The crypto market edged up to $2.39 trillion on March 31, a 0.6% gain over 24 hours, but sentiment stayed weak. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index came in at just 11, keeping the market in extreme fear even as major assets moved higher.
Total trading volume reached $89.7 billion in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin held a market dominance of 56.2%, while Ethereum stood at 10.3%. BTC traded at $68,108.47, up 2.32% on the day, with volume at $37.4 billion and market capitalization at $1.36 trillion. ETH changed hands at $2,070.93, rising 2.98%, with $18 billion in trading volume and a market cap of $249.77 billion.
Keeta and River lead gains while losers remain sharp
Altcoins did not move in one direction. Keeta (KTA) was one of the strongest movers, trading at $0.1950 after a 34.99% jump, with volume of $5.21 million. River (RIVER) climbed 20.52% to $16.84, supported by $52 million in trading activity. DeXe (DEXE) rose 9.12% to $7.98, and Jupiter (JUP) gained 6.81% to $0.1543.
Declines were still notable. Midnight (NIGHT) traded at $0.04422, down between 9.09% and 9.59% in the source data. Siren (SIREN) fell 5.62% to $1.70, and LayerZero (ZRO) slipped 5.04% to $1.90. The split points to a market where capital is rotating quickly instead of lifting the full altcoin sector.
Stablecoins and DeFi post mild gains
Stablecoins recorded a 0.3% increase over 24 hours, bringing total capitalization to $310.2 billion and trading volume to $70.87 billion. The DeFi sector gained 0.5%, with a total market cap of $49.4 billion, trading volume of $3.35 billion, and global dominance at 2.1%. That mix suggests activity is holding up, while defensive positioning remains visible.
Regulatory and exchange updates add to market focus
Several industry developments were also in view. Russia approved crypto bills that cap retail investors at 300,000 rubles per broker, limit trading to approved liquid coins, require testing, and ban off-platform transactions. KuCoin agreed to settle CFTC civil charges for $500,000 and will block U.S. users until registration is completed.
Institutional trading data drew attention as well. BlackRock’s IBIT is now posting daily turnover of $16 billion to $18 billion, nearing Binance spot levels and exceeding Coinbase, while U.S. trading hours account for 47% of global Bitcoin volume. Nium launched a stablecoin card issuance platform tied to Visa and Mastercard rails, with instant fiat conversion. Coinbase also opened EDGEX deposit addresses, though deposits will not be credited until the issuer activates transfers.
Prices recovered across large-cap names and a handful of altcoins posted outsized gains. Sentiment, though, remained far behind the tape.