The bankruptcy and legal fallout from Goliath Ventures' Ponzi scheme could erode trust in crypto investments and impact financial regulations.

The post Crypto firm Goliath Ventures files for bankruptcy after CEO arrested over alleged $328M Ponzi scheme appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The partial lockup of WLD tokens may stabilize the market short-term, but long-term impacts on liquidity and investor confidence remain uncertain.

The post Sam Altman’s World sells 239 million WLD through OTC deals with partial lockup appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Kalshi gets margin approval as its $22 billion valuation and booming event trading volumes push prediction markets further into Wall Street.

The post Kalshi moves toward margin trading with new regulatory approval appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Codifying SEC-CFTC rules into law could prevent politically motivated crackdowns, fostering innovation and enhancing US crypto competitiveness.

The post Ripple CEO warns against another weaponized Gensler moment if SEC-CFTC rules aren’t codified into law appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Judge blocks Trump administration from enforcing Anthropic blacklist, handing Claude maker an early win in its fight with the Pentagon.

The post Anthropic wins early court fight over Pentagon blacklist and Trump ban appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Morgan Stanley Set to Undercut Bitcoin ETF Rivals With 0.14% Fee Ahead of Launch

Morgan Stanley is poised to shake up the spot bitcoin ETF market with a sharply lower fee structure, as new filing details show its upcoming Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) will charge just 0.14% annually — undercutting every existing U.S. competitor.

The fee, disclosed in updated trust documents shared by Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, comes in 11 basis points below BlackRock’s flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which currently charges around 0.25%. 

The aggressive pricing positions MSBT as the cheapest spot bitcoin ETF on the market at launch, signaling a deliberate push to capture both internal advisory flows and external investor capital.

The move carries particular weight within Morgan Stanley’s own ecosystem. With roughly $8 trillion in wealth management assets and a network of thousands of financial advisors, fee sensitivity has been one of the barriers to broader ETF adoption across advisory channels. 

A lower-cost in-house product could remove that friction, allowing advisors to allocate to bitcoin without facing conflicts tied to recommending higher-fee third-party funds.

Industry observers say that dynamic could materially shift flows.

Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, recently described the product as a potential “Monster Bitcoin” catalyst, estimating that even a modest 2% allocation across Morgan Stanley’s platform could translate into roughly $160 billion in demand. 

That figure would far exceed the size of any existing spot bitcoin ETF and underscores the importance of distribution, not just product design.

Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF is coming

The fee disclosure arrives as MSBT moves closer to launch. The fund has already received a listing notice from the New York Stock Exchange, a step widely viewed as signaling that trading could begin imminently pending final regulatory clearance. If approved, the product would become the first spot bitcoin ETF issued directly by a major U.S. bank rather than an asset manager.

Structurally, MSBT mirrors existing spot bitcoin ETFs. The trust will hold bitcoin directly, with Coinbase serving as custodian and prime broker, while BNY Mellon will handle administration, transfer agency, and cash custody.

Since their debut in 2024, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have easily attracted more than $50 billion in inflows, driven largely by retail and self-directed investors. Adoption within wealth management platforms has been slower, often constrained by internal policies, fee considerations, and portfolio construction guidelines.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading near $66,000.

This post Morgan Stanley Set to Undercut Bitcoin ETF Rivals With 0.14% Fee Ahead of Launch first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Hits Extreme Fear at 13 Out of 100

As of March 27, 2026, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index reads 13, placing sentiment in Extreme Fear. The current price of bitcoin is near $66,000.

The index spans 0 to 100, with lower readings tied to fear-driven market conditions and higher readings tied to greed-driven conditions.

The metric compiles inputs across price volatility, market momentum, trading volume, Bitcoin dominance, social sentiment, and Google Trends activity. The combined dataset forms a sentiment gauge used to track emotional conditions across Bitcoin markets.

Readings in the Extreme Fear range have aligned with prior stress phases in BTC market cycles.

Bitcoin Magazine Pro data highlights these zones as periods marked by liquidity contraction, elevated volatility, and forced positioning in derivatives markets.

In prior reporting, deep fear readings have coincided with accumulation behavior among long-term holders, alongside reduced speculative activity across spot and derivatives venues.

Earlier market drawdowns examined in Bitcoin Magazine Pro research show similar sentiment conditions during deleveraging events, where sharp price declines matched rapid sentiment compression.

In those phases, volatility expansion and liquidity withdrawal appeared alongside increased Bitcoin dominance as risk appetite shifted away from altcoin exposure.

Bitcoin uncertainty

Earlier today, Bitcoin price fell to its lowest level in more than two weeks, dropping below roughly $66,000 as liquidations exceeded $300 million in long positions over the previous 24 hours.

Short liquidations were far lower, showing that leveraged bullish traders were primarily forced out of the market. The move followed a broader shift in global risk sentiment as equities weakened and macroeconomic pressure increased.

The decline in BTC coincided with a risk-off environment across traditional markets. Nasdaq 100 futures had fallen about 10% from prior highs, while oil prices rose toward $100 per barrel amid escalating geopolitical tensions involving Iran.

Military activity and missile exchanges between the two countries continued despite diplomatic efforts, and the United States delayed direct escalation while negotiations remained open.

Regional instability contributed to concerns over energy supply routes, including disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

BTC had briefly approached higher levels earlier in the week on hopes of diplomatic progress, but those gains reversed as uncertainty returned. Price action remained within a broader range between $60,000 and $75,000 that had persisted for several weeks, following a prior peak above $120,000 in late 2025.

Institutional flows showed mixed signals. Spot BTC exchange-traded funds recorded billions in inflows earlier in March, but more recent sessions saw outflows.

On-chain data showed continued withdrawals from exchanges, suggesting long-term holders moved assets into self-custody. Options markets showed about $14 billion in expirations, which influenced price stability near key strike levels around $75,000.

Editorial Disclaimer: We leverage AI as part of our editorial workflow, including to support research, image generation, and quality assurance processes. All content is directed, reviewed, and approved by our editorial team, who are accountable for accuracy and integrity. AI-generated images use only tools trained on properly license material. In Bitcoin, as in media: Don’t trust. Verify.

This post Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Hits Extreme Fear at 13 Out of 100 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

ICE Announces $600 Million Strategic Investment in Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has completed a $600 million direct cash investment in prediction market platform Polymarket as part of a broader equity fundraising round, according to a company announcement.

The new investment follows ICE’s previously disclosed $1 billion commitment made in October 2025. With the latest infusion, ICE says it has now fulfilled its obligations under the investment agreement, which also includes plans to purchase up to $40 million in additional Polymarket securities from existing holders.

Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction market platform that allows users to trade on the outcomes of real-world events, has drawn increasing attention from institutional investors amid growing interest in event-driven data markets and decentralized financial infrastructure.

Polymarket has support for bitcoin deposits, giving users a direct way to fund their accounts with BTC alongside other existing crypto options. 

ICE stated that the investment is not expected to materially impact its financial results or capital return plans. Final valuation details of the latest transaction are expected to be disclosed once the fundraising round is fully completed.

The move further signals traditional financial market infrastructure firms expanding into alternative data and crypto-adjacent platforms. ICE, which operates major exchanges including the NYSE, continues to diversify into digital markets, data services, and fintech infrastructure.

Polymarket has become one of the most prominent prediction market platforms globally, leveraging blockchain rails to facilitate trading on political, economic, and cultural outcomes.

The companies emphasized that the announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit securities. Market observers say the scale of ICE’s investment underscores rising institutional interest in prediction markets as both a trading venue and a data source.

Polymarket’s embrace by TradFi

In the past year, the relationship between the crypto-native prediction market and traditional financial powerhouse Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has become one of the most closely watched intersections of decentralized markets and institutional capital. 

Polymarket, launched in 2020 by founder Shayne Coplan, has grown into one of the largest blockchain-based prediction platforms, where users trade shares on the outcomes of future events — from elections to economic indicators and geopolitical developments — using cryptocurrency rails.

In late 2025, Polymarket re-entered the U.S. market under full Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulation after previously being blocked amid enforcement actions, marking a significant shift from its earlier status as an offshore, lightly regulated venue.

In December 2025, Polymarket launched its U.S.-focused app after the CFTC approval, restoring American access to its prediction markets and initially offering sports betting with plans to expand into other categories like propositions and elections.

Editorial Disclaimer: We leverage AI as part of our editorial workflow, including to support research, image generation, and quality assurance processes. All content is directed, reviewed, and approved by our editorial team, who are accountable for accuracy and integrity. AI-generated images use only tools trained on properly license material. In Bitcoin, as in media: Don’t trust. Verify.

This post ICE Announces $600 Million Strategic Investment in Polymarket first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Slides to Two-Week Low as Liquidations Top $300 Million and Macro Pressure Builds

Bitcoin price fell below $66,500 on Friday, hitting its lowest level in more than two weeks as a wave of long liquidations and mounting macroeconomic stress weighed on the crypto market..

Data shows nearly $300 million in long positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, compared with roughly $50 million in short liquidations, pointing to an unwind of crowded bullish positioning in crypto futures. The imbalance reflects a market that had leaned heavily long and is now adjusting as sentiment shifts.

The bitcoin price selloff coincided with a broader risk-off move across global markets. Nasdaq 100 futures have fallen about 10% from their January highs, while oil prices climbed near $100 per barrel amid escalating geopolitical tensions tied to the ongoing conflict involving Iran. 

Earlier today, Israel said it will escalate strikes on Iran after renewed waves of Iranian missile attacks, while both sides continue exchanging fire despite ongoing diplomatic efforts. 

President Trump has paused U.S. strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for 10 more days to allow negotiations, even as reports suggest the Pentagon is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the conflict is widening regionally, with shipping disruptions reported in the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf states on alert after strikes, and Iranian casualties reportedly nearing 2,000 as international talks continue in Europe.

The surge in crude has renewed inflation concerns and pressured risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin price dynamics

Bitcoin price briefly approached $71,500 this week on optimism tied to a potential diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East. Those gains reversed as uncertainty around negotiations resurfaced, pushing prices lower and reinforcing sensitive market conditions.

Despite the recent decline, bitcoin price continues to trade within a defined range between $60,000 and $75,000 that has held for several weeks, even months. The asset remains well below its October 2025 peak above $126,000 following a broader market correction.

Institutional flows present a mixed picture. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded sustained inflows earlier in March, totaling about $2.5 billion over five weeks. That momentum has slowed in recent sessions, with net outflows emerging and signaling a pause in accumulation as investors respond to macro uncertainty.

At the same time, on-chain data indicates continued withdrawals of bitcoin from centralized exchanges over the past month. This trend suggests longer-term holders are moving assets into self-custody, a pattern often associated with accumulation rather than distribution.

Despite this, Morgan Stanley is a step closer to launching its spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, after the New York Stock Exchange posted a listing notice — signaling an imminent debut that could make it the first such product from a major U.S. bank, alongside offerings from BlackRock and Fidelity.

Options markets add another layer of complexity. Roughly $14 billion in bitcoin price options are set to expire, representing a significant share of open interest. 

Hedging activity tied to these contracts has contributed to subdued volatility, with price action gravitating toward key strike levels near $75,000.

As these contracts roll off, the stabilizing effect from derivatives positioning may fade, leaving bitcoin more exposed to external catalysts. 

With geopolitical risks elevated and macro conditions tightening, the market faces a period where price movements may become more reactive and less constrained by structural flows.

This post Bitcoin Price Slides to Two-Week Low as Liquidations Top $300 Million and Macro Pressure Builds first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Simon Gerovich Confirmed As A Bitcoin 2026 Speaker

Simon Gerovich has been officially confirmed as a speaker at Bitcoin 2026. As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Metaplanet, he has helped transform the once struggling hospitality company into one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders in the world. Now, Gerovich arrives in Las Vegas as one of the most closely watched figures in institutional Bitcoin adoption outside of the United States.

Metaplanet closed 2025 with 35,102 BTC, making it the fourth-largest public corporate Bitcoin holder globally. The company has outlined aggressive accumulation targets, aiming to reach 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC — approximately 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply — by the end of 2027. To fund that ambition, Metaplanet recently secured approximately $255 million from global institutional investors through a placement of new shares, with additional fixed-strike warrants that could lift total funding to roughly $531 million. The company is also expanding beyond treasury accumulation: Metaplanet’s board approved the creation of two subsidiaries — Metaplanet Ventures and Metaplanet Asset Management — targeting companies building Bitcoin financial infrastructure in Japan, including platforms focused on lending, payments, custody, derivatives, and compliance tools.

