Bitcoin, Altcoins & Market Trends: What To Watch This Week

The Bitcoin and crypto market faces a week of pivotal events.

#1 Bitcoin (BTC)

All eyes are on Washington, D.C. as Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory may hinge on an event scheduled for March 11. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a vocal proponent of pro-Bitcoin and crypto legislation, is set to co-host the “Bitcoin for America” summit with the Bitcoin Policy Institute. The summit features key speakers including Vivek Ramaswamy, Michael Saylor, and Paolo Arduino, alongside a fireside chat with Jack Mallers.

This gathering follows several high-profile developments: President Donald Trump’s announcement of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the first-ever White House Crypto Summit on March 7, and the introduction of Lummis’ BITCOIN Act last year. Rumors suggest the senator may present new co-sponsors for her proposed legislation, which recommends the US Treasury acquire 1 million BTC over five years.

#2 Solana (SOL)

Solana approaches an important milestone on March 11, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) faces its first deadline to respond to multiple spot SOL exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications. Prominent asset managers—VanEck, Grayscale, and 21Shares—have filed proposals amid optimism for a more accommodating regulatory stance.

Nevertheless, skepticism persists regarding approval at this early stage, particularly given that new SEC Chair Paul Atkins has yet to assume office. Some observers speculate the agency’s interim leadership may opt to postpone any decision.

Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have weighed in on the broader altcoin ETF landscape, assigning a 70% probability to a Solana ETF being approved by 2025—behind Litecoin (90%) and Dogecoin (75%), but ahead of XRP (65%). Although next week’s deadline is garnering attention, many market participants believe the final decision will hinge on broader regulatory dynamics later this year or next.

March 10 marks the official launch of Movement, a network of Layer 2 solutions utilizing the Move programming language—originally developed for Meta’s Diem project. Movement’s architecture is designed to bolster blockchain scalability and security, targeting an audience of DeFi protocols looking for efficient, resource-oriented environments.

The Move language offers safeguards against reentrancy attacks and emphasizes asset safety, distinguishing it from conventional EVM-based solutions. With developer anticipation high, Movement positions itself as a potential rival to established networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, aiming to attract both capital and innovative projects in the coming weeks.

Within the AAVE DAO, a proposal to create sGHO—a savings product linked to the GHO stablecoin—has become a focal point. This initiative involves introducing an Aave Savings Rate (ASR), leveraging native Aave lending rates and a portion of GHO borrow revenue to incentivize participants.

Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave, outlined the plan on X last week: “Aave is proposing to create sGHO savings product by introducing Aave Savings Rate (ASR). sGHO is a new low-end risk profile savings product for earning yield on GHO based on native aave lending rate and incentivized rate collected partially from GHO borrow revenue. No withdrawal or deposit fees. I expect sGHO to grow GHO between 300-500M outstanding GHO.”

He added: “Just to give a comparison from revenue perspective, each 100M GHO earns the same amount of revenue for the Aave DAO as 1B USDC. sGHO will introduce a staple onchain savings rate for Aave users, great entry-product for new users onchain.” If approved, sGHO could significantly expand GHO’s circulation while providing a fresh on-chain savings tool for the broader DeFi community.

SUI, the native token of the Sui blockchain—a Layer 1 created by a team of former Diem engineers—has found itself under the spotlight amid talk that Canary Capital may soon file for a spot SUI ETF. Speculation arose when one of Sui’s co-founders posted a cryptic “YES, ETF(s) SOON” message on X on March 5. While details remain scarce, Delaware filings on March 7 show that Canary Capital has registered for a SUI ETF, fueling chatter that a formal spot ETF application could emerge in the near future. Investors are monitoring any developments that could catalyze SUI’s price trajectory.

Beyond individual token narratives, the market’s broader direction may hinge on the upcoming US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for February 2025, slated for release on Wednesday, March 12, at 8:30 am ET. The previous data (January 2025) showed a year-over-year headline inflation rate of 3.0%, with core CPI at 3.3% year-over-year. Analysts project slight decreases this month, anticipating a 0.3% month-over-month increase in both headline and core inflation.

Forecasts for February 2025

• Core CPI (m/m): 0.3% (previous: 0.4%)
• CPI (m/m): 0.3% (previous: 0.5%)
• CPI (y/y): 2.9% (previous: 3.0%)

A lower-than-expected reading, especially below 2.9%, could reinforce optimism for mid-2025 Fed rate cuts, potentially boosting equities and crypto assets. An upside surprise, however, might pressure risk-on markets by fueling concerns of persistent inflation and curtailing hopes for earlier rate relief. With the Federal Reserve widely anticipated to hold rates steady at its March meeting, the CPI release will serve as a critical barometer of inflation’s trajectory—and, by extension, of how monetary policy might evolve in the months ahead.

At press time, BTC traded at $82,228.