Did you attend the Bitcoin party yesterday, Degen? It was a blast and a pure thrill. 🎉🎉🎉

In a day, from $58k, Bitcoin jumped to $60K…$61K…$62K…$63K…

And even briefly touched $64K while American personality Jim Cramer was busy cribbing, ‘What’s Bitcoin ever done for mankind?” 😂.

Bitcoin was inches away from its previous ATH of $69K but it crashed!  Within 15 minutes...

Yes, it crashed to $58K. And Coinbase crashed, too. 😯

Bitcoin was back to trading at $61K soon. But was there some connection? 

Yes and No. 

That’s what we discuss in today’s Web3 Creator newsletter and more. 

While we write this, Bitcoin is comfortably lounging at $62K and looks in no hurry to reach another milestone. We aren’t complaining. 💰💰

The road to $64K 📈

Bitcoin started the week trading at $57K. 🎇 We were hopeful. The market had touched $2 trillion. Trading volumes were doing good. ETFs were doing good. Bulls were moving the market. 

And there were a few more reasons to celebrate: 

98% of the $BTC supply is in profit

At $57K, Bitcoin price was higher than 98% of all previous days. This metric means the majority of us who own Bitcoin today are in profit. 

The market is in extreme greed at 89, yet the signs show an incoming sustained momentum even before halving. That’s the first time in the history of Bitcoin.  

An ATH in total hash rate

The Bitcoin network has expanded over half a terabyte this week and broke quite a few records.  

• The Bitcoin network mining attained the highest difficulty to date

• The network achieved an all-time high in total hash rate

• It also saw the highest number of daily confirmed transactions 

 All this means Bitcoin is more secure than ever.

MicroStrategy has 3k more bitcoins 👏

MicroStrategy acquired an additional 3K $BTC for ~$155 million at an average price of $51.8K. It now holds 193K Bitcoin acquired for $6.09 billion. 

The big corps and institutions are no longer worried about ‘at what price’ they are purchasing Bitcoin but more about ‘how many more’ $BTC they acquire. 🤑

Bitcoin is measuring up to their idea of an asset.

Meanwhile, FOMO is catching on, Morgan Stanley, the $1.3 trillion asset manager, is now considering offering spot Bitcoin ETFs to customers, too. 

As days passed, Bitcoin attained ATH in one currency after the other – 32 currencies in total. 

But Why Did Bitcoin Crash? Understanding Liquidations ☔

Many claimed the Coinbase crash was behind Bitcoin’s 10% decline in a matter of minutes. But that’s not at all the case.  

The Mystery Behind the Crash

Many were surprised by Bitcoin's sudden 10% drop, coinciding with Coinbase users reporting empty account balances.

However, the price crash can be directly attributed to liquidations.

How do leverage and margin calls work?

Traders often use leverage by borrowing funds from an exchange to amplify their potential profits. This is done through margin accounts, where the trader's crypto acts as collateral. If the price moves against them, they receive a margin call, requiring them to deposit more funds to maintain their position.

What do modern traders do?

Modern brokers use sophisticated auto-liquidation algorithms that automatically sell a trader's assets if their account value falls below a minimum threshold. This protects the broker from losses but can catch traders off guard, especially during intra-day volatility.

This auto-liquidation algorithm was the main culprit behind yesterday’s BTC crash. 

What exactly happened? 

Over $600 million in liquidations occurred as Bitcoin's price swung wildly. This highlights the potential for further volatility and liquidations in the ongoing crypto bull market.

Bitcoin saw 99% jump in trading volumes. 

While the Coinbase incident played a role, the price crash primarily stemmed from automated liquidations triggered by volatile market movements. 

The Takeaway: Understanding how leverage and auto-liquidations work is crucial for navigating the markets. 😅

ETF volumes shatter all records at $7.7B 💥

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a record-breaking day on February 28th, with a combined trading volume of $7.69 billion!

This surpasses the previous record by over 150%, signifying a surge in investor interest in these newly launched products.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) steals the show

BlackRock emerged as the leader, capturing a significant portion of the volume with $3.35 billion traded, nearly double its previous daily record.

The ETFs recorded a combined net inflows of $515.5 million for all Bitcoin ETFs (excluding Invesco and Galaxy's offerings) on February 26th, marking a two-week high.

Grayscale raises hopes

Amidst this bullish momentum, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) faced further slowing outflows. On February 28th, the trust witnessed its lowest outflow day of the month, with $22 million leaving the fund. ETFs together hit a two-week net inflow high at $515.5 million.  

Bitcoin technology firm Blockstream CEO Adam Back posted to X that he’s “waiting for the day GBTC flashes an inflow.”

In comes Carlson

Carlson Group LLC, a $30 billion registered investment advisory platform has approved 4 Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton. 

Meanwhile, Ethereum awaits its ETF approvals from the SEC. It’s mainstream adoption all the way for the industry and we are all the more loving it. ❤️‍🔥

From Bitcoin Archives ✉️

At the Craig Wright lawsuit, Martii Malmi, revealed his 120-pager evidence – his email correspondence with Satoshi Nakamoto, pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin between 2009-2010. 

The email collection, along with what we already know, gave us a glimpse into Satoshi’s mind. (Link)

Check out the entire stash of letters on Bitcoin Magazine (Link)

Tweet of the Week 🔮

El Salvador’s President is ruthless while roasting American stockbroker and BItcoin critic Peter Schiff. 😂(Link)

Not so Bitcoin News 🔥🔥

• Anndy Lian talks of tokenization: in this fireside conversation on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization blockchain specialist and author Anndy Lian, shares his insights on his tokenization journey, the latest trends, and challenges that await the novel technology.  (Link)

• Gemini Earn creditors getting in full: Gemini will return $1.1 billion to its Earn customers in bankruptcy settlement and the remaining asset balance in the next 12 months. It will also pay a $37 million penalty for multiple compliance failures “that threatened the safety and soundness of the company.” (link)

• Solana NFTs hit $5B sales: The NFT ecosystem isn’t dead after all, especially on Solana. Solana NFT ecosystem is recovering after a 4-month slump and has touched a new all-time high in sales exceeding $5 billion. (Link)

• Coinbase users see zero balances: Coinbase faced a zero balance bug as retailers flooded the exchange when Bitcoin rose in value yesterday. Coinbase services were disrupted. However, user funds are safe. (Link)

Meme of the week 🙌

Handpicked news for you:

• This Bitcoiner wants to plant an orange flag on the Everest. 

• What caused the Ethereum flash price crash to $3,180? 

• Solana is targeting $300 in the upcoming surge? 

That’s a wrap. See you next Thursday.