Gerovich began the company’s EGM in September 2025 by explaining how Metaplanet pivoted from operating as a struggling hotel company to a Bitcoin treasury company in early 2024. The turnaround has been significant. Revenue jumped 738% year-over-year to 8.91 billion yen, with operating profit surging 1,695%, driven primarily by premiums from Bitcoin option transactions, which accounted for about 95% of total revenue. Gerovich has consistently pointed to Bitcoin per share — the company’s primary KPI — rather than net profit as the appropriate metric for evaluating Metaplanet’s performance, noting that Bitcoin per share increased by more than 500% in 2025.

With Metaplanet’s accumulation targets for 2026 still in motion and its expansion into ventures and asset management underway, Gerovich takes the Bitcoin 2026 stage at a pivotal moment for the company and for corporate Bitcoin adoption in Asia.

Bitcoin 2026 is Returning to Las Vegas

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. 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 Simon Gerovich Confirmed As A Bitcoin 2026 Speaker first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

For decades, the oil market moved on a very familiar and very predictable schedule. The biggest signals came from legacy futures venues; traders knew where the deepest pools of liquidity were and when they'd come alive.

But, like almost everything else, oil too hasn't been immune to the modern market's hunger.

Its rhythm has started to break as war pushed energy onto a much different kind of schedule.

Headlines are now landing at unexpected hours, risk is building on weekends, and an announcement from Washington can send crude surging hours before exchanges are open for business.

As those gaps kept widening, crypto companies saw an opportunity that was too good to miss out on: 24/7 oil trading.

While this has been in the works for quite a while, it was Wintermute's new 24/7 WTF crude oil CFD offering that pushed it into the mainstream. On the surface, this might look like just another product launch, another massive company expanding its menu. But set against the past few months, it looks like a land grab.

Wintermute is the latest of many companies trying to capture a slice of the oil market, which has become far more valuable than it was just a few months ago. Geopolitical risk doesn't care for office hours, and traders want exposure to oil immediately. That's why its product will enable users to post both fiat and crypto as collateral and trade around the clock through OTC channels.

Legacy venues are too far and too slow to deal with the kind of demand that's coming from the market right now.

On March 24, traders placed more than $500 million in crude bets just before President Donald Trump announced that the US would delay attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure. The market swung hard: Brent fell from about $112 to $99, while WTI dropped from roughly $99 to $86. But in spite of this drop, oil prices were still more than 40% above their pre-Iran levels, which gives a sense of how sharply the Middle East crisis has changed the market.

When price moves start arriving on that kind of schedule, traders will naturally go looking for a venue that's already open.

Where does oil risk go first?

That search has already produced one of the most interesting stories of the year.

Earlier in March, an oil-linked perpetual contract on Hyperliquid generated more than $1.2 billion in 24-hour volume, enough to become the platform’s second-most traded market. The surge came after a jump in oil futures during the escalation in Iran. Just a few days earlier, oil, gold, and silver contracts on Hyperliquid grew so much over the weekend that they started acting as a live signal for how those markets might respond once trading resumed on Monday.

Having an oil-linked perp on Hyperliquid turn $1.2 billion in 24 hours means this isn't a niche crypto experiment. We already have oil-linked products, so companies are now racing to be the first to quell this insatiable thirst for oil risk when traders in London, Singapore, Dubai, or New York want to react right away and refuse to wait for the next regular session.

Hyperliquid showed us what one model for that future might look like. Its product is very open, highly visible, and built around perpetuals that turn price discovery into a spectacle. The road Wintermute's taken is more tailored. It's dealer-led and more suited to clients who want customized access through OTC channels, rather than a public venue.

While the style might be different, the target is the same: both want the trader who now thinks of oil as a 24/7 macro asset.

That split deserves attention because it hints at where this market may be heading next. One version is crypto-native and public-facing, shaped by crowds, leverage, and speed. The other version is more institutional in tone, closer to the traditions of dealer markets, even as it relies on crypto’s always-on trading.

Both will most likely grow at the same time, with one becoming the loud front end of off-hours oil speculation, and the other becoming the smoother route for institutions that want exposure without the theater.

The bigger push toward all-hours markets

This is also why the Wintermute move fits into something broader than commodities.

The financial industry as a whole is moving toward longer trading days and tokenized formats across multiple asset classes.

Last week, the SEC approved a Nasdaq proposal allowing certain stocks to trade and settle in tokenized form. The New York Stock Exchange is working with Securitize on a tokenized securities platform. DTCC has said NSCC plans to shift to 24×5 operations in late June, if approved. Nasdaq has said it plans to introduce 24-hour trading on its primary US exchange in the second half of 2026. CME Group said in February that it would launch 24/7 cryptocurrency futures and options trading on May 29.

These are tectonic moves that will change the entire market. Investors are slowly being trained to expect access to trading at all times, and crypto companies have now turned that expectation into reality. Legacy financial companies are now rushing to catch up, each offering a similar product. The result of these efforts will be that trading during business hours stops being the norm and becomes a preference.

Oil gives that transition extra force because oil has always belonged to the heavyweight side of macro. It's an incredible asset because it carries inflation risk, war premium, shipping lanes, refinery economics, and sovereign budgets. It carries a seriousness that no crypto asset, not even Bitcoin, managed to capture.

So when an oil-linked contract becomes a breakout product on a crypto platform, the signal goes beyond just novelty. It tells us that crypto has found a way to insert itself into one of the most consequential conversations in global markets.

The path ahead is anything but smooth, though.

Extended-hour trading brings with it familiar concerns around thinner liquidity, wider spreads and early price moves that can overstate conviction. DTCC’s own materials on the move to 24×5 said there would be structural implications for everything from liquidity and resiliency to risk management. Banks have, of course, been raising concerns about investor protection, costs, volatility, and liquidity in near-continuous markets.

Even so, the direction is getting easier to see.

On March 18, S&P Dow Jones Indices said it licensed the S&P 500 to Trade[XYZ] for perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid, saying it was the first officially licensed S&P 500 perpetual built for 24/7 trading on a decentralized platform.

While the announcement focused on equities, it had much deeper significance. Benchmark owners, exchanges, clearing operators, and crypto venues are all starting to build for a market that stretches further into the night.

Which brings the story back to oil, and to the commercial prize now taking shape around it. In a year defined by the conflict in the Middle East, there's real value in becoming the first venue traders reach for when headlines hit after dinner in New York or before sunrise in London.

Hyperliquid got there early with a product that turned into a magnet for speculation and hedging. Wintermute is arriving with a different structure and a different client base. Others will almost certainly follow.

The race now is to turn off-hours demand into a durable franchise and become the place where traders do more than take a quick shot on price. All of these platforms want to start feeling, over time, like part of the “real” oil market, rather than a side arena for enthusiasts.

For a long time, oil opened and closed with the institutions that defined global finance. While that world is still dominant and still sets the benchmark, the first response to the next geopolitical shock most likely won't happen there. The fastest moves will most likely start coming from perpetuals on crypto venues, built by a market that has always seen business hours as a competitive weakness.

The post Crypto is winning the race to own oil trading after hours as Wintermute launches 24/7 trading appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Wall Street spent years talking about tokenization, but never seemed to move beyond vague plans and pilot projects. This week, however, we've seen a culmination of various efforts and incentives that showed it's finally taking things seriously.

BMO said it plans to launch tokenized cash capabilities with CME Group and Google Cloud for real-time payments and round-the-clock margin activity. Nasdaq already has SEC approval to support trading and settlement of certain stocks and ETFs in tokenized form.

Earlier this month, US bank regulators said tokenized securities would not face extra capital charges simply because blockchain is involved.

And then, on March 25, the House Financial Services Committee held a full hearing on tokenization and said it was working on a draft legislation aimed at adapting securities rules to this new structure.

That cluster of events and their timing tells you where tokenization now sits in American finance. This is no longer a vaguely crypto-adjacent curiosity. It's become a contest over how markets will function in the next decade, who gets to control the software layer beneath them, and whether the existing financial system can absorb digital finance without giving up its grip on the system.

Tokenization means taking an asset that already exists and representing it digitally on a blockchain-based ledger so it can move with more automation and fewer time constraints than the current architecture allows.

This makes assets easier to issue, easier to transfer, easier to use as collateral, and potentially faster to settle. In Larry Fink's 2026 chairman's letter, BlackRock described tokenization as a way to make investments easier to issue, trade, and access. JPMorgan's Kinexys sells a similar future in institutional language: transactions that run 24/7, in near real time, across borders.

Finance wants internet hours

Tokenization means taking an asset that already exists and representing it digitally on a blockchain-based ledger so it can move with more automation and fewer time constraints than the current architecture allows.

The easiest way to understand Wall Street's enthusiasm for tokenization is to stop looking at it as a push for blockchain technology. What most legacy financial firms want is trading continuity, which is an almost impossible thing to achieve using existing trading and settlement architecture.

Global markets already trade 24/7, so to speak, because oil trades when Wall Street sleeps, and futures reprice on headlines from Asia or the Middle East. Margin calls for commodities on the LSE happen despite what time it is in Chicago. But almost the entirety of the current financial system still relies on business hours, settlement windows, and slow back-office processes that weren't built for the interconnected economy we now live in.

Tokenization offers a way to bring money, securities, and collateral closer to the speed at which modern markets actually live.

BMO said as much in its announcement. Its tokenized cash platform is meant to support institutional clients using margined products and derivatives at CME, allowing them to manage trading, settlement, and margin calls at any time. JPMorgan wants to do the same thing through Kinexys, which promises always-on payments and faster cross-border transfers. Citi has been pushing for the same in its work on tokenized payments, framing them as a way to create real-time liquidity, automation, and more efficient collateral usage.

All of these efforts are very real and will soon start producing tangible results (actual off-hours settlement). What we're seeing now is way past the realm of abstract language on innovation. We're now seeing practical language describing actual treasury management, funding, and collateral mobility.

Washington is now treating that prospect as a capital-markets issue.

The committee memorandum for the March 25 hearing said lawmakers would examine whether the current securities law adequately governs tokenized activity and where duplicative requirements may be getting in the way. One discussion draft would require the SEC and CFTC to conduct a joint study on whether further rules are needed for tokenized securities and derivatives. Another would direct the SEC to write rules allowing key market intermediaries to rely on blockchain records under specified conditions.

The witness testimony clearly shows the direction in which this is going.

Nasdaq's John Zecca argued that tokenization should be integrated into the existing market system and said capital markets were moving toward a more continuous, more automated, and more interconnected structure.

SIFMA's Kenneth Bentsen backed innovation while warning that investor safeguards and market coherence still have to travel with it.

DTCC took its usual incumbent position, supporting tokenization inside a regulated environment that preserves ownership rights and investor protections.

Even the NASAA letter for the record, written from a more skeptical angle, accepted the premise that tokenized securities are real securities and should remain fully subject to securities law. (Federal Register)

Speed, collateral, and who writes the rules of tokenization

The main talking point behind this institutional push for tokenization is efficiency.

However, the fast settlement Wall Street is talking about is only a small piece of the puzzle. A much bigger piece is mobile collateral, and for large legacy financial firms, it's most likely the more valuable one.

When markets are stressed, the problem is rarely confined to price alone. Price volatility leaves capital trapped in the wrong place, transfers take too long, and the delays between trades, margin calls, and usable cash start to bite.

Tokenized cash and securities promise a system where valuable assets can be moved, pledged, and reused quickly and with much less friction.

The public story about tokenization is efficiency. The institutional story runs deeper. Faster settlement is one piece. More mobile collateral is another, and for large financial firms, it may be the most valuable one. When markets come under stress, the problem is rarely confined to price alone. Capital gets trapped in the wrong place, transfers take too long, and the delay between a trade, a margin call, and usable cash starts to bite. Tokenized cash and tokenized securities promise a system where valuable assets can be moved, pledged, and reused with less friction. Citi's already working on building a future trading environment with real-time liquidity and fully automated processes. BMO's move with CME is built on the same premise.

Then there's control.

Whoever builds the rails for tokenized cash, tokenized securities, and tokenized collateral gains an enormous position in the next version of market structure. Exchanges and banks want that role, but clearinghouses seem to want it more than everyone else.

Nasdaq's SEC approval shows exchanges were the first to move from theory to implementation. But NYSE's partnership with Securitize shows rivals aren't sitting still. DTCC's tokenization work shows the post-trade establishment intends to adapt rather than surrender. Meanwhile, Congress is starting to shape the legal terms on which that transition will happen.

