<\/h3>\n<\/noscript>\nIn the first quarter of 2026, Bitcoin ETFs saw $18.7 billion in total inflows, the highest amount since they started.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nIBIT had roughly $54 billion in assets under management at the end of the quarter, which was about half of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market. It brought in about $8.4 billion in net inflows for Q1.<\/span><\/li>\nU.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced net outflows of roughly $500 million across the quarter. Although March recorded $1.32 billion in inflows, that wasn\u2019t enough to make up for the $1.61 billion in redemptions in January and $206.52 million in February.<\/span><\/li>\nSpot XRP ETFs recorded total net inflows of 42.52 during Q1 2026, with combined inflows of $73.68 million for the first two months offset by $31.16 million outflow in March.<\/span><\/li>\nSolana ETFs attracted a total of $213 million for the quarter, with all three months showing positive inflows.<\/span><\/li>\nIn contract, Spot Ethereum ETFs experienced net outflows of around $769 million, with no month showing positive flows.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nDigital Asset Treasuries added more than $3.7 billion of cryptocurrency to their balance sheets.<\/span><\/li>\nBy the end of the quarter, public US-traded companies collectively held 5.42% of all circulating Bitcoin, 5.22% of Ethereum, and 2.95% of Solana.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nBitmine Immersion bought 179,946 ETH, Strategy (Michael Saylor) bought 42,114 BTC, and Hyperliquid Treasury paid $129 million for 5 million HYPE tokens.<\/span><\/li>\nDespite large accumulation, dropping prices resulted in unrealized losses of more than $7 billion across multiple Digital Asset Treasuries. Hyperliquid Treasury was the only top DAT to remain profitable in Q1.<\/span><\/li>\nMicroStrategy\u2019s Strategy reported<\/span> an unrealized loss of $14.46 billion on its Bitcoin holdings during Q1 2026, partially offset by a deferred tax benefit of $2.42 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nDespite the dip, the company has continued to purchase over 54,000 BTC since February 2. March purchases were among its greatest weekly acquisitions, with a total monthly increase of 41,362 BTC. During the first quarter, the company acquired 89,316 BTC for a total of around $6.3 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n3. Venture Capital & Fundraising<\/b><\/h3>\n\nCryptocurrency startups raised nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026. That\u2019s a 16% decrease year-on-year when compared to the first three months of 2025 when the market saw closer to $6 billion in funding amid the crypto industry\u2019s euphoria after Donald Trump took office. Crypto startups raised around $5 billion in Q1 2026.That\u2019s a 16% decline year over year compared to the Q1 2025, when the market saw $6 billion in funding amid the crypto industry\u2019s happiness after Trump became president.<\/span><\/li>\nThe prediction market segment led fundraising activity with more than $1.7 billion raised, followed by payments at $735 million and trading infrastructure at $423 million.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nTop 10 funding rounds in Q1 2026<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\nName<\/b><\/td>\n Amount Raised ($)<\/b><\/td>\n Category<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nKalshi<\/span><\/td>\n 1 billion<\/span><\/td>\n Prediction Market<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nPolymarket<\/span><\/td>\n 600 million<\/span><\/td>\n Prediction Market<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRain<\/span><\/td>\n 250 million<\/span><\/td>\n Payments<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBitGo<\/span><\/td>\n 213 million<\/span><\/td>\n Custody<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFlying Tulip<\/span><\/td>\n 206 million<\/span><\/td>\n DeFi<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWhop<\/span><\/td>\n 200 million<\/span><\/td>\n Web3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLMAX Group<\/span><\/td>\n 150 million<\/span><\/td>\n Trading<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAlpaca<\/span><\/td>\n 150 million<\/span><\/td>\n Trading<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBluesky<\/span><\/td>\n 100 million<\/span><\/td>\n Social Platform<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAnchorage Digital<\/span><\/td>\n 100 million<\/span><\/td>\n Banking<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nTop Crypto Tokens in Q1 2026<\/b><\/h2>\n\nAmong all crypto categories, AI-related tokens experienced the smallest sector decline at approximately -14% for Q1. TAO, FET, and RENDER posted positive returns, while 38% of altcoins traded near their all-time lows.<\/span><\/li>\nAmong individual assets, Bittensor (TAO) delivered a strong +40% return in Q1, reaching a market capitalization of approximately $3.4 billion, driven by solid fundamentals including an estimated $43 million in quarterly revenue and a notable endorsement from Nvidia. Fetch.ai (FET) was also one of the top performers, surging +67% to around $1.8 billion, supported by the expansion of the ASI Alliance and growing demand for agentic AI solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBest performing cryptos in Q1 2026<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\nToken<\/b><\/td>\n Q1 Return<\/b><\/td>\n Market Cap (Late March)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFetch.ai (FET)<\/span><\/td>\n +67%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$530 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHyperliquid (HYPE)<\/span><\/td>\n +43.8%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$10 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMorpho (MORPHO)<\/span><\/td>\n +40.9%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$800 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAxie Infinity (AXS)<\/span><\/td>\n +40.3%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$190 million<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBittensor (TAO)<\/span><\/td>\n +39.9%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$3 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRender (RENDER)<\/span><\/td>\n +32%<\/span><\/td>\n ~$2.1 billion<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\nIn contrast, major assets underperformed. Bitcoin (BTC) declined nearly 23% over the quarter as geopolitical tensions and tight money conditions. Ethereum (ETH) saw a bigger drop of 32%, impacted by contraction in DeFi activity and rising competition from Layer 2 platforms.