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Crypto markets have entered the week with heightened volatility after a relatively calm weekend, with bitcoin and altcoins expected to experience further fluctuations driven by several major US economic events. Early market movements were already influenced by global reactions to Donald Trump’s statements on the Iran conflict, while attention now turns to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech. His previously hawkish stance following the latest FOMC meeting contributed to a recent bitcoin correction, and his latest remarks could again sway market sentiment. Additional data releases during the week, including consumer confidence and job openings figures, may introduce smaller price movements, while Friday’s March jobs report is widely anticipated to trigger more significant volatility.
Beyond economic indicators, geopolitical tensions remain a dominant force shaping crypto price action. Ongoing developments in the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran have had a strong impact on bitcoin over the past month, and further escalation could intensify market instability. Reports suggest the US may be preparing a military move targeting Iran’s Kharg Island and its uranium resources, while the absence of confirmed diplomatic negotiations signals continued conflict. This combination of economic uncertainty and geopolitical risk is likely to keep crypto markets highly reactive throughout the week. Source
The xStocks platform has partnered with Fundrise to bring the Fundrise Innovation Fund onchain, offering blockchain-based access to a portfolio of private technology companies such as Anthropic, Databricks and SpaceX. The tokenised asset, VCXx, is expected to launch shortly after the fund began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Early trading saw a sharp surge in the fund’s share price before a significant pullback later in the week. The development reflects growing efforts to expand investor access to late-stage private markets through tokenisation, bridging traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure.
However, the launch has faced scrutiny following a report highlighting past regulatory issues involving Fundrise Advisors and raising concerns about potential promotional practices. Despite this, the fund’s leadership has rejected the criticism and defended its approach. More broadly, tokenised equities have surpassed $1 billion in onchain value, driven by rising interest in real-world assets, though activity remains concentrated among a few dominant players, with xStocks and Ondo leading the market as it continues to consolidate under regulatory and liquidity pressures. Source
Bitcoin ETFs saw more than $290 million in net outflows last week as a broader risk-off sentiment took hold across global markets, driven by rising geopolitical tensions, weakening ceasefire expectations and end-of-quarter portfolio rebalancing. The largest single-day withdrawal occurred on Friday, with $225.5 million exiting US spot Bitcoin ETFs, led primarily by heavy redemptions from BlackRock’s IBIT. This reversed earlier positive momentum at the start of the week, highlighting how quickly investor sentiment shifted amid mounting macroeconomic pressures, including rising oil prices and fading hopes of near-term interest rate cuts.
Analysts suggest the outflows reflect cautious positioning rather than a structural change, noting that such movements are relatively common and often influenced by hedge fund strategies. Despite recent declines, Bitcoin has shown relative resilience compared with equities during the ongoing Iran conflict, even as markets price in tighter monetary policy and continued instability. With geopolitical risks persisting and key economic signals ahead, markets are expected to remain volatile, with sentiment currently leaning bearish and further price swings likely in the near term. Source
Failure to pass the CLARITY Act could leave the cryptocurrency industry vulnerable to stricter enforcement from future US administrations, according to Coin Center’s Peter Van Valkenburgh. He warned that without clear legal protections for developers, the sector risks being governed by shifting political priorities and prosecutorial discretion rather than stable rules. The bill, which has stalled in the Senate due to disagreements among banks, crypto firms and lawmakers, aims to establish a regulatory framework covering digital asset classification, intermediary registration and the treatment of stablecoin yields.
Van Valkenburgh argued that relying on the current administration’s more favourable stance is short-sighted, as regulatory attitudes can quickly change. Without legislation, future authorities could intensify legal action against developers, particularly those working on privacy tools, and reverse existing guidance. While recent changes at the SEC have been more supportive of the industry, he stressed that only formal laws can provide lasting certainty, warning that failing to secure them now could ultimately harm the principles of transparency and openness that underpin crypto. Source
Tether has appointed KPMG to carry out its first full financial audit of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin with around $184 billion in circulation, marking a significant step towards greater transparency as it seeks to expand in the US. The company has also enlisted PwC to prepare its internal systems for the audit, which will assess its financial reporting, internal controls and asset valuations. This move comes amid investor caution and as Tether aims to register USDT under the proposed GENIUS Act, which would require stricter regulatory compliance.