The latest hearing makes this look like a coordinated shift in market structure, instead of a burst of random private-sector experimentation. Everyone wants similar things: banks want markets that work on internet hours, exchanges want tokenized trading to happen on their platforms, and clearinghouses want digital assets to remain tied to existing technical and regulatory frameworks.

Lawmakers want to know how much the existing legal structure needs to change to accommodate all that.

Everyone is now arguing over the same future, which is usually how you can tell it has moved from pilot stage into the center of the system. (financialservices.house.gov)

However, that doesn't mean that tokenization will deliver everything these companies are promising.

Fragmentation across chains and platforms is a real risk, interoperability is unfinished, and legal enforceability still needs cleaner answers. Institutions could spend years digitizing assets and end up with better branding, faster demos, but less actual improvement than advertised.

But the direction of travel is hard to miss. When BlackRock, BMO, Nasdaq, DTCC, JPMorgan, NYSE, and Congress all start speaking in versions of the same language, we can safely say that tokenization isn't a crypto slogan anymore.

Crypto helped prove that money and markets can operate on continuous digital rails. Wall Street now wants a version of that future it can regulate, monetize, and keep inside the existing financial order.

The hearing on Capitol Hill made one thing plain: tokenization is no longer waiting for permission to enter the mainstream. The fight now is over who gets to define it. (financialservices.house.gov)

The post Here’s why Wall Street suddenly obsessed with tokenization – but on its own terms appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Prediction markets spent years trying to present themselves as smarter, better, and more useful than straight-out gambling.

Then sports arrived and did what elections, inflation contracts, and policy wagers never quite managed: it brought scale. They turned what was essentially a niche event trading activity into a mass product, and pushed the industry into a dangerous identity crisis.

Sports made prediction markets popular, but they also made them politically vulnerable.

On March 12, the CFTC opened a formal rulemaking process for prediction markets, putting manipulation, oversight, and contract structure under the federal spotlight.

Since then, Arizona has also filed criminal charges against Kalshi, while a Nevada judge temporarily blocked the company from operating there without a state license. Massachusetts had already moved against Kalshi's sports contracts.

Now Congress is moving, too.

A bipartisan group of senators is preparing legislation that would ban sports bets and casino-style contracts on CFTC-regulated prediction markets, arguing that they're exploiting a legal loophole to bypass state gambling rules and cut across tribal sovereignty.

It's now safe to say that the dispute is no longer confined to a few test cases.

The industry now faces an awkward fact. Its fastest route to growth came through contracts that look, feel, and are marketed a lot like sports bets. But, its legal defense depends on persuading courts and regulators that those same contracts belong in the world of federally supervised derivatives. The more popular sports became, the harder it became to sustain that argument.

This stopped being a niche fight between startups and gaming boards a long time ago. It's now a national argument over whether a business that behaves like sports betting can claim the legal privileges of financial market law and bypass the state-by-state gambling system that sportsbooks have spent years and billions of dollars entering.

What began as a jurisdiction fight over who regulates these contracts is now turning into something wider and more dangerous for the industry: a fight over whether sports prediction markets should exist in this form at all.

The whole fight turns on one question: bet or swap?

When you strip the dispute down to its core, you get to the main question all current and future regulation efforts are attempting to answer: Are prediction markets bets or swaps?

Linda Goldstein, a partner at CM Law, says that the answer to this question determines who regulates them. If these transactions are bets, states regulate them. If they're swaps or derivatives, then the CFTC has the lead role, she told CryptoSlate.

States argue that the contracts may have the form of derivatives, but function as wagers in substance. This is especially true where there's no credible commercial hedging use, and users are just staking money on the outcome of a game for a payout.

On the other hand, operators say that event contracts have long belonged inside commodities law and that a national market can't function if every state is free to classify the same federal product as illegal gambling.

That's one of the many reasons this fight feels so unstable.

The consumer activity we see on prediction markets is straightforward and familiar. People put money down on uncertain outcomes and get paid if they're right.

The main dispute here is abstract and sits one level higher, in the legal classification of the contract itself. At the center of the fight is a simple problem: the same product can be framed as a derivative by federal regulators and as gambling by the states.

We're now seeing a battle over whether states will keep authority over activity that looks and works like gambling, or whether that authority will get absorbed into federal financial oversight. The legal dispute has gone past Kalshi or one set of contracts, and is now about who governs event-based wagering once it's packaged as a federally supervised market product.

That turns the debate from a branding argument into a real legal conflict over who gets to regulate these markets. Once sports became the dominant use case for prediction platforms, this became a fight over whether a national sports-betting business can operate under commodities law without ever entering the state licensing systems built for sportsbooks.

That's why states such as Utah, Arizona, and Nevada are pushing so hard. They are trying to stop gambling-like activity from migrating into a federal regime they have no control over.

Why product design matters for prediction markets

A significant part of this issue will be resolved in court. However, people underestimate the effect that product design will have on this.

One of the reasons prediction markets run into issues is when they loosen their criteria about what makes a good event contract. The hype that surrounds them makes it tempting to list fast-moving and popular events, because that's what drives volume.

But if these products don't have precise definitions and irrefutable settlement, they quickly turn into entertainment wagering.

This means prediction markets can start acting like sportsbooks even before regulators notice. They start drifting there when spectacle and volume outrun precision, and when contracts are built for attention first, with the settlement depending too much on interpretation.

Binary contracts look simple until users start contesting the settlement. A yes-or-no contract is only as good as the definition inside it. Once the terms that define its outcome become elastic, the market starts depending on judgment calls, arguments, and eventually litigation.

Ross Weingarten, a partner and co-chair of the Sports Integrity Group at Steptoe, said that from the consumer standpoint, prediction markets work differently from traditional sportsbooks because users are trading “yes” or “no” positions against each other, not against a house.

But when the question gets murky, or the answer is not clear, the binary question suddenly isn’t so binary.

“We saw an example of this with bets on whether Cardi B would perform at the Super Bowl. She was on stage, but didn’t have a microphone. Did she perform? The answer probably depends on which side of the bet you took. For the prediction markets, bets like this often lead to litigation.”

That's why sports contracts vary so much in defensibility.

Simple, hard-to-manipulate outcomes are easier to defend, which is why contracts on game winners are so popular. In-game props, performance claims, officiating-dependent outcomes, and anything vulnerable to insider knowledge or integrity distortions sit on thin ice.

It's where the industry's credibility will be won or lost. A platform that looks like a neutral exchange with visible order books, transparent pricing, independent settlement sources, and strong abuse detection has a stronger claim to a federal market status. A platform that looks like a bookmaker has a much weaker one.

The legal question will be resolved in court, but the legitimacy question will be resolved by the architecture of the actual product.

States started this fight, but Congress will decide where it ends

States present this as a consumer-protection and public-policy fight, and there is substance to that claim. Licensed sportsbooks sit inside a regime built around age controls, responsible-gambling funding, integrity monitoring, tax collection, and rules tailored to each jurisdiction. Prediction markets threaten to route the same activity through a federal channel that bypasses much of that system.

Goldstein is especially clear on the states' incentives, saying it's mostly about money and competition.

“Event contracts on sporting events account for the vast majority of transactions on prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, with some data estimating that it could be as much as 90% of the event contracts,” she explained.

“These contracts are directly competing with licensed sportsbooks. Traditional sports betting generates significant tax revenue for the states because the states receive taxes on the gross gaming revenue. The American Association of Gaming has estimated that, since the beginning of 2025, sports betting platforms have lost over $600 million to prediction markets.”

However, states are also adamant on keeping strict safeguards on all of these platforms. Goldstein explained that prediction markets circumvent many of the safeguards designed to protect consumers, such as age verifications, oversight over the integrity of the games, and mandatory contributions to gambling funds.

The American Gaming Association has made that case bluntly, accusing sports-related prediction markets of bypassing the state-based system that legal sports betting was built on. The leagues are adapting in real time as well. MLB's deal with Polymarket and its memorandum with the CFTC on integrity cooperation amount to an acknowledgment that these markets are now too large to ignore.

The escalation in Arizona and Nevada shows how serious this has become. Arizona's criminal case moved the dispute out of the familiar zone of cease-and-desist letters and into prosecutorial territory. Nevada's restraining order showed that at least one court, for now, is willing to treat these products as unlicensed sports pools under state law. These are both attempts to force the industry back inside state control before federal market law hardens into a permanent workaround.

However, Weingarten explained that not all courts agree that sports event contracts amount to unlicensed sports betting subject to state law.

“Some courts have agreed; others have not,” he told CryptoSlate.

“Courts in New Jersey, California, and Tennessee have found that the contracts qualify as ‘swaps' under the Commodity Exchange Act. But courts in Maryland, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Ohio have emphasized the historic role of states in regulating gambling. As a result, how and by whom prediction markets are regulated is very much in flux.”

That's why the endgame probably won't produce a clean blessing or a clean ban. CFTC has stated unequivocally that it believes it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, and states continue to claim their oversight.

But the newest turn in the story matters more than all of this, because it now widens the backlash well beyond just individual states. The bipartisan bill announced on Mar. 23 argues that sports and casino-style contracts should be carved out of federally regulated prediction markets altogether.

That's a much more dangerous proposition for the industry because it breaks one of its core assumptions: that if prediction markets win the federal vs. state fight, sports contracts will survive them.

This changes the terrain in a much more fundamental way. The industry will no longer have to worry about whether courts will treat sports contracts as gambling under state laws, but whether Congress will decide whether they should be offered on regulated prediction markets at all.

The endgame is now a fight over categories, not just jurisdiction. States are suing, the CFTC is writing its own rules, and lawmakers have decided that some event contracts shouldn't be allowed in the first place.

That's why the most plausible destination we'll get to is a hybrid regime, with tighter federal rules, more category restrictions, more surveillance demands, more pressure around contract clarity, and tougher expectations around how these products are marketed.

Platforms may still call themselves exchanges, but they'll have to prove it in the way they design, settle, surveil, and present their contracts.

This isn't a temporary flare-up in a niche product that will go away in the next cycle, because, like it or not, prediction markets are here to stay. We're at the beginning of a foundational fight over where finance ends, and gambling begins, and the process could drag on for years.

Prediction markets found their mass audience by moving closer to sports betting. Now they have to answer the question that success created: can they keep that audience while persuading courts, regulators, and the public that they are still something meaningfully different?

The post The bets that made crypto prediction markets popular could now be banned appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin price has never finished a year positive after a start this bad

Bitcoin seasonality is one of those market narratives that stays alive because the average is easy to screenshot. The problem is that the average often hides the only thing that matters: the state.

A strong “Uptober” inside a healthy bull trend is not the same trade as a strong October after a year that spent the first quarter underwater. A positive December mean is not an edge if the median month is still negative. And a hot Q1 is not automatically a continuation signal if the market has already pulled forward most of its upside.

That is the core result here. The useful part of Bitcoin price seasonality is not the calendar alone. The interaction between month, regime, and path is far more important.

The first problem with the seasonality story is that averages flatter the distribution

If you only look at mean monthly returns, Bitcoin price appears to offer a menu of recurring bullish windows.

In the modern sample, October stands out with a mean return of 17.8%, a median of 12.7%, and an 80% win rate. July also holds up well, with a 9.1% mean return, a 12.4% median, and a 70% win rate. February and April look reasonably constructive, too.

But once you move beyond averages, the picture changes fast.

August is the cleanest example. The mean return is slightly positive at 1.9%, which sounds benign until you look underneath it: the median is -7.3%, the win rate is just 30%, and the distribution is positively skewed.

In plain English, August has not been a dependable “up month.” It has been a low-hit-rate month, occasionally rescued by a few large upside outliers.

December has the same problem in a softer form. The mean is positive, but the median is negative, and the win rate is only 40%. November is similar: a headline-positive average, but a distribution with enough variance and downside tail to make the average far more flattering than the lived experience of holding risk through it.

May is another trap. The average return looks healthy, but dispersion dominates the month. The upside tail is large, the downside tail is large, and the standard deviation is high enough that “May is positive on average” tells you very little about what kind of risk you are actually taking.

Some months are drift-dominant, where the mean, median, and win rate broadly line up. Others are variance-dominant, where the average is doing more storytelling than forecasting.

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The months that look most usable are not the ones most people talk about

The cleanest month is October. Not because it always works (it does not), but because its average, median, and win rate all point in the same direction.

