Market volatility persists as inflation and geopolitical tensions disrupt economic stability, challenging investor strategies and risk assets.

The post Hot inflation and a hot war keep markets on edge appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

UBS's national bank conversion enhances its US growth strategy, enabling broader client services and potential expansion into digital assets.

The post UBS wins approval to convert US unit into nationally chartered bank appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The reactivation of dormant Bitcoin wallets could signal increased market volatility and influence investor sentiment amid economic shifts.

The post Bitcoin whale awakens after 14 years, sitting on $148 million windfall appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Coinbase's 24/7 stock futures could reshape global trading by enhancing market accessibility and liquidity, challenging traditional exchanges.

The post Coinbase unveils 24/7 stock futures for global traders in derivatives push appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Amazon's new phone could redefine mobile engagement by integrating AI deeply into daily life, potentially reshaping user interaction norms.

The post Amazon develops Transformer phone, its first since 2014 Fire Phone appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Holds $70,000 as War-Driven Inflation Fears Meet Defensive Market Positioning

Bitcoin price held near the $70,000 level today as geopolitical risks tied to the conflict involving Iran shifted and macro expectations weighed on broader risk markets, while derivatives data and on-chain metrics pointed to a market in consolidation rather than capitulation.

The bitcoin price hovered around $70,500 in early Friday trading, following a pullback from a recent high near $76,000. 

The move came as energy markets surged and inflation concerns returned to the forefront, limiting upside across risk assets. Despite the pressure, Bitcoin price has shown relative stability compared with commodities and equities during the same period.

Research from VanEck frames the current environment as a post-stress reset. The firm’s mid-March ChainCheck report notes that Bitcoin price’s 30-day average price declined 19%, yet spot prices stabilized as realized volatility fell from 80 to near 50. 

At the same time, futures funding rates dropped from 4.1% to 2.7%, signaling reduced leverage and lower speculative intensity.

Options markets reflect a defensive posture. VanEck data shows the put-to-call open interest ratio averaged 0.77, the highest level since mid-2021, placing current positioning in the 91st percentile of observations since 2019. 

Demand for downside protection remains elevated, with put premiums reaching record levels relative to spot trading volume. Investors continue to allocate capital toward hedging, even as volatility declines.

Future positive returns for Bitcoin price?

This pattern has historical significance. According to VanEck, similar levels of options skew have preceded positive forward returns. Periods with comparable readings have produced average gains of more than 13% over the following 90 days and more than 100% over a one-year horizon. 

The data suggests that extreme caution in derivatives markets has often coincided with late-stage drawdowns rather than the start of new declines.

Onchain activity presents a quieter picture. Transfer volume fell 31% over the past month, while daily fees dropped 27%. Active addresses declined modestly, indicating limited participation at the network level. 

This trend led to the growing role of offchain venues, including exchange-traded products and derivatives platforms, which now account for a larger share of trading activity.

Long-term holders appear to be reducing distribution. Transfer volume declined across all age cohorts, signaling that older coins remain largely inactive. This shift points to reduced selling pressure from experienced market participants, a factor often associated with price stabilization phases.

Miner behavior adds another layer. Revenues declined 11% in the past month, reflecting tighter economics. Yet selling pressure from miners has not surged. Onchain flows to exchanges rose only 1%, while aggregate miner balances declined at a gradual pace. Over the past year, miners have sold most newly issued supply but have not accelerated liquidation of existing reserves.

Institutional flows, however, have softened. 

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net outflows in recent sessions, reversing a prior streak of inflows. The shift aligns with broader risk aversion as investors respond to macro uncertainty and rising energy costs.

Yesterday, Morgan Stanley confirmed that its proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund will trade under the ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca, according to an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

At the time of writing, the bitcoin price is $70,371.

This post Bitcoin Price Holds $70,000 as War-Driven Inflation Fears Meet Defensive Market Positioning first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

North Carolina Lawmakers Propose State Bitcoin Reserve

North Carolina lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to create a state-controlled Bitcoin reserve. 

Senate Bill 327, titled the North Carolina Bitcoin Reserve and Investment Act, would allow the Office of the State Treasurer to allocate up to 10% of public funds into BTC as part of the state’s long-term financial strategy.

The bill, sponsored by Senators Johnson and Overcash, passed its first Senate reading and was referred to the Rules and Operations Committee. Its stated goals include establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, promoting BTC as a financial innovation, and positioning North Carolina as a leader in state-level crypto adoption.

Under the proposal, the Treasurer would manage the reserve using cold storage wallets with multi-signature authentication. 

A new department within the Treasurer’s office would take custody of the assets, ensuring state control. The bill also calls for a Bitcoin Economic Advisory Board composed of industry experts to provide guidance and monthly audits to verify reserve balances, security, and performance.

Bitcoin acquisitions would be conducted through regulated U.S.-based exchanges, with bulk purchases timed to take advantage of market conditions. The bill also directs the Treasurer to explore BTC mining operations as a potential method to increase state holdings.

Use of the reserve would be restricted to severe financial crises, approved investment strategies, funding for critical infrastructure and economic development projects, and support for Bitcoin-related research, education, and business incentives.

Any liquidation of BTC would require approval from at least two-thirds of both chambers of the General Assembly. The bill allows the reserve to back bonds as an alternative financing tool for public projects.

The Treasurer would submit quarterly reports to the General Assembly detailing the reserve’s status, value, and performance.

Reports would also be publicly available on the Treasurer’s website, according to the bill’s text. The bill includes provisions to comply with federal and state laws regarding cryptocurrency holdings and taxation and encourages advocacy for federal regulations favorable to Bitcoin.

U.S. states want Bitcoin

Several U.S. states are exploring or have implemented BTC reserves as part of state treasury strategies. 

Texas, New Hampshire, and Arizona have enacted laws allowing portions of state funds to be allocated to Bitcoin, while Maryland, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan, South Dakota, Illinois, Tennessee and Missouri have introduced legislation proposing similar reserves. 

Other states, including Oklahoma, Utah, and Pennsylvania, have considered bills that remain in committee, while proposals in Wyoming, Montana, and Florida have stalled or been rejected. These efforts reflect a growing trend to use BTC as a potential store-of-value hedge and diversify state financial assets.

This post North Carolina Lawmakers Propose State Bitcoin Reserve first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Adam Back Confirmed As A Bitcoin 2026 Speaker

Adam Back has been officially confirmed as a speaker at Bitcoin 2026, returning to the conference as one of the few people in the world whose contributions to Bitcoin predate Bitcoin itself. As Co-Founder and CEO of Blockstream and CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR), Back comes to Las Vegas operating at the intersection of Bitcoin infrastructure and capital markets like never before.

In 1997, Back invented Hashcash — a proof-of-work system originally built to combat email spam that became the direct technical foundation for Bitcoin’s mining process. Satoshi Nakamoto cited Back by name in the Bitcoin white paper, writing that the network would need “a proof-of-work system similar to Adam Back’s Hashcash.” Before the genesis block was ever mined, Satoshi emailed Back directly.

Blockstream, which Back co-founded in 2014, develops Bitcoin infrastructure across three areas: consumer self-custody tools including the open-source Jade hardware wallet, enterprise settlement and asset issuance on the Liquid Network, and institutional products through Blockstream Asset Management — with with Liquid Network closing 2025 with close to $5 billion in TVL. At Bitcoin 2025, Back framed the company’s direction: “We’re laser-focused on Bitcoin. At Blockstream, we are here to provide the infrastructure to enable that.”

On the capital markets side, Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company has entered into a definitive agreement to go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO), structured with 30,021 BTC on its balance sheet and up to $1.5 billion in PIPE financing — the largest ever announced alongside a Bitcoin treasury SPAC merger. As of March 2026, BSTR is awaiting completion of the de-SPAC process, with shareholder approval targeted as early as April, after which the combined company is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker “BSTR.”

From inventing the proof-of-work system that makes Bitcoin possible, to building the infrastructure layer on top of it, to now bringing over 30,000 BTC to public markets — Back’s is unlike anyone else on the Bitcoin 2026 stage. His appearance at The Venetian this April will be one of the most technically credible perspectives at the conference on where Bitcoin’s protocol, infrastructure, and capital markets are all heading at once.

Bitcoin 2026 Returns to Las Vegas Bigger Than Ever

Bitcoin 2026 will take place April 27–29 at The Venetian, Las Vegas, and is expected to be the biggest Bitcoin event of the year.

Focused on the future of money, Bitcoin 2026 will bring together Bitcoin builders, investors, miners, policymakers, technologists, and newcomers from around the world. The event will feature a wide range of pass types, including general admission passes designed specifically for those new to Bitcoin, alongside premium passes for professionals, enterprises, and institutions.

With multiple stages, immersive experiences, technical workshops, and headline keynotes, Bitcoin 2026 is designed to serve both first-time attendees and long-time Bitcoiners shaping the next era of global adoption.

Past Bitcoin Conferences in the U.S.

Bitcoin’s flagship conference has scaled dramatically over the past five years:

• 2021 – Miami: 11,000 attendees
• 2022 – Miami: 26,000 attendees
• 2023 – Miami: 15,000 attendees
• 2024 – Nashville: 22,000 attendees
• 2025 – Las Vegas: 35,000 attendees

Get Your Bitcoin 2026 Pass

Bitcoin Magazine readers can save 10% on Bitcoin 2026 tickets using code ‘ARTICLE10‘ at checkout.

Stay at The official hotel of Bitcoin 2026, The Venetian, and get a guaranteed low rate plus 15% off your pass. Hotel Prices increase soon, be in the middle of where the fun is all happening, and where the networking never ends.

And don’t forget:

Volunteer at Bitcoin 2026 and get Pro Pass access plus exclusive perks.

All students ages 13+ can apply for a Student Pass and get free general admission access to Bitcoin 2026.

Location: The Venetian, Las Vegas
Dates: April 27–29, 2026

For more information and exclusive offers, visit the Bitcoin Conference on X here.

Why Attend Bitcoin 2026?

Bitcoin 2026 is the definitive gathering for anyone serious about the future of money. With 500+ speakers, multiple world-class stages, and programming spanning Bitcoin fundamentals, open-source development, enterprise adoption, mining, energy, AI, policy, and culture, the conference brings every corner of the Bitcoin ecosystem together under one roof.

From headline keynotes on the Nakamoto Stage to deep technical sessions for builders, institutional strategy discussions for enterprises, and beginner-friendly Bitcoin 101 education, Bitcoin 2026 is designed for everyone—from first-time attendees to the leaders shaping Bitcoin’s global adoption.

Whether you’re looking to learn, build, invest, network, or influence, Bitcoin 2026 is where Bitcoin’s next chapter is written.

Bitcoin 2026 Pass Types: Something for Everyone

Bitcoin 2026 offers a range of pass options designed to meet the needs of newcomers, professionals, enterprises, and high-net-worth Bitcoiners alike.

Bitcoin 2026 General Admission Pass

Ideal for newcomers and those looking to experience the heart of the conference.

• Limited access on Days 2 & 3
• Entry to Main Stage
• Access to Genesis Stage
• Full access to the Expo Hall

Bitcoin 2026 Pro Pass

Designed for professionals, operators, and serious Bitcoin participants.

Includes all General Admission features, plus:

• Full 3-day access, including Pro Day
• Entry to the Pro Pass Reception
• Access to Enterprise Hall, Enterprise Stage, and Networking Lounge
• Conference App networking features
• Access to the Bitcoin For Corporations Symposium
• Entry to Compute Village and Energy Stage
• Complimentary lunch, coffee, tea, and snacks
• Dedicated registration and check-in
• Reserved seating at Main Stage
• Huge savings when you bundle your hotel and Pro Pass

Bitcoin 2026 Whale Pass

The all-inclusive, premium Bitcoin 2026 experience.