The audit represents a notable shift for Tether, which has previously faced criticism over the clarity of its reserves and was fined in 2021 for misleading statements about its backing. The firm says it holds roughly $192 billion in reserve assets, largely in US Treasuries, to support USDT’s dollar peg. By engaging a Big Four auditor, Tether is attempting to strengthen credibility and meet regulatory expectations, particularly as it positions itself within a more formalised US framework for stablecoin issuers. Source
BNP Paribas is expanding its investment range by introducing six crypto-linked exchange-traded notes for retail clients in France, providing exposure to Bitcoin and Ether through regulated financial products. Available via standard securities accounts, these ETNs can be accessed by individual investors, entrepreneurs, private banking clients and users of the bank’s digital platform, with potential expansion beyond France. Unlike direct cryptocurrency purchases, ETNs allow investors to track price movements without holding the assets themselves, though they carry credit risk tied to the issuer.
This move forms part of BNP Paribas’s broader push into digital assets, including involvement in blockchain-based bond issuance, participation in the Canton Network for institutional blockchain finance, and backing Digital Asset’s funding efforts. The bank has also advanced tokenisation initiatives, such as launching a tokenised money market fund share class on Ethereum. Across Europe, adoption of crypto ETNs is growing, with other institutions expanding offerings and the UK reopening retail access after lifting its previous ban. Source
Ark Invest, led by Cathie Wood, sold significant portions of its holdings in major technology stocks and crypto-related assets amid a broader market downturn driven by geopolitical uncertainty. The firm offloaded nearly $41 million in Meta shares and over $26 million in Nvidia, both of which have declined further, with Meta suffering steep monthly losses linked partly to legal setbacks and Nvidia also pressured by market concerns and litigation. Additional reductions included stakes in Alphabet and AMD, reflecting a wider pullback from high-profile tech positions.
The firm also reduced its crypto exposure, selling around $11 million of its own Bitcoin ETF alongside stakes in Bullish and Block, even as Wood remains publicly optimistic about Bitcoin’s long-term prospects. These moves come as Bitcoin and the wider crypto market continue to fall, influenced by risk-off sentiment and macroeconomic pressures, with prices hitting recent lows and volatility expected to persist. Despite the sell-off, Ark Invest still maintains a notable, though reduced, position in its Bitcoin ETF within its broader portfolio. Source
Backlinks are a fundamental driver of search engine optimisation, acting as signals of trust and authority that influence rankings, visibility and traffic. However, acquiring links is only the beginning, as long-term success depends on actively managing and tracking them to maintain quality and avoid penalties. Effective backlink management involves auditing for harmful links, preserving valuable ones, and using competitor insights to guide strategic growth. Monitoring key metrics such as link quality, anchor text and placement ensures a strong, natural backlink profile that supports sustained organic performance.
Markethive’s Backlink Management Hub is designed to streamline this process by offering a centralised system for organising, tracking and optimising backlinks. It provides automated daily monitoring, instant alerts for inactive links, and advanced categorisation tools to align links with campaigns, regions and target pages. Combined with integrated traffic tracking and visual asset mapping, the platform enables users to analyse performance and refine their SEO strategies efficiently. By turning backlink management into a proactive and data-driven process, the system helps maintain authority, improve rankings and support long-term growth. Source
Onchain commodity trading is gaining traction as demand for macro exposure through decentralised platforms increases, highlighted by record volumes on Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 market across assets like silver, oil and gold. Activity is no longer limited to crypto-native participants, with traditional finance traders increasingly entering the space, particularly drawn by the ability to trade continuously over weekends when conventional markets are closed. This around-the-clock access allows traders to respond to geopolitical events in real time, giving onchain platforms a unique role in price discovery during off-hours.