July is the next-best example. Those are the closest things in the data to stable seasonal windows.

By contrast, some of the more familiar seasonal talking points look fragile.

August’s positive mean is mostly an artifact of skew. November and December can work, but they are not clean trend months in the statistical sense. They are conditional months that need confirmation from regime and path.

That is the first big line between edge and illusion. A month with a positive average is not necessarily a month with a repeatable edge.

If the median is negative and the win rate is weak, what you have is not seasonality. What you have is optionality disguised as consistency.

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Regime changes the sign of the seasonal signal

The next step was to split years into objective regimes: bull years with annual returns above 50%, bear years below -20%, and neutral years in between.

Once you do that, unconditional seasonality starts to look less like structure and more like a blended average of opposite states.

Several months flip sign depending on regime, including January, March, May, June, August, November, and December.

In other words, the same month that looks constructive in the full sample can turn negative once you isolate a weaker macro backdrop.

That is exactly what you would expect if seasonality is downstream of market state rather than independent of it.

There are only a few months that look relatively resilient across regimes. July is the strongest candidate. April is somewhat constructive as well, though less cleanly. September, meanwhile, remains weak enough across major regimes to merit respect as a recurring soft patch rather than a one-off anomaly.

The caveat is obvious: the bear sample is small. But that is also the point. If a seasonal claim falls apart the moment you ask whether it survives different states of the world, it was probably never a robust claim to begin with.

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The real edge is path dependency, not calendar mythology

The strongest signals are not monthly averages at all. They are state variables tied to the year’s path.

In the 2016–2025 sample, if Bitcoin was positive year-to-date after February, it finished the year positive seven out of seven times.

If it was negative year-to-date after February, it finished positive zero out of three times.

After March, the split was still material: positive YTD years finished positive five out of five times, while negative YTD years only finished positive two out of five times.

That is not a trivial distinction. It suggests that by late Q1, Bitcoin’s seasonal profile is already being filtered by whether the year is in a healthy trend or in repair mode.

The market is not simply entering “good” or “bad” months. It enters them from a specific state, which changes the forward distribution.

Just as important, simple month-to-month sign momentum does not hold up. After an up month, the next month was positive 57.1% of the time. After a down month, the next month was positive 55.3% of the time. That is not a serious edge.

The useful signal only emerges once you condition on the broader path, the YTD trajectory, the Q1 outcome, and whether the year is repairing or breaking.

A strong Q1 helps the year, but often hurts the next quarter

One of the more interesting findings is that strong early-year performance is not a clean continuation signal.

Years with Q1 returns above 20% did go on to finish positive every time. But Q2 in those years was weak on average, with a mean decline of 15.1%.

That's important because it separates direction from timing.

A hot Q1 improved the odds of a positive full-year outcome, but it also tended to pull forward returns and raise the probability of spring digestion.

In other words, the market could remain structurally constructive while still becoming tactically harder to own into Q2.

The data here does not support the leap that a positive year-level tendency is a positive entry signal for the next month or quarter.

June looks like the real decision node

If there is a practical seasonal checkpoint in the data, it is not a single month but the year’s condition by midyear. Years with first-half returns at or below zero never finished positive. Years with positive first-half returns finished positive seven times out of eight, with 2025 as the notable exception.

The same logic shows up in negative-Q1 years. If a weak first quarter was followed by a Q2 rebound greater than 20%, the full-year outcome improved materially.

If the rebound failed to clear that threshold, the year did not finish positive. That does not make Q2 destiny, but it does make it the most useful repair window in the annual path.

The implication is straightforward. Once a year opens damaged, the burden of proof shifts to Q2.

If the market cannot meaningfully recover by June, the case for leaning on second-half seasonal optimism becomes much weaker.

Why 2026 matters now

That framework is especially relevant for 2026 because the year has already broken one of the cleaner modern path templates.

Every year, a negative January has been followed by a positive February — until now.

2026 opened with a 10% decline in January, fell another 14.8% in February, and then rebounded 6% by mid-March, leaving Q1 down around 19%.

That negative-negative-positive sequence is unusual in the modern sample, and it places 2026 in what is best described as a repair-or-failure state.

Cluster analysis maps the current year closest to a group that includes 2016, 2018, 2022, and 2025.

The correct frame for 2026 is one successful repair year, two failure years, and one rebound-without-trend year. Not “Bitcoin is usually good in Q4,” and not “the worst is over because March bounced,” but rather: can Q2 do enough work to move the year out of a damaged state?

The 2026 scenario tree is a repair test, not a seasonal layup

The most bullish likely direction from here is a genuine repair regime. That would look like a forceful Q2 recovery, some summer digestion, and then renewed upside into the back half of the year.

Historically, the closest analog is 2016, with 2020 as a more explosive upside outlier.

To even get the first half of 2026 back above flat from current levels, Bitcoin would need to compound by over 20% in Q2. To make the year look like a strong repair rather than a partial bounce, it would need substantially more.

The bearish path is a continuation failure, with 2018 and 2022 as the obvious reference points. In that path, spring strength proves tactical rather than structural, the market reopens downside later in Q2 or Q3, and the usual “good months” fail to do the heavy lifting investors expect of them.

2026 is not in a state where unconditional seasonality should be trusted. The year needs to earn a better seasonal profile through repair.

Today's sell-off is not helping the case for a bullish rebound, suggesting Bitcoin's 2026 ceiling is around $88,000.

So where is the edge?

Bitcoin seasonality provides the most value in a narrow set of situations. It is useful when a month already has a strong historical distribution and the year enters that month from a healthy state. October and July are the best examples in the modern sample. They look more like genuine drift windows than variance accidents.

Seasonality is also useful as a filter on damaged years. If Bitcoin is still negative year-to-date into spring, the calendar by itself is not enough. What matters is whether Q2 can repair the year’s path. If it can, the second half becomes materially more credible. If it cannot, the market’s more optimistic seasonal narratives start to look like wishful extrapolation.

Where seasonality becomes an illusion is in regime-blind averages and outlier-driven means. A positive average month with a negative median and weak win rate is not a clean edge.

A favorable calendar month inside a damaged annual path is not a setup on its own. And a strong Q1 is no license to assume uninterrupted continuation into Q2.

The bottom line

The market moves through January, July, and October, not in a vacuum, but in different regimes, with different YTD trajectories, after different types of first-quarter behavior.

Once you account for that, most of the broad seasonal story gets weaker, but the parts that survive become more actionable.

Bitcoin seasonality is not dead. It is just mostly conditional. The real edge is not in memorizing the “best months.” Recognizing when the market has earned the right for those months to matter is the real skill.

For 2026, that means one thing above all else: Q2 is the test.

If Bitcoin can repair enough damage by June, the second half deserves the benefit of the doubt. If not, then whatever the calendar says, the path is telling you something else.

The post Bitcoin price has never ended a year higher after a start this bad — is $88k the 2026 ceiling now? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin is heading into the weekend with broken near-term structure, elevated macro pressure, and a political catalyst that now sits close to the center of the market’s risk map.

The technical setup has deteriorated in steps over the past two weeks. The macro backdrop has stayed tight as Treasury yields press higher and Middle East risk continues to filter through oil, inflation expectations, and rate-sensitive assets.

Layered on top of both is a familiar variable from recent months, President Donald Trump’s public messaging on Iran, which has repeatedly shifted sentiment across stocks, bonds, oil, and crypto.

His prior weekend social media forays on Tariffs, Venezuela, and Greenland all had similar effects on the market. Trump has done most of his major announcements this year while markets are closed, and right now, things are set up for another intervention.

Within the channel framework tracked since the spot Bitcoin ETF launch period, BTC price has already done the hard part of a bearish rotation. It lost the upper $73,000s, failed to reclaim $71,500 with conviction, rolled through $68,000, and then slipped below $66,900. That sequence leaves the market in a lower value area as Friday trading gives way to the weekend.

In this structure, the next defined support channel lies between $61,700 and $61,100. For now, $61,700 stands out as the next major level that could come into play if macro pressure stays firm and no fresh de-escalation signal arrives from Washington.

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Across 400 total interactions with the defined channel boundaries, 304 were bounces, 44 were breaks higher, and 52 were breaks lower. That distribution shows a market that still respects structure. Bitcoin continues to react to these zones in a disciplined way, which gives the current breakdown more analytical value.

The market is not drifting randomly through the map. It is moving from one channel to the next, with each failed reclaim changing the role of the prior boundary.

The clearest example is $71,500. That line served as a key floor during the mid-March sequence, then turned into the strongest visible ceiling once the price broke lower on March 18.

BTC returned to that area several times around March 23 and March 25. Each attempt stalled. That pattern turned $71,500 into the main repair threshold for any bullish recovery. Below it, $68,000 became the next pivot.

BTC briefly re-entered that channel after the first breakdown around March 22, keeping the possibility of stabilization open. That possibility narrowed sharply on March 27 when the price lost $68,000 again, then broke through $66,900 and failed the first retest from below.

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That leaves the market with a clean ladder

The first resistance is now $66,900. The next resistance, and the more important reclaim line, is $68,000. Above that sits $71,500, where broader structural repair would begin.

On the downside, the next defined support channel is $61,700 to $61,100. When a market loses one channel and cannot recover its lower boundary, the next channel below becomes the practical draw. That is the state BTC is entering the weekend in now.

The macro overlay has strengthened that downside pull. In its March 18 policy statement, the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged and said inflation remained somewhat elevated. The central bank’s updated projections preserved a backdrop of restrained policy flexibility and ongoing uncertainty.

Crypto can rally under those conditions, though the burden on market structure increases when long-duration yields are climbing and oil is feeding inflation risk back into the rates complex.

That stress has been visible in the bond market all week. On Friday, the 10-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since July, at 4.48% in early trading before retreating slightly lower.

The precise intraday high matters less than the broader point. Yields have climbed back toward the week’s upper range, and that move has been accompanied by a market that is still pricing geopolitical risk into energy and growth expectations.

That is where Trump’s messaging becomes relevant for Bitcoin over the weekend.

Earlier this week, risk assets responded positively after Trump signaled progress in talks tied to Iran. Stocks rallied, and oil fell after Trump suggested the U.S. and Iran were engaged in talks and hinted at a possible end to the conflict.

Treasury yields also eased briefly on hopes of de-escalation as markets leaned into peace expectations. That relief did not hold for long. Stocks fell again on Friday as markets gave back most of the optimism tied to Trump’s latest delay, and renewed concern over the conflict pushed oil higher.

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The pattern is now familiar enough to matter for weekend framing

Trump’s public comments on Iran have repeatedly served as short-term volatility inputs for broader markets, especially when they signal either de-escalation or renewed confrontation.

His social media influence can still sway markets briefly, even as confidence in each new intervention has become more conditional.

For Bitcoin, that means a weekend post that leans toward diplomacy could help produce a relief move into the Monday open. A weekend post that hardens the rhetoric, or no calming message at all, while yields and oil remain firm, would leave the broken structure exposed to another leg lower.

That is the case for keeping $61,700 front and center. The technical path toward that level does not require a new panic event.

The market has already lost the near-term floors that would have contained prices in a higher bracket. The first breakdown through $68,000 around March 22 looked vulnerable to mean reversion, and BTC did in fact re-enter the channel.

The latter break carried more weight because it followed several days of failed recovery attempts. Then came the break through $66,900. Once that level failed and the first retest did not hold, the next support channel below became the relevant destination inside the existing map.

I believe that is also the cleanest way to think about the weekend setup. Bitcoin is no longer trading as though the market is trying to rebuild the damage from March 18. It is trading as though the market is deciding how much lower the next balance area should sit.

I'm not asking whether BTC can rally at all. It can. What I'm looking at now is whether any rally can recover a broken boundary and keep it as support. Until that happens, upside moves serve mainly as tests of resistance.

The thresholds are clear right now

A quick $66,900 reclaim would reduce the immediacy of the latest breakdown. A stronger move back above $68,000 would reopen the argument for a weekend mean-reversion bounce, especially if it coincided with softer yields, calmer oil, or another Trump message that markets read as de-escalatory.

A recovery that reaches $71,500 would carry more significance because that is where the last several rebound attempts failed. Those are the conditions that would force a wider reassessment.

If BTC remains capped below $66,900 and fails to recover $68,000, the lower channel remains active. In that case, $61,700 becomes the next major support to monitor through the weekend, with $61,100 as the deeper boundary of the same bracket.

A move into that zone would fit the logic of the recent structure, the backdrop of present rates, and the political-event risk that now hangs over the weekend.

