If you were to take a look at the crypto market on March 31st and compare it to March 1st, you would for the most part see a climb in value that would represent a healthy increase across markets. Generally, tokens are up across March, and generally by double figures. However, how crypto leaves March and heads further into Spring isn’t a full representation of the general downturn that we saw across markets during the month, which markets only recovered from later into March.
There are two tales to tell about crypto in March; one from a short term perspective, and the other from the long term. Generally, crypto markets ended the month higher than where they started, and longer term investors who were holding onto their tokens throughout the month will have had their patience rewarded had they resisted the temptation to sell during the middle of the month and cut their losses. Day traders would have had mixed fortunes, mostly for the worse in the first half of March, and for the better in the second half.
Bitcoin ended the month hovering around the $47k mark. Having entered March at around $43,500, this would indicate solid month on month growth for the world’s most popular crypto. However, take into consideration that it took a drop to $37,315 to rally the market and drive it up to month end level and we have a truer reflection of market activity. Even between this, volatile spikes in value from $42k to $39k in the space of a few short hours show how restless the market has been at times during March. It wasn’t until the later parts of the month where we observed a steadier climb for Bitcoin — however, in context it has clawed back from considerable ground from previous low points in the quarter, particularly February.
The story has been similar for Ethereum too. Throughout the month, we observed over $1k in value fluctuations — which for a coin ending the month valued around the $3,400 mark is a considerable fluctuation range. That said, Ethereum is currently trading at a level that it has not been at since early January, giving traders a reason to be optimistic for the weeks ahead, even in the face of such volatility.
Considering crypto markets overall in March, they generally only started to pick up around the 24th/25th of March, with a couple of days range in between. This is certainly true for the likes of Solana, Shiba, Doge and Polygon, who all saw drops in value early into the month, before recovering ground towards month end. Generally, mid-March proved to be the floor for these tokens, with a slight U-shaped curve being a commonality amongst each.
We saw a newcomer enter the crypto world in the middle of the month, with Apecoin (APE) dropping on March 17th and more than doubling in value within 24 hours. The project of Bored Ape Yacht Club, it has stabilized into the region of around $14 per token, and all eyes will be on whether it manages to maintain this stability long term. BAYC are currently releasing new merchandise that can only be purchased using APE, thus testing the desire of their following to get involved in crypto.
While generally it was a U-shaped month for most crypto, a special mention should go to Waves, who bucked this trend and climbed consistently through March. Starting the month at around $17, Waves climbed as high as $58 and is currently trading close to the $50 mark now. Waves boasts one of the highest growth levels of all crypto throughout the month at 195% — only to be beaten by Zilliqa (341%), STEPN (1147%) and, of course, ApeCoin (1289%).
It shouldn’t be overlooked that March is a perfect case study for the mixed fortunes that are still experienced in crypto markets. Volatility is still commonplace, and there continues to be price fluctuations like the ones we observed throughout the month which will of course at times create opportunities for short term traders, but will also sting them too. Longer term investors will have had a positive month overall, and although the counter argument would be that this is just how trading goes, volatility to the level of 30% of total token value is still very high.
