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First Mover Americas: Coinbase Plans $1B Bond Sale

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for March 13, 2024.

Updated Mar 13, 2024, 12:01 p.m. Published Mar 13, 2024, 12:01 p.m.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (Coinbase)
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (Coinbase)

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk's daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

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Coinbase (COIN) announced a plan to cash in on the recent rally in digital assets by raising $1 billion through selling convertible bonds, avoiding an equity sale that could hurt its stock price. The plan also follows the path Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy has taken to fund its crypto aspirations. The crypto exchange said on Tuesday that it will offer the unsecured convertible senior notes through a private offering. Convertible bonds can be turned into shares of the issuing company (or cash) at a certain point, in this case, the conversion year is 2030. Had the company chosen to raise money by selling new shares, that would have diluted the ownership interest of existing shareholders – something they might have viewed unfavorably.

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Ether prices might see a correction, Singapore-based digital assets trading firm QCP Capital said in a morning note. The trading firm said it is still cautiously optimistic about the long-term potential of ether. Although ether has sailed past $4,000, its highest price in two years, QCP writes that it's observing a shift in market sentiment, marked by negative risk reversals. These reversals measure the difference in implied volatility between call and put options and have turned negative, likely due to the low probability of a spot ether ETF being approved in the near future. QCP also wrote that it is concerned about the amount of leverage currently in the market, but traders will quickly buy back any dips. Excessive leverage is said to have caused the May 2021 crash, where prices fell by 30% over the course of 24 hours, and a 10% correction in bitcoin's price in January.

Current U.S. intellectual property laws are adequate to deal with concerns about copyright and trademark infringement associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a 112-page study by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. Copyright Office concluded. The study was requested by the former Democrat senator from Vermont, Patrick Joseph Leahy, and the Democrat senator from North Carolina, Thom Tillis, in June 2022. The USPTO and the Copyright Office conducted three public roundtables and solicited comments from interested stakeholders. The offices found that most stakeholders say the current laws are adequate, even though "trademark misappropriation and infringement are common on NFT platforms."

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Exchange Review - March 2025

Exchange Review March 2025

CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.

What to know:

Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.

  • Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
  • Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions. 
  • Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.

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