That also fits the broader character of this decline. The chart shows stepwise deterioration rather than disorder.

First, the market lost the $73,800 to $73,500 zone. Then $72,000 and $71,500 gave way. Then the market spent time failing beneath those levels before slipping through $68,000 and $66,900. Each stage narrowed the market’s room to stabilize higher.

Each failed reclaim added weight to the next lower support channel.

As Friday closes out, Bitcoin is therefore sitting in a narrow but readable setup. Near-term structure is broken. Macro pressure remains elevated as Treasury yields stay near recent highs and Middle East risk continues to influence oil and inflation expectations.

A political catalyst still exists because Trump’s comments on Iran have shown they can move cross-asset sentiment quickly, even if the effect has become less durable with each iteration.

That leaves BTC with a simple weekend map. Reclaim $66,900 and then $68,000, and the market can argue for relief. Stay below them, and $61,700 remains the next obvious level to watch.

The post Bitcoin price is heading for weekend collapse to $61k – will a social media post from Trump save it? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Russia Bans Gasoline Exports — A New Energy Shock Begins

In a sudden policy move, Russia has announced a ban on gasoline exports starting April 1, tightening global fuel supply at a time of already elevated geopolitical risk.

According to reports from Russian state media, the decision follows high-level discussions between energy officials and major oil companies, signaling a coordinated effort to stabilize domestic supply — at the expense of global markets.

👉 The result: less fuel available globally, and rising pressure on oil prices.

Brent Crude Oil Expected to Rise Further

This development directly impacts Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, which is already reacting to:

• Ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East
• Supply disruptions across key oil-producing regions
• Increasing demand resilience despite macro uncertainty

With Russia restricting gasoline exports, markets are now pricing in:

• Tighter refined fuel supply
• Higher refining margins
• Upward pressure on crude oil prices

👉 A move toward $115+ oil becomes increasingly realistic if supply constraints persist.

Why Higher Oil Prices Are Bearish for Crypto

At first glance, oil and crypto may seem unrelated — but in reality, they are deeply connected through global liquidity and macro risk sentiment.

When oil prices surge:

1. Inflation Expectations Rise

Higher energy costs ripple across the economy — from transport to manufacturing.

➡️ This increases inflation pressure globally.

2. Central Banks Stay Hawkish

Rising inflation reduces the likelihood of rate cuts.

➡️ Liquidity stays tight, hurting risk assets like crypto.

3. Risk-Off Sentiment Takes Over

Investors rotate capital into safer assets or commodities.

➡️ Bitcoin and altcoins face selling pressure.

👉 This is the same pattern seen in previous oil shocks: crypto drops as energy rises.

Bitcoin and Altcoins Already Feeling the Pressure

The market reaction has already begun:

• Bitcoin struggling to hold key support levels
• Ethereum and altcoins moving lower in tandem
• Increased correlation with equities and macro indicators

Despite recent bullish news (ETF flows, institutional demand), macro forces are currently dominating price action.

👉 Crypto is no longer trading in isolation — it’s reacting to global energy shocks.

The Bigger Picture: A Macro-Driven Crypto Market

This gasoline export ban is not just a regional policy — it’s part of a broader shift:

• Energy is becoming a geopolitical weapon
• Supply chains are fragmenting
• Inflation risks are returning

For crypto markets, this means one thing:

👉 Macro is back in control.

Until oil stabilizes and liquidity conditions improve, crypto markets may remain under pressure.

Outlook: What Should Crypto Investors Watch Next?

Key signals to monitor:

• Brent crude oil price trajectory ($90 → $100+)
• Developments in Middle East tensions
• Central bank policy expectations
• Bitcoin’s ability to hold major support levels

If oil continues rising, expect:

➡️ Continued downside or sideways movement in crypto
➡️ Increased volatility
➡️ Delayed bullish momentum

The global financial markets are currently in the midst of a violent "risk-off" rotation. Bitcoin (BTC) has surrendered the $70,000 handle and recently dipped below the $66,000 level, while the altcoin market is seeing double-digit percentage losses. This isn't just a "crypto thing"—equities and bonds are also under immense pressure.

As of late March 2026, a "perfect storm" of geopolitical escalation, a deteriorating bond market, and a pivot in central bank expectations has drained liquidity from risk assets. Here is a deep dive into the three primary reasons the market is dumping.

1. No Ceasefire: The US-Iran Conflict Escalates

The primary driver of the current "panic sell" is the worsening situation in the Middle East. Despite brief hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough, the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran has reached a fever pitch.

• Maritime Stranglehold: Iran has effectively maintained its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway responsible for 20% of global oil and gas transit. Since the start of the month, over 20 merchant ships have been struck.
• No Sign of De-escalation: The U.S. continues its military campaign to reopen the strait, but uncertainty remains at an all-time high.
• Impact on Risk Assets: Markets hate uncertainty. When global energy supplies are threatened, investors move capital out of "risk-on" assets like Bitcoin and into "safe havens" like gold or the U.S. Dollar.

2. Global Bond Market Crisis

The bond market is sending a massive "warning flare" to investors. We are currently witnessing a synchronized sell-off in sovereign debt, which is driving yields to levels not seen in decades.

• Japan’s 10-Year Yield: In a historic move, Japan’s 10-year bond yield hit 2.38%, its highest level since 1999. As a country that relies heavily on imported energy, Japan is particularly vulnerable to the current oil price spike.
• The MOVE Index: The MOVE Index, which measures U.S. Treasury volatility, has surged to 115.02. This indicates that bond traders are bracing for extreme instability.
• Inflation Expectations: With crude oil hovering above $107 a barrel, inflation expectations are soaring. This forces bond yields up, making debt more expensive and pressuring the valuations of growth stocks and cryptocurrencies.

3. The Return of the Hawkish Fed

Perhaps the most bearish development for the crypto market is the sudden shift in Federal Reserve expectations. Only a few months ago, the market was pricing in multiple rate cuts for 2026. That narrative has flipped entirely.

• No More Cuts: Consensus has shifted toward zero rate cuts for the remainder of 2026.
• Hike Odds Surging: According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a rate hike in 2026 has surged to 48.6% (up from near zero earlier this year).
• Liquidity Drain: A hawkish Fed means higher borrowing costs and reduced liquidity. Since Bitcoin often acts as a "liquidity barometer," the prospect of tighter monetary policy is a direct headwind for price appreciation.

Independent Analysis: Watching the "Trump Factor"

While the technicals and fundamentals look grim, one unconventional indicator to watch is the language used by President Donald Trump.

In recent cabinet meetings, Trump remarked that the "stock market hasn't come down a lot" despite the conflict. This suggests that the administration currently views the market decline as a manageable correction rather than a crisis.

The Reversal Signal: History suggests that a market bottom often coincides with a change in political rhetoric. Once the tone shifts from "the market is doing fine" to "the market is significantly undervalued" or "this is the best time to buy in history," we may see the first signs of a trend reversal.

For now, the structure remains bearish. If Bitcoin fails to reclaim $68,000, the next major support zone sits at the $62,600 level.

Why is Ethereum Price Crashing?

The current decline in Ethereum’s value is not an isolated event but a combination of technical breakdowns and fundamental shifts. After failing to sustain momentum above $2,200 earlier this month, ETH faced a series of "sell-the-news" events, including the aftermath of the FOMC rate decision and persistent outflows from spot Ethereum ETFs.

Key Factors Behind the Drop:

• Whale Capitulation: On-chain data indicates that long-dormant "ICO-era" whales have recently moved large quantities of ETH to exchanges like Coinbase, signaling an intent to sell.
• Weak Network Retention: Despite high active address counts, the "retention rate" for new users has hit a cycle low of 14.2%, suggesting that the network is struggling to keep users engaged.
• Macro Headwinds: Geopolitical tensions and a hawkish Federal Reserve have pushed investors toward "risk-off" assets, causing a rotation out of high-beta cryptocurrencies like Ethereum.

Ethereum Price Analysis: The Trendline Break

The most alarming signal for traders is the clear break in the ascending trendline that has supported ETH since its February lows. Looking at the current charts, Ethereum was carving out a recovery path until it hit a wall at the $2,300 resistance zone.

As seen in the technical structure, the price has now closed below the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). This level acted as a dynamic floor for several weeks; its loss often precedes a "flush out" to the next major liquidity zones.

Potential Downside Targets

With the $2,000 support now acting as resistance, analysts are looking at the following levels:

• $1,850: The 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level, which provided a bounce in early 2026.
• $1,750: A major structural floor that must hold to prevent a total trend reversal.
• $1,470: The ultimate "macro bottom" established during the February correction.

Institutional Sentiment and ETF Outflows

Despite the launch of several staked ETH products earlier this year, institutional demand has remained surprisingly thin. According to Farside Investors, net outflows from spot Ethereum ETFs have accelerated this week. This suggests that while "Smart Money" is accumulating at lower levels, the immediate sell pressure from retail and legacy holders is overwhelming the current buy-side liquidity.

Conclusion: Is the Bottom In?

The break below $2,000 is a significant blow to the short-term bullish thesis. While Ethereum remains the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi), the price action is currently dominated by bearish momentum and trendline invalidation. Traders should watch for a daily close back above $2,050 to signal a "fakeout"; otherwise, the path of least resistance remains downward.

Global financial markets are once again facing rising geopolitical uncertainty. Oil prices are climbing as tensions escalate across key energy regions, while governments and energy companies move quickly to protect critical infrastructure.

A new development illustrates how rapidly the global energy landscape is evolving. The world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, is reportedly in talks with Ukrainian firms to purchase specialized interceptor drones designed to defend oil facilities from potential Iranian drone attacks.

At the same time, President Donald Trump has stated that rising oil prices could benefit the United States because the country has become one of the world’s largest oil producers.

Together, these developments highlight how energy security is becoming a central issue for global markets — and why crypto investors are paying attention.

Oil Infrastructure Is Becoming a Strategic Target

Energy facilities have increasingly become targets during geopolitical conflicts. Drone attacks on refineries, pipelines, and export terminals can disrupt global oil supply within hours.

For companies like Saudi Aramco, protecting infrastructure is therefore a top priority.

Ukraine has developed sophisticated drone defense systems during the Russia–Ukraine War, including interceptor drones capable of stopping incoming unmanned aerial vehicles before they reach critical targets.

Reports indicate Saudi Aramco is now exploring these technologies to strengthen its defenses against potential attacks.

This reflects a broader shift in modern warfare, where relatively inexpensive drones can threaten infrastructure worth billions of dollars.

Oil Prices React to Rising Risk

Energy markets are extremely sensitive to geopolitical tensions. Even the threat of disruption to major producers can push oil prices sharply higher.

Recent headlines have already contributed to volatility in financial markets, with billions of dollars wiped from global stock valuations as investors reacted to rising geopolitical risk and oil prices moving higher.

One of the most sensitive energy chokepoints remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil exports pass.

Any disruption to shipping in this region could trigger major price spikes and ripple effects across global markets.

Trump Highlights the U.S. Energy Advantage

President Donald Trump has also weighed in on the situation, noting that the United States benefits from high oil prices due to its status as a major producer.

Over the past decade, the U.S. has dramatically increased production through shale extraction, transforming the country into one of the world’s largest oil suppliers.

If geopolitical tensions push oil prices higher, American energy exports could play an increasingly important role in stabilizing global markets.

However, higher oil prices can also contribute to inflation and market volatility.

Why Crypto Investors Are Watching Oil

For cryptocurrency markets, developments in energy markets often serve as early signals of macroeconomic changes.

When oil prices surge, several effects tend to follow:

• Inflation expectations increase
• Central banks may delay interest rate cuts
• Global financial markets become more volatile

These conditions can initially pressure risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

At the same time, prolonged geopolitical instability can strengthen Bitcoin’s narrative as a hedge against global uncertainty.

As traditional markets react to geopolitical shocks, some investors begin exploring alternative stores of value.

Is Bitcoin Becoming a Crisis Hedge?

The idea of Bitcoin acting as “digital gold” has been debated for years. During periods of geopolitical instability, this narrative often returns.

Rising oil prices, drone threats to critical infrastructure, and shifting energy alliances are once again forcing investors to reconsider how global crises affect financial markets.

Whether Bitcoin ultimately behaves like a risk asset or a crisis hedge will depend largely on liquidity conditions and investor sentiment.

What is clear, however, is that geopolitical developments in energy markets are increasingly influencing the cryptocurrency landscape.

