The global crypto market was valued at $2.46 trillion on March 12, down 0.1% over the past 24 hours, while total trading volume came in at $103 billion. Bitcoin traded at $69,848, slipping 0.12%, with a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion. Ethereum changed hands at $2,048.9, up 0.85%, and held a market cap of $247.37 billion. BTC dominance stood at 56.8%, compared with 10% for ETH.
Altcoins Split Sharply as HYPE Advances and NIGHT Leads Declines
Price action across altcoins was uneven. On the upside, Across Protocol (ACX) jumped 86.7%, Hyperliquid (HYPE) traded at $36.90 after rising 7.34%, Internet Computer (ICP) reached $2.60 with an 8.33% gain, and BNB added 0.93% to $649.61. By 24-hour percentage performance, ICP, HYPE, and JST ranked among the top movers, with JST priced at $0.05312 after climbing 6.55%.
Losses were concentrated in a separate group of tokens. Midnight (NIGHT) traded near $0.04719, down about 10.47%. Kite (KITE) fell 8.18% to $0.2517, while Pi Coin (PI) dropped 6.38% to $0.2183. The contrast suggests capital remained selective: large-cap assets moved in a narrow range, while smaller tokens saw much wider swings.
Stablecoins Flat While DeFi Posts a Modest Gain
Sector data showed stablecoins were unchanged over the last 24 hours, with total market capitalization at $310.6 billion and trading volume at $81.3 billion. The DeFi sector rose 1.3%, bringing its market capitalization to $52 billion and trading volume to $3.79 billion. DeFi dominance was recorded at 2.1%. Even with the broader market under pressure, that segment still printed a mild increase.
Fear and Greed Index Edges Up to 18 but Stays in Extreme Fear
The Fear and Greed Index was reported at 18, which remains in Extreme Fear. That was higher than the previous day’s 15, below last week’s 22, and above last month’s 9. Sentiment improved slightly, but not enough to shift the market out of a defensive mood. Trading activity also cooled, with daily volume falling from $125 billion on March 11 to $103 billion.
ECB Outlines Appia Plan as Firms Expand Digital Asset Activity
On the policy and corporate front, the European Central Bank introduced the Appia roadmap for a tokenized wholesale ecosystem. Pontes DLT settlement could launch in Q3 2026, with broader ecosystem planning aimed at 2028. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said exchange valuations depend on market cycles and rejected claims of price manipulation.
Pump.fun created subdomains tied to Base, BSC, Monad, and Ethereum, pointing to possible expansion beyond Solana; the Solana location tag was also removed from its X profile. Wells Fargo applied to trademark WFUSD, covering stablecoins, crypto trading, payments, and software services, with the filing still awaiting regulatory approval. In funding news, Bittensor infrastructure startup General Tensor raised an oversubscribed $5 million across seed and pre-seed rounds led by Good Morning Holdings and Lvna Capital, with participation from DCG. In mining, DCG subsidiary Foundry plans to launch an institutional Zcash mining pool in April 2026 with compliance and reporting features.