March Layer 1 Landscape Recap

March was a tumultuous month for crypto, marked by a string of startling events, including the closing of three key US banks that supported the industry - Silicon Valley, Silvergate, and Signature Bank. During the start of these bank crises, USDC depegged to the most significant degree in its history, falling to about $0.87 on March 11th before eventually recovering back to par, ultimately raising deeper fears about the resilience of crypto’s core institutions and infrastructure. Indeed, many of the most prominent names in the crypto industry became open targets for U.S. regulatory agencies in March, including Coinbase, Binance, and Tron founder Justin Sun. 

In this monthly recap, we will take a look at the impacts of this fresh wave of uncertainty on Layer 1 (L1) ecosystems, where the majority of on-chain financial activity still occurs today.