Despite this growth, limited liquidity and market depth continue to prevent onchain markets from competing with traditional financial venues, which still dominate in execution quality and large-scale trading capacity. Challenges such as pricing reliability, regulatory clarity and overall market maturity remain unresolved, restricting institutional participation. Even so, rising participation and growing trust in weekend pricing are creating a reinforcing cycle that supports further adoption, suggesting onchain macro trading will continue to expand despite its current limitations. Source
Walrus is marking its first anniversary after a year of rapid growth, surpassing 450TB of stored data from major partners including Team Liquid, Decrypt and Allium. Developed by Mysten Labs, the decentralised storage platform has gained traction through its programmable storage model and efficient data encoding technology, attracting organisations with large-scale data needs. Key upgrades such as Quilt for optimising small file storage and Seal for enhanced privacy controls have improved functionality, even at the expense of short-term revenue, helping drive adoption and real-world use cases.
The platform is now positioning itself at the centre of emerging demand for verifiable data in AI and onchain finance. With AI agents increasingly making autonomous decisions, Walrus aims to provide a secure, tamper-proof data layer that can act as long-term memory for these systems. Its roadmap includes deeper integration with AI developers, expansion of tools like the MemWal SDK, and further involvement in blockchain-based financial data through partnerships such as Allium. As decentralised infrastructure continues to grow, Walrus is focusing on scaling its ecosystem and supporting new applications built on its network. Source
Ether’s position as the second-largest cryptocurrency is increasingly under threat as stablecoins, particularly Tether’s USDT, continue to grow rapidly. Over the past five years, ETH’s market capitalisation has risen by about 11.75% to roughly $240 billion, whereas USDT has surged 622.5% to over $184 billion, with other stablecoins like USDC and even XRP also outpacing Ether. This shift has been reflected in market sentiment, with Polymarket odds for Ether losing its number-two ranking in 2026 jumping from 17% to over 59% as traders anticipate a “flippening.”
The divergence in performance is largely due to the different natures of Ethereum and stablecoins. ETH’s growth depends on price appreciation, which has been constrained by macroeconomic pressures such as US tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and reduced expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts. Institutional demand has also waned, with US spot Ethereum ETF holdings falling around 65% since October. Stablecoins, however, benefit from capital inflows during risk-off periods as investors seek liquidity and stability, driving their market share to $310 billion. Technically, Ether also faces downside risks, with chart patterns suggesting a potential decline toward $1,250 if bearish trends persist. Source
Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level since March 2, trading around $65,804, amid renewed market uncertainty linked to the Iran conflict. Major crypto-related stocks also fell sharply, with Strategy’s stock slipping below $124, BitMine Immersion Technologies hitting $18.42, and Robinhood trading just above $66, marking monthly lows for all three. Other cryptocurrencies mirrored the trend, with Ethereum down 4% to $1,980, Solana falling 5% to under $83, and BNB dipping 3%, while over $500 million in crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, largely from long positions.
The declines were exacerbated by macro and geopolitical tensions, including mixed signals on military action from the United States and Israel, which have heightened market volatility. Bitcoin traders have grown increasingly bearish, with prediction markets showing a 64% chance of the coin falling to $55,000, reflecting a sharp shift in sentiment over just a few days. Broader U.S. stock indices were also down, with the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow all losing around 1–1.5% on the day. Source
Developers from Gnosis and Zisk, supported by the Ethereum Foundation, have proposed the “Ethereum Economic Zone” (EEZ), a framework designed to connect Ethereum’s fragmented layer-2 ecosystem. The initiative aims to allow smart contracts on different rollups to execute transactions synchronously across networks and the mainnet without relying on bridges, reducing duplication and improving interoperability. The project involves early contributions from infrastructure providers and DeFi protocols and plans to establish an “EEZ Alliance” to coordinate standards and adoption as Ethereum’s rollup-centric scaling model continues to evolve.
