Market Overview

Overall Market Trends

This week, the crypto market experienced a choppy upward trend, with the market sentiment index rising from 8% to 11%. The total stablecoin market cap continued its growth trajectory, with USDT reaching $143.7 billion (+0.18%) and USDC at $59.2 billion (+1.39%). This suggests that institutional capital continues to flow in despite market downturns, sustaining a three-week growth streak. Notably, USDC’s growth indicates a strong influx of U.S. capital, as American investors have maintained their aggressive market entry following last week’s trend.

The midweek market rebound was mainly driven by two key events: the temporary 30-day ceasefire agreement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged as expected. Additionally, the Fed reduced its quantitative tightening (QT) scale from $25 billion/month to $5 billion/month and reassured the market that the U.S. economy is not in recession. These developments alleviated market concerns, leading to strong performances from altcoins, which outpaced benchmark indices.

Next Week’s Bullish Outlook

Bullish Picks: UNI, BNB, EUL

UNI: $165.5M Ecosystem Grant & DeFi Leadership Reinvention

✅ Strategic Funding Empowerment The Uniswap community approved a record-breaking $165.5 million grant to support Uniswap v4 and Unichain, with $45 million allocated for liquidity incentives and $95.4 million for developer ecosystem growth. This significant investment is expected to enhance Uniswap’s competitiveness and strengthen UNI’s value proposition.

✅ Tokenomics Overhaul The potential implementation of the “fee switch” mechanism could revolutionize UNI’s token model by allowing holders to directly share protocol revenues. Additionally, Unichain has committed to distributing 65% of its net on-chain revenue to validators and stakers, enhancing UNI’s yield appeal to long-term investors. Uniswap currently generates over $90 million in annual revenue — if 65% were distributed, it would provide $58.5 million in earnings to validators and stakers.

✅ Innovation & Ecosystem Expansion Uniswap v4 introduces a pioneering “hook” system that significantly lowers development barriers, attracting over 1,000 developers and fostering 150+ project prototypes. Meanwhile, Unichain’s DeFi-optimized infrastructure will further solidify Uniswap’s dominance in the sector.

✅ Governance & Structural Optimization Uniswap is advancing governance decentralization by introducing a “Core Contributors” initiative and legal entity structures, reducing reliance on a single entity. Additionally, the project is enhancing transparency and establishing a representative council to oversee execution, ensuring long-term sustainability and stronger community cohesion.

BNB: Ecosystem Expansion & Value Reconstruction

✅ On-Chain Growth BNB Chain’s Total Value Locked (TVL) surged 12.95% in a week to $5.448 billion, reflecting substantial capital inflows driven by the rising Meme trend, which is generating real on-chain activity and value accumulation.

✅ Successful Marketing Strategy Binance has capitalized on investment opportunities from UAE sovereign funds, crafting a Middle Eastern cultural Meme narrative. Binance executives actively engage in community interactions, leveraging a “official-teasing → community-hyping → token-monetization” model to convert personal influence into market momentum.

✅ PancakeSwap Volume Surge PancakeSwap’s trading volume has spiked recently, peaking at $3.15 billion in daily trades. As the largest DEX on BNB Chain, PancakeSwap’s volume serves as a strong indicator of BNB Chain’s overall ecosystem health.

✅ Technical & Policy Innovations BNB Chain has introduced zero-fee trading, a “sandwich attack reimbursement” mechanism, and an Alpha segment to simplify BEP-20 token issuance. This “exchange + blockchain” dual-engine approach is fostering a low-barrier, high-liquidity Meme ecosystem.

✅ Strategic Transformation Binance is transitioning from a pure exchange token to a Web3 infrastructure value-capturing tool. Learning from Solana’s experience, Binance is deploying high-APY incentives to guide Meme users toward DeFi projects, ensuring long-term value retention.

✅ Regulatory Landscape Improvement With the SEC dropping its appeal against Ripple, the likelihood of Binance reaching a final settlement with the SEC has increased. Reduced regulatory risks provide a clearer growth trajectory for BNB.

EUL: Record-High TVL, Cross-Chain Expansion, and 54% Yield Drive DeFi Growth

✅ Surging TVL Euler’s Total Value Locked (TVL) surged 30.56% this week, reaching an all-time high of $501 million. This growth is primarily driven by ecosystem expansion, improved capital efficiency, and optimized yield strategies.

