By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
While bitcoin and other major tokens remain under pressure, an AI-generated memecoin on the Solana blockchain is shining.
Pippin (PIPPIN), which started as a ChatGPT-generated unicorn image and evolved into an autonomous AI agent that interacts on social media platforms, has surged 135% over the past four weeks, rising 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 cap growth, but concerns about manipulation and ‘crime’ suggest that the current price may be influenced by artificial pumps rather than organic demand, creating a volatile environment,” it said.
Several social media accounts have alleged that the rally involves money laundering, raising reputational risk for the digital asset ecosystem.
Whatever the case, PIPPIN’s performance is evidence of lingering speculative froth in the market despite bitcoin dropping almost 50% since October. This suggests potential for more pain ahead.
As Bloomberg’s Mike McGlone said, “A Bitcoin bottom may require a further cleansing of millions of cryptos tracking nothing and a recovery in stock market volatility.”
Bitcoin dipped 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 as much.
U.S. tariffs and fears of AI-driven disruptions to global growth and jobs are keeping risk assets under pressure.
According to CryptoQuant, steady 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 $60k, violent cascading liquidations ensue and you can kiss any recovery goodbye, at least until the next halving approaches. You’ll probably see a bunch of treasury companies for both BTC and ETH blow up, along with MSTR dropping below $100 if we lose $60k,” Vinny Lingham, serial entrepreneur and technology investor, said.
“I expect a 2022-type blowup if we do lose $60k,” Lingham said.
In traditional markets, the yen weakened 1% against the U.S. dollar on reports the Japanese prime minister is taking a tough stance against the Bank of Japan’s plans to increase interest rates. The yen and bitcoin have developed an uncanny positive relationship in recent months. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today
What to Watch
For a more comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead“.
- Crypto
- Macro
- Feb. 24, 8:15 a.m.: U.S. ADP employment change weekly (Prev. 10.25K)
- Feb. 24, 9 a.m.: S&P Case-Shiller home price YoY (Prev. 1.4%)
- Feb. 24, 10:00 a.m.: U.S. CB consumer confidence est. 86 (Prev. 84.5)
- Feb. 24, 1:00 p.m.: U.S. money supply for January (M2) (Prev. $22.4T)
- Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
- Feb. 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 & calls
- Feb. 24: KAST to host an X Spaces session on the launch of the Pengu Card.
- GMX DAO is voting to neutralize CEX supply overhang by restructuring liquidity, setting a temporary $5 buy-wall, and pausing staking rewards until the token price reaches $90. Voting ends Feb. 24.
- Unlocks
- Token Launches
- Feb. 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% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $63,257.26 (24hrs: -4.54%)
- ETH is down 1.95% at $1,826.78 (24hrs: -4.92%)
- CoinDesk 20 is down 1.95% at 1,826.19 (24hrs: -4.53%)
- Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 5 bps at 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
- Nikkei 225 closed up 0.87% at 57,321.09
- Hang Seng closed down 1.82% at 26,590.32
- FTSE is down 0.25% at 10,657.66
- Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.13% at 6,106.15
- DJIA closed on Monday down 1.66% at 48,804.06
- S&P 500 closed down 1.04% at 6,837.75
- Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.13% at 22,627.27
- S&P/TSX Composite closed down 0.12% at 33,776.50
- S&P 40 Latin America closed down 1.48% at 3,743.45
- U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 0.8 bps at 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 Index futures are up 0.15% at 48,922.00
Bitcoin Stats
- BTC Dominance: 58.35% (-0.51%)
- Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.02881 (0.32%)
- Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 1,014 EH/s
- Hashprice (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 could soon retest the recent low of $1,781.
- Should buyers fail to defend that, the focus would shift to $1,385, the low registered in April last year. This level marked the end of the downtrend at the time.
Crypto Equities
- Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on 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): 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 ~1.26 million
Spot ETH ETFs
- Daily net flows: -$49.5 million
- Cumulative net flows: $11.51 billion
- Total ETH holdings ~5.66 million
Source: Farside Investors
