CoinW Research Institute Weekly Report (March 16, 2026 - March 22, 2026)

Key Points

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies globally is $2.41 trillion, down from $2.54 trillion last week, representing a decline of about 5.12% this week. As of the time of writing, the total net inflow of the Bitcoin spot ETF in the U.S. is approximately $56.23 billion, with a net inflow of $9.518 million this week; the total net inflow of the Ethereum spot ETF in the U.S. is approximately $11.73 billion, with a net outflow of $5.994 million this week.

The total market capitalization of stablecoins is $30.91 billion, nearly unchanged from last week; among them, the market capitalization of USDT is $18.415 billion, accounting for 59.57% of the total stablecoin market capitalization, almost unchanged from last week; followed by USDC with a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, accounting for 25.52%, down about 1.01% from last week; DAI has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, accounting for 1.75%, which is nearly unchanged from last week.

According to DeFiLlama's data, the total TVL of DeFi this week is $92.973 billion, down from $96.847 billion last week, a decrease of about 4.0%. By blockchain, the top three blockchains by TVL are Ethereum, accounting for 58.57%; Solana chain, accounting for 7.02%; and BNB Chain, accounting for 5.80%.

This week, on-chain data shows characteristics of “discrepancies in trading activity, overall decline in funds and users”: In daily transaction volume on on-chain Dex, Ethereum ($1.21B, +48.83%), Aptos ($0.024B, +46.62%) and TON experienced growth, while Solana ($1.057B, -7.52%), BNB Chain ($0.653B, -17.03%) and Sui ($0.041B, -37.33%) saw declines; transaction fees remained low overall, with most public chains around and below $0.01, where Solana and Sui dropped to about $0.001 levels. The user and funding aspects generally weakened: on the daily active user side, Solana (3.584 million, -17.41%), Aptos (812,000, -24.16%) declined, with only TON showing a slight increase (113,000, +1.76%); TVL showed overall adjustments, with Ethereum ($54.52B, -4.72%), Solana ($6.66B, -6.44%), BNB Chain ($5.41B, -7.72%) all declining.

New Project Focus: Genpaid is a stablecoin payment and financial infrastructure platform aimed at merchants and payment service providers, focusing on multi-chain (EVM, Solana, etc.) and non-custodial structures, where users always control asset private keys and fund settlements. Current is a fintech company primarily providing mobile-based digital banking services by partnering with licensed banks to offer account management, payments, debit cards, credit building, and early salary withdrawals. Myriad Markets is a decentralized prediction market platform based on blockchain, allowing users to engage in “probability trading” around real-world events such as crypto, politics, and sports, expressing expectations and earning profits by buying and selling shares of different outcomes.

Key Points

I. Market Overview

1. Total Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization / Bitcoin Market Capitalization Share

2. Fear Index

3. ETF Inflow and Outflow Data

4. ETH/BTC and ETH/USD Exchange Rates

5. Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

6. On-Chain Data

7. Stablecoin Market Capitalization and Issuance Status

II. This Week’s Hot Money Movements

1. Top Five VC Tokens and Meme Tokens by Growth This Week

2. New Project Insights

III. Industry News

1. Major Industry Events This Week

2. Major Upcoming Events Next Week

3. Important Investments and Financing from Last Week

IV. Reference Links

I. Market Overview

1. Total Cryptocurrency Market Capitalization / Bitcoin Market Capitalization Share

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization worldwide is $2.41 trillion, down from $2.54 trillion last week, representing a decline of about 5.12% this week.

Data source: Bitcoin dominance from cryptorank, https://cryptorank.io/charts/btc-dominance

Data is as of March 22, 2026

As of the time of writing, the market capitalization of Bitcoin is $1.35 trillion, accounting for 56.02% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of stablecoins is $30.91 billion, accounting for 12.83% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization.

Data source: coingecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/charts

Data is as of March 22, 2026

2. Fear Index

The cryptocurrency fear index is at 9, indicating extreme fear.

Data source: coinglass, https://www.coinglass.com/pro/i/FearGreedIndex

Data is as of March 22, 2026

3. ETF Inflow and Outflow Data

As of the time of writing, the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. is approximately $56.23 billion, with a net inflow of $9.518 million this week; the total net inflow of Ethereum spot ETFs in the U.S. is approximately $11.73 billion, with a net outflow of $5.994 million this week.