✅ High-Yield Offerings Euler provides high-yield lending pools, with the sUSDC/USDC stablecoin pool offering a maximum net asset yield of 54.77%. Liquidity continues to deepen, now exceeding $31 million, making it highly attractive to stablecoin holders.

✅ Strategic Expansion & Partnerships Euler is actively forging partnerships across the DeFi ecosystem. This week, it announced a collaboration with Berachain, launching a $150,000 BERA token incentive program. Within just one day of joining the Berachain ecosystem, Euler’s TVL increased by $25 million.

✅ User Incentive Programs Euler continues to roll out incentive programs, including a recent $300,000 initiative encouraging users to supply WETH or USDC in exchange for rEUL. These incentives effectively attract new users, retain existing ones, and enhance platform liquidity, fostering a sustainable growth cycle.

Bearish Picks: ALT, NFP, EDU

ALT: Altlayer Faces Market Slowdown & Major Token Unlock

🔻 Declining Market Interest As a modular and Layer 2 RaaS project, Altlayer is facing growing challenges. The Ethereum ecosystem has underperformed this cycle, and Layer 2 solutions are increasingly perceived as “Ethereum vampires,” siphoning liquidity rather than contributing to the ecosystem. This sentiment shift has led to a loss of investor interest and capital inflow, significantly cooling down the sector, leaving projects like Altlayer struggling for attention.

🔻 Impending Token Unlock Pressure On March 25, Altlayer will unlock 195 million ALT tokens, representing 1.95% of the total supply. This sizable unlock primarily benefits early investors and the project team. Given the declining market interest, these investors are likely to sell their holdings to secure profits, creating significant sell pressure on ALT’s price.

NFP: NFPrompt Struggles as NFT & AI Sectors Lose Momentum

🔻 Declining Hype in NFT & AI Sectors NFPrompt, an AI-driven NFT creation and trading platform, is facing a harsh market environment. Since the last bull cycle, the NFT sector has remained sluggish and is now overshadowed by the Meme coin craze. Simultaneously, the recent market downturn has caused AI-related tokens to drop by over 50%, leading to a sharp decline in investor interest. This dual cooling of the NFT and AI sectors has significantly reduced NFPrompt’s market appeal.

🔻 Major Token Unlock Incoming On March 26, NFPrompt will unlock 14.51 million NFP tokens, representing 1.45% of the total supply. With only 41% of the total supply currently in circulation, this unlock is relatively large. Additionally, the tokens will primarily go to the project team, increasing the likelihood of sell-offs, which could exert significant downward pressure on NFP’s price.

EDU: Struggles with Low Market Interest & Token Unlock Pressure

🔻 Lack of Market Attention Open Campus, a decentralized education platform, has failed to gain traction since launch. The project has struggled to attract investor interest, making it vulnerable to price declines.

🔻 Upcoming Token Unlock Could Trigger Selling Pressure On March 28, 19.07 million EDU tokens will be unlocked, accounting for 1.91% of the total supply. With only 47% of tokens currently in circulation, this unlock is relatively large. Early investors, who are the primary recipients of this unlock, are likely to sell off their holdings, which could negatively impact EDU’s price.

Market Sentiment Index Analysis

The market sentiment index has rebounded from 8% last week to 11%, showing a slight increase but still hovering within the Extreme Fear zone.

Hot Sector: Meme Revival on BNB Chain

Current Market Trends

In Q1 2025, the BNB Chain ecosystem experienced an explosive surge in Meme coin activity. It began with the viral success of TST, a test token featured in an educational video, which skyrocketed 100x to $500M within three days, fueled by CZ’s unofficial yet approving stance. This trend was further amplified when Binance secured a $2B investment from UAE’s sovereign fund, MGX, triggering the launch of Meme tokens inspired by Arabic cultural elements such as Mubarak.

Additionally, Binance introduced key policies like: ✅ Zero trading fees on Binance Wallet ✅ “Anti-sandwich protection + 24h compensation” to enhance user security ✅ Alpha section on Binance’s main platform, making it easier for users to access trending Meme tokens

These initiatives collectively funneled massive liquidity and attention to BNB Chain, turning it into the epicenter of the current Meme craze.

