Gate Research Institute: Circle Launches Nanopayments Testnet | Gate Launches TradFi Trading API and Multi-Leverage Mechanism

Cryptocurrency Market Overview

• BTC (+0.77% | Current price: 68,619 USDT): Bitcoin has maintained a sideways consolidation pattern over the past 24 hours. After a previous rebound, the price has been fluctuating narrowly around $68,000, primarily digesting gains in the short term. From the moving average perspective, MA5, MA10, and MA30 are gradually converging, with the price moving near multiple moving averages, indicating that the short-term trend remains unclear and the market is in a wait-and-see phase. The MACD is operating near the zero line, with the red momentum bars slightly expanding, suggesting a slight recovery in bullish momentum but with limited strength. Resistance above is at the $69,800–$70,100 range. If this level cannot be effectively broken, a pullback to test support at $67,200–$66,500 remains possible.
• ETH (+0.75% | Current price: 1,991 USDT): Over the past 24 hours, ETH has mainly experienced a correction and recovery phase. The price has gradually stabilized above $1,950 after a pullback and has been consolidating within the $1,980–$2,000 range. The moving averages, including MA5 and MA10, are mostly flat, with the price oscillating around MA30, indicating a neutral short-term trend and no sustained rebound momentum yet. The MACD is forming a weak golden cross near the zero line, with the momentum bars slightly turning positive, reflecting some market sentiment recovery but cautious buying interest persists. Resistance is at the $2,020–$2,080 range. If broken, the price may retest support at $1,940–$1,900.
• Altcoins: The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has dropped to 10, entering the “Extreme Fear” zone, further declining compared to yesterday and last month, indicating that market sentiment remains very low. In this environment, capital tends to stay on the sidelines or reduce risk exposure, and short-term selling pressure may intermittently ease.
• Macro: On March 3, the S&P 500 fell 0.94% to 6,816.63 points; the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.83% to 48,501.27 points; the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.02% to 22,516.69 points. As of 11:15 AM (UTC+8) on March 4, spot gold is trading at $5,178 per ounce, up 1.76% in the past 24 hours.

Hot Tokens to Watch

PHA Phala (+49.22%, Market Cap: $31.05 million)

According to Gate data, PHA is currently priced at $0.03823, up approximately 49.22% in 24 hours. Phala Network aims to be a foundational infrastructure for AI and Web3 privacy computing, primarily leveraging TEE hardware security environments to provide confidential computing capabilities for on-chain applications and AI models.

Recent project narratives and technological developments have become focal points. The team continues to emphasize “Confidential AI” and privacy computing infrastructure, deploying various models within AI ecosystems like OpenRouter, and announced a partnership with Zeko Labs to introduce Confidential Rollups into AI Agent scenarios, enabling AI execution, ordering, and key management within TEE environments. Additionally, discussions around the core of AI competition—focused on private data and trusted computing—have intensified, further strengthening Phala’s narrative in the AI security infrastructure sector.

AIXBT aixbt by Virtuals (+23.6%, Market Cap: $25.34 million)

According to Gate data, AIXBT is currently priced at $0.02943, up 23.6% in 24 hours. AIXBT is an AI Agent project within the Virtuals ecosystem, positioned as an automated market information analysis and trading insight agent. It integrates on-chain data, market information, and social media content to interpret and generate signals about crypto market dynamics in real time.

From recent trends, this rally appears to be driven more by technical recovery and phase reversal. After a prolonged downtrend and sideways consolidation, the price has rebounded significantly from low levels with increased volume. The MACD momentum bars are gradually turning positive, and short-term moving averages are beginning to turn upward, indicating a possible return of short-term capital inflows.

AKT Akash Network (+15.72%, Market Cap: $99.14 million)

According to Gate data, AKT is currently trading at $0.3489, up approximately 15.72% in 24 hours. Akash Network is a decentralized cloud computing and GPU resource marketplace that matches idle computing power with developers needing computational resources, providing lower-cost infrastructure for AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing.

Recent technical upgrades and rising AI compute narratives have become key market focuses. Akash announced the upcoming Mainnet 16 upgrade, which includes improvements to leasing mechanisms, security patches, and infrastructure migration. The team is also advancing the Akash HomeNode concept, connecting household GPU resources to the network to support AI workloads.

Alpha Insights

AI Models Show Preference for Bitcoin as a Currency in 48.3% of Scenarios

A study by the Bitcoin Policy Institute analyzing 36 cutting-edge AI models across 9,072 financial scenarios shows a clear bias toward Bitcoin in value storage and transaction medium decisions. The data indicates that approximately 48.3% of decision scenarios favor Bitcoin as the primary currency tool, significantly higher than stablecoins (33.2%) and fiat currencies/banking funds (8.9%). This suggests that, within algorithmic evaluation frameworks, Bitcoin’s features—decentralization, security, and global liquidity—are generally viewed as more robust for store of value and payment purposes.

Structurally, stablecoins still maintain a high usage ratio, mainly due to their price stability and transaction efficiency advantages. Traditional fiat currencies have a lower representation in AI decision-making, reflecting limited suitability for cross-border and permissionless financial scenarios. Newer value carriers like Tokenized RWA (1.1%) and compute resource tokens (0.9%) remain a small proportion, indicating that AI’s current asset choices are concentrated on mature crypto assets. Overall, this research indirectly highlights that, in automated financial decision scenarios, Bitcoin is increasingly regarded by algorithms as a foundational digital currency.

Circle Launches Nanopayments Testnet Supporting Micro-Payments of USDC as Low as $0.000001

Circle announced that its ultra-small payment service Nanopayments has officially launched its testnet, supporting USDC micro-payments as low as $0.000001 with zero gas fees. The initiative aims to lower on-chain payment barriers, making the transfer of tiny amounts feasible in terms of technology and cost, and providing infrastructure for digital content payments, API billing, and real-time service payments.

In practical applications, Nanopayments also enables AI agents to participate in transactions, allowing automated programs to perform micro-value exchanges without human intervention. This mechanism is viewed as a key infrastructure for the AI economy, applicable to model usage fees, data access permissions, and machine-to-machine transactions. As settlement efficiency and costs improve with stablecoins, on-chain micro-payments are expected to see broader adoption in Web3 and AI-integrated business models.

Gate Launches TradFi Trading API and Multi-Leverage Mechanism, Simultaneously Initiating Trading Incentives

Gate announced the launch of its TradFi trading API and an upgraded leverage system within the TradFi section, further enhancing its multi-asset algorithmic trading platform. The API supports automated trading of traditional assets such as metals, forex, and indices, enabling users to execute orders, access market data, and manage accounts more efficiently. The new leverage system offers multiple tiers up to 500x leverage, providing greater flexibility for different trading strategies. The platform also integrates a unified account structure and USDT margin system to improve cross-market capital allocation.

Additionally, Gate has launched a trading incentive campaign for TradFi API users, with a total prize pool of 80,000 USDT. Participants who register and activate TradFi trading before 16:00 (UTC+8) on March 15, and complete specified trading tasks via API, will be eligible to share in the rewards.
References:

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/eth/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
• Investing, https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices
• Investing, https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/2029006549696266583?s=20

Disclaimer Cryptocurrency market investments involve high risks. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of assets and products before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.