Data source: sosovalue, https://sosovalue.com/zh/assets/etf

Data is as of March 22, 2026

4. ETH/BTC and ETH/USD Exchange Rates

ETHUSD: Current price $2,056.33, historical highest price $4,946.05, down about 58.42% from the highest price

ETHBTC: Currently at 0.030218, historical highest at 0.1238

Data source: ratiogang, https://ratiogang.com/

Data is as of March 22, 2026

5. Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

According to DeFiLlama data, the total TVL of DeFi this week is $92.973 billion, a decrease from $96.847 billion last week, a decline of about 4.0%.

Data source: defillama, https://defillama.com

Data is as of March 22, 2026

By blockchain, the top three blockchains by TVL are Ethereum chain, accounting for 58.57%; Solana chain, accounting for 7.02%; and BNB Chain, accounting for 5.80%.

Data source: CoinW Research Institute, defillama, https://defillama.com

Data is as of March 22, 2026

6. On-Chain Data

Layer 1 Related Data

Mainly analyzing the relevant data of current major Layer 1 including ETH, SOL, BNB, TON, SUI, and APTOS based on daily transaction volume, daily active addresses, and transaction fees.

Data source: CoinW Research Institute, defillama, https://defillama.com

Data is as of March 22, 2026

On-chain Dex Daily Trading Volume and Transaction Fees: On-chain Dex daily trading volume and transaction fees are core indicators measuring public chain activity and user experience. In terms of daily transaction volume on on-chain Dex, this week Ethereum ($1.21B, +48.83%), Ton ($0.0018B, +15.69%), and Aptos ($0.024B, +46.62%) saw increases; the rest of the chains saw declines, namely Solana ($1.057B, -7.52%), BNB Chain ($0.653B, -17.03%), and Sui ($0.041B, -37.33%). Regarding transaction fees, this week Ethereum, BNB chain, and Ton maintained around $0.01; Solana ($0.001) decreased by 3.77% from last week; Sui ($0.00169) decreased by 17.26%; Aptos ($0.000001) decreased by 2.70% from last week.

Daily Active Addresses and TVL: Daily active addresses reflect the level of ecological participation and user engagement in public chains, while TVL reflects the trust users have in the platform. In terms of daily active addresses, Aptos (812,000), Sui (279,000), and Solana (3.584 million) saw declines of 24.16%, 12.22%, and 17.41% respectively; Ethereum (566,000, -1.65%) and BNB Chain (2.37 million, -5.20%) had slight pullbacks; Ton (113,000, +1.76%) saw a slight rise. Overall, TVL experienced slight adjustments this week, with Sui ($0.583B, -5.66%), Solana ($6.66B, -6.44%), Ethereum ($54.52B, -4.72%), BNB Chain ($5.41B, -7.72%), Aptos ($0.304B, -5.59%), and Ton ($0.058B, -3.38%).

Layer 2 Related Data

According to L2Beat data, the total TVL of Ethereum Layer 2 this week is $31.54 billion, down from $33.21 billion last week, with an overall decline of 5.02%.

Data source: L2Beat, https://l2beat.com/scaling/tvs

Data is as of March 22, 2026

This week, Base and Arbitrum's market shares are 35.05% and 17.25%, ranking first and second.

Data source: CoinGecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/chains/layer-2

Data is as of March 22, 2026

7. Stablecoin Market Capitalization and Issuance Status

According to Coinglass data, the total market capitalization of stablecoins is $30.91 billion, up from $30.83 billion last week, an increase of about 0.25%; among them, USDT has a market capitalization of $18.415 billion, accounting for 59.57% of the total stablecoin market capitalization, up from $18.406 billion last week, an increase of about 0.05%; followed by USDC with a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, accounting for 25.52%, down from $7.91 billion last week, a decrease of about 1.01%; DAI has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, accounting for 1.75%, nearly unchanged from $5.37 billion last week.

