Ethereum Leads Market Rally Following Shapella, Bitcoin Tops $30K, Altcoins Thrive: This Week’s Market Recap

This week saw the total cryptocurrency market capitalization soar above $1.3 trillion on the back of major increases from many coins. The sentiment has also improved considerably across the board.

Bitcoin’s price managed to top the coveted $30K level – a point that we haven’t seen in 10 months. The week started relatively quiet as everyone was expecting the release of the Consumer Price Index. It’s largely used to gauge inflation in the US. Before its release, however, things took a somewhat unexpected turn, and the price shot up to $30K and remained there for a while.

The CPI came in at 5% for March, indicating that the inflation continues to slow down – for the sixth month in a row. This gave investors confidence, and the market remained seemingly strong. But this wasn’t the only major event that this week had to offer.

On April 12th, Ethereum went through the so-called Shanghai upgrade. It’s also referred to as the Shapella upgrade. Its name aside, the landmark network update finally enables validators to unstake the ETH they’ve been locking up to secure the network for years. Many predicted that this would flood the market with a tremendous supply of ETH. This wasn’t the case.

While a considerable number of ETH was unlocked, the market reacted positively. The cryptocurrency shot up to $2,100, surpassing the pivotal $2K level and leading the entire market into a fresh rally. This also caused many to think that the bear market has come to a halt.

A lot of altcoins followed suit, with some of them charting truly remarkable gains in the past seven days. Examples include Radix (XRD) – up around 65%, Injective (INJ) – up about 34%, Render (RNDR) – up 32%, and Arbitrum (ARB) – up around 26.5%.

Elsewhere, we also saw developments coming on the FTX front. Attorneys and bankruptcy have been able to recover some $7.3 billion from the company’s assets. What is more, it was also revealed that a potential restart of the exchange is also being considered – an announcement that was received with mixed feelings from the community, to say the least.

In any case, the week was undeniably bullish, and it’s very interesting to see if the momentum will carry on in the following days. Will Bitcoin and Ethereum continue their rally or will the market start correcting? Time will tell.

Market Data

Market Cap: $1,331B | 24H Vol: $61B | BTC Dominance: 44.6%

BTC: $30,710 (+9.5%) | ETH: $2,105 (+12.5%) | BNB: $332 (+6.7%)

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This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Better Not Miss

What is the Ethereum Shanghai (Shapella) Upgrade? Everything You Need to Know. This week saw Ethereum successfully going through the Shanghai upgrade, which is also known as Shapella. Among other things, it enabled validators to finally unstake the ETH they’ve been locking for years to secure the proof-of-stake network.

London Stock Exchange Taps Digital Trading Platform to Launch Bitcoin Futures, Options Trading. The London Stock Exchange Group has officially tapped Global Futures Options. The goal is to start delivering the country’s first regulated trading clearing in bitcoin index futures and options derivatives.

Montana Bill Classifying Crypto as Personal Property Approved by House of Reps. The Bill is number 178, and it aims to put digital assets in the same basket as personal property. These include cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It also aims to foster the operations of local cryptocurrency miners.

Twitter Partners With eToro to Enable Users Access to Financial Instruments. One of the world’s largest social media platforms, Twitter, has partnered with the popular retail-oriented financial app eToro. The goal of the partnership is to enable users to buy and sell stocks, crypto, and other financial assets.

FTX’s Recovered Assets Surge to $7.3 Billion, May Restart Exchange in 2024. FTX attorneys and bankruptcy experts managed to recover around $7.3 billion from the company’s assets. What is more, the exchange’s attorney added that the legal team will start planning a “potential restart or recapitalization” of FTX.

El Salvador Grants its First Crypto Licence to Bitfinex. The popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has become the first to be registered as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the regulators of El Salvador. The move takes place as the broader crypto market is going through a considerable recovery.