Which word would you use to describe yesterday’s price action? I can think of one, MADNESS. The spread of the Coronavirus is paralyzing the world and keeping people at home. And I’m not talking about the financial markets, which by the way, had their worst day ever as all the major U.S markets enter bear territory, DJIA saw the biggest 1-day drop since 1987, European markets also saw their worst one-day drop in history and even gold prices dropped.
And what about the crypto-asset market? Almost $50 billion were whipped out of the total market cap and Bitcoin saw its biggest price drop in seven years as it reached the $4,000 mark yesterday.
When you read most of the news and newsletters, the analysis is focussed on price movements and exchange volume for crypto-assets, so I thought it would be a good idea to give you a different look at yesterday’s market crash using blockchain analytics that we have created at IntoTheBlock
Here are some key data points and unique insights that I’m sure you will find interesting:
- Stablecoins address activity went through the roof yesterday.
While the price of the top crypto-assets plunged yesterday, Tether reached the $5b market cap mark for the first time.
IntoTheBlock’s Tether Active Addresses
The number of active addresses in USDT (Tether) reached the highest number YTD with 68.69 thousand addresses. Also, the number of new addresses entering the network saw a huge spike with 18.56 thousand addresses.
IntoTheBlock’s USD Coin Active Addresses
USDC (USD Coin) saw the biggest network activity ever yesterday, with over 8,000 active addresses and 4,000 new addresses created.
The number of active addresses yesterday was 463% higher than the 1.48k active addresses on January 1st.
- On-chain volume for stablecoin transactions also sky-rocketed
IntoTheBlock’s Tether On-chain Transactions
1.67b USDT were transacted over 114.34k on-chain transactions. This volume in Tether is 211% higher than the 7-day low of 537.47m USDT.
IntoTheBlock’s USD Coin On-chan Transactions
More than 17.41k on-chain transactions and $408.21m USDC were moved yesterday, representing a 122% increase compared to the previous day.
- Large Transactions in the top crypto-assets also saw a HUGE increase. Investors liquidating big positions?
IntoTheBlock defines Large Transactions as on-chain transactions greater than $100K USD. This is a way of tracking what the big or institutional players are doing.
IntoTheBlock’s Ethereum Large Transactions
Madness in Ethereum? The Large transaction volume reached the highest number since Nov. 2018. A total of $1.43b were moved yesterday in transactions greater than $100k.
IntoTheBlock’s Bitcoin Large Transactions
Yesterday in Bitcoin, the volume of Large Transactions reached a monthly high of $8.94b. This represents an 85% increase over the previous day!
IntoTheBlock’s Litecoin Large Transactions
And what about Litecoin? Large transaction activity yesterday was crazy. The number of large transactions increased by 654.88%. to $448m. This day alone represents 54% of the total volume over the last 7 days.
- BitMex Bitcoin Perpetual Swaps experienced high liquidations yesterday.
You probably heard of BITMEX and derivatives, but just in case, let me tell you about Perpetual Swaps. A perpetual swap is a future contract that doesn't expire. Perpetual swaps traders make money paying what is known as a funding fee but the whole mechanism ensures that the price of the derivative stays close to the spot price.
Almost $29b were transacted in Bitcoin perpetual swaps yesterday. From that, $7.07b happened in BitMEX, representing 28.31% of the total volume
IntoTheBlock’s Perpetual Swaps Volume
The total amount of Open Interest in Perpetual Swaps also fell to a monthly low of $1.15b on March 12, representing a 49% decrease from the 30-day high of $2.26b of Feb 18.
IntoTheBlock’s Perpetual Swaps Open Interest
Most people use technical analysis to find explanations for large price swings. At IntoTheBlock we look at a wealth of data, especially blockchain activity, to complement technical analysis and give investors a holistic view of a crypto asset's behavior.
Interested in learning more? We have a ton of information available, you just have to sign up at www.intotheblock.com
