Crypto Weekly Report: Bitcoin hits $57K as 9 ETF High Volume

1. SUSPICION OF BITFOREX SCAM, HOLDING USER FUNDS AND FLEEING

ZachXBT, an investigator, discovered unusual transactions from BitForex exchange. Since February 23, 2024, the exchange's hot wallet address has transferred $56.5 million out, a very large amount compared to BitForex's scale. Immediately after, the exchange also abruptly stopped withdrawals, the website ceased to function without any official announcement.
The suspicion deepens as the CEO of the exchange resigned one month prior. BitForex is a Hong Kong-based exchange, operating since 2017 and gaining popularity in the low-cap coin hunting community.

2. MICROSTRATEGY'S ACQUISITION OF 3,000 BTC, ROUGHLY $155 MILLION

This is the company's second Bitcoin purchase of the year. As of now, MicroStrategy owns a total of 193,000 Bitcoin, with an average purchase price of $31,544. Thus, the company has spent $6.09 billion accumulating this amount of BTC.
Considering the current price of Bitcoin, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin portfolio is valued at over $9.8 billion - a profit of about 61% on the investment, approximately $3.7 billion.

3. FINALIZATION OF VIETNAM'S LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR VIRTUAL ASSETS AND VIRTUAL ASSET SERVICE PROVIDERS BY MAY 2025  

The government has just issued a National Action Plan to implement Vietnam's commitments on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing to promptly remove Vietnam from the FATF Grey List - an international financial organization established by the G7 countries.
*Countries listed on the Grey List will face certain disadvantages in economic activities, trade, and international cooperation.
The plan outlines 17 specific actions to fulfill commitments to the FATF, with Action 6 directly related to crypto activities in Vietnam:
Action 6: The government requests the Ministry of Finance and related ministries/agencies to finalize the legal framework to prohibit or regulate virtual assets and entities providing virtual asset services. At the same time, demonstrate enforcement of regulations, including compliance measures.
The deadline for finalizing the above legal framework is May 2025.

4. BITCOIN'S SURPASSING OF $57K AS 9 ETF FUNDS REPORT RECORD-HIGH TRADING VOLUMES  

9 Bitcoin Spot ETF funds recorded a $2.4 billion volume in this morning's trading session, doubling the average daily level and surpassing the record $2.2 billion set on January 11, also the launch date of Bitcoin ETFs in the US.
Leading the pack is still BlackRock with over $1.3 billion in volume, followed by $580 million from Fidelity & $278 million from Ark Invest.

5. COINBASE RANKS AMONG THE TOP APPS ON THE APP STORE

Currently, Coinbase is ranked 279th among the TOP free apps on the App Store in the US.
Three previous occasions when Coinbase topped the App Store coincided with market peaks:
1. On October 28, 2021, BTC traded above $61K
2. On May 11, 2021, BTC hit a peak of $65K a few weeks prior
3. On December 8, 2017, BTC reached a peak of $17K
Besides technical analysis, on-chain data, and market sentiment, observing essential social platforms or crypto apps like Coinbase is an easily visible signal that shows the FOMO sentiment in the market. Many people are using Coinbase as an indicator to take profits and exit the market.

The above are the highlights of the past week. We hope that through this news, you will have a general overview of the events that have taken place in the crypto market in the recent past. From there, you can make your own informed investment decisions.