The proposal addresses growing concerns over liquidity and user activity fragmentation across more than 20 active layer-2 networks, which together secure nearly $40 billion in total value. While rollups have increased Ethereum’s throughput, critics including co-founder Vitalik Buterin have highlighted risks such as centralized sequencers and trusted bridges, prompting debate over the future role of layer-2 networks. The EEZ framework seeks to create a more unified environment for rollups, allowing shared infrastructure and easier settlement back to Ethereum, potentially resolving some of the ecosystem’s current scaling and interoperability challenges. Source
GameStop has moved nearly all of its Bitcoin holdings—4,709 BTC, valued at around $315 million—into a covered call options strategy on Coinbase Prime, leaving just 1 BTC outside the plan. This reclassifies the assets from intangible holdings to receivables on the balance sheet, altering how gains and losses impact the company’s earnings. The arrangement gives Coinbase the right to rehypothecate, commingle, or sell the Bitcoin, although GameStop retains economic exposure and the potential to earn premiums from the options if Bitcoin remains below the strike price.
The strategy allows GameStop to generate yield from an asset that has seen its value fall amid recent market volatility, without immediately selling it. In a covered call, the holder collects premiums while capping upside if the asset’s price exceeds the agreed strike price. CEO Ryan Cohen has indicated that future acquisitions or other opportunities may take precedence over Bitcoin, suggesting that the company’s cryptocurrency holdings may not remain central to its long-term strategy. Source
Aave, the largest decentralized lending protocol, has launched on OKX’s Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, X Layer, which has $25 million in total value locked and was launched in 2024. This integration allows users of OKX Wallet and X Layer to lend, borrow, and earn yield directly on the chain without bridging to another network. X Layer, focused on scalability with low transaction fees and one-second block times, already hosts other DeFi platforms including Uniswap, Chainlink, and Stargate.
The launch follows Aave surpassing $1 trillion in cumulative lending volume, holding $23.5 billion in total value locked across more than 20 chains. The protocol has over $40.4 billion in net deposits, significantly outpacing competitors like Morpho, and has generated over $6.2 million in revenue in the past 30 days. Source
Circle’s stock has fallen roughly 26% over the past week, closing at $93.6 after opening near $126, driven by three key pressures: a potential Senate ban on passive stablecoin yields, a rival audit by Tether, and ongoing legislative uncertainty. The draft Senate bill threatens Circle’s main revenue stream from USDC holders, while Tether’s audit introduces competitive pressure by increasing transparency in the stablecoin market. Analysts note that these developments reflect broader uncertainty about Circle’s business model rather than a simple market overreaction.
The potential yield ban could force Circle to shift from passive yields to activity-based rewards, a transition expected to take at least a year and potentially impact its retail user base and margins. Despite this, USDC circulation remains high, suggesting its utility as a payments tool mitigates some risk. Circle’s strong integration in institutional finance and B2B services, along with its financial runway, indicates it can weather regulatory uncertainties, making the current stock slump more a reflection of temporary pressures than a structural decline in corporate value. Source
OnePay, majority-owned by Walmart, has expanded its crypto offerings by adding more than a dozen tokens, including Polygon, Arbitrum, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, and PAX Gold. The platform, which launched in January with Bitcoin and Ethereum, focuses on providing assets that meet customer demand, liquidity, regulatory clarity, and long-term utility, aiming to serve users who are new to crypto and seeking a simple, integrated experience. OnePay integrates its digital wallet with Walmart stores and online, alongside banking services such as high-yield savings, credit and debit cards, loans, and wireless plans.
Positioning itself as a US version of a “superapp” similar to China’s WeChat, OnePay continues to expand thoughtfully rather than chasing the latest crypto trends. The platform’s growth aligns with broader industry efforts to create financial superapps that combine trading, payments, lending, and staking under a single regulatory framework, supported by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s guidance for multi-service digital platforms. Source
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
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