Data source: CoinW Research Institute, Coinglass, https://www.coinglass.com/pro/stablecoin

Data is as of March 22, 2026

According to Whale Alert data, this week USDC Treasury issued a total of 393.1 million USDC, while Tether Treasury issued a total of 1 billion USDT this week. The total issuance of stablecoins this week is 493.1 million, a decrease of 6.99% compared to last week's total issuance of 530.2 million stablecoins.

Data source: Whale Alert, https://x.com/whale_alert

Data is as of March 22, 2026

II. This Week’s Hot Money Movements

1. Top Five VC Tokens and Meme Tokens by Growth This Week

Top Five VC Tokens by Growth in the Past Week

Data source: CoinW Research Institute, coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/

Data is as of March 22, 2026

Top Five Meme Tokens by Growth in the Past Week

Data source: CoinW Research Institute, coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/

Data is as of March 22, 2026

2. New Project Insights

Genpaid is a stablecoin payment and financial infrastructure platform aimed at merchants and payment service providers, focusing on multi-chain (EVM, Solana, etc.) and non-custodial architecture, allowing users to always control asset private keys and fund settlements. The platform supports businesses in accepting, managing, and paying USDT, USDC, DAI and other stablecoins globally, through tools such as APIs, payment links, invoices, and subscriptions to achieve an integrated payment process, while providing instant settlement, gasless experience, and multi-chain compatibility. Genpaid also includes compliance and risk control modules (such as KYT/sanctions screening, audit reports) and allows AI Agents to initiate payments, aiming to connect crypto assets with traditional payment systems as the next-generation cross-border payment infrastructure, especially suitable for high-frequency cross-border, e-commerce, and emerging market scenarios.

Current (Current Finance) is a fintech company that mainly provides mobile-based digital banking services, partnering with licensed banks to offer users account management, payments, debit cards, credit building, and early salary withdrawals. Its products are positioned as “branchless digital banking,” emphasizing low fees and even no charges, and connecting traditional finance with digital asset services through integrated cryptocurrency trading features, providing users with an integrated consumption and asset management experience.

Myriad Markets is a decentralized prediction market platform based on blockchain, allowing users to engage in "probability trading" around real-world events such as crypto, politics, and sports, expressing expectations and earning profits by trading shares of different outcomes; its core feature is embedding prediction markets into web pages, social media, and news content, allowing users to participate in trading without leaving the interface, leveraging smart contracts for self-custody of funds and on-chain settlement, thus turning “information and opinions” into tradable assets, achieving a more efficient price discovery mechanism.

III. Industry News

1. Major Industry Events This Week

USD.AI opened the governance token CHIP's ICO and airdrop allocation query on March 16, 2026, where users can check specific allocation results in the USD.AI app; on March 17, the project confirmed the launch of this function and made it clear that if users apply for an ICO refund via CoinList, they will automatically forfeit all CHIP airdrop and subscription allocations, and this operation is irreversible. The TGE is scheduled for March 2026 (Q1), at which time the tokens will complete final distribution and circulation. USD.AI is a stablecoin protocol providing on-chain credit support for AI.

The Katana token KAT officially launched (TGE) on March 18, 2026 (around 12:00 UTC), entering the circulation phase. Before this, the project completed multi-phase pre-distribution and airdrop preparations: from March 3 to March 17, pre-TGE airdrop activities were conducted, distributing approximately 50 million KAT (accounting for 0.5% of the total supply) to early participants. On March 16, a limited-time pre-sale/subscription (Prime Sale) was opened, allowing users to lock shares with a “KAT Key,” automatically converting to token distribution on TGE day. Katana is a DeFi-oriented Layer 2 network co-incubated by Polygon Labs and GSR, focusing on “liquidity flywheel” and real yields.

On March 20, the omnichannel trading platform Based announced that its token BASED would be directly airdropped to users' wallets on Hyperliquid on TGE day, without requiring users to claim manually, to avoid congestion and operational friction commonly found in traditional airdrops; eligible users can set their receiving wallets on the airdrop query page and must complete updates by March 25 at 12:00 UTC, otherwise, the tokens will be default sent to the system recorded address. The specific TGE event is yet to be announced.

