Author: Artemis Analytics
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Deep Tide Insight: This weekly report illustrates one thing with data—the crypto market is shifting from defense to offense. ETFs recording net inflows for two consecutive weeks, on-chain gold tripling in scale, and HIP-3 open interest hitting a record high—the simultaneous strength of these three trends reflects macro uncertainties driving capital to reprice hard assets.
Market Overview: Weekly Review
Welcome back to Artemis' "Digital Finance Fundamentals" weekly report!
This week, crypto asset returns significantly outperformed. HYPE was the standout performer, surging +18.8% over the past 7 days; Figure Technologies (+13.1%) and Circle (+11.7%) also posted substantial gains. Among mainstream assets, Ethereum (+5.2%), Solana (+4.7%), and Bitcoin (+4.7%) all advanced, with Uniswap (+4.2%) and SKY (+8.3%) further boosting the overall rally in digital assets.
Notably, crypto clearly outperformed traditional stocks this week. Although digital assets and crypto-related stocks were mostly in the green, Coinbase (-0.9%) and Robinhood (-5.0%) underperformed the broader market, showing more divergence at the equity level. Among traditional benchmarks, the S&P 500 fell -1.5% weekly, and the Nasdaq 100 declined -1.0%. Overall, risk appetite clearly flowed back into crypto assets, with tokens and some crypto-linked instruments significantly outperforming the market.
Highlights of the Week
HIP-3 open interest and trading volume hit record highs, driven by oil futures
Crypto ETFs see net inflows for two consecutive weeks
On-chain tokenized gold supply exceeds 1.2 million ounces
1. HIP-3 Open Interest and Volume Hit Record Highs, Oil Futures Become Key Driver
HIP-3 market open interest (OI) reached another record high this week: on March 12, total OI hit approximately $1.3 billion. The platform trade.xyz contributed about $1.2 billion of this, with smaller platforms like Dreamcash and HyENA providing additional depth.
More important than the absolute numbers is the shift in drivers. Oil's share of HIP-3 total open interest rose to 31% by March 14—up from nearly negligible levels for most of January and February. In less than two weeks, oil went from a marginal role to one of the most in-demand sources in the entire ecosystem.
This shift signals that HIP-3 is evolving beyond crypto-native long-tail experiments into a truly permissionless venue for macro expression. When offshore traders seek quick exposure to oil, indices, and event-driven volatility, capital is accelerating its flow on-chain. If this trend continues, HIP-3 could become the clearest case of on-chain markets beginning to capture global commodity flows.
2. Crypto ETFs See Net Inflows for Two Consecutive Weeks
Crypto ETF flows remained positive for the second consecutive week, further indicating a resurgence in institutional demand. For the week ending March 8, net inflows totaled $609.9 million, led by Bitcoin ETFs (+$568.5 million), with healthy inflows also seen in Ethereum (+$23.5 million) and Solana (+$22.0 million). Ripple-related products saw minor outflows (-$4.1 million), but overall flows remained positive.
The more critical takeaway: this no longer appears to be a one-week rebound. After weeks of pressure, two consecutive weeks of positive data suggest asset allocators are gradually rebuilding crypto exposure.
The macro logic supporting these sustained flows is directly related to the Iran conflict.
(Hayes' "iOS Warfare" is currently the most detailed exposition of this logic.)
The macro backdrop may continue to provide support. Geopolitical tensions, rising oil prices, and the market's reassessment of Fed rate cut expectations are pushing investors to more seriously consider hard assets and alternative stores of value. If macro uncertainties persist, ETF demand could remain robust as allocators rebuild crypto positions.
3. On-Chain Tokenized Gold Supply Exceeds 1.2 Million Ounces
Tokenized gold supply continued to breakneck growth this week, with on-chain holdings reaching approximately 1.2 million ounces, equivalent to about $6.1 billion. Compared to less than $2 billion just under a year ago, the rapid growth highlights investors' accelerating demand for blockchain-based hard asset exposure.
Amid increasing macro uncertainty dominating markets, tokenized gold is benefiting from two trends: gold's traditional role as a safe-haven asset, and growing acceptance of its on-chain wrapped form as a circulation channel.
The bigger conclusion: tokenization is no longer just a payments or stablecoin story; it is meaningfully extending to store-of-value assets, with gold emerging as one of the clearest real-world beneficiaries.
Chart of the Week
Prediction markets continued growing this week, with total open interest reaching approximately $1.3 billion, led by Kalshi and Polymarket. Traders are increasingly using event markets to express real-time views on political, macro, and geopolitical volatility. This landscape is worth watching—it indicates demand has expanded beyond pure crypto price speculation into broader real-world information and probability pricing markets.
Other Noteworthy News
Mastercard launches large-scale crypto partnership program. On March 11, Mastercard announced a new crypto collaboration program involving over 85 institutions, including Binance, Circle, Ripple, PayPal, Gemini, and Paxos. The initiative aims to leverage stablecoins and digital assets to support cross-border payments, B2B transfers, and global settlement on networks like Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, and Aptos. This marks another step in the integration of blockchain payment infrastructure with the mainstream financial system.
Coinbase in talks with Bybit for potential investment partnership. Reports on March 14 indicated Coinbase is negotiating a possible investment or strategic partnership with Bybit. A deal would bring Bybit closer to the compliant US market, while Coinbase would gain access to one of the largest offshore exchanges globally. From a macro perspective, such talks confirm a trend: as market structure matures, major global exchanges are increasingly aligning with regulated counterparts.
BitGo selected by SoFi to provide infrastructure and institutional distribution support for SoFiUSD. This partnership makes BitGo the core provider for issuance, custody, and distribution of SoFi's bank-issued stablecoin, with institutional clients able to access SoFiUSD directly via BitGo's platform. This again shows regulated banks moving from stablecoin experimentation to actual deployment, backed by crypto-native infrastructure providers.
Kraken's banking unit moves closer to US direct payment access. Kraken Financial's pursuit of a Federal Reserve master account continues to draw attention as one of the most significant infrastructure developments in the space. Direct access to Fedwire and related payment channels would reduce friction for institutional fiat transfers, representing another case of crypto companies integrating into core financial plumbing rather than building alternatives.
