Bitcoin (BTC) was recently trading at around $28,500, up over 21% in March. At one point Wednesday, the largest cryptocurrency by market value broke the $29,100 mark to reach its highest mark since June 2022. BTC has widely outperformed the S&P 500, Nasdaq and other traditional assets. The tech-focused Nasdaq rose over 4% for the month.
“The macro landscape has been extremely constructive for 'alternative money' in March,” Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at crypto analytics firm Amberdata, told CoinDesk in an email, adding that both BTC and gold, traditionally viewed as safe-haven assets, had seen “explosive upside volatility” this month.
This month’s gains came, even as the crypto industry endured the collapse of crypto-friendly banks Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank and a flurry of regulatory enforcement activity. This week, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, and its founder Chengpeng Zhao over alleged regulatory violations. The aftershocks of the banking crisis rocked the stablecoin sector earlier in the month, but cryptos were largely unaffected.