Includes all Pro Pass features, plus:

• Reserved seating at Main Stage
• All-inclusive gourmet food and beverages
• Entry to Whale Night and Whale Reception
• Access to all official after-parties
• Networking app access to connect with other Whales
• Premium access to The Deep — an exclusive networking lounge with intimate speaker sessions
• Complimentary stay at The Venetian when you bundle your whale pass and hotel (use promo code ‘WHALEHOTEL’ here)

This is the most immersive way to experience Bitcoin 2026.

Bitcoin 2026 After Hours Pass

Your ticket to the night.

Most deals are done with a drink in your hand. Get exclusive access to 3 official Bitcoin 2026 after-parties across Las Vegas — each with a 2-hour open bar — where the real conversations happen and the best connections are made.

• Access to 3 official Bitcoin 2026 after-parties
• 2-hour open bar at each event
• Evening events across Las Vegas, April 27–29
• Network with Bitcoiners, builders, and industry leaders after hours

More headline speaker announcements are coming soon.

Don’t miss Bitcoin 2026.

This post Adam Back Confirmed As A Bitcoin 2026 Speaker first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

Bitcoin Magazine

Despite a 47% Price Drop, Bitcoin Traders Aren’t Selling

Bitcoin faced a dramatic market correction in early 2026, plunging 46% from its $126,000 all-time high and briefly dipping below $61,000 on February 6. 

The drop erased over $1 trillion in market value and prompted headlines warning of a defining crypto moment. Social media feeds filled with reactions, yet most holders remained on the sidelines.

A survey by Oobit of 1,006 American Bitcoin holders and sentiment analysis of 117,630 posts across 10 major crypto subreddits reveals that fear did not translate into widespread selling. 

Anxiety and hope dominated emotional responses, with 39% of holders reporting anxiety and 38% hope. 

Despite the turbulence, 69% of respondents had neither sold their holdings nor planned to, demonstrating what the community often calls “diamond hands.” Only 8% were classified as true panic sellers.

Among anxious holders, 72% still intended to hold, and 64% of fearful holders expressed the same. 

Overall, 75% would maintain their positions even if prices continued to fall. The survey indicates that fear and hope often coexist: 86% of respondents reported experiencing both emotions while holding their Bitcoin, according to the survey.

A Bitcoin recovering is coming

Investors are also anticipating a recovery. Two-thirds of holders (66%) expect Bitcoin to reach a new all-time high, with the median 12-month price forecast at $75,000. 

Expectations varied across demographics: Gen Z participants were most bullish at 70%, compared with 60% of baby boomers. High-income holders ($100,000+) predicted a median price of $80,000, while those earning less than $100,000 forecasted $72,000.

Market behavior during the downturn also included opportunistic buying. Roughly 25% of holders purchased Bitcoin during the dip, with younger and higher-income investors more active in buying.

Reddit sentiment mirrored the survey’s findings. Across 117,630 posts, positive sentiment outweighed negative nearly 2-to-1. 

Bitcoin prices recovered faster than sentiment. By February 12, the market had rebounded to $66,221, though online sentiment trailed, reflecting ongoing emotional processing among holders. 

The data suggests that investors react on conviction as much as price, with sentiment volatility roughly one-third that of price volatility during the downturn.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $70,400 after briefly trading above $75,000 this week. 

Yesterday, Bitcoin fell below $70,000, trading near $69,500, as rising energy prices and a firm Federal Reserve stance strengthened the dollar and weighed on risk assets.

The drop coincided with Brent crude surpassing $114 per barrel amid Middle East tensions, driving broader market weakness and a roughly 4% decline in Bitcoin over 24 hours.

This post Despite a 47% Price Drop, Bitcoin Traders Aren’t Selling first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust to Trade as MSBT on NYSE Arca

Morgan Stanley has confirmed that its proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund will trade under the ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca, according to an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing outlines the structure of the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, a passive investment vehicle designed to track the spot price of bitcoin through direct holdings. 

Shares of the trust will reflect the value of bitcoin held in custody, offering exposure through brokerage accounts without requiring direct ownership of the asset.

The trust plans to seed the fund by issuing 50,000 shares, expected to raise about $1 million in initial proceeds.

The ticker MSBT places the product alongside other spot bitcoin ETFs that launched following regulatory approvals in 2024, a shift that opened the market to traditional financial institutions.

Morgan Stanley has also appointed Coinbase Custody Trust Company as the primary bitcoin custodian. The firm will safeguard the digital assets and facilitate transfers tied to share creation and redemption. Most of the bitcoin will be held in cold storage, where private keys remain offline.

BNY Mellon will serve multiple roles, including administrator, transfer agent, and cash custodian. The bank will handle accounting, shareholder records, and cash management for the trust.

The structure follows a model used across the spot bitcoin ETF market. A portion of the fund’s holdings may move into trading wallets during periods of share creation or redemption, when authorized participants exchange cash for bitcoin or redeem shares for the underlying asset.

The filing states that custody insurance is in place but shared across multiple clients and may not cover all losses. Similar disclosures appear in other ETF filings, reflecting standard industry practice as asset managers expand into direct bitcoin exposure.

Key details remain undisclosed, including the management fee and expense ratio. These figures often play a role in investor demand, particularly in a market where fee competition among issuers has intensified.

Morgan Stanley is embracing bitcoin

Morgan Stanley first filed for the bitcoin trust in January. The latest update confirms operational details and brings the product closer to launch, pending effectiveness of the registration statement and final regulatory approval.

The move marks a deeper push by the bank into digital assets. Morgan Stanley has signaled plans to expand beyond ETFs, with efforts underway to integrate crypto trading into its E*Trade platform. The firm has also explored custody, lending, and yield-related services tied to digital assets.

At Strategy World, digital asset strategy head Amy Oldenburg described further expansion as part of the firm’s roadmap, pointing to client demand for integrated crypto services.

She said the bank intends to develop a fully integrated custody and exchange platform.

“This is a natural progression,” the executive said. “We can’t just primarily rent the technology to do this. People expect Morgan Stanley – they trust our brand – to be no fail.

This post Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust to Trade as MSBT on NYSE Arca first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin investors are buying protection around $50,000 even as the flagship digital asset holds near $70,000 and has recently outperformed gold, the S&P 500, and the US dollar during the ongoing Iran war.

According to CryptoSlate’s data, Bitcoin was trading at about $70,688 at press time, which means hedging around the $50,000 level means investors are guarding against a roughly $20,000 drawdown, even as the spot price remains firm.

The contrast has become one of the clearest signals in the market. Spot Bitcoin has shown resilience through the first phase of the conflict, but the derivatives market still shows traders paying for downside insurance.

On Deribit, the latest public options-flow note showed buying in the $50,000 to $60,000 put zone, along with March put spreads and fresh downside structures after attacks on Middle East energy infrastructure and a hot US producer-price print.

That split suggests investors are no longer treating Bitcoin as a one-directional war trade. Instead, they are weighing two outcomes at once.

One is that Bitcoin continues to absorb geopolitical stress better than many expected. The other is that the oil shock spills into inflation, pushes rate-cut expectations further out, and drags risk assets lower, forcing BTC back toward the low-$50,000s.

Related Reading

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Mar 14, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

Middle East crude is rising faster than Brent

Oil helps explain why that hedge has stayed in place. Reuters reported Brent settled at $108.65 a barrel on March 19 after reaching an intraday high of $119.13, while West Texas Intermediate touched $100.02 before ending at $96.14. Brent later traded at $107.29 after hitting $119 the previous day.

The Kobeissi Letter, a macro analysis platform, noted that the more severe move has been in the Middle East itself.

According to the firm, Dubai crude, a regional benchmark tied more closely to Gulf exports, hit $166.80 on March 19, while physical cargo prices for crude and fuel also set records as the conflict around Iran disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman’s oil price rose to $167 a barrel, while Brent remained near $113 and WTI traded around $97, leaving the gap between regional and global benchmarks at one of its widest levels in years.

That divergence has changed the market’s reading of the oil shock. Brent remains the headline benchmark, but the bigger stress is showing up in Gulf-linked cargoes, where traders are pricing the direct effect of disrupted shipping, lower exports, and supply fears around the Strait of Hormuz.

The Kobeissi Letter explained:

“When the war first began, US oil prices surged in the wake of uncertainty. However, as the Strait of Hormuz closed, markets began reassessing risks. While the Strait of Hormuz is closed, ~18% of global crude oil supply is offline.”

So, once that war premium moved from futures into physical barrels, the macro risk became harder for Bitcoin traders to ignore.

That would essentially shift the question for crypto investors from whether oil is rising to whether the rise remains contained in global benchmarks or continues feeding through Middle East cargo markets, keeping inflation pressure elevated for longer.

Related Reading

Iran conflict could push oil to $150 and crash Bitcoin up to 45%

If Hormuz disruption drags past week seven, bank models jump from “manageable” to $100 $125 $150 stress scenarios.

Mar 6, 2026 · Gino Matos

Why traders are still buying downside protection

That backdrop is showing up clearly in Bitcoin derivatives.

Deribit’s March 19 note described buying $50,000 to $60,000 puts and said downside protection was provided through April and December risk-reversal structures as the energy shock and inflation data hit the tape.

The current market structure of the flow also adds nuance, with some of the recent downside positions expressed through put spreads and risk reversals rather than outright crash bets.

This suggests a market that manages costs and defines risk rather than simply positioning for panic. Investors are still paying for defense, but they are doing so with targeted structures around a specific lower range.

Meanwhile, broader derivatives data point in the same direction. K33 Research said CME Bitcoin futures open interest had climbed back above 110,000 BTC, while perpetual open interest held between 260,000 and 270,000 BTC.

It also said the seven-day average funding rate was -2.2% and the 30-day average had been negative for 18 consecutive trading days, the longest streak since December 2022.

In practical terms, the futures and perpetuals markets are still leaning defensive, even as Bitcoin trades near the top of its recent range.

Deribit’s weekly report with Block Scholes showed the same caution in options. BTC at-the-money implied volatility was around 50%, seven-day implied volatility stood at 52%, and the futures-implied yield curve remained flat at 2% to 3% across tenors.

Put-call skew had recovered from the late-February low, but the surface had still not rotated toward calls. So, traders were no longer chasing downside hedges at the same pace as earlier in the month, yet they were still willing to pay for protection.

Glassnode’s positioning data reinforces that picture, showing that perpetual funding remained firmly negative, while directional premium remained bearish, and directional perp premium turned negative for the first time since 2022.

This means that traders were still leaning short even after BTC's recovery from recent lows.

What comes next for Bitcoin

The upside case is that this hedge-heavy positioning becomes fuel for a squeeze. Glassnode said the combination of crowded shorts, negative funding, and easing options stress leaves Bitcoin vulnerable to further squeeze-driven upside if spot demand continues to recover.

In that setup, the same defensive posture that now reflects caution could turn into forced buying if traders have to cover shorts into strength.

Related Reading

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Mar 14, 2026 · Gino Matos

Meanwhile, CryptoQuant’s more constructive scenario points the same way.

The crypto analytics firm said daily demand from accumulator addresses remained high at 224,700 BTC, above the monthly average, while exchange outflows reached 11,300 BTC in three days. At the same time, the Coinbase Premium remained positive, suggesting US buyers were still active.

Under that view, institutions are absorbing liquidity while retail sells into war headlines, creating the conditions for a bear trap rather than a breakdown.

However, the downside case remains tied to a wider conflict and a more persistent inflation shock. CryptoQuant said that if the US sends more troops to Iran and the conflict escalates further, restrictive Fed policy could remain in place for longer.