Key Drivers Behind BNB Chain’s Meme Boom

1️⃣ Strategic Market Positioning

Before 2025, BNB Chain lagged behind Ethereum in DeFi and Solana in Meme coin dominance. Given the attention-driven nature of the crypto industry, BNB Chain strategically chose Meme tokens as its breakout opportunity.

2️⃣ Aggressive Marketing & Cultural Narrative

Binance leveraged strategic marketing and wealth-effect storytelling to drive both retail participation and institutional interest:

• UAE Investment Narrative: Binance capitalized on the $2B investment from UAE’s MGX fund, integrating Arabic cultural elements (Mubarak, Mashallah) into the Meme coin ecosystem.
• CZ & Binance Executives’ Direct Engagement: CZ personally purchased Mubarak and TST tokens, tweeting about them, while Binance co-founder He Yi actively participated in Meme-related WeChat groups, fostering a “VIP insider” effect among retail investors.
• “Official Teaser → Community Hype → Tokenization” Model: Binance used subtle hints and viral storytelling to encourage community-driven token creation and market speculation.

3️⃣ Technological & Policy Innovations

Inspired by Solana’s success, Binance implemented several pro-trader policies to enhance BNB Chain’s Meme ecosystem:

• Zero trading fees + sub-second block finality + anti-sandwich protection to optimize user experience
• Alpha section integration on Binance’s main platform for seamless on-ramp access
• Simplified BEP-20 token issuance & developer incentives, reducing barriers for new Meme projects
• BNB “Goodwill Alliance” initiative to promote fair token launches

These innovations lowered entry barriers, enhanced security, and provided direct liquidity pipelines, making BNB Chain more attractive to Meme traders and developers.

BNB Chain vs. Solana: Strengths & Weaknesses

BNB Chain excels in accessibility, user incentives, and community-driven hype but falls short in raw performance and institutional credibility compared to Solana.

Overall Market Sector Performance

Weekly Return Rate Statistics: SociaFi Performed the Best, While Layer2 Performed the Worst.

• SociaFi Sector: In the SociaFi sector, TON and CHZ hold a significant proportion, with a total share of 95.31%. Their weekly gains were 29.51% and 6.21%, respectively. TON had the highest share and the highest increase, making the SociaFi sector the best performer this week.
• Layer2 Sector: In the Layer2 sector, MNT, POL, TIA, ARB, and OP hold a significant proportion, totaling 72.04%. Their weekly changes were 7.12%, -1.67%, -6.36%, 6.98%, and 3.31%, respectively, leading to Layer2 sector having the worst index performance.

Upcoming Crypto Events Next Week

• Monday (March 24): GMove Cooper: Movement’s APAC Tour 2025 — Chengdu
• Tuesday (March 25): Mining Disrupt Conference & Expo 2025
• Friday (March 28): U.S. February Core PCE Price Index YoY

Summary

Overall, the cryptocurrency market experienced a choppy upward trend this week. The market sentiment index rebounded from 8% to 11%. Although it remains in the extreme fear zone, there are signs of easing. The continuous growth of stablecoin market capitalization, particularly USDC’s 1.39% increase, indicates that U.S. Investors continued entering the market during the downturn, providing solid support. Positive news, such as the 30-day ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine and the Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates while significantly reducing the scale of quantitative tightening (QT), became the main catalysts for the market rebound, leading most altcoins to outperform the benchmark index.

From a sector perspective, SociaFi led the market with a weekly return of 27.96%, driven by TON’s strong performance. The DeFi sector also performed well, with a weekly return of 10.83%, reflecting a trend of value reversion. Meanwhile, the BNB Chain ecosystem was the biggest highlight this week, as precise marketing strategies and technological policy innovations successfully triggered a new wave of Meme hype.

Next week, investors should be cautious about potential selling pressure from projects like ALT, NFP, and EDU, which are facing large unlocks. At the same time, attention should be given to potential opportunities in UNI, BNB, and EUL, which are seeing fundamental improvements. As market sentiment gradually recovers and stable coin inflows continue, more positive factors may emerge. However, caution is still needed — closely monitoring macroeconomic data and geopolitical developments will be crucial for formulating prudent investment strategies.