: Bitcoin, ethereum — here’s how crypto prices changed in March

As the interest in crypto continues to rise, so does the interest in crypto prices.

Here’s how crypto prices changed in March:

Bitcoin

Prices for bitcoin moved 5.4% higher during the month of March, the second month in a row of positive gains.

Bitcoin’s recent increase comes as one strategist believes more volatility could soon be coming for the digital asset, despite its recent price firmness in the $38,000 to $42,000 range during the early part of 2022.

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As the U.S. and other countries impose monetary sanctions on Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine, there was some speculation that Russia could be using crypto as a means to avoid some of these sanctions.

But law enforcement experts say there is “no evidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using bitcoin to evade financial sanctions.

“​​After so many financial market moving events, Bitcoin still seems to be stuck in no man’s land,” Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda, wrote in March in Barron’s. “Bitcoin’s key trading range remains the $37,000 and $45,000 zone.”

“Crypto traders should be impressed that Bitcoin is still hovering around the $40,000 level despite a surging dollar, declining Bitcoin mining, and falling NFT interest. Bitcoin’s next major move will depend on if Wall Street is still able to throw billions of dollars at the space, which seemed like a foregone conclusion two months ago,” Moya continued.

Bitcoin is down 20.8% over the past 12 months at the time of this writing.

See also: Here’s how sports-betting stocks like DraftKings and Penn National performed in March

Ethereum

Prices for ether increased 12.4% during the month of March, the second month in a row of positive gains.

The recent uptick comes as ethereum’s latest upgrade, which is expected to lower the blockchain’s carbon footprint, is expected in the coming months.

MarketWatch’s Frances Yue reported that some in the crypto industry wonder if the upgrade could eventually lead to ether overtaking bitcoin as the crypto with the biggest market cap, an event referred to as the “flippening.”

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One crypto hack from the ‘Axie Infinity’ network led to about $540 million worth of crypto being stolen. The infiltrators stole 173,600 ether, among other cryptos, according to The Wall Street Journal.

And analytics firm Elliptic says this was the second-largest crypto hack in history — the digital assets were worth roughly $540 million when they were stolen, and are worth around $615 million now, per WSJ.

Ethereum is up 80.68% over the past 12 months at the time of this writing.

Other crypto news

In early March, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a crypto-centric executive order requiring federal agencies to begin a review of their policies related to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

The executive order lists several focuses for the Biden administration in the crypto space, including consumer protection, financial stability, illicit finance, economic competitiveness, financial inclusion and innovation, and allow these agencies 60 to 120 days to formulate policy recommendations about their findings.

See also: This map shows where the Safemoon cryptocurrency is most popular

Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a guidance to crypto exchanges urging them to recognize crypto held on behalf of customers as a liability and asset on their balance sheets, something that many public companies who facilitate crypto trading weren’t doing.

“These risks can have a significant impact on the entity’s operations and financial condition,” the SEC accounting bulletin said. “The staff believes that the recognition, measurement and disclosure guidance…will enhance the information received by investors and other users of financial statements about these risks, thereby assisting them in making investment and other capital allocation decisions.”