2. Major Upcoming Events Next Week

The cryptocurrency wallet and trading infrastructure project Backpack announced that its token will undergo TGE on March 23, 2026. The tokens will be mainly allocated to ecological and community incentives, team and early contributors, investors, and foundation reserves, with a high proportion of community and ecological-related allocations (about 30%-40%) for airdrops, user incentives, and ecological growth. Backpack was founded by Armani Ferrante, building a user base around wallet and on-chain interaction ecosystems.

NOYA.ai conducted a private placement from March 18 to 25, with IDO and pre-sale launched sequentially from March 25 to 31, where the public offering price is about $0.012–0.014, adopting a “TGE unlock 20% + 6 months linear release” mechanism. TGE is expected to occur after the end of this round of IDO (around the end of March), but no precise time has been disclosed. NOYA.ai is an on-chain research and execution protocol that combines AI and DeFi, positioned as an “automated institutional-grade research assistant,” helping users extract trading opportunities and automatically execute strategies from prediction markets and multi-chain data using AI Agents.

tagSpace plans to launch multiple rounds of IDO in late March 2026, with one round starting on March 24-26, and another round on March 26-28, with a single round issuance price of about $0.0001 and a total fundraising scale of about $150,000 to $300,000. Some rounds will adopt a “TGE unlock about 40% + 3 months linear release” mechanism. TGE is expected to occur after the end of IDO, but no specific time has been announced. tagSpace is an AI/content tagging and data network project based on the Base ecosystem, aiming to improve the organization efficiency of on-chain content and data through tagged information and AI analysis.

3. Important Investments and Financing from Last Week

The prediction market platform Kalshi has completed a new round of financing exceeding $1 billion, with a valuation of $22 billion, doubling from $11 billion in December 2024; this round was led by Coatue Management, with annual revenues reaching about $1.5 billion. Kalshi, founded in 2018, operates as a compliant exchange regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, experiencing rapid user growth and trading volume after being approved by the court to launch transactions related to the U.S. presidential election in 2024. (March 20, 2026)

The tokenized securities infrastructure development company Ironlight Group announced it completed a $21 million Series A financing. This round of financing involved multiple institutional and individual investors, including former TD Bank CEO Greg Braca, Sei Development Foundation, and Laidlaw Private Equity. Ironlight Group focuses on building tokenized securities infrastructure, its core product Ironlight Markets being an Alternative Trading System (ATS) designed to integrate core capital market functions within the U.S. regulatory framework, supporting on-chain issuance and trading of various asset categories including private equity, structured products, fixed income, private credit, and real estate. (March 16, 2026)

YZi Labs announced that it led a $52 million financing for Silicon Valley AI robotics company RoboForce. RoboForce focuses on Physical AI robotic systems, its flagship product TITAN targeting high-intensity industrial scenarios, with applications across solar energy, data centers, shipping, mining, and manufacturing, featuring millimeter-level operation accuracy and dual arms with approximately 40 kg load capacity, aiming to alleviate the industrial labor shortage. The company has currently received over 11,000 robot intended orders and is collaborating with NVIDIA on computing and simulation platforms. After this financing completion, YZi Labs managing partner Ella Zhang will join the board, with the new funds primarily used for robotic foundational model research and development, capacity expansion, and commercial rollout. (March 17, 2026)

The cryptocurrency market making and trading firm GSR announced it acquired consulting firms Autonomous and Architech for approximately $57 million, to integrate and launch an integrated cryptocurrency capital markets and treasury management platform. Autonomous is a consulting agency focused on financial and digital asset space, providing services such as token issuance, capital market strategies, and financial management, which will continue to retain an independent brand after the transaction and undertake token issuance operation and infrastructure support functions within the GSR system; Architech will become the core of its digital asset consulting business, creating synergies with GSR's institutional trading, liquidity, and asset management capabilities. (March 17, 2026)

Global payment infrastructure company TransFi Inc. announced it completed a total of $19.2 million in financing, led by Turing Financial Group, which includes $14.2 million in Series A equity financing and $5 million in liquidity support. TransFi is dedicated to building cross-border payment and settlement infrastructure that connects cryptocurrency assets with traditional fiat systems to provide efficient and compliant global payment solutions for enterprises. This funding will mainly be used to expand business in emerging markets (covering Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Latin America, and Africa), advance regulatory licensing arrangements, and further enhance its global liquidity network and settlement capabilities. (March 18, 2026)