Why Are Gold and Silver Crashing While Bitcoin Is Rising?

Global markets are sending a confusing signal. Precious metals — traditionally considered safe haven assets during uncertainty — have suddenly dropped, while Bitcoin is moving in the opposite direction.

In the last few hours, silver fell sharply and gold also declined, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from the metals market. At the same time, Bitcoin managed to reclaim the $73,000 level, even as geopolitical tensions and economic concerns dominate global headlines.

This unusual divergence is raising an important question: why are traditional safe havens falling while Bitcoin rises?

Gold and Silver See Sudden Sell-Off

Gold and silver markets experienced a sharp drop within a short period of time. According to market trackers, roughly $1 trillion in market value was wiped from the precious metals sector in just a few hours as both metals moved lower simultaneously.

Silver dropped significantly, falling below key support levels while gold also declined more than 2% during the sell-off.

Normally, geopolitical tensions or economic uncertainty push investors toward safe haven assets such as gold and silver. However, the recent move suggests something different may be happening in global markets.

One possible explanation is liquidity stress. When investors face uncertainty or margin pressure, they sometimes sell profitable assets — including metals — to raise cash.

Another factor may be profit-taking after strong rallies. Precious metals have surged in recent months, and some traders could be locking in gains during heightened volatility.

Economic Warning Signs Are Appearing

At the same time, new economic data is raising concerns about global growth.

Canada’s economy unexpectedly lost 83,900 jobs in February, one of the sharpest monthly declines seen in years. The surprising drop has triggered fears that economic momentum in North America could be slowing.

Weak employment data can affect global markets because it signals reduced consumer spending and potential economic contraction. When investors begin to worry about economic slowdowns, volatility often increases across multiple asset classes.

This kind of uncertainty can trigger sudden capital movements between markets.

Geopolitical Tensions Add More Pressure

Another key factor influencing markets is rising geopolitical tension.

Recent developments in the Middle East have increased concerns about energy supply disruptions. The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes, remains a critical point of risk for global energy markets.

Around 20% of global oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, meaning any disruption could send oil prices sharply higher and increase inflation pressures worldwide.

Such geopolitical risks usually push investors toward safe assets — but the current market behavior suggests investors may be repositioning capital differently this time.

Bitcoin Is Moving the Other Way

While metals fell, Bitcoin managed to reclaim the $73,000 level, showing resilience despite global uncertainty.

This raises an interesting possibility: Bitcoin may be starting to behave differently in the current macro environment.

For years, Bitcoin has been described as “digital gold.” During certain market events, investors view it as a hedge against monetary instability, inflation, or geopolitical shocks.

The recent move could reflect capital rotation, where investors move funds between asset classes depending on liquidity, volatility, and perceived opportunity.

In this case, some traders may see Bitcoin as offering higher upside potential compared with traditional safe havens.

A Strange Signal From Global Markets

The current market environment is unusual because several signals are happening at the same time:

• Gold and silver are falling
• Economic data is weakening
• Geopolitical tensions are rising
• Bitcoin is climbing

Such a combination suggests investors are still trying to determine where the safest and most profitable place for capital may be.

Whether Bitcoin continues to rise while metals struggle remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: global markets are entering a period of unusual volatility and shifting narratives.

GameStop has pledged nearly all of its Bitcoin to a covered call strategy on Coinbase Prime to generate some yield.

Anthropic's next-generation model, dubbed Claude Mythos, is seen as a "step change" for AI—and potentially bad news for cybersecurity.

Intercontinental Exchange, the firm behind the New York Stock Exchange, invested a total of $1.6 billion into prediction market Polymarket.

Bitcoin fell to its lowest price since March 2 on Friday as major crypto-related stocks like Strategy and BitMine suffered tougher losses.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday to ban public officials from using inside info on prediction markets.

Ripple CTO emeritus David Schwartz has clarified recent escrow misinformation.

Shiba Inu shows stalled futures activity, with its open interest showing a flat movement over the last 24 hours, sparking curiosity about its next price move.

A break above known support and resistance levels for Shiba Inu will be monitored to decide where the price goes next.

XRP throughput on XRP Ledger is growing amid an explosion in DEX transactions.

XRP notes declining exchange reserves despite weak price moves, signaling sustained demand as investors remain optimistic about a potential price breakout.

AI and crypto have worked together for years, and now and then something happens that reshapes what the best cryptos to buy now actually look like. Goldman Sachs just signaled that crypto prices may have bottomed, and the $3.6 trillion asset manager’s research confirms the turn is forming.

Pepeto’s exchange is one of those events that changes the conversation entirely, the most advanced meme trading platform constructed this cycle with more than $8 million raised and the Binance listing approaching, and analysts project 100x from the current entry.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Yaro published research on March 26 indicating crypto prices may have reached a cyclical low, with crypto linked equities stabilizing after a 46% decline from October 2025 peaks according to CNBC.

The firm flagged Robinhood, Coinbase, and Figure Technologies as top buys. According to Bitcoin Magazine, K33 Research confirmed BTC ranged between $60,000 and $75,000, a pattern that historically precedes recoveries. The best cryptos to buy now are the presale entries positioned to capture the turn Goldman confirmed.

Tokens With Real Infrastructure and Where the Wealth Building Entry Lives

Pepeto: The Exchange With Greater Growth Potential Than Any Large Cap This Cycle

Pepeto is considered by many to be the best crypto to buy now because it has greater growth potential than any other entry this cycle. This comes from a combination of factors, the two most important being its fully built exchange technology and the massive number of traders it serves.

The exchange has fully developed a complete set of trading tools that transform how capital moves through the market.

PepetoSwap provides zero cost order filling that keeps every dollar the reader commits fully intact, the direct chain routing moves tokens between networks with nothing taken from the transfer, and the danger screening tool reviews every contract before entry, confirmed by a SolidProof audit.

The result is an essential protection layer that changes how the reader handles every trade, and the architect who launched the original Pepe token to $11 billion on meme energy alone built this exchange with a Binance operations leader.

It is not a surprise that the presale attracted capital faster than any entry this cycle. In just 8 stages, the exchange raised more than $8 million during extreme fear, and because the entry is still at $0.000000186, there is room for exponential growth. Analysts project a 100x move as the Binance listing opens, and 191% APY staking amplifies every position while the listing window narrows.

BNB

BNB trades at $614 per CoinMarketCap, holding steady as the broader market corrects around it. At $83 billion market cap.

A recovery to $700 delivers 14% over months, a strong ecosystem anchor for patient holders, while the presale entry targets 100x from one listing event and the wallets entering are building the position the bull run rewards.

Tron (TRX)

TRX trades at $0.31 per CoinGecko, supported by its dominance in USDT transfers and $10 billion in daily stablecoin volume.

A recovery to $0.38 delivers 22% over months, solid infrastructure value, while presale entries are where the cycle defining multiples live and Pepeto offers exactly that math right now.

The Best Cryptos to Buy Now Are the Ones That Turn Presale Entries Into the Returns Goldman Confirmed Are Coming

Goldman Sachs just confirmed the bottom is forming, and the best cryptos to buy now have put everything into real exchange infrastructure that is already running. The investors who bought BNB at $0.15 turned $1,000 into $9 million and changed everything about how they live and what they never have to worry about again, and they saw a working exchange at presale pricing and acted.

The Pepeto official website is still open, you can still enter, but the Binance listing is approaching fast and the presale pricing disappears permanently the moment it arrives, and a 2026 portfolio holding Pepeto before that listing is the strongest position in crypto right now.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

When will Pepeto’s exchange tools be ready for use among the best cryptos to buy now?

Pepeto’s exchange is already fully running with zero fee trading, cross chain transfers, and contract screening confirmed by a SolidProof audit, ready for every trader today.

How fast is Pepeto’s user base expected to grow after listing?

Pepeto’s growing trader community is projected to expand rapidly after the Binance listing, and the Pepeto official website is where the presale entry is still available.

What would make Pepeto’s price reach 100x as one of the best cryptos to buy now?

Analysts project 100x as the Binance listing opens and exchange adoption scales, making Pepeto one of the best cryptos to buy now for the wallets entering today.

The post Best Cryptos to Buy Now: Goldman Announcement You Need To Know And Pepeto Might Shock Traders This Year While BNB and TRX Hold Steady appeared first on Blockonomi.

Every gambling platform rewards its players. The difference lies in how much, how visibly, and how reliably those rewards actually reach the people earning them. Bet365 has spent more than two decades proving that a restrained approach to rewards can coexist with massive commercial success. ZunaBet has spent its first months in the market proving that a maximalist approach to rewards can coexist with a platform that delivers on every other front too. The question is not whether both approaches work for the companies behind them. The question is which approach works better for the player in front of them.

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Bet365: Letting the Product Speak First

Bet365 launched in 2000 under the direction of Denise Coates, growing from a modest online betting operation in Stoke-on-Trent into one of the largest privately held gambling companies in the world. It operates across dozens of regulated markets and handles transaction volumes that most competitors cannot fathom. The Coates family retains ownership, giving the company the freedom to prioritise long-term strategy over short-term promotional spending.

The sportsbook defines Bet365’s identity. It is routinely cited as one of the most complete sports betting products available anywhere. Market depth across global sports is extraordinary, live in-play betting runs at unmatched scale with thousands of simultaneous events, and integrated streaming gives bettors direct access to the action they are wagering on. The combination of breadth, depth, and real-time capability remains the industry standard that others measure themselves against.

The casino side has matured into a credible product in its own right. Thousands of games from established providers span slots, table games, and live dealer rooms. It is a bigger casino than most sportsbook-first operators carry, though it has not expanded as aggressively as platforms that treat casino gaming as their primary business.

Payments operate exclusively through traditional channels. Debit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and region-specific methods handle all deposits and withdrawals. Speed depends on the method — e-wallets clear fastest while bank transfers may take several business days. Cryptocurrency is not supported.

Bet365’s reward philosophy is understated by design. New player offers typically involve bet credits tied to qualifying deposits. Ongoing rewards arrive as personalised promotions and periodic bonuses delivered at the platform’s discretion. There is no public tier system, no branded progression path, and no published criteria for how rewards are determined or distributed. Bet365 trusts its product to retain players and uses targeted generosity to supplement that retention selectively.

The model has produced extraordinary results commercially. Whether it produces extraordinary results for the individual player depends entirely on whether that player happens to be someone Bet365 chooses to reward generously — a determination made behind closed doors using criteria the player cannot access.

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ZunaBet: Generosity as a Core Design Principle

ZunaBet was created in 2026 by Strathvale Group Ltd with an Anjouan gaming licence and a founding team bringing more than two decades of combined gambling experience. Every element of the platform was built as a crypto-first casino and sportsbook, and the rewards structure was designed around a straightforward conviction — every player should know exactly what their activity earns them, and the amounts should be large enough to matter.

The welcome bonus embodies that conviction. Up to $5,000 in matched deposits plus 75 free spins across three deposits. First deposit matched at 100% up to $2,000 with 25 spins. Second at 50% up to $1,500 with 25 spins. Third at 100% up to $1,500 with 25 spins.

Bet365’s market-specific bet credit offers do not operate on the same scale. The difference between a bet credit promotion and a $5,000 multi-deposit package is the difference between a polite gesture and a genuine investment. For a new player evaluating both platforms on introductory value alone, ZunaBet’s offer occupies territory that Bet365 has never attempted to reach.

The platform surrounding the bonus ensures the value has depth behind it. Over 11,000 games from 63 providers — Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming, Yggdrasil, BGaming, and a deep roster of additional studios — fill a casino catalogue spanning slots, RNG table games, and live dealer content. Bet365’s casino library is respectable but considerably smaller. Bonus funds and free spins applied across 11,000 titles deliver an experience of exploration and discovery that a more modest library cannot replicate.

The sportsbook functions as a full product alongside the casino. Football, basketball, tennis, NHL, combat sports, virtual sports, and esports markets for CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant provide comprehensive betting coverage. Bet365 retains clear superiority in live betting infrastructure and streaming. ZunaBet counters with dedicated esports depth and a sportsbook that gives sports bettors and casino players equal footing on the same platform.

Cryptocurrency underpins every transaction. Over 20 coins accepted — BTC, ETH, USDT on multiple chains, SOL, DOGE, ADA, XRP, and beyond. Zero platform fees. Blockchain-speed withdrawals. Where Bet365’s fiat infrastructure routes payouts through institutions that impose their own timelines and potential costs, ZunaBet’s crypto rails deliver rewards directly to the player’s wallet without intermediaries, delays, or deductions.

