By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless otherwise noted)
While bitcoin and other major tokens remain under pressure, an AI-generated memecoin shines on the Solana blockchain.
Pippin (PIPPIN), which started as a ChatGPT-generated unicorn image and evolved into an autonomous AI agent that interacts on social media platforms, is up 135% over the past four weeks and up 10% in 24 hours alone.
The rally in the token created by Yohei Nakajima, an innovator and thought leader in AI venture capital, appears to be driven by speculation, according to market intelligence platform LunarCrush.
“Pippin’s price action is currently driven by strong speculative interest and rapid market capitalization growth, but concerns about manipulation and ‘criminality’ suggest that the current price may be driven by artificial pumps rather than organic demand, creating a volatile environment,” it said.
Several social media accounts have claimed that the rally involves money laundering, adding to the reputational risk of the digital asset ecosystem.
Either way, PIPPIN’s performance is proof that speculative froth lingers in the market despite bitcoin falling nearly 50% since October. This suggests the potential for more pain ahead.
As Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone said: “A Bitcoin bottom could require a further purge of millions of cryptos that are not tracking anything and a rebound in stock market volatility.”
Bitcoin dipped below $63,000 in Asian hours and has since stabilized near $63,200. Still, it’s down about 4% in 24 hours, with ether (ETH), solana (SOL), XRP, and the CoinDesk 20 index all down at least as much.
US tariffs and fears of AI-driven disruptions to global growth and jobs are keeping risk assets under pressure.
According to CryptoQuant, stable institutional demand is lacking, as evidenced by the persistently negative Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the bitcoin price premium on Coinbase relative to Binance.
Observers continue to highlight $60,000 as the key level.
“If we lose $60,000, massive liquidations will occur and you can kiss any recovery goodbye, at least until the next halving comes around. You’ll likely see a bunch of financiers for both BTC and ETH blow up, along with MSTR falling below $100 if we lose $60,000,” says entrepreneur and tech investor Vinnrial Lingham.
“I expect a 2022-type explosion if we lose $60,000,” Lingham said.
In traditional markets, the yen weakened 1% against the US dollar on reports that the Japanese prime minister is taking a tough stance on the Bank of Japan’s plans to raise interest rates. The yen and bitcoin have developed an eerily positive relationship in recent months. Pay attention!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to see
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Crypto
- Macro
- 24 February at 08.15: US ADP hiring changes weekly (previous 10.25K)
- 24 February at 9: S&P Case-Shiller House Price YoY (Previous 1.4%)
- 24 February at 10:00: US CB consumer confidence estimated 86 (previous 84.5)
- 24 February at 1:00 PM: January US Money Supply (M2) (Prev $22.4T)
- Earnings (Estimated based on FactSet data)
- February 24: Cipher Mining (CIFR), pre-market, $0.03
Token Events
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
- Governance votes and calls
- February 24: KAST to host an X Spaces session at the launch of the Pengu map.
- The GMX DAO votes to neutralize the CEX supply overhang by restructuring liquidity, putting a temporary $5 buy-wall and pausing rewards until the token price reaches $90. Voting ends February 24.
- Unlocks
- The token is launched
- February 24: WAR (WAR) to be listed on Kraken.
Conferences
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
Market movements
- BTC is down 2.05% as of 16 ET Monday at $63,257.26 (24 hours: -4.54%)
- ETH is down 1.95% to $1,826.78 (24h: -4.92%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 1.95% to 1,826.19 (24h: -4.53%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 5 bps to 2.81%
- BTC funding rate is at -0.0032% (-3.5489% annualized) on Binance
- 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
- The Hang Seng closed down 1.82% to 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
- The DJIA closed Monday down 1.66% at 48,804.06
- The S&P 500 closed up 1.04% at 6,837.75
- The Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.13% at 22,627.27
- The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.12% at 33,776.50
- The S&P 40 Latin America closed up 1.48% at 3,743.45
- US 10-year Treasuries are up 0.8 bps at 4.035%
- E-mini S&P 500 futures rose 0.22% to 6,866.75
- E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.33% to 24,843.50
- E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures rose 0.15% to 48,922.00
Bitcoin statistics
- BTC Dominance: 58.35% (-0.51%)
- Ether to 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 priced in gold: 12.2 oz.
- BTC vs Gold Market Cap: 4.23%
Technical Analysis
- The chart shows ether’s daily price swings in candlestick format.
- Ether is facing renewed selling pressure and may soon retest the recent low of $1,781.
- Should buyers fail to defend it, the focus would move to $1,385, the low recorded last April. This level marked the end of the downtrend at that time.
Crypto stocks
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed Monday at $160.24 (-6.48%), -1.49% at $157.85 in premarket
- 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): closed 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 Treasury Companies
- Strategy (MSTR): closed at $123.71 (-5.60%), -1.06% at $122.40
- Strive (ASST): closed at $7.36 (-9.69%), +0.27% at $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 Flows
Spot BTC ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$203.8 million
- Cumulative net flows: $53.79 billion
- Total BTC holdings ~1.26M
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$49.5 million
- Cumulative net flows: $11.51 billion
- Total ETH holding ~5.66 million
Source: Farside Investors
