# This week in crypto: Mar 30-Apr 5 In our new report, Crypto market cap breaks $2 trillion, Wall Street giants make Bitcoin moves. Also: what is happening with Filecoin? **Published on** _**April 5, 2021**_ ## The big picture In a major milestone, the total market cap for all cryptocurrencies has exceeded $2 trillion. The two largest, [Bitcoin](/content/price/bitcoin/index.html) and [Ethereum](/content/price/ethereum/index.html), currently hover above $1.2 trillion combined. The broader ecosystem is also growing at a rapid pace — with crypto-related companies (infrastructure, loans, games, and more) receiving more funding in the first quarter of 2021 than in all of 2020. [As Bloomberg reports](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-01/crypto-firms-got-more-funding-last-quarter-than-in-all-of-2020?sref=aInCMkkj): “The increase was fueled by several large rounds for startups including crypto lender BlockFi Inc., game-maker Dapper Labs Inc. and crypto wallet provider Blockchain.com.” And in other news… - This week saw the return of South Korea’s “ [Kimchi Premium](https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/100490/bitcoin-btc-price-66000-south-korea-kimchi-premium)” — in which [Bitcoin](/content/price/bitcoin/index.html) prices via the nation’s biggest exchange command a premium (currently around 15 percent) compared to prices on non-Korean exchanges like Coinbase. Ether is also trading at a premium, indicating higher-than-average crypto demand from South Koreans. - China’s central-bank digital-currency project is accelerating its rollout, raising questions around financial both privacy and the U.S. dollar’s role as the dominant currency for the global financial system. [The Wall Street Journal reports](https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-creates-its-own-digital-currency-a-first-for-major-economy-11617634118?mod=hp_lead_pos): “When [Bitcoin](/content/price/bitcoin/index.html) launched in 2009, most nations’ policy makers largely played down its significance. China paid attention.” - That said, China isn’t alone — [as we reported last week](/content/learn/market-updates/this-week-in-bitcoin-price-4-5/index.html), central banks from many of the biggest economies in the world, including the U.S., are pursuing similar efforts. ## Wall Street meets Bitcoin - In March, CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley would be the [first big U.S. bank to offer Bitcoin investment for wealthy clients.](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/17/bitcoin-morgan-stanley-is-the-first-big-us-bank-to-offer-wealthy-clients-access-to-bitcoin-funds.html) Now, new [regulatory filings](https://decrypt.co/63693/morgan-stanley-bitcoin-exposure-sec) indicate that the financial-services giant will allow funds to invest ‘indirectly’ in Bitcoin through cash-settled Bitcoin futures and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust — which are both popular methods for institutions looking to invest in Bitcoin. - Has (relatively) low Bitcoin volatility been driving Wall Street’s interest? [A recent report from JP Morgan suggests that](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-01/bitcoin-volatility-decline-paves-way-for-banks-jpmorgan-says?sref=aInCMkkj): “The recent pullback in Bitcoin’s volatility is setting the stage for a trend that could encourage institutions to dive in.” ## What’s going on with Filecoin? Compared to the beginning of 2021, Bitcoin has offered around 100 percent returns — making it a famously strong investment opportunity. But it’s not even close to the top performer in the space. Over the last three months, [Filecoin](/content/price/filecoin/index.html) has surged nearly 700 percent — and last week it cracked the Top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. **What is** [**filecoin**](/content/price/filecoin/index.html) **?** [Filecoin](/content/price/filecoin/index.html) (FIL) is a cryptocurrency that powers the Filecoin network, which is a decentralized, peer-to-peer competitor to cloud storage products like Dropbox or Amazon Web Services. Data stored via Filecoin is distributed across the entire network — as opposed to traditional centralized-server storage. FIL tokens are used as payment for these services and as an economic incentive to ensure files are stored reliably over time. **So what exactly is happening?** For one, a few prominent crypto funds have begun tracking Filecoin: - Last week, the cryptocurrency was added to the [Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund](https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/funds/Bitwise-10). As of writing, the Bitwise 10 has over $1 billion in assets under management. - In March, Grayscale offered a new [investment trust for Filecoin](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/biggest-bitcoin-fund-provider-to-offer-different-crypto-trusts?sref=aInCMkkj) (alongside four other cryptocurrencies). The new [Grayscale Filecoin Trust](https://twitter.com/Grayscale/status/1378089073714270211?s=20) has grown to $8.7 million in its first few weeks of operation. The [Filecoin network](https://filecoin.io/blog/eip-1559-in-filecoin/) includes a system where some coins are “burnt,” thereby reducing circulating supply and potentially driving up prices. - Filecoin miners both verify new transactions and provide peer-to-peer file storage for the network’s users — miners who wish to participate in peer-to-peer storage “lock” some of their FIL as collateral, and earn rewards in exchange for the service. - As of writing, there is [108.9 million FIL in circulation.](https://spacegap.github.io/#/) - [20.8 million FIL](https://spacegap.github.io/#/) has been burnt. - [57 million FIL are locked by miners,](https://spacegap.github.io/#/) who are currently providing over 4,500 petabytes of data storage. How much is that? 4,500 petabytes is [estimated](https://www.yalescientific.org/2020/03/the-future-of-data-storage-is-hidden-in-plain-sight-new-dna-of-things-technology-has-the-power-to-transform-our-digitized-world/) to be enough space to store more than 1,000 copies of Netflix’s entire library.