In that scenario, BTC's probability of a revisit to the February bottom near $60,000 rises, with the final liquidation zone around $54,800.

For traders trying to time the next entry, the more useful signal may be less about headlines and more about positioning.

CryptoQuant’s framework argues that price could continue to fluctuate between $69,000 and $65,000 amid heavy military tension, with a clearer entry only once the Bitcoin Price Momentum indicator returns toward its balance point near 50 and begins to show a reversal in the support region.

The post Why are traders still bracing for a drop toward $50k when Bitcoin is beating gold and stocks? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

When Vanity Fair published “Crypto's True Believers Demand to Be Taken Seriously” on Mar. 17, the backlash arrived within hours.

Hayden Adams said he had passed on the shoot after being asked to pose in a bathrobe in a sauna. Camila Russo called the framing “so off.” Nic Carter compared the group photograph to the Alliance of Magicians from Arrested Development.

Dennison Bertram, a former fashion photographer and Tally co-founder, went further. He dissected the lighting and angles as a deliberate composition designed to diminish rather than document.

The industry's first instinct was to call it a hit job, while the reactions on X told a more complicated story.

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Mar 18, 2026 · Gino Matos

Three reactions, one diagnosis

The backlash sorted into three competing instincts, and that sorting exposed more than the outrage did.

One camp argued legacy media still cannot read crypto with any seriousness, claiming that the framing read as anachronistic, written from a mental model of the sector that predates ETFs, treasury strategies, and congressional PAC money.

Russo's reaction belongs here: the piece felt like it described an industry that no longer exists.

A second camp held that the shoot was engineered to manufacture ridicule. The lighting, angles, and costuming choices were deliberate acts of visual condescension.

Bertram made that case in technical photographic terms, which gave it more evidentiary weight than standard X venting.

The third camp was quieter and more honest, noticing that the photographs stung partly because they captured something real.

Dean Eigenmann had put the harshest version of this on record months earlier, in a February essay arguing that crypto went to institutions and got reshaped in their image.

An industry that spends years lobbying for establishment legitimacy eventually hands those establishments the vocabulary to satirize it back. The Vanity Fair spread arrived as illustrated proof.

Noelle Acheson bridged the outrage to the forward-looking question: is this how mainstream media sees the industry, and if so, how much work remains?

The X reaction was largely a class panic about how legacy media reads crypto, with costumes, eccentricity, and nouveau-riche theater.

The problem is that some of it still is, and crypto has not resolved that internally.

The cast the magazine assembled

One detail in the Adams reaction went mostly unexamined: he passed on the shoot.

The spread reflects who accepted Vanity Fair's framing, who showed up, on what terms, in what setting. The industry's internal hierarchy regarding legitimate representation is so unresolved that a glossy magazine could define it by default.

What Vanity Fair's own reporting reveals cuts deeper still.

The piece notes that Meltem Demirors is buying Bitcoin again, and mentions that Cathie Wood and Olaf Carlson-Wee are accumulating Bitcoin.

In a feature built around broad crypto culture, the capital allocation answer from several of its most prominent subjects is not more tokens, more protocols, or more ecosystem bets. It is BTC.

However, the magazine framed it as a “crypto believers” story. The believers, when describing where their conviction actually points, keep naming the same asset.

That detail maps onto a structural reality that the X reaction cycle largely bypassed.

Public companies collectively hold roughly 1.179 million BTC across 195 firms, with Bitcoin accounting for approximately 95% of public company crypto treasury assets, per BitcoinTreasuries.

Strategy alone held 761,068 BTC as of Mar. 19, and spot US Bitcoin ETFs pulled $199.4 million in net inflows on the same day the Vanity Fair piece published, before shedding $163.5 million on Mar. 18 as the Fed held rates at 3.50%-3.75% and revised its 2026 inflation projections to 2.7% for both headline and core PCE.

That ETF volatility is what institutionalization looks like when macro headwinds hit. Bitcoin now trades against rate expectations and energy prices, and a magazine profile does not move it.

The political ledger sharpens the contradiction. Crypto poured $135 million into the 2024 election and won more than 90% of the races it backed.

Fairshake and its affiliates entered the 2026 cycle with more than $193 million in cash on hand, while the broader industry prepared roughly $200 million for the midterms.

An industry with that electoral infrastructure does not need Vanity Fair's approval. Yet, the X reaction proved it still wants cultural legitimacy badly enough to spend a news cycle fighting for it.

The backlash put a contradiction on display: political power on one side, reputational insecurity on the other.

Two paths from here

Citi's current scenario framework sets the financial stakes. Its 12-month Bitcoin target sits at $112,000, revised down from $143,000. The bull case reaches $165,000. The bear case lands at $58,000.

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Jan 29, 2026 · Gino Matos

The bull case depends on Bitcoin continuing to pull away from the cultural version of crypto. If ETF inflows resume, treasury adoption broadens, and Washington delivers enough regulatory clarity, the Vanity Fair episode could accelerate the sorting the industry already needs.

Builders and allocators who want credibility gain another reason to emphasize Bitcoin, infrastructure, compliance, and payments over personality-driven spectacle.

The magazine's caricature of “crypto” becomes self-limiting: the sector it satirized looks increasingly unlike the sector where serious capital sits, and Bitcoin trades on its own macro logic entirely outside the cultural cringe cycle.

The bear case is that the piece landed on a real structural weakness. Crypto sought elite validation across a decade, and elite validation responded with a bathrobe in a sauna.

If legislation stalls, ETF flows remain choppy, and the macro environment tightens further. Brent crude hit an intraday high of $119.20 on Mar. 19, already past the ECB's own adverse-scenario peak, with its severe scenario projecting euro-area headline inflation at 4.4% in 2026.

The reputational drag compounds existing market fragility.

Eigenmann's thesis proves out more completely in that setup: crypto went to the institutions, got reshaped in their image, and earned their satire in return.

Bitcoin falls with risk assets under that pressure but outperforms the broader crypto complex as capital consolidates into the most liquid, institutionally integrated asset.

Bitcoin has Wall Street's pipes and Washington's ear. The Vanity Fair shoot put the remaining unsettled question before a much wider audience: what culture Bitcoin actually belongs to.

The post Crypto founder told to pose in a bathrobe by Vanity Fair because our “mature” industry still being mocked appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The Fed kept rates unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% on Mar. 18, lifted its 2026 inflation projections to 2.7% for both headline and core PCE, and held to a median year-end fed-funds path of 3.4%.

Chair Jerome Powell said higher energy prices will push up overall inflation in the near term and that the implications of events in the Middle East are uncertain.

One day later, the ECB held its deposit rate at 2.00% but revised its 2026 inflation forecast to 2.6% from 1.9%, with officials believing that the baseline is already outdated by the energy shock, with rate-hike discussions potentially starting at the Apr. 29-30 meeting and action more plausible at the June 10-11 meeting.

Bitcoin reached an intraday low below $69,000 on Mar. 19, below the psychological $70,000 threshold before recovering overnight.

The sequence breaks a narrative that has supported risk assets for months: that major central banks were delaying cuts by a quarter or two.

Markets are now entirely repricing the developed-world policy path. Traders have pushed Fed easing expectations to roughly 14 basis points by December, less than a single quarter-point cut, while fully pricing in two ECB hikes this year, with better-than-even odds of a third.

The Bank of England, which kept its Bank Rate at 3.75%, now trades with a higher probability of a hike than a cut. Bitcoin's battle with $70,000 is the fastest visible readout of that liquidity recalculation.

Oil forces the reset

The Fed's March SEP already showed discomfort. The median 2026 fed funds rate remained at 3.4%, versus a current midpoint of 3.625%, implying only one cut in the baseline path.

The longer-run rate rose to 3.1% from 3.0% in December. Powell's opening statement was explicit: “In the near term, higher energy prices will push up overall inflation.”

The Middle East conflict entered its fourth week with no clear resolution, and Brent crude briefly rose above $119 on Mar. 19 before pulling back.

The ECB's official baseline assumed a Brent price of $81.30 for 2026, with one ECB source reportedly saying that oil around $110 already makes that assumption stale, and another citing $200 oil as the kind of trigger that could force an April move.

The ECB's staff scenarios, published alongside the decision, provide a clearer picture of the scale of the risk.

The baseline assumes oil around $90 in the second quarter of 2026. The adverse scenario peaks near $119.

The severe scenario peaks near $145, lifting euro-area inflation by 1.8% in 2026 and 2.8% in 2027 relative to baseline, which would take headline inflation to 4.4% in 2026 and 4.8% in 2027.

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Mar 6, 2026 · Gino Matos

The IMF's rule of thumb offers outside validation: every sustained 10% rise in energy prices for about a year can add 0.4% to global inflation and cut output by 0.1%- 0.2%.

That quantifies why central banks are now less comfortable “looking through” this shock than they were with earlier commodity spikes.

Bank of America had noted on Mar. 16 that a quick resolution could put Brent near $70. Still, the path toward $85 for a longer disruption or $130 for a prolonged conflict now looks more consistent with the energy market's direction.

Bitcoin as a liquidity barometer

Bitcoin's behavior over the past 48 hours tracks macro sensitivity.

The Fed lifted inflation projections, kept only one cut in its median path, and Powell flagged energy as a near-term headwind.

The ECB raised its inflation forecast, published severe scenarios implying a much uglier inflation trajectory if energy disruption persists, and then some officials already view the baseline as obsolete.

Traders responded by repricing the entire developed-market rate path, and Bitcoin moved first.

The bull case for Bitcoin assumes that diplomatic de-escalation restores energy flows faster than feared, that oil retreats sharply, and that markets decide the March hawkish turn was a war premium rather than a durable policy reset.

Bank of America's quick-resolution path pointed to Brent near $70, though that scenario appears less plausible given the Mar. 19 escalation. In that setup, Bitcoin can confirm a hold above $70,000 and work back toward the mid-$70,000s.

The case depends on central banks returning to a clearly dovish tilt, which requires the energy shock to fade.

The bear case assumes oil stays above current ECB assumptions, the June ECB meeting turns live, and markets fully abandon 2026 Fed easing. Bitcoin then tests the low- to mid-$60,000s.

Citi's recession case target of $58,000 serves as the cleanest outside anchor for that downside path.

If the discount rate for risky assets stays higher for longer, Bitcoin loses one of its cleanest cyclical tailwinds, even without any crypto-native negative catalyst.

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Mar 18, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Central banks relearn a 2022 lesson

Energy shocks do not remain confined to the energy line if they are large enough and persistent enough, and arrive when inflation is not yet fully dead.

The ECB's scenario work explicitly assumes stronger indirect and second-round effects than standard models normally produce. The Fed's own projections now show inflation at 2.7% in 2026 for both headline and core, well above the 2% target.

The BoE's public explainer says higher energy prices will push inflation above expectations this year, that the impact will be greater the longer the war lasts, and that policymakers will do what is necessary to keep inflation on track.

Some investors now see the odds of a Fed hike by year-end creeping higher. That tail repricing hits Bitcoin first because it sits at the intersection of liquidity, risk appetite, and narrative momentum.

Central banks that spent months preparing markets for easing are now updating their frameworks under an energy shock that refuses to behave like a transient supply disruption.

Related Reading

Retail is rushing into gold, but institutions are buying Bitcoin again – so why the split?

Gold and Bitcoin are no longer rivals — and the split could catch investors off guard.

Mar 19, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Bitcoin's dip below $70,000 is the market's fastest visible expression of that recalibration.

The asset is behaving less like an idiosyncratic crypto story and more like a liquidity-sensitive macro barometer, with its policy tailwind being repriced away.

June is the more plausible action window for the ECB, as April would require a further surge in energy prices. Either way, the old “cuts are just delayed a quarter” story is dead.

