing renewed selling pressure and could soon retest the recent low of $1,781.
- If buyers fail to defend this figure, attention will shift to $1,385, the lowest recorded in April last year. This level marked the end of the downward trend at the time.
Crypto Stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): Closed Monday at $160.24 (-6.48%), -1.49% at $157.85 in pre-market
- Circle Internet (CRCL): closed at $61.17 (-2.94%), -1.05% at $60.53
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $20.34 (-4.06%), -1.52% at $20.03
- Bullish (BLSH): closed at $30.63 (-3.59%), -1.40% at $30.20
- MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $7.88 (-1.13%), -1.90% at $7.73
- Riot Platforms (RIOT): close at $15.65 (-0.19%), -1.47% at $15.42
- Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $16.89 (-2.37%), -0.47% at $16.81
- CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.82 (+1.76%), -1.93% at $9.63
- CoinShares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $39.76 (+2.36%), -0.58% at $39.53
- Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $9.55 (-3.14%)
Crypto Cash Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $123.71 (-5.60%), -1.06% at $122.40
- Strive (ASST): closed at $7.36 (-9.69%), +0.27% to $7.38
- SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $6.49 (-3.42%), -1.23% at $6.41
- Upexi (UPXI): closed at $0.56 (-8.58%)
- Lite Strategy (LITS): closed at $1.07 (-3.60%)
ETF Feed
Spot BTC ETF
- Daily net flows: -$203.8 million
- Cumulative net flows: $53.79 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.26 million
ETH Spot ETF
- Daily net flows: -$49.5 million
- Cumulative net flows: $11.51 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~5.66 million
Source: Farside Investors