Modern dark-themed HTML5 interface, responsive design, fast loading, native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS, and live chat support at every hour.

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Where the Rewards Gap Becomes a Chasm

Welcome bonuses are temporary. Loyalty programmes define the permanent reward relationship between a platform and its players. This is where comparing Bet365 and ZunaBet produces the widest divergence.

Bet365 operates loyalty behind a curtain. Active players receive offers and bonuses that the platform determines are appropriate based on internal evaluation. The player sees the reward when it arrives but has no prior visibility into what their activity qualifies them for, no progression to track, and no published framework to engage with. The system is closed by design — Bet365 decides who gets what, when they get it, and how much it is worth. For some high-value players, the results may be generous. For the average player, the results are unknowable until they materialise, if they materialise at all.

ZunaBet operates loyalty in full daylight. The dragon evolution programme built around a mascot named Zuno organises players into six tiers — Squire, Warden, Champion, Divine, Knight, and Ultimate. Rakeback begins at 1% and climbs to 20% at the highest tier. Free spins scale to 1,000 at the upper levels. VIP club membership and double wheel spins add further reward milestones throughout the journey.

Every single detail is published. Current tier, next tier, advancement requirements, and rewards at each stage are visible to every player at all times. There is no guesswork, no hoping for recognition, and no dependence on the platform’s internal assessment of your value. The system is open, equal, and entirely within the player’s ability to understand and pursue.

The gamified structure adds a dimension of engagement that Bet365’s closed model cannot offer. Named tiers function as levels. Published requirements function as objectives. Visible progress creates momentum. Defined rewards create anticipation. The framework applies video game progression psychology to a loyalty context, giving players a reason to return that goes beyond the games themselves. It transforms rewards from something that might happen into something the player is actively building toward.

Twenty percent rakeback at the Ultimate tier is the headline number in this comparison. It delivers one of the highest continuous return rates in online gambling, flowing automatically to the player’s balance as a permanent feature of their status. It is not promotional. It is not discretionary. It is not limited to a select group of high rollers who caught the platform’s attention. It is a published, achievable, ongoing reward available to any player who progresses through the tier system.

Bet365 may deliver comparable value to individual players through its discretionary model. The critical difference is that the player has no way to know in advance whether they will be one of those individuals, no ability to track their progress toward that outcome, and no guarantee that the rewards will match what a transparent system like ZunaBet’s publishes openly.

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Reward Value After It Leaves the Platform

The size of a reward matters. So does how efficiently it converts from platform value to money the player actually holds.

Bet365 pays out through banks and payment providers. Those institutions add their own timelines and occasionally their own costs. A reward generates value on the platform. How much of that value reaches the player’s wallet intact depends on which payment method they use, which bank they hold with, and what day of the week they make the request.

ZunaBet pays out through the blockchain. No bank. No processor. No variable timeline. No platform fee. Reward value — whether from the welcome bonus, from rakeback, or from free spin winnings — travels directly from the platform to the player’s wallet with the speed and consistency that crypto infrastructure provides regardless of external factors.

Every reward the player earns on ZunaBet retains more of its value through the withdrawal process than the same reward would on a platform where traditional banking introduces friction. Over months and years of accumulated reward payouts, the difference in total value received is not trivial. Faster access, zero fees, and consistent delivery compound into a material advantage in real-world reward value.

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Answering the Question

Which casino offers bigger rewards? Bet365 offers rewards that are potentially big for some players, determined behind closed doors through criteria that are never shared. ZunaBet offers rewards that are demonstrably big for every player, published in full, structured for transparent progression, and delivered through infrastructure designed to preserve their value from platform to wallet.

Bet365 rewards selectively. ZunaBet rewards systematically. Bet365 asks players to trust that their activity will be noticed and valued appropriately. ZunaBet shows players exactly what their activity earns them at every stage and backs it up with numbers — $5,000 at the door, 20% rakeback at the top, 1,000 free spins at the highest tier, and blockchain payouts that deliver every reward quickly and without deductions.

Both platforms reward their players. Only one does it in a way that lets every player see, measure, and count on the rewards they receive. When the question is which platform offers bigger rewards, the answer belongs to the one that publishes its generosity rather than administering it privately. That answer, in 2026, is ZunaBet.

The post The Rewards Race: Bet365’s Quiet Approach vs ZunaBet’s All-Out Generosity appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Global M2 is pushing toward new highs, with China, Europe, and the US all recording monthly gains in money supply.

• China’s M2 has reached $49.96T, and its liquidity flows into global commodities, emerging markets, and risk assets.

• Germany and the UK have already hit record M2 levels, while Japan remains the only major economy yet to expand.

• Bitcoin historically follows global M2 with a three-to-four month lag, meaning current gains may not yet be priced in.

Global M2 is climbing again across the world’s six largest economies, and the data is pointing in one direction. Central banks have continued to speak about keeping policy tight, yet money supply figures tell a different story.

China, Europe, and the United States have all recorded monthly gains. Germany and the United Kingdom have reached new record levels. Japan remains the lone exception in this otherwise synchronized expansion cycle now underway.

Money Supply Data Contradicts Central Bank Messaging

The numbers across major economies reflect a clear and consistent shift this month. China leads with an M2 reading of $49.96 trillion, marking a 2.73% rise in one month. Europe follows closely at $19.4 trillion, up 2.71%, while the United States sits at $22.67 trillion, gaining 1%.

Crypto market analyst Bull Theory brought attention to this pattern in a recent post. The account stated that central banks are expanding money supply again while still maintaining that policy remains tight.

Germany and the United Kingdom have already moved past previous highs in their respective money supply readings.

M2 is a measure of the total money circulating within an economy. When that figure rises, more capital flows into financial markets and begins chasing available assets. When it falls, liquidity tightens and asset prices tend to adjust lower accordingly.

This same dynamic played out between 2020 and 2022. During the 2020–2021 period, aggressive M2 expansion drove rallies across stocks, crypto, and real estate.

The 2022 tightening cycle reversed those gains, with nearly all major asset classes correcting sharply. US M2 has since recovered and moved back to all-time highs.

China’s Liquidity Expansion Reaches Beyond Its Own Borders

China’s position in this cycle carries weight beyond its domestic market. At close to $50 trillion in M2 with continued monthly growth, China has been consistently adding liquidity to its financial system. That capital does not stay confined to Chinese markets.

Through commodities, emerging markets, and risk assets, Chinese liquidity moves into the broader global financial system.

This flow contributes to overall financial conditions across regions and tends to push capital toward higher-risk assets over time.

Bull Theory also pointed to the historical relationship between global M2 and Bitcoin specifically. According to the account, Bitcoin tends to follow global M2 movements with a lag of roughly three to four months. That pattern, if it holds, means current liquidity growth has not yet fully appeared in crypto prices.

Stocks and gold historically track alongside M2 more closely than Bitcoin does. However, all three asset classes tend to respond as liquidity conditions shift over time.

With global M2 now pushing toward new highs, market participants are watching whether this expansion follows the same pattern seen in previous cycles.

The post Global M2 Hits New Highs as Central Banks Quietly Expand Money Supply Across Six Major Economies appeared first on Blockonomi.

Detroit is officially stepping into the massive legal battle between Coinbase and the state of Michigan over the future of prediction markets. But the question dominating trading circles right now is whether to buy DeepSnitch AI after it officially launches.

The honest answer? Waiting for the public market means missing out on the absolute lowest entry point available. The presale is ending in just a few days on March 31, and the hype surrounding the DSNT token is reaching a new level.

Traders are still watching DSNT closely because the early entry is about to close permanently. But here’s why you can still buy after the presale.

Detroit enters the prediction market legal fight

Lawyers representing the city of Detroit plan to file an amicus brief in Coinbase’s ongoing lawsuit against Michigan authorities. District Judge Shalina Kumar recently approved an order allowing Detroit to formally support state officials, giving them until April 3 to submit their filing.

At the center of this battle is a massive jurisdictional dispute. Coinbase argues that prediction markets should fall under the purview of the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Michigan, however, insists these platforms violate state gambling laws and demand local regulation.

The best crypto to buy now

DeepSnitch AI’s March 31 deadline demands immediate action

DeepSnitch AI is a smart contract auditing and market intelligence tool. The kind of infrastructure that becomes more valuable precisely because the broader market is getting more complicated and more contested. That’s why you should still watch this project closely even after the presale.

While Coinbase litigates jurisdiction and Detroit files briefs, DeepSnitch is scanning on-chain data in real time, flagging malicious contracts before they can drain wallets, and giving everyday retail investors the same quality of information that institutional players have always had access to.

Capital allocated to DeepSnitch AI before March 31 is capital positioned in a utility platform with a clean use case, a small market cap, and a Uniswap launch at 12 PM on March 31.

A $5,000 entry at $0.04669 gets you approximately 107,089 DSNT tokens. The market cap is still small enough that a 100x move from this position to $500k profits is very possible.

Waiting until after the public launch to buy means paying whatever price a market full of people who missed the presale decides those tokens are worth. This presale closes March 31, and the deadlines are not negotiable.

THETA lacks the velocity for massive wealth

THETA currently fluctuates in the $0.15 to $0.17 range. When you analyze the long-term mathematical forecasts, the outlook is not very positive for those who want massive profits found in DeepSnitch AI. Cryptocurrency experts predict that by the end of December 2026, THETA will only reach a maximum trading value of $0.587.

Moving into 2027, the average expected trading cost sits at $0.682. This represents a potential return on investment of roughly 80% over the next couple of years. Established coins like Theta simply demand too much capital for a small growth compared to DeepSnitch AI, which is still early and small.

Golem faces a stagnant outlook

The GLM token is trading around the $0.13 mark as of March 27th, but its future outlook is deeply concerning. Technical analysts have scrutinized its historical price fluctuations and forecast a maximum price of just $0.137 by December 2027.

Looking further ahead to 2028, experts believe the average trading cost will actually reduce to $0.0983. This represents a devastatingly low potential ROI of just 4%. Golem cannot compete with the aggressive upside and extreme hype of a highly demanded presale launch of DeepSnitch AI.

Final verdict

DeepSnitch AI is currently in its final accumulation phase, and the chance to participate is shutting down. The presale officially ends on March 31, 11 am UTC, and missing this deadline means forfeiting your early-adopter advantage. Make sure to use the promo code DSNTVIP50 for an extra 50% bonus.

Visit the official DeepSnitch AI website, join Telegram, and follow on X for more updates.

FAQs

Is buying after the public launch smart?

Waiting for the public release means you lose the fixed, heavily discounted entry price.

Why do experts avoid tokens like Golem?

Financial forecasters project Golem to generate a small 4% return over the next several years. That’s why it’s better to put your money in the DeepSnitch AI presale before it ends.

What holds THETA back from massive growth?

Heavy, established networks like THETA require billions of dollars in fresh capital just to inch their price upward.

The post Should You Buy DeepSnitch AI After Launch? Here’s Why Traders Are Still Watching $DSNT appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:

• Goliath mainnet is now live and fully integrated into the Onyx App for real-world DeFi use.
• XCN liquid staking auto-accrues rewards, removing manual claims and boosting capital efficiency.
• The native bridge enables seamless XCN transfers between Ethereum ERC-20 and Goliath networks.
• Goliath runs on aBFT consensus, supporting payments, governance, healthcare, and supply chain use cases.

Goliath mainnet is now live and fully integrated into the Onyx App. The launch marks a major step forward for the Onyx ecosystem. Users can now access bridging, liquid staking, and swapping at app.onyx.org.

The XCN token retains its native Ethereum ERC-20 support alongside the new mainnet. This release brings production-ready consensus, staking, and cross-chain interoperability into real-world use for the first time.

Liquid Staking and Swapping Now Available Across the Network

The Onyx Protocol team announced liquid staking integration directly within the updated Onyx App. Users can stake XCN and maintain liquidity at the same time.

Rewards accumulate automatically through a cumulative index, removing the need for manual claims. When users unstake, they receive their XCN and accrued rewards in one transaction.

The swap feature currently supports XCN, ETH, and USDC on the mainnet. Swaps are accessible when the new network is selected within the app.

This adds capital efficiency to the staking model already in place. The combined tools position the platform as a functional DeFi infrastructure layer.

Onyx Protocol confirmed the development on social media, stating that users can now access Goliath bridging, XCN liquid staking, and swaps at app.onyx.org.