Bitcoin is now trading on the global realization that the next move from major central banks may not be cuts at all.

The post Bitcoin defies drop below $70,000 as oil turns into a central-bank problem appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Retail investors became the main force behind gold-fund buying over the past six months, helping extend bullion’s rise even as some institutional money started to step back.

At the same time, fresh inflows into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) show part of Wall Street rebuilding crypto exposure through the regulated ETF channel, setting up a split in how investors are responding to the same backdrop of war, inflation pressure, and shifting rate expectations.

The divergence offers a clearer view of investor behavior than either market does alone. Essentially, households have leaned on gold as the traditional store of value, while professional capital has shown renewed willingness to buy Bitcoin after a weak start to the year.

The result is a market in which gold and Bitcoin are no longer moving as simple rivals for the same defensive trade, but as separate expressions of different risk appetites.

Retail takes the wheel in gold accumulation

The Bank for International Settlements laid out the shift in unusually direct terms in its March quarterly review.

In a section on the late-January and February break in precious metals, the BIS said fund-flow data showed retail investors were the main source of inflows into gold and silver funds, while institutional investors “maintained stable positions or even trimmed exposure.”

The chart accompanying the analysis showed cumulative retail inflows into gold funds climbing to roughly $60 billion by the first quarter of 2026, up from about $20 billion in late 2025, while institutional flows stayed near flat and then turned negative.

The BIS tied the move to a broader run-up that stretched through 2025 and into early 2026. Gold and silver rose sharply before reversing in late January and February, a swing the BIS said was amplified by retail participation through ETFs, daily rebalancing by leveraged products, and margin-driven selling.

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Dec 12, 2025 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Silver, which had doubled in 2025 and then risen more than 50% in January alone, fell about 30% in a single day in late January. Gold followed the same pattern with smaller moves.

The fund-flow picture helps explain how gold continued to attract money even as prices became harder to chase.

World Gold Council data show that physically backed gold ETFs pulled in $19 billion in January, the strongest month on record, then added another $5.3 billion in February, marking a ninth straight month of inflows.

Total holdings rose to 4,171 metric tons in February, while assets under management reached a record $701 billion.

Those totals show demand remained broad, but the BIS breakdown suggests retail investors were doing more of the incremental buying.

The institutional bid starts to soften

What changed in March was not the long-run case for gold, but the willingness of some larger investors to keep adding at the same pace.

Earlier this month, investors pulled more than $4 billion from GLD, the largest gold-backed ETF. Notably, this was the largest weekly outflow in its 20 years of existence.

By a week later, spot gold had fallen rapidly to around $4,611 an ounce, its lowest level since early February.

According to goldprice.org data, this extends a seven-session losing streak as higher oil prices and inflation fears pushed expectations toward tighter monetary policy.

Higher-for-longer rates have always been a problem for bullion because gold yields nothing, and the recent slide turned that old relationship back into the main driver.

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Reuters reported that analysts at Commerzbank pointed to more restrictive policy expectations as the key reason gold had come under pressure, while TD Securities said institutional positioning had grown large during the past year’s “debasement trade” and that the foundations of that trade were weakening.

In other words, gold’s buyers changed just as the macro case became harder to hold in a straight line.

Still, the institutional retreat should not be overstated.

The World Gold Council said North America added $7 billion to gold ETFs in January and another $4.7 billion in February, both part of a sustained run of inflows tied to geopolitical risk and demand for defensive assets. Europe was the weak point in February, with $1.8 billion of outflows, much of it tied to redemptions after the late-January sell-off.

This means that institutions were trimming their exposure at the margin and not abandoning the precious metal outright.

Bitcoin draws fresh money

While gold’s institutional bid began to look less certain, Bitcoin started attracting money again through the market’s main institutional access point.

Data compiled by Farside Investors show US spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed about $1.16 billion in net inflows from March 9 through March 17. Notably, this was the strongest inflow streak since last October.

The streak included daily net additions of $246.9 million on March 10, $180.4 million on March 13, and $199.4 million on both March 16 and March 17.

However, that run paused on March 18 with a $163.5 million outflow, but the direction of travel had already been established, with BTC price reaching as high as above $75,000 during the streak.

While those ETF flows do not prove a wholesale institutional embrace of crypto, they are the clearest evidence that professional money has started moving back toward Bitcoin after months of caution.

This is further corroborated by Bitwise data, which shows that Bitcoin’s latest institutional demand extends beyond ETF inflows.

Related Reading

Bitcoin shrugs off oil surge and geopolitical tension, setting up potential push toward $80k

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Mar 12, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

André Dragosch, Bitwise Europe’s head of research, said in a post on X that institutional demand had accelerated to its highest level since October 2025.

His one-month tally showed that Bitcoin ETPs added 34,400 BTC and treasury companies added 46,800 BTC, including 46,400 BTC from Strategy alone, for a combined 81,200 BTC.

Against a new monthly supply of about 13,300 BTC, that meant institutions bought about six times as much Bitcoin as miners produced over the same period.

Meanwhile, Coinbase’s latest institutional survey points out the institution's strong conviction in the top crypto.

In a January survey of 351 institutional decision-makers conducted with EY-Parthenon, 74% of the respondents said they expect crypto prices to rise over the next 12 months, and 73% said they plan to increase digital-asset allocations in 2026.

The same report said the share of firms allocating more than 5% of assets under management to digital assets is expected to rise from 18% to 29% by the end of 2026.

Those figures suggest Wall Street’s return to Bitcoin is no longer visible only through the ETF wrapper. It is also showing up in corporate treasury accumulation and in survey data pointing to larger planned allocations.

What does this shift mean for gold and BTC?

The flow split suggests that gold and Bitcoin are attracting different types of buyers across different parts of the same macro trade.

Gold remains the first choice for retail investors seeking a store of value during periods of war, inflation, and interest-rate uncertainty. Its long history, deep liquidity, and lower day-to-day volatility keep it attractive to households and fund buyers seeking protection without taking on the price swings common in crypto markets.

Bitcoin, by contrast, is regaining ground with institutions willing to treat it as a scarce, liquid asset with higher upside and higher risk.

The recent pickup in ETP demand, treasury-company accumulation, and survey data pointing to larger planned allocations suggest that professional investors are becoming more comfortable adding exposure as supply conditions tighten and access improves through regulated products.

For markets, the implication is that gold and Bitcoin are no longer competing in a simple zero-sum way.

Gold can continue to attract defensive retail flows even if institutional money slows, while Bitcoin can benefit from corporate buying and portfolio reallocation even if it remains more sensitive to policy signals and liquidity conditions.

In the near term, gold looks positioned to hold its role as a hedge, while Bitcoin is increasingly trading as an institutional scarcity asset.

The post Retail is rushing into gold, but institutions are buying Bitcoin again – so why the split? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Coinbase is directing some Commerce users to a seed-phrase recovery flow ahead of a March 31 migration deadline.

The issue sits inside Coinbase’s shutdown plan for legacy Commerce wallets. In its transition guide, Coinbase says users with funds in a Commerce wallet must withdraw them before March 31, 2026, when the Commerce portal and withdrawal tool will become inaccessible.

For users who backed up their wallet to Google Drive, Coinbase says they should go to the Commerce dashboard, open Settings and Security, reveal the 12-word seed phrase, and use the withdrawal tool at withdraw.commerce.coinbase.com.

Coinbase says the process is especially important for merchants that received Bitcoin or other UTXO-based assets because balances may otherwise be hard to surface in standard wallets.

A seed phrase is the master recovery key for a self-custody wallet. Coinbase’s own wallet documentation describes it as a 12-word recovery phrase that only the user has access to.

Whoever controls that phrase controls access to the wallet and its funds. Lose it, and access to funds can be lost. Expose it, and funds in the wallet can be drained.

That is where the contradiction becomes hard to miss. Coinbase’s wallet guidance tells users never to share a recovery phrase, says the firm will never ask for it, and adds a separate warning: “Never paste it into any website.”

Yet the Commerce transition guide tells some users to reveal the same phrase as part of an official Coinbase-hosted recovery path.

The company’s explanation is that Commerce wallets are self-custodial, and Coinbase does not have access to the phrase or the funds, which leaves users responsible for recovery before the shutdown.

Security researchers see a phishing template

Nonetheless, this Coinbase demand has rung the alarm bells for many security experts, who are criticizing the platform for the behavior its page teaches users to accept.

Blockchain security firm SlowMist founder Yu Xian said he was puzzled that Coinbase would host a page asking users to enter a mnemonic phrase in plain text for asset recovery and said the practice was so insecure that he first wondered whether the subdomain had been hacked.

The warning sharpened the core criticism around the page: an official brand, an urgent deadline, and a seed-phrase workflow combine into a format attackers regularly mimic.

Meanwhile, SlowMist chief information security officer 23pds wrote on X that there were “two issues” with the flow. First, he said:

“While the link is from the official Coinbase website, directly asking users to transmit their mnemonic phrase to verify assets is extremely foolish.”

Secondly, he noted that the site had a flawed sitemap that could let attackers copy the front end and deploy a near-clone on a lookalike domain, creating a strong phishing lure for users already primed to trust the Coinbase version.

Additionally, blockchain investigator ZachXBT further pressed on that point even more directly. In a post on X, he wrote:

“So basically Coinbase has an official page live threat actors can use to target Coinbase users via seed phrase social engineering if they wanted?”

Their concerns are unsurprising, considering phishing and social engineering scams remain one of the most potent attack vectors against the crypto industry.

Last year, ZachXBT revealed that Coinbase users lose more than $300 million annually due to social engineering scams.

This captures why the Commerce flow has triggered such a strong reaction. Security teams have spent years teaching users that any request involving a seed phrase is the start of a scam.

However, a Coinbase-owned page handling the same phrase could change the visual and behavioral cues users have been taught to rely on.

Coinbase’s breach history hangs over the debate

Meanwhile, the security debate lands harder because Coinbase is already dealing with the aftereffects of past social-engineering incidents.

In May 2025, Coinbase reported that cybercriminals bribed a group of overseas support agents to steal customer data for social-engineering attacks.

The Brian Armstrong-led exchange said the attackers obtained account data for fewer than 1% of monthly transacting users and used it to compile lists of customers they could contact, pretending to be from the platform.

The company said no private keys were exposed and pledged to reimburse customers who were tricked into sending funds to attackers.

Apart from that, the company also has an earlier breach record.

Coinbase said in its 2024 annual report that in 2021, third parties obtained login credentials and personal information for at least 6,000 customers and used those details to exploit a vulnerability in the account recovery process. The firm said it reimbursed impacted customers about $25.1 million.

That history raises the stakes around any official workflow that asks users to handle a seed phrase on a live web page.

Security researchers warn that such a branded interface that normalizes seed-phrase entry will further boost phishing and impersonation attacks, which remain among the industry’s most effective attack methods.

The post Coinbase tells users to follow ‘foolish’ steps scammers use to withdraw funds from wallets appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin has gone through multiple crashes, corrections, and market cycles since its creation in 2009. From drops of over 80% to new all-time highs, volatility has always been part of the journey.

Yet one question still appears frequently: Can Bitcoin ever go to $0?

While short-term crashes are always possible, a complete collapse to zero is extremely unlikely. Here are three strong reasons why Bitcoin will not crash to $0.

1. Massive Global Adoption and Institutional Support

Bitcoin is no longer a niche experiment used by a handful of tech enthusiasts. Today, it is a globally recognized asset class.

• Major financial institutions like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Morgan Stanley are actively involved in $BTC
• Spot Bitcoin ETFs have opened the door for billions in institutional capital
• Governments and corporations now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets

This level of adoption creates a strong demand floor.