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nBitcoin Price, Return & Mining Hashrate<\/b><\/h3>\n\nBitcoin began January around $90,000, reached approximately <\/span>~$95K\u2013$97K <\/span>(cycle high for Q1) on Jan 14\u201315.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nIt dropped below <\/span>$63,000 <\/span>on February 6 for the first time since September 2024. The decline began on January 29 with a 15% single-day fall from $96,000 to $80,000, followed by further downside after the nomination of Kevin Warsh, which pushed prices below $80,000. The Fear and Greed Index fell to 6, its lowest level since the FTX collapse. A mid-February rebound to $70,000 was cut short by U.S. military action in Iran. Although Bitcoin partially recovered above $70K in March, it still finished the first quarter of 2026 at around $<\/span>66K<\/span> in the final days of the month.<\/span><\/li>\nBitcoin recorded a 22.6% loss in Q1, driven by geopolitical pressures, hawkish Fed repricing, and a cooling technology stock market.<\/span><\/li>\nSince the outbreak of the US-Iran war on February 28th, Bitcoin has shown notable relative strength compared to equities and gold, with only a 1.5% loss.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nBitcoin\u2019s network hash rate dropped to approximately 0.85 ZH\/s in early February 2026 from 1.045 ZH\/s in December 2025 due to miner shutdowns, before recovering to around 1.02 ZH\/s by late March.<\/span><\/li>\nOn March 10, the 20 millionth Bitcoin was mined at block height 939,999 by Foundry USA, meaning 95.24% of total supply is now in circulation. Roughly 1 million BTC remain to be mined over the next 114 years, with an estimated 2.3 to 3.7 million permanently lost. BTC was trading near $69,000 at the time of this milestone.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nHow much did BTC Whales & Millionaires lose?<\/b><\/h4>\n\nLarge wallets holding between 100 and 10,000 BTC recorded average daily losses of approximately $336 million in Q1 2026, marking the worst quarter since 2022.<\/span><\/li>\nIn Q1 2026, Bitcoin sharks (holders of 100-1,000 BTC) lost approximately $188.5 million per day, while whales (holders of 1,000-10,000 BTC) lost approximately $147.5 million per day. Overall, the average daily loss was approximately $336 million, and the total realized losses for the year was approximately $30.91 billion.<\/span><\/li>\nIn Q1 2025, the decline in millionaire addresses was 13,942, meaning Q1 2026 saw a larger contraction by 6,648 addresses, or a 47.7% deeper year-over-year drop. The number of BTC addresses with $1 million dropped from 131,716 on January 1 to 113,233 on March 31, decreasing by 18,483.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the number of BTC addresses with $10 million or more dropped from 16,368 to 14,261, decreasing by 2,107.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEthereum & Other Altcoins<\/b><\/h3>\n\nEthereum fell below $1,900, posting a -32% return for the quarter, significantly below its historical Q1 average of 66%.<\/span><\/li>\nOn February 6, Ethereum reached $1,820, its lowest level since May 2025, down from $2,800 at the beginning of 2026. Despite this decline, Ethereum retained over 56% of DeFi TVL, supported a $164 billion stablecoin base, and generated $34.67 million in fees during the quarter. A brief rebound above $2,115 in March was halted by geopolitical developments.<\/span><\/li>\nSolana ended the first quarter with a 33.2% price decline, underperforming both Bitcoin and Ethereum.<\/span><\/li>\nXRP declined by 27.1% during Q1, although its narrative continued expanding beyond cross-border payments. RLUSD gained traction, reaching a $1.42 billion market cap by the end of the quarter.<\/span><\/li>\nCoinbase (COIN) declined throughout Q1, closing at approximately $195.53 on March 13, down from January highs of $220\u2013$230, and recording year-to-date losses exceeding 10%.<\/span><\/li>\nTotal altcoin market capitalization fell by roughly 40%, with dominance dropping to 12.45% on February 6.<\/span>\n\nMemecoins declined between 45% and 60%, with cat-themed tokens losing 58% of their total market cap in a single day on February 6, coinciding with Bitcoin\u2019s drop below $63,000.<\/span><\/li>\nPrivacy coins experienced significant volatility: Monero rose 82% in early January, reaching a record $797 before falling 62% by February 6 to below $300, while Zcash declined by up to 45% in March.<\/span><\/li>\nDespite broader declines, several small-cap tokens delivered significant gains in Q1:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nToken<\/b><\/td>\n Q1 Return<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBitlayer ($BTR)<\/span><\/td>\n +600%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nIslamic Coin ($ISLM)<\/span><\/td>\n +328%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nKonnect ($KCT)<\/span><\/td>\n +325%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nRiver ($RIVER)<\/span><\/td>\n +230%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nBankrCoin ($BNKR)<\/span><\/td>\n +227%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nVenice Token ($VVV)<\/span><\/td>\n +193%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nKey Crypto Sectors<\/b><\/h2>\nAI (<\/b>Artificial Intelligence<\/b>)<\/b><\/h3>\n\nOver 120 million agentic transactions were processed during Q1 2026, including increasing B2B AI agent payments, though total value remained between $50 million and $150 million due to an average transaction<\/span><\/li>\nThe market capitalization of AI-related crypto assets reached $18 billion, supported by over 406,000 active AI agents.<\/span><\/li>\nBase and Solana collectively accounted for 97% of all agentic payment activity. Base led with 59% (70.9 million transactions), while Solana contributed 38% (45.3 million transactions).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDeFi (Decentralized Finance)<\/b><\/h3>\n
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