The team also confirmed that XCN will remain the default Ethereum ERC-20 token alongside the new chain. This dual structure allows users to operate across both networks without disruption.

The staking model is built around modern DeFi standards. Capital efficiency remains central to the overall infrastructure design.

Native Bridge Enables XCN Transfers Between Ethereum and Goliath

The native bridge now allows XCN transfers between Ethereum and the mainnet. Users can move assets across both chains through the Onyx App directly.

The bridge supports the ERC-20 standard on one end and the native asset on the other. This setup makes cross-chain activity more accessible for everyday users.

The network operates on asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance, or aBFT, consensus. This architecture delivers high throughput, deterministic finality, and fair transaction ordering.

Tamper-proof execution is also built into the core design. These properties support use cases such as cross-border payments, healthcare audits, and supply chain verification.

The team outlined the next development phase following the mainnet launch. Plans include expanding validator participation and enhancing cross-chain capabilities further.

Developer ecosystem growth and real-world application scaling are also on the roadmap. The project aims to serve mission-critical industries across multiple sectors.

With the network now operational, the Onyx ecosystem moves into a new phase of growth. Staking, bridging, and swapping are now consolidated within one platform.

Further updates are expected as the validator set expands. The XCN token continues to anchor the ecosystem across both Ethereum and Goliath.

The post Goliath Mainnet Is Live: Onyx App Now Supports XCN Liquid Staking, Bridging, and Swaps appeared first on Blockonomi.

Lido, the largest liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, closed 2025 with total revenue of $40.5 million, down 23% from $52.4 million the year before, according to an execution report published by the Lido Foundation.

The DAO is now reviewing an automated LDO token buyback mechanism, with the deployment targeted for Q2 2026, as part of a broader effort to align the governance token’s value with the protocol’s financial performance.

A Difficult Year for Staking Revenue

In the report, Lido noted that its main source of income, staking fee revenue, fell from $48.5 million to $37.4 million. In addition, there was a drop in execution layer rewards as a result of the ongoing network scaling on Ethereum, as well as a decrease in consensus layer rewards that was built into the issuance curve, with both weighing on the protocol’s income.

Meanwhile, gross staking rewards across the entire protocol fell 18% in dollar terms, from approximately $1.03 billion to $846.7 million. There was also a decline in Lido’s share of the staked ETH market, with its holdings going from more than 28% of all staked ETH in 2024 to just over 24% in December 2025.

In ETH terms, total value locked fell from 9.63 million ETH to 8.81 million ETH, a drop of 8.5%. The report attributes the share loss to capital rotating toward exchange staking, institutional low-risk staking, and liquid restaking platforms that used their own protocol tokens to subsidize returns.

However, Ethereum’s staking environment has since improved, even taking the network to new activity record highs in 2026.

Expansion and Buyback Plans

Market data from CoinGecko shows the native LDO trading at $0.27 as of March 27, down 7.3% over the past seven days. The token has hovered near its recent lows, with a 24-hour range between $0.275 and $0.290, and remains close to its all-time low of $0.2714 recorded on March 8, 2026.

Meanwhile, the protocol is developing a potential LDO buyback plan that would operate under the Network Economic Support Tokenomics (NEST) framework. Once live, the offering will enable users to buy LDO from the open market using protocol-generated yields and place the tokens into an LDO/wstETH liquidity position controlled by the platform.

As part of this, Lido shared that it has already completed the development of a manual module that would allow governance-controlled token swaps ahead of a planned technical validation scheduled for Q2 release. The firm added that any buyback mechanism only activates once a genuine treasury surplus exists.

Last year, the firm launched Lido Earn, a platform meant for high-yield stakers, that now holds more than 77,000 ETH in TVL. It came after WisdomTree launched the first stETH liquid staking ETP in Europe. The product also includes integrations with BitGo, Hex Trust, Komainu, and Crypto Finance AG that provide clients with more custody and staking options.

The post Lido Posts 23% Revenue Drop in 2025, Plans LDO Buyback appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Speaking to Fox Business at a recent conference in Miami, Ripple’s CEO praised the company’s progress over the past year, especially some of the high-end acquisitions, such as Hidden Road.

He also spoke about the growing role of stablecoins in the overall crypto industry, indicating that legacy financial services use them as their entry point.

Ripple’s Record Year and Q1

CryptoPotato reported in April last year that Ripple had agreed to acquire the prime brokerage giant Hidden Road for over $1.2 billion, in what was anticipated to be a game-changer for XRP. The deal was finalized later that year, and the platform was renamed Ripple Prime.

Weighing in on the overall market state and Ripple’s performance in these challenging times, Garlinghouse said the company he spearheads has been “on a tear.” In fact, he claimed that the prime brokerage has tripled its revenue rates since the initial announcement.

“Our business has been growing very quickly, we do care deeply about the health of the crypto markets overall, but to some degree, our technology is just a piece of our technology. And so, we made two big acquisitions last year, both for over $1 billion. Both have overperformed our expectations.”

The second acquisition he talked about was Ripple Treasury, which is “way ahead of our forecast for both the end of last year, but also in Q1, we are going to have a record quarter.”

Garlinghouse said that all of those developments and company growth are meant to make XRP as a digital asset “more useful, more trusted, with higher utility. That is our North Star.”

His comments come in a rather intriguing time for XRP, which is down by over 60% since its July 2025 all-time high, and is in the red YTD after losing the $1.40 support earlier this week.

Stablecoins’ Growth

Ripple’s exec continued by linking stablecoins to the overall industry growth, as he believes the asset class is the entry point for TradFi to enter. In fact, he noted that Fortune 500 and 2,000 companies are exploring ways how they can have some sort of exposure.

He said people and businesses can make transfers in different currencies via the traditional options, but it could take 3-5 business days, and the fees are typically higher. With stablecoins, though, the transfer would be nearly instant at a fraction of the cost.

Garlinghouse added that outside businesses are showing “a ton of interest” in stablecoin solutions, as the asset class might be the “ChatGPT moment for crypto,” which these entities use to enter and explore before they go down further in the blockchain rabbit hole.

The post Brad Garlinghouse: Improving XRP Has Become Ripple’s North Star appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ethereum’s recovery attempt is losing momentum again. The price is slipping back after failing to sustain strength near the key $2.4k resistance zone. The broader context remains a market trying to stabilize after a sharp downtrend, but repeated rejections on rallies and growing concerns over the war in the Middle East continue to highlight weak follow-through from buyers.

Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, ETH remains firmly below the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, which are located around the $2.5k and $3.1k levels, respectively. Both moving averages are trending downward and acting as dynamic resistance overhead. The overall structure is also still characterized by lower highs, and the recent bounce has not been strong enough to break out of the descending channel pattern.

The price recently pushed into the $2.4k supply zone but failed to hold, reinforcing this region as a key resistance cluster. This area aligns with a bearish order block and continues to attract selling pressure. Therefore, as long as ETH trades below it, the broader trend remains tilted to the downside, with the $1.8k support area being the most probable target for the market to visit in the coming days.

ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart

On the 4-hour chart, the short-term recovery structure has clearly weakened. ETH was previously trading within an ascending channel, but that structure has now broken down. The price has fallen below the channel support and is yet to reclaim it.

The fake breakout and rejection from the upper boundary near $2.4k led to this sharp pullback in the first place, and the asset is now hovering around the $2k level. This area is acting as a short-term pivot, but momentum has cooled significantly, with the RSI dropping back toward neutral levels.

Yet, if ETH loses $2k with conviction, things would get much worse, as the next logical move would be a retest of the $1.8k demand zone. On the other hand, to regain strength, buyers need to push the price back above the recent high at $2.2k to shift the short-term market structure.

Sentiment Analysis

From a sentiment perspective, the Estimated Leverage Ratio is flashing a warning signal. The metric has risen sharply and is now at elevated levels compared to previous periods. This indicates that a significant amount of leverage has built up in the system.

High leverage typically increases the probability of volatility. This is because crowded positioning can lead to cascading liquidations in either direction. In the current context, where price is struggling below resistance, this raises the risk of downside flushes if support levels begin to break.

At the same time, elevated leverage does not automatically imply a bearish outcome, but it does suggest that the market is more fragile. Combined with the lack of strong spot-driven follow-through, sentiment appears unstable, with the potential for sharp moves driven by positioning rather than organic demand.

The post Ethereum Price Prediction: Where Is ETH Headed If $2K Support Is Lost for Good? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

XRP is showing signs of short-term consolidation, but the broader trend remains under pressure. The price continues to hover above key support zones, giving buyers a slight foothold, but resistance levels and descending trendlines are still limiting upside momentum.

Ripple Price Analysis: The USDT Pair

On the XRP/USDT chart, the asset is trading around $1.34. The price is just above the $1.20 support zone that has held recent lows. While there is a mild recovery attempt, XRP remains confined inside the descending channel and below both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, located around the $1.80 and $2.10 levels, respectively. This still keeps the overall structure bearish.

For the buyers to get back in control, the asset would need to move above the $1.75 to $1.80 area to shift the short-term sentiment more favorably. On the other hand, the $1.20 support zone remains critical, as if a drop below this level could cause another liquidation cascade and push the price significantly further to the downside.

The BTC Pair

The XRP/BTC pair mirrors this cautious tone of its USDT counterpart. XRP is hovering around 2,000 sats, holding near the recent lows and the key support area. The resistance clusters formed from the convergence of the 100-day and 200-day moving averages from 2,100 to 2,200 sats remain the primary obstacle for the buyers to push through in order to create a bullish outlook.

On the other hand, a breakdown of the support level at 2,000 sats could be disastrous, as it would likely lead to a deeper drop toward the lower boundary of the descending channel around 1,600 sats, or even below it toward the 1,500 sat horizontal support area. The repercussions of this scenario would be catastrophic, as it would create a very negative sentiment that would potentially take a long time to reverse.

The post Ripple Price Prediction: XRP Has Only One Key Support Left Before Breakdown Below $1 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin tried and failed at $76,000 last week and $72,000 a few days ago. It was rejected in its tracks at both attempts, and the Friday correction pushed it south to a four-week low of $65,500.

Although it has recovered some ground since then and currently trades above $66,000, most analysts on X believe the asset is not out of the woods yet and predict at least one more leg down.

Not Looking Great

Michaël van de Poppe was among the first to outline BTC’s fragile state, stating that “Bitcoin is not looking great.” In a recent post on X, MN Fund’s founder said the cryptocurrency is following a familiar pattern and will likely “hang here for a bit, before continuing to sweep the lows further down the line.”

He noted that the $60,000 support will come into focus, which would be his ideal area for opening long positions. Interestingly, another analyst, Jelle, recently noted that he would start buying BTC if it drops even further south, to around $50,000.

Van de Poppe, though, asserted that his theory will be invalidated if BTC rebounds decisively and breaks past $71,000, which will “clearly” change the perspective.

#Bitcoin is not looking great.

The same procedure as during the previous consolidation. It will likely hang here for a bit, before continuing to sweep the lows further down the line.

If that happens, a sweep of $60K is the ideal area for longs on this one.

Now, what is going… pic.twitter.com/BvCVPmY648

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 28, 2026

CryptoQuant also wrote about bitcoin’s potential bottom during this cycle recently, and concluded that “it’s still too early” to determine BTC has reached it. The analysts explained that “structural signals” that could solidify a conclusive transition from a medium- to long-term downtrend into an uptrend have yet to clearly emerge.

Altcoin Sherpa’s opinion aligned with van den Poppe’s, suggesting that BTC could find some temporary relief, but it could “test the $62Ks eventually.”

Touched DCA Zone

While also weighing in on BTC’s recent price performance, Merlijn The Trader indicated that bitcoin has dropped and touched the lower boundary of the “DCA Zone.” History shows that the asset has not fallen to the lower region of the rainbow below for many years. And, when it has been within it, it has bounced by 100x in 2015, by 20x in 2019, and by 5x in 2023.

If it breaks below it now, it would be the first such instance in history, Merlijn explained. However, if it holds and rebounds, then the “expansion phase opens.”

BITCOIN JUST TOUCHED THE DCA ZONE FOR THE FOURTH TIME.

2015: green zone. Then 100x.
2019: green zone. Then 20x.
2023: green zone. Then 5x.
2026: right now.

Hold it: expansion phase opens.
Lose it: first break in history.

You are in the right zone. pic.twitter.com/9GDj35goiv

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) March 28, 2026

The post ‘Bitcoin Is Not Looking Great’: Why Top Analysts Are Warning BTC Could Plunge Further appeared first on CryptoPotato.