For $Bitcoin to go to $0, every institution, company, and investor worldwide would have to abandon it simultaneously—a scenario that is highly unrealistic.

2. Decentralized Network with Proven Security

Bitcoin operates on a decentralized network secured by thousands of nodes and miners across the world.

• No central authority can shut it down
• The network has maintained near 100% uptime since launch
• It is protected by one of the most powerful computing networks globally (hash rate)

To bring Bitcoin to $0, the entire network would need to fail or be compromised globally.

Given its distributed nature and continuous upgrades, this is extremely unlikely. In fact, the network has only grown stronger over time.

3. Scarcity and Built-In Economic Model

Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins, making it one of the scarcest assets in the world.

• New supply is reduced every 4 years through the halving mechanism
• Demand continues to grow as adoption expands
• Lost coins further reduce circulating supply

This scarcity creates a long-term value proposition, similar to digital gold.

Even during major crashes, Bitcoin has never reached zero because there is always buyers stepping in at lower levels.

Conclusion

Bitcoin can be volatile. It can drop 50%, even 80% during bear markets. But a complete collapse to $0 would require:

1. Total global abandonment
2. Network failure
3. Zero demand worldwide

All three happening at the same time is highly improbable.

Instead, Bitcoin continues to follow cycles of boom and correction, with each cycle bringing higher adoption, stronger infrastructure, and deeper liquidity.

Cardano Price Today: Consolidation After a Downtrend

Cardano ($ADA) is currently trading around $0.26–$0.27, moving sideways after a prolonged downtrend.

Over the past few weeks, ADA has shown limited volatility, with price action stuck in a tight range and no strong breakout attempts. Buyers are present, but not strong enough to push the price higher.

Cardano Price Analysis: Range-Bound with Strong Resistance

Looking at the chart, ADA is no longer trending down aggressively, but it is also not in a confirmed uptrend.

Key levels:

• Immediate resistance: $0.30
• Major resistance: $0.40
• Critical target: $0.50
• Support zone: $0.25

Price has repeatedly failed to hold above $0.30, showing that sellers remain active at higher levels.

👉 This suggests a neutral to slightly bearish structure.

How Much Does ADA Need to Reach $0.50 Before April?

Let’s calculate:

• Current price ≈ $0.27
• Target price = $0.50

👉 Required increase:
+85%

This would need to happen within days to a couple of weeks — a very aggressive move.

Is an 85% Move Before April Realistic?

👉 Mostly unlikely

Here’s why:

1. Time Constraint Is Very Tight

Reaching $0.50 before April would require a rapid move with sustained momentum — something not currently visible on the chart.

2. Multiple Resistance Levels

ADA would need to break:

• $0.30
• $0.40
• Then push toward $0.50

Each level increases selling pressure and slows the move.

3. Lack of Momentum

The current consolidation between $0.25 and $0.30 shows hesitation rather than accumulation for a breakout.

RSI Insight: No Breakout Signal Yet

The RSI is around 47–48, indicating:

• Neutral momentum
• No bullish divergence
• No sign of an imminent breakout

👉 This supports the idea that ADA is not building strong upward pressure yet.

Historical Comparison: Has ADA Done This Before?

Cardano has delivered 80%+ rallies, but typically:

• During strong altcoin seasons
• With high market-wide momentum
• After major catalysts

👉 Right now, these conditions are not present, especially within such a short timeframe.

Most Likely Scenario Before April 2026

Based on the chart:

• ADA likely remains between $0.25 and $0.30
• Break above $0.30 → first bullish signal
• Break above $0.40 → stronger trend shift
• $0.50 → unlikely before April without a sudden catalyst

Cardano Price Prediction: Can ADA Reach $0.50 Before April?

👉 Mostly unlikely

To reach $0.50 before April 2026, ADA would need:

1. An 85% price surge in days
2. Clean breakout above multiple resistance levels
3. Strong bullish momentum across the market

These conditions are currently missing.

Conclusion

Cardano is stabilizing, but not yet ready for a major breakout.

While $0.50 remains a valid long-term target, expecting it before April 2026 does not align with:

• Current technical setup
• Market structure
• Momentum indicators

👉 The key level to watch remains $0.30 — a break above it could be the first sign of recovery.

Bitcoin Price News: BTC Defends Uptrend Despite Volatility

$Bitcoin price news today shows a market at a critical turning point. Despite recent volatility, BTC is holding firmly above a key ascending trendline, trading around the $70,000 level.

Looking at the 4-hour chart, Bitcoin continues to respect a rising support structure that has been forming since early March. This trendline has acted as a strong foundation, preventing deeper corrections even during sharp sell-offs.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Ascending Trendline Still in Play

From a technical perspective, the chart reveals a clear structure:

• Support Zone: $68,000 – $69,000 (trendline + recent bounce area)
• Major Support: $62,600 (previous range low)
• Resistance Zone: $74,000 – $76,000
• Key Breakout Level: $80,000

Bitcoin recently corrected from the $75K–$76K range but found strong buying interest exactly at the ascending trendline. This confirms that buyers are still defending higher lows — a classic bullish continuation pattern.

As long as BTC remains above this trendline, the structure favors an eventual move higher.

RSI Signals Cooling Momentum — But Not Weakness

The RSI indicator currently sits around 42–43, showing that momentum has cooled after the recent drop.

This is important for two reasons:

1. Bitcoin is no longer overbought, allowing room for a new move up
2. The market is stabilizing rather than entering panic-selling territory

Historically, such RSI resets within an uptrend often precede the next bullish leg.

ETF Narrative Strengthens: Morgan Stanley Enters the Game

One of the biggest catalysts in recent bitcoin price news is Morgan Stanley filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF.

This development signals:

• Continued institutional interest in Bitcoin
• Expansion of ETF competition beyond existing players
• Potential for increased capital inflows into BTC

The ETF narrative has been one of the strongest drivers of Bitcoin’s recent rally. With another major financial institution entering the space, the long-term outlook remains supported by growing institutional demand.

Bitcoin Future: What Happens Next?

Bullish Scenario

If Bitcoin continues to hold the ascending trendline:

• A move toward $74K–$76K resistance becomes likely
• A breakout could push BTC toward the $80K level
• ETF-related optimism could accelerate momentum

Bearish Scenario

If the trendline breaks:

• BTC could revisit $66K–$68K
• A deeper correction toward $62,600 support becomes possible

However, current price action suggests buyers are still in control.

XRP Price Today: Stuck Below Key Resistance

XRP is currently trading around $1.40–$1.44, struggling to gain momentum after weeks of consolidation. Despite a few short-term rebounds, the price remains under pressure and continues to follow a broader downtrend.

XRP has failed to reclaim higher levels and is now hovering below key resistance zones, with buyers showing limited strength.

XRP Price Analysis: Bearish Channel Still Dominates

The below chart clearly shows $XRP trading inside a descending channel, which is a classic bearish pattern.

Key observations:

• Lower highs confirm ongoing selling pressure
• Price remains below the mid-channel resistance
• Strong resistance sits around $1.60, then $2.00
• Support is holding near $1.20

Even recent upward moves have been weak and quickly rejected, suggesting that the market lacks strong bullish conviction.

👉 As long as XRP remains inside this channel, the trend is still bearish to neutral.

How Much Does XRP Need to Reach $2?

Let’s break it down:

• Current price ≈ $1.44
• Target price = $2.00

👉 Required move: +38.9% increase

This is a significant move — especially within a very short timeframe.

Can XRP Realistically Move +40% in 12 Days?

While crypto can be volatile, a move of nearly 40% in 12 days is unlikely under current conditions.

Here’s why:

1. Momentum Is Weak

XRP has been ranging between $1.35 and $1.50 with no strong breakout continuation.

2. No Strong Catalyst

Large moves typically require:

• Major legal developments
• Institutional adoption news
• Market-wide bullish momentum

None of these are currently driving XRP.

3. Market Structure Is Bearish

The descending channel suggests sellers still control the market.
Without a breakout, upside remains limited.

Historical Comparison: Has XRP Done This Before?

Yes — but under very different conditions.

XRP has previously delivered large double-digit gains in short periods, but these happened:

• During strong bull markets
• After major announcements (e.g., Ripple-related news)
• With significant volume spikes

👉 Current market conditions do not reflect that environment.

Most Likely Scenario for March 2026

Based on the chart:

• XRP is likely to remain within $1.20 – $1.60 range
• A break above $1.60 could signal early recovery
• A move to $2 would require a full trend reversal

That kind of shift typically takes more time than a few days.

Final Verdict: Can XRP Reach $2 This Month?

👉 Mostly unlikely

To reach $2 before the end of March 2026, XRP would need:

1. Nearly 40% upside in days
2. Strong breakout above resistance
3. A sudden surge in market momentum

None of these signals are currently present.

Bitcoin news today is dominated by a sudden reversal in market sentiment. After a spectacular rally that saw the $Bitcoin price push toward the $76,000 resistance level earlier this week, the primary cryptocurrency has experienced a sharp correction. On Thursday, March 19, 2026, Bitcoin slipped below the psychologically significant $70,000 mark, trading as low as $69,400 during the European session.

This downward move follows a period of intense optimism fueled by institutional ETF inflows and the SEC’s recent classification of 16 digital assets as commodities. However, the combination of a "hawkish hold" by the Federal Reserve and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East has forced investors back into a defensive posture.

Why is Bitcoin Crashing?

The core reason for the Bitcoin price drop today is a "perfect storm" of macroeconomic factors. Specifically, the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates in the 3.50%–3.75% range, paired with a surge in global oil prices (Brent crude exceeding $114), has strengthened the US Dollar and dampened the appetite for "risk-on" assets like cryptocurrencies.

The "Hawkish Hold" and Risk Appetite

In financial terms, a "Hawkish Hold" occurs when a central bank keeps interest rates unchanged but uses rhetoric that suggests rates will stay higher for longer or could even rise.

For Bitcoin, this is a significant headwind. Because BTC is often viewed as a high-growth, speculative asset, its valuation is highly sensitive to liquidity. When the Fed signals that it is not ready to pivot to rate cuts, the "cost of carry" for holding Bitcoin remains high compared to "safe" yields like US Treasuries.

The Fed Effect: High Rates and Inflation Fears

The Federal Reserve's March meeting was the primary catalyst for the volatility seen in today's bitcoin news. While the market expected rates to remain steady, the updated "dot plot" and comments from Chair Paul Atkins (who took over the SEC and influenced broader policy) suggested that inflation remains a stubborn foe.

• Inflation Forecast: The Fed raised its 2026 PCE inflation outlook to 2.7%.
• Growth Outlook: Projected growth for 2026 was upgraded to 2.4%, giving the Fed more room to keep rates high without immediate fear of a recession.
• Market Reaction: The probability of an April rate cut has plummeted to near zero, with some traders now pricing in a 4% chance of a rate hike if energy costs continue to spiral.

Geopolitical Tensions: The Oil Factor

Beyond the Fed, the escalating conflict in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through the energy markets. Attacks on energy infrastructure have caused oil prices to spike, which historically leads to higher transport and production costs, further fueling inflation.

In previous cycles, Bitcoin was occasionally touted as "digital gold" or a safe haven. However, recent crypto news shows that in times of acute geopolitical stress, BTC often moves in lockstep with the Nasdaq-100, which also saw significant losses today. Investors are currently seeking the safety of the US Dollar and actual physical gold over digital assets.

Institutional Sentiment: ETF Inflows Turn to Outflows

A key pillar of the recent rally was the consistent demand from US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs. According to data from CoinGlass, a seven-day streak of inflows—totaling over $1.1 billion—was snapped on Wednesday.

From a technical perspective, Bitcoin's failure to reclaim the $76,000 level is a bearish signal in the short term. The price is currently testing the 100-hourly simple moving average. If the $69,000 support level fails to hold, analysts warn of a potential slide toward the $66,500 zone, which acted as a floor earlier in March.

A changing investor landscape and Bitcoin’s failed breakout attempt led to an 80% drop in altcoin trading volume from October.

Crypto bounced as traders bet the Iran war may end sooner than feared, while prediction markets just had a blockbuster day.

The DarkSword exploit chain affects older versions of iOS 18, delivering malware that specifically hunts for exchange and wallet apps.

Bitcoin bounced Friday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined possible responses to soaring oil prices.

A crypto kiosk bill in Kentucky includes language that could effectively outlaw self-custody, drawing industry backlash.

Coinbase is fueling a big Shiba Inu purchase, as shown in the 24-hour netflow data.

Options market indicates defensive positioning, with Dogecoin traders watching for what comes next.

Bitcoin supply is drying up as institutions buy 6x more BTC than miners produce. See the latest data from Charles Edwards on the 2026 institutional supply shock.

BlackRock continues with its constant Bitcoin and Ethereum deposits on leading US-based crypto exchange Coinbase as institutional momentum cools.

XRP saw a surge and crossed the crucial 1.5 million threshold that can create both opportunities and provide bearish volatility.

Key Highlights

• Co-Diagnostics (CODX) shares advanced 9.43% to reach $2.90 during Friday’s premarket session
• CoSara Diagnostics, the company’s Indian joint venture, secured distribution rights for Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka
• The strategic expansion increases CoSara’s total addressable market across South Asia to approximately $13 billion
• The initiative focuses on introducing the PCR Pro® point-of-care system and SARAGENE® product portfolio, subject to regulatory clearances
• CoSara intends to hold a virtual distributor briefing during Q2 2026, followed by an in-person training summit later in the summer

Shares of Co-Diagnostics (CODX) jumped 9.43% to $2.90 during Friday’s premarket session following news of a significant territorial expansion by the company’s Indian joint venture.

Co-Diagnostics, Inc., CODX

CoSara Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., a collaborative venture between Co-Dx and Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Limited (ASE Group), finalized an agreement to broaden its commercial footprint throughout South Asia. The expansion encompasses four additional territories: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

This strategic initiative elevates CoSara’s estimated addressable market within the region to approximately $13 billion, according to proprietary research and external market intelligence.

The territorial expansion aims to facilitate the market introduction of two primary offerings: the CoSara PCR Pro® point-of-care diagnostic system and the comprehensive SARAGENE® testing portfolio. Commercialization in each territory remains contingent upon obtaining necessary regulatory clearances.

CoSara has initiated efforts to build distribution infrastructure across all four newly acquired markets. This process involves navigating regulatory requirements, pinpointing strategic customer demographics, and forging partnerships with regional distribution networks.

Executive Perspectives on Regional Expansion

Mohal Sarabhai, CEO of CoSara, emphasized that South Asia demonstrates considerable and expanding demand for convenient, non-invasive molecular diagnostic solutions. He highlighted tuberculosis screening, HPV detection, and respiratory infection testing as critical application areas.

Dwight Egan, CEO of Co-Diagnostics, characterized the agreement as an extension of the company’s infrastructure-focused approach. The organization is prioritizing the development of regional manufacturing capabilities and distribution networks ahead of product launches—a blueprint being implemented across the United States, South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa regions.

Egan indicated that this approach is intended to enable Co-Dx to achieve scalable worldwide deployment of its PCR point-of-care technology platform.

To facilitate distributor recruitment, CoSara has scheduled a virtual orientation session for Q2 2026. A comprehensive in-person distributor conference and training program will follow during the latter part of summer.

Current Stock Performance

CODX had been hovering near its 52-week bottom of $2.04 prior to Friday’s rally. The 9.43% premarket surge elevated the stock to $2.90.

Investors should note that the PCR Pro® system and associated platform products remain under FDA evaluation and are not currently authorized for commercial distribution.

In March, Co-Diagnostics also secured Japanese patent protection for its PCR platform innovations. Previously, the company successfully restored NASDAQ listing compliance following a brief period of uncertainty regarding its eligibility status.

The $13 billion total addressable market projection derives from company analysis and independent market research. Ultimate revenue realization will be determined by regulatory approval timelines and the velocity of distributor network development across the four expansion territories.

The post Co-Diagnostics (CODX) Stock Surges 9% Following Major South Asian Market Expansion appeared first on Blockonomi.

Singapore based Ryde, a publicly listed ride sharing company, announced it will put a portion of its corporate reserves into Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. The NYSE listed company is doubling down on the playbook that Strategy made famous, and corporate adoption is reaching new heights despite the correction.

Although the market is going through heavy volatility, corporate treasuries allocating crypto is a bullish signal that confirms digital assets are moving forward regardless of short term price movements. As mainstream companies tap into crypto, the topic of the best crypto presale is once again running hot, and most of the attention is going to Pepeto ahead of its Binance listing.

Ryde cited the evolving macroeconomic environment as the main driver for allocating reserves into BTC, ETH, and SOL according to CoinDesk. The company has been accepting Bitcoin as payment since 2020. Meanwhile, BTC trades at $70,000 after the FOMC held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% according to CoinGecko.

Corporate crypto treasuries are a bullish signal, and retail investors are back evaluating the best crypto presale projects, with the majority of attention going to Pepeto ahead of its Binance listing.

Best Crypto Presale Projects and the One That Has Raised $8 Million With a Listing Approaching Fast

Pepeto Is the Best Crypto Presale Because the Tools Are Live, the Community Is Growing, and 100x to 300x Predictions Are Building

Fast expansion of digital assets may not be reflected in the charts instantly, but the attention will follow quickly. This may explain why early investor positioning in presales is a hot commodity right now.

One project benefiting from the rotation into new entries is Pepeto. With more than $8 million already raised, a working exchange, a Binance listing approaching, and a reputation as the best crypto presale this cycle, chances of a massive move are high.

While 100x to 300x predictions are a strong signal, many traders are actually drawn to Pepeto for its exchange tools. PepetoSwap removes the fees that drain your positions on every trade, so your capital stays whole from entry to exit. The risk scorer flags dangerous contracts and honeypot traps before your wallet touches them, catching the scams that cost traders their portfolios every cycle.

With every week that passes, the environment for Pepeto’s listing is getting more favorable. So if the community projections come true and the best crypto presale narrative takes off, Pepeto at $0.000000186 could deliver 100x to 150x just by matching a fraction of what the same founder achieved when he took the original Pepe coin to $11 billion on the same 420 trillion supply. SolidProof cleared every contract before the presale opened, and a Binance veteran built the exchange architecture from the ground up.

XRP Holds at $1.43 but the Recovery From $3.00 Takes Patience Most Investors Do Not Have

XRP trades at $1.43, down from its cycle high above $3.00 according to CoinMarketCap. CME launched XRP futures in February 2026.

Analysts project $2.50 to $4.00 if regulatory clarity holds. From $1.43, the best case is roughly 2.7x. Meaningful for large positions, but the kind of return that compounds slowly and takes quarters to deliver what a presale to listing event delivers in a day.

Cardano Sits at $0.265 and the Roadmap Is Strong but the Ceiling Is Visible

ADA trades at $0.265 according to CoinGecko. The 2026 base case ranges from $0.27 to $0.80, while bullish projections target $1.20 if key upgrades succeed.

Even the bullish case is roughly 4x. That is the structural ceiling that comes with a token that has already reached mainstream investment pools.

The Market Waits for No One and the Best Crypto Presale Window Is Closing Fast

The corporate adoption wave is in full swing, and many presales are reaching their peak moment. But current circumstances will not last forever. Pepeto is the best crypto presale right now, but after the Binance listing, the window closes and you will have to buy at a price set by the market, not the presale.

The original Pepe holders turned that same founder’s first project into generational money, and the market waited for none of them. The Pepeto official website is where the wallets that understand what a working exchange, a verified audit, and 100x to 300x community projections mean for a presale at $0.000000186 are acting right now, and the listing will not wait for anyone still deciding.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

What makes Pepeto the best crypto presale right now?

Three working exchange tools live before listing, a SolidProof audit, and the original Pepe founder at $0.000000186. Community projections of 100x to 300x with a Binance listing approaching.

Why did Ryde adopt a crypto treasury strategy?

Ryde cited the macroeconomic environment for allocating reserves into BTC, ETH, and SOL. Corporate adoption signals that crypto is moving forward despite short term volatility.

Is Pepeto the best crypto presale to buy before the listing?

Over $8 million raised during fear with real tools live. Visit the Pepeto official website while the presale window is open.

The post Best Crypto Presale in March 2026 as Ryde Adds Bitcoin to Its Treasury and Pepeto Presale Passes $8 Million Before the Binance Listing appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Kalshi raised more than $1 billion in a new funding round led by Coatue Management.
• The latest round valued Kalshi at $22 billion, doubling its December valuation.
• Bloomberg reported that Kalshi’s annualized revenue currently stands at $1.5 billion.
• Trading volume on Kalshi exceeded $10 billion in February, according to KalshiData.
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates Kalshi as a financial exchange.

Kalshi secured more than $1 billion in fresh funding, according to Bloomberg. The report said Coatue Management led the round. The deal valued Kalshi at $22 billion and doubled its December valuation.

Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter in its report. The company raised $1 billion in December at a lower valuation. Paradigm led that earlier round with support from Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Andreessen Horowitz, and CapitalG.

Kalshi Funding Round Lifts Valuation to $22 Billion

Coatue Management led the new $1 billion round, Bloomberg reported. The funding pushed Kalshi’s valuation to $22 billion. That figure stands at twice the level recorded in December.

Paradigm led the December round, which also raised $1 billion. Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Andreessen Horowitz, and CapitalG joined that financing. CapitalG operates as Alphabet’s growth-equity arm.

The latest investment reflects rising demand for prediction market platforms. Bloomberg reported that Kalshi’s annualized revenue stands at $1.5 billion. The company has not publicly disclosed further financial details.

Kalshi operates as a federally regulated financial exchange. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees its activities nationwide. This structure allows Kalshi to offer event-based contracts under federal rules.

Trading Growth and Regulatory Challenges

Kalshi reported sharp growth in trading activity this year. KalshiData showed that February trading volume exceeded $10 billion. That figure reached 12 times the level recorded six months earlier.

Polymarket remains Kalshi’s largest rival in the prediction market sector. Polymarket focuses primarily on markets outside the United States. Both platforms have expanded rapidly in recent months.

Kalshi gained traction after regulators allowed election outcome contracts. The company received permission to offer trading on the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It has operated since its founding in 2018.

However, state regulators have challenged parts of its business. More than a dozen states have taken action against prediction market providers. Some regulators argue that they control sports-related betting products.

Last month, Kalshi disclosed insider-trading investigations on its platform. The company said it penalized two users, including an editor for MrBeast. It also reported more than a dozen active insider-trading cases among 200 reviewed.

Legal pressure has increased in recent weeks. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Kalshi’s request to block a Nevada restraining order. That decision cleared the way for a ban on its operations in Nevada.

Arizona authorities also filed criminal charges against the company. The state charged Kalshi with 20 counts for operating an illegal gambling business. Officials also accused it of offering election wagering within Arizona.

The post Kalshi Valuation Hits $22B After $1B Coatue-Led Round appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• Uber’s investment in Rivian reaches up to $1.25 billion through 2031, beginning with an initial $300M payment
• Deal includes purchase of up to 50,000 self-driving R2 vehicles by Uber and its fleet operators
• Deployment launches in 2028 across Miami and San Francisco, with expansion to 25 metropolitan areas by 2031
• Wall Street analysts from Stifel, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas view the partnership as beneficial for Rivian’s autonomous vehicle strategy
• Rivian finished 2025 holding $6 billion in cash reserves — compared to Tesla’s $44B and Waymo’s recent $16B capital raise

Rivian (RIVN) shares climbed on Thursday following the announcement of a significant commercial agreement with Uber (UBER) that promises substantial capital infusion and a massive vehicle purchase commitment.

Rivian Automotive, Inc., RIVN

The agreement stipulates that Uber and its fleet operators will acquire a minimum of 10,000 fully autonomous R2 SUVs, with the potential to expand orders up to 50,000 units. These vehicles will function exclusively within the Uber platform, operating without human drivers.

Initial vehicle deployments are scheduled for 2028, launching in Miami and San Francisco. The expansion strategy targets approximately 25 metropolitan areas across the United States, Canada, and Europe by 2031.

Uber’s financial pledge totals up to $1.25 billion extending through 2031. An initial $300 million payment is already underway. The remaining investment is contingent upon Rivian achieving predetermined technological benchmarks.

Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed strong support for the partnership. “We’re big believers in Rivian’s approach — designing the vehicle, compute platform, and software stack together, while maintaining end-to-end control of scaled manufacturing and supply in the U.S.,” he stated.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe characterized the deal as a catalyst for expediting the company’s Level 4 autonomy objectives. “We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership with Uber — it will help accelerate our path to level 4 autonomy to create one of the safest and most convenient autonomous platforms in the world,” he commented.

The robotaxis will operate as completely driverless vehicles — without safety drivers or manual steering capability. This represents the standard for Level 4 autonomous operation.

Wall Street’s Take on the Partnership

BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello stated Thursday’s stock movement was warranted. He highlighted the enhanced financial runway and Uber’s $300M initial investment as substantial endorsement of Rivian’s proprietary autonomy technology. He also referenced that Rivian had previously announced plans for hands-free point-to-point driving by year-end, though a complete Level 4 timeline hadn’t been disclosed until this announcement.

Stifel maintained its Buy recommendation on RIVN. Analyst Stephen Gengaro described the Uber partnership as a “meaningful positive” for both the autonomous vehicle program and the broader commercial rollout of the R2 vehicle line.

Morgan Stanley’s Andrew Percoco drew parallels between this deal and Rivian’s Volkswagen collaboration — another strategic relationship where a financially strong partner provides funding for autonomous technology advancement. He characterized it as an additional capital source as Rivian progresses toward profitability.

Financial Position and Competition

Rivian concluded 2025 with $6 billion in cash and liquid investments. While substantial, this figure pales in comparison to Tesla’s $44 billion cash position and Waymo’s $16 billion capital raise completed in February.

The Uber investment provides Rivian with extended financial runway and, equally significant, validation from a leading player in the mobility sector.

Evercore ISI observed that Uber has accelerated its autonomous vehicle strategy, announcing five AV-related partnerships within a single week — including collaborations with Zoox, Wayve, Nvidia, and Waabi in addition to the Rivian agreement.

Rivian previously demonstrated its autonomous vehicle technology at an AI Day event in December 2025, featuring a proprietary silicon chip architecture and sophisticated sensor systems.

The post Rivian (RIVN) Stock Jumps 6% as Uber Commits $1.25B to Autonomous Vehicle Deal appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• XRP price trades within a long-standing descending channel that has guided its movement for eight months.
• The token declined 5.8% in three days as Bitcoin fell below the $70,000 level.
• XRP rebounded 26% from $1.27 to above $1.60 before facing resistance near the upper trendline.
• The upper channel resistance now stands near $1.65, requiring a 13.8% increase for a breakout.
• A confirmed breakout could open the path toward projected targets of $2.52 and $3.9.

XRP trades under a long-standing descending channel resistance as sellers cap recent recovery attempts. The token has dropped 5.8% in three days while Bitcoin slipped below $70,000. Chart data shows XRP could rally toward $2.5 or $4 if it clears overhead resistance.

XRP Price Stalls Below Key Trendline Resistance

XRP price pulled back after failing to sustain gains above $1.60 earlier this week. The broader market slowed as Bitcoin fell under $70,000 and then $69,000. As a result, XRP price now trades near $1.45 after a three-day 5.8% decline.

Earlier, XRP rebounded nearly 26% from $1.27 on Feb. 28 to above $1.60. However, sellers rejected the advance near the channel’s upper boundary. Market analyst Ray said XRP “must breach the upper resistance trendline” to reverse the downtrend.

Ray identified a descending channel that has guided the XRP price for eight months. The structure formed after XRP dropped from $3.6 in July 2025. Since then, the token has recorded lower highs and lower lows within the pattern.

XRP tested the upper resistance on Oct. 2, 2025, near $3.1. It also tested the barrier on Jan. 6, 2026, near $2.41. Each attempt failed as sellers defended the trendline.

Breakout Above Channel Could Open Path to $2.5 and $4

The upper resistance trendline now aligns near $1.65. XRP price must climb about 13.8% from $1.45 to break above it. Ray stated that a confirmed breakout could shift momentum to buyers.

In a prior chart review, Ray projected a move toward $2.52 after a breakout. That target reflected a 77% rise from $1.42 at the time. He also outlined a higher objective near $3.9, which equals a 180% increase.

While resistance capped advances, buyers defended the lower channel support several times. Bears attempted breakdowns near $2.72 in August 2025 and $1.37 in October 2025. Buyers also held support near $1.81 in November 2025 and $1.1 in February 2026.

Each defense of support triggered short-term rebounds within the channel. However, the XRP price has not closed above the descending resistance. Therefore, the bearish structure remains intact until a breakout occurs.

At press time, XRP trades at $1.45 as the channel resistance sits near $1.65. The chart continues to show $2.52 and $3.9 as upside targets if the price clears that level. XRP price remains within the eight-month descending channel as of the latest session.

The post XRP Price Stalls at Key Trendline, $2.5 Break in Focus appeared first on Blockonomi.

The cryptocurrency market has remained shaky over the past 24 hours, and sentiment remains in “Extreme Fear” according to the popular Crypto Fear and Greed Index. The total market capitalization is dwindling, currently at about $2.47 trillion as of this writing.

Bitcoin’s Price Struggles Through the Week

Before we proceed with the altcoins, let’s have an overview of what happened to Bitcoin this week. Tensions in the Middle East are far from over, while in the US, the Federal Reserve held its second FOMC meeting of the year.

Just a week ago, BTC’s price surged toward $74,000 for the second time in ten days, but was then faced with rejection and slipped back toward $70K during the weekend. The decline was exacerbated by one of the most severe US bombing operations on Iranian infrastructure, as described by the POTUS himself.

Despite all of this pressure, BTC held the $70K level and managed to reverse course early in the week. The momentum picked up on Monday and especially Tuesday, when the price soared to about $76K – a level we hadn’t seen in nearly six weeks.

However, the rally lost its steam soon after. By Wednesday, the leading cryptocurrency had pulled back to $74K, and then dropped sharply ahead of the FOMC decision, which, by the way, was in line with expectations. Comments from the Fed Chair, expressing concern about inflation and the broader economy, triggered another wave of selling, ultimately pushing BTC below $70K.

Altcoins Tumble, But Some Are Catching the Attention

Many altcoins have lost their footing in the past 24 hours, and many of them are also charting insignificant increases in the range between 0% and 1%. That’s especially true for the large-caps such as Binance Coin (+0.02%), XRP (-0.47%), ETH (-0.07%), Solana (+0.7%), and so forth.

As mentioned above, the broader market sentiment has once again shifted to extreme fear, and the uncertainty in major markets is evident.

That said, there are always exceptions to the rule. Siren (SIREN) – a coin that recently entered the top 100 is performing really well today. It has managed to soar by 10% in the past day and by 60% in the past week. Bittensor’s TAO is the clear winner from the top 100, gaining more than 14% during the last 24 hours, riding on the back of the AI hype.

One coin that is flying under the radar but boasts strong fundamentals and visible traction, though, is the newly-launched GCOIN by PlayNance. The altcoin sits on a fully diluted valuation of about $80 million, meaning that it doesn’t take that much for it to gain traction.

On the other hand, nearly 10% of the currently circulating supply is locked and essentially out of the market for the foreseeable future, removing considerable immediate selling pressure.

GCOIN is the native cryptocurrency of the PlayNance ecosystem and is powering its entire infrastructure. The protocol is oriented toward some of the hottest current narratives in the face of gaming and entertainment and already boasts thousands of applications and millions of daily transactions, all powered by GCOIN. Following a successful token generation event (TGE) from a few days ago, GCOIN is available for trading on the popular MEXC exchange.

Those who want to get in on the action early can find more information about GCOIN here.

Disclaimer: The above article is sponsored content. CryptoPotato doesn’t endorse or assume responsibility for the content, advertising, products, quality, accuracy, or other materials on this page. Nothing in it should be construed as financial advice. Readers are strongly advised to verify the information independently and carefully before engaging with any company or project mentioned and to do their own research. Investing in cryptocurrencies carries a risk of capital loss, and readers are also advised to consult a professional before making any decisions that may or may not be based on the above-sponsored content.

The post These Trending Altcoins Are Turning Heads: Bittensor (TAO), SIREN, and GCOIN by PlayNance appeared first on CryptoPotato.

This Friday, we examine Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid in greater detail.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum tested the $2,400 resistance this week, but it was quickly rejected as the overall market entered a significant pullback. Nevertheless, the price is up by 2% compared to last week.

Hopefully, buyers will manage to hold the price above the support at $2,000. Any failure there will likely see this cryptocurrency fall to $1,800, where buyers returned in February.

Looking ahead, ETH made a higher high, and if it also manages to make a higher low, then the chance of an eventual breakout above $2,400 is likely later this month or in early April. This is contingent on the overall market staying flat or turning bullish again.

Ripple (XRP)

XRP is up 4% this week, and its price also attempted to break the resistance at $1.6, but it was rejected just like it happened to ETH. Bulls will need more time to seriously challenge that level,

and a consolidation under the key resistance is likely.

The current support on the chart is found at $1.4 and $1. Ideally, XRP will hold above $1.4 since a deeper correction will put in doubt the conviction from buyers.

Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency has a real chance to break away from its prolonged downtrend that started in July 2025. That starts as soon as $1.6 turns into a key support. That will also allow XPR to challenge $2 afterwards.

Cardano (ADA)

ADA is at a similar price to last week, being unable to move higher. The resistance at $0.28 stopped buyers from attempting a rally, and sellers have been more dominant in the second part of this past week.

The current price action shows that the support at $0.25 could be tested before the bulls attempt a new rally towards the key resistance. Hopefully, buyers will manage to regain control soon so they can maintain pressure and not lose their momentum completely.

Looking ahead, ADA has to break above $0.28 to turn bullish again, with key targets at 33 and 40 cents.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin is down 3% this week after the price was rejected at the $690 resistance. With sellers back, buyers are now struggling to keep the price above $650. If they fail, a retest of the $580 support level becomes likely.

Nevertheless, the price did make a higher high, and another push could break the resistance. If so, the way will open for this cryptocurrency to rally towards $900. That would bring back excitement to this coin.

Looking ahead, BNB may need a bit more time for this price action to show its true intentions. For now, it could consolidate under $690 until momentum and volume pick up again.

Hype (HYPE)

HYPE managed to double its price from the lows in mid-January. That is an impressive performance considering the overall market was rather mixed. The price went from $20 to $43 which shows that buyers have a firm control over the price.

This is also why this cryptocurrency closed the week with a 4% profit and is one of the best performers in the market right now. Nevertheless, the resistance at $42 has put a stop to this rally, at least for now.

Looking ahead, HYPE is getting closer to its all-time high of $59. A retest of that level could be interpreted as a bullish signal, but for that to happen, the price has to move above $42 and $50 first.

