Trend of The Week

Solana futures had an unremarkable first week of trading on the CME. The lackluster debut was followed on Thursday by the launch of two exchange-traded funds tracking SOL futures.

Institutions are slowly but surely setting their sights on Solana now that the dust has settled on the CME futures launch.

The Solana futures had a rather uneventful first week of trading on the CME.

To put it mildly, the lackluster debut was followed by the launch of two exchange-traded funds tracking SOL futures. Volatility Shares unveiled the first SOL ETFs in the U.S., including a futures product and another offering designed to deliver two times (2x) the daily returns of SOL.

On day one, CME's Solana futures saw around $12 million in trading volume, a far cry from the launches of Bitcoin and Ethereum futures on the same platform. Breaking down the launch, the micro contract (representing 25 SOL) saw more activity than the larger contract (500 SOL), signaling a lack of substantial interest from institutional investors at this time.

However, there was more product-related news for SOL later in the week, which could have a larger impact on the asset going forward. Reports suggest that Fidelity could be preparing to file for a SOL ETF Trust.

SOL wasn't the only token issuers were keen to create structured products around. Ripple Labs announced that the SEC has dropped its case against the firm, previously a major hurdle for XRP, the native token of the Ripple Ledger. Following the news, XRP soared over 13%, and the probability of ETF approval increased on prediction markets.

Earlier, SOL dominated spot trading with a 70-80% share relative to XRP, but this trend has reversed, with XRP now holding over 50% of the volume. The futures launch this week didn't shift this pattern as traders focused more on XRP.

The extensive activity in XRP markets isn't surprising. Higher volumes were met with improved liquidity for XRP as the average 1% market depth rose steadily, now outpacing SOL.

Liquidity begets more liquidity, and with the regulatory obstacle removed, we might see similar product launches for XRP in the coming months. In January, the CME mistakenly released a mock webpage for both SOL and XRP futures. With one product launched and the second emerging from its regulatory stardust, we could soon witness more crypto futures products. XRP futures on the CME could see heightened demand if the underlying spot market is anything to go by.

How much BTC trades on the weekend?

Bitcoin liquidity on weekends is showing signs of recovery in 2025, hinting at a possible reversal of the years-long decline. So far this year, Bitcoin's average daily 1% depth has been weakest midweek, particularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and strongest on Fridays.

This marks a shift from last year when Saturdays and Sundays saw the weakest liquidity. Trade volumes on weekends, especially Sundays, have also increased, potentially drawing in more market makers.

What is driving this trend? A closer look at the hourly trading volumes reveals that the most significant surge in Sunday volumes occurred around 23:00 UTC, which coincides with the start of CME Futures trading. This suggests the shift is likely driven by institutional investors.

Demand for continuous trading by traditional investors has been growing, pushing two of the biggest U.S. stock exchanges, Nasdaq and the NYSE, to offer round-the-clock trading.

WEMIX hack triggers liquidty crisis and price divergence.

On February 28, Wemade's WEMIX blockchain platform suffered a $6.1 million exploit, with hackers stealing 8.65 million tokens from the Wemix Foundation's 'play bridge vault' wallet. The breach was only announced on March 3, after most of the stolen funds had been sold.

The delayed announcement helped avoid immediate panic but allowed hackers to sell tokens in optimal liquidity conditions. WEMIX prices dropped 16% between 1:00 and 6:00 AM UTC immediately after the exploit on February 28 before stabilizing.

The market impact of the official announcement on March 3 was more severe as market makers, especially on unregulated platforms outside South Korea, pulled out of the market. WEMIX offshore 1% market depth dried up, reaching a record low of just $14K by March 5. As a result, between March 3 and 4, less than 24 hours, WEMIX prices plummeted an additional 27%.

This liquidity crunch has led to significant price disparities in WEMIX-USDT markets, with KuCoin and HTX showing over 20% price discrepancies. KuCoin's price is still 10% higher due to ongoing liquidity issues.

Following the hack, the Wemix Foundation announced a buyback plan to mitigate the damage and restore market confidence, kicking off on March 13. Considering the sharp decline in liquidity, the buyback could have a substantial impact on prices.

Turkish traders flock into Bitcoin amid political turmoil.

Last week, Bitcoin saw increased demand in the Turkish