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Vitalik Buterin is urging the Ethereum ecosystem to get bolder about what it builds on top of the chain—while drawing a hard line around the base layer’s core guarantees—arguing that a first-principles reset on applications, wallets, and even culture could be necessary for Ethereum’s next phase.

In a post on X, the Ethereum co-founder said “it’s healthy for us in the Ethereum world to have a more bold and open mindset,” especially on the application layer and “how we see ourselves in the world.” That openness, he argued, should not drift into ambiguity about what Ethereum’s L1 is supposed to protect.

“We should not compromise on core properties: censorship resistance, open source, privacy, security (CROPS),” Buterin wrote. “We should not have ‘open mindedness’ of the type that leaves people with no confidence of what security properties the L1 will still have one year from now.” He added that Ethereum should not backslide into questioning fundamentals like whether “light clients” should “trustlessly verify correctness of the chain.”

Where the rethink should happen, in his framing, is the interface between Ethereum and users: the application stack, its assumptions, and the social conventions that shape what builders consider “serious” work.

Ethereum AI Wallets, But With Guardrails

Buterin tied part of the shift to AI, floating a scenario where “wallets as browser extensions and mobile extensions are dead within a year?” On Farcaster, he made the point more directly: “Pretty obvious that the next iteration of wallets will heavily involve AI.”

Still, he stressed that higher-value usage can’t simply outsource trust to a model. “I would not trust an LLM with multi-million transactions or funds,” he wrote, describing what he sees as the “optimal workflow” for large transfers: “AI proposes a plan, local light client simulates it, you see the action and the simulated outcome and manually confirm it.”

The pay-off, he suggested, is that moving away from today’s dapp-heavy interaction model could reduce risk. If done “conservatively with lots of emphasis on security,” Buterin argued, removing dapp UIs “from the picture completely” could eliminate “a large number of attack vectors (for both theft and privacy).”

‘Rip Off The Suit And Tie’

Buterin pointed to privacy as a recent example of Ethereum changing its priorities at the application layer. He described last year’s “shift to thinking about privacy as a first-class consideration,” which, he argued, implies “a radically different Ethereum application stack” because “the entire stack so far has not been built around privacy.” This year, he said, that has expanded into “growing work on the networking side of privacy, both inside the EF and outside.”

He also sketched more provocative app-layer thought experiments, including whether “the rest of defi is basically just universal futures markets on top of a good decentralized oracle and letting users self-organize on top of that,” and even whether “the ideal decentralized oracle is just a SNARK over M-of-N small LLMs over zk-TLSes of some major news sites?” In his view, AI pushes “applications” away from discrete products with discrete UIs and toward a continuous space—making “build fewer apps and rely on users to self-organize around them” a pattern that could expand.

On scaling, he said Ethereum is also “rethinking from zero the role of L2s, and what kind of L2s are actually most synergistic and additive to Ethereum,” framing it as another area where past assumptions may no longer hold.

Buterin framed culture as a non-technical constraint that can quietly narrow what gets built. Referencing “the whole milady thing,” he argued the subtext is to “rip off the suit and tie,” describing a deliberately irreverent break from “respectable” postures: “Take the preconception that you are ‘respectable’, write it down on a piece of paper, crumble it up and burn it. The psychological baptism of doing this leads to the intellectual baptism of unlocking greater creativity and expanding overton windows.”

He closed his X post with a challenge to builders: stop iterating one step at a time from today’s usage patterns and instead imagine Ethereum’s application layer as if starting from a blank page. “If YOU had to write the section of the 2014 Ethereum whitepaper that talked about applications… what would you write?” he asked, urging people to “mark all path-dependence concerns down to zero” and see what new designs emerge.

At press time, ETH traded at $2,050.

The gap between how investors feel about gold and Bitcoin has rarely been this wide. Gold’s fear and greed index sat at 72 out of 100 — deep in greed territory — while the top crypto’s equivalent reading hit 18 out of 100, a level classified as extreme fear.

For macroeconomist Lyn Alden, that gap tells a story worth paying