The post Crypto Price Analysis Mar-20: ETH, XRP, ADA, BNB, and HYPE appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin opened 2026 with a brief window of relative calm — and then the market remembered what it does best. Geopolitical tensions, a derivatives market running on elevated leverage, and a macro environment still digesting shifting interest rate expectations have combined to push Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility metrics to their highest levels since March 2025. Price swings exceeding $10,000 in a single session have become routine again, with a rapid rebound tied directly to the Iran conflict reminding the market how quickly sentiment can flip when external pressure enters the picture.

The structure driving this volatility isn’t coming primarily from spot demand. High open interest in perpetual futures has created conditions where liquidation cascades can trigger sharp two-way moves independently of any fundamental development — traders reacting to other traders, leverage amplifying every directional bet in both directions simultaneously. ETF outflows and risk-off sentiment from institutional players have added fragility to an environment already prone to sharp corrections, with Binance flagging macro uncertainty as a compounding factor in the current setup.

For investors who built Bitcoin positions during the quieter period and are now watching that capital swing by five figures in a session, the question of how to hold Bitcoin exposure without being entirely at the mercy of that volatility has become increasingly pressing. A growing number of them are finding an answer in Bitcoin Everlight’s shard model.

Infrastructure Participation as a Volatility Hedge

Bitcoin Everlight is a decentralized validation network where participants contribute to securing blockchain infrastructure and earn Bitcoin rewards in return. The platform runs on a Transaction Validation Node framework handling validation, routing, and reward distribution, with Everlight Shards as the participation layer sitting on top of that infrastructure. Each shard represents an activation tier within the node network — once active, it draws from the BTC-denominated fee pool generated by transaction routing activity, distributing rewards to shard holders regardless of what the Bitcoin price is doing on any given day.

That distinction matters in a volatile market. A shard position generates BTC from network fee activity — the reward comes from transaction volume flowing through the infrastructure, not from the spot price of Bitcoin sitting above or below a particular level. For investors looking to maintain Bitcoin exposure while reducing their dependence on price action, that separation between earning mechanism and market price is the core of the value proposition.

Before the presale opened, the project completed dual smart contract audits through Spywolf and Solidproof, alongside dual KYC verifications through Spywolf and Vital Block — independent verification of both the smart contract and the team’s identity, in place from day one.

How Shard Activation Works

Entry into the network begins with acquiring BTCL tokens during the current presale phase, with a minimum purchase of $50. Once a participant’s cumulative USD commitment crosses a tier threshold, the shard activates automatically based on the value at the time of purchase. From that moment, rewards begin distributing in BTCL at a fixed APY tied to the active tier, continuing throughout the presale period. Tokens remain locked during presale and commitments are final — a structure that keeps participants economically aligned with the network’s long-term performance.

When mainnet launches, the fixed presale incentives transition to performance-based BTC distribution drawn from real transaction routing fee activity. The reward pool scales with network usage — higher transaction volume through the infrastructure generates more fees, which increases distribution potential for active shard holders. There is no fixed post-mainnet APY because the returns reflect what the network generates from real economic activity.

Azure, Violet, Radiant — The Three Activation Point

The Azure Shard activates at a $500 commitment and earns up to 12% APY in BTCL during the presale period, transitioning to BTC rewards at mainnet launch. The Violet Shard activates at $1,500 with up to 20% APY during presale, and the Radiant Shard activates at $3,000 with up to 28% APY — both carrying the same BTC reward transition when the network goes live.

Participants holding tokens below any threshold maintain a dormant shard position that upgrades automatically once their balance reaches the next tier. After mainnet, tiers are sustained through ongoing USD-equivalent BTCL balance — if holdings grow past a threshold the shard upgrades, and if a balance falls below one it adjusts to the appropriate level.

What Volatile Markets Reveal About Passive Income Models

Sharp volatility tends to expose the weaknesses in passive income strategies that looked solid during quieter periods. Yield products denominated in the same asset being held collapse in real-world value when the underlying drops 15% in a session. Leveraged positions designed to generate income get liquidated in exactly the conditions where income is most needed. The investors rotating out of those structures in early 2026 are looking for positions where the earning mechanism has some independence from daily price movement.

Bitcoin Everlight’s post-mainnet reward structure distributes BTC from transaction routing fees — the value of what a shard holder earns is tied to network activity, not to whether Bitcoin closed above or below a key level on a given day. In a market where geopolitical events and derivatives positioning can move the spot price by $10,000 without any change in underlying fundamentals, that separation between earning mechanism and price action is exactly what a growing number of investors are looking for.

Phase 1 Is Open Now

Bitcoin Everlight is currently in Phase 1 of its presale — a phase that runs for 6 days, with 472,500,000 tokens available at $0.0008 per token. Shards activated during this phase begin earning BTCL rewards immediately and carry that position directly into the mainnet BTC reward phase at the lowest available pricing.

As Bitcoin volatility climbs back toward its 2025 peaks, the case for holding an infrastructure position that generates Bitcoin from network activity — independent of where the spot price moves next — is getting easier to make.

The full details on how Everlight Shards work and what the BTC reward distribution looks like after mainnet launch can be found here.

Disclaimer: The above article is sponsored content; it’s written by a third party. CryptoPotato doesn’t endorse or assume responsibility for the content, advertising, products, quality, accuracy, or other materials on this page. Nothing in it should be construed as financial advice. Readers are strongly advised to verify the information independently and carefully before engaging with any company or project mentioned and to do their own research. Investing in cryptocurrencies carries a risk of capital loss, and readers are also advised to consult a professional before making any decisions that may or may not be based on the above-sponsored content.

Readers are also advised to read CryptoPotato’s full disclaimer.

The post Bitcoin Volatility Rising Again — Investors Are Turning to Everlight Shards for Passive BTC Rewards appeared first on CryptoPotato.

It was another highly eventful macro week, as the tension in the Middle East is nowhere near coming to an end, but also in the US, where the central bank was scheduled to have its second FOMC meeting for the year.

Recall that just a week ago, bitcoin pushed toward $74,000 for the second time in the past 10 days, only to be rejected and driven south toward $70,000 during the weekend, especially after the US carried out one of the most devastating bombing attacks, as described by the POTUS, on Iranian infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the asset managed to maintain that level and quickly reversed its trajectory on Monday and especially Tuesday. It peaked on Tuesday morning at $76,000, which became its highest price tag in almost six weeks.

However, its progress stalled at this point, and the asset returned to $74,000 on Wednesday. It nosedived hours before the aforementioned FOMC meeting, going from $74,400 to $71,200. When the Fed’s decision met expectations, meaning that there was no change in the interest rates, BTC rebounded to $72,000.

The Fed Chair’s worrying comments about inflation and the overall economy led to more losses on the following day, and BTC dipped to $68,800 on Thursday. It bounced to over $71,000 earlier today, but it was stopped once again and currently fights to stay above $70,000. This means that it has lost nearly 5% of value in the past week, which is worse than many alts, including ETH and XRP.

Moreover, some, such as HYPE, TRX, TAO, and HTX, have posted impressive gains over the same period, reducing bitcoin’s dominance over the alts by over 0.5%.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.48T | 24H Vol: $96B | BTC Dominance: 56.3%

BTC: $69,800 (-4,6%) | ETH: $2,125 (-2,4%) | XRP: $1.43 (-0,2%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

BREAKING: Strategy Buys $1.57 Billion Worth of Bitcoin (BTC). The business week began with a big purchase from Strategy. Saylor’s brainchild splashed over $1.5 billion to acquire 22,337 BTC. Consequently, its total stash grew to 761,068 BTC, acquired for over $57.6 billion.

Mastercard Deepens Crypto Push With $1.8B Acquisition of Stablecoin Payments Firm BVNK. The payments giant announced a $1.8 billion deal to acquire the stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK. It plans to expand its end-to-end support of digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails, and regions.

SEC Finally Clarifies That Most Crypto Assets Are Not Securities. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission finally outlined how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and transactions with their involvement. It laid out a token taxonomy covering five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities.

Argentina Orders Nationwide Block on Polymarket Over Unlicensed Gambling. The South American nation joined the growing list of countries that have imposed an all-out ban on Polymarket. The decision came after a Buenos Aires court determined the platform was operating an unauthorized betting service.

Another Exchange Slashes 30% Workforce as AI Pivot Deepens Amid Mounting Losses. Two major crypto exchanges announced big employee reductions in the past week alone. Gemini slashed its workforce by 30%, and its employee count dropped to 445. Before that, Crypto.com said it would cut 12% of its current employees. Both companies said they are focusing on AI instead.

Bitcoin ETFs Smash Records: 4 Highest Trading Volumes Ever All in Past Month. Data from Santiment revealed that the spot Bitcoin ETFs have registered four of the highest-volume trading sessions in the past month alone. Their analysts believe this showcases that institutional demand has returned to the BTC ETF scene.

The post Bitcoin Struggles at $70K After $76K Rejection as Fed Holds Rates: Weekly Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato.

While Cardano’s native token has declined by 3% over the past week, certain indicators hint that a double-digit revival might be on the way.

Ripple’s whales have purchased a substantial amount of tokens lately, while many analysts believe that Bitcoin (BTC) could drop below $50,000 during the current cycle.

ADA’s Potential Targets

As of this writing, the asset trades at around $0.26, with Ali Martinez noting that the TD Sequential indicator has flashed a “buy” signal. The analyst believes that this setup could be a precursor to a short-term rally, pointing out to $0.23 as a major support level.

According to him, a weekly close above that mark can result in a pump to $0.32 or even $0.37, whereas a break below would invalidate the formation.

Earlier this week, Martinez outlined $0.304 as the upper boundary of a prolonged sideways channel. Surging past that zone may open the door to a jump to as high as $0.376, he argued.

ADA’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) can be viewed as another bullish signal for traders and investors. The technical analysis tool measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes and indicates whether the asset is overbought or oversold. It varies from 0 to 100, and anything below 30 is considered a buying opportunity. Data shows that ADA’s RSI has plunged close to that mark on a weekly scale.

XRP Whales Woke up

Ripple’s cross-border token has registered a negligible 1% increase over the last seven days and, as of this writing, trades at approximately $1.44 (per CoinGecko’s data).

The spot XRP ETFs have been bleeding lately, but on March 17, they once again turned positive, signaling renewed interest from institutional investors. Additionally, large investors (known as whales) have snapped up 200 million tokens in the past two weeks. The acquired stash is valued at almost $300 million at current rates, and the development is clearly bullish for the price.

Accumulation from these market participants leaves fewer tokens available on the open market, which, combined with non-declining demand, should lead to a surging valuation. Moreover, the whales’ actions could spark enthusiasm across the ecosystem, prompting smaller players to follow suit and distribute fresh capital.

Many analysts are quite optimistic about XRP’s future performance. Earlier this week, the price briefly jumped to as high as $1.60, and Ali Martinez forecasted a further increase to $1.85.

Where is BTC’s Bottom?

A few days ago, the primary cryptocurrency rebounded significantly, reaching a six-week high of $76,000. However, the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged, as well as Jerome Powell’s hawkish speech, led to another bearish move under $70K.

According to some analysts, the current downward cycle is far from over, with severe dumps predicted in the short term. X user Leshka.eth envisioned a drop to $53,000 sometime this summer, while bee thinks the price could nosedive to as low as $46,760.

Meanwhile, spot BTC ETFs, which have attracted significant capital lately, have flipped negative in recent days. This reflects fading appetite from institutions and could have a negative impact on the price.

The post ADA’s Next Price Targets, XRP Whales on the Move, and More: Bits Recap March 20 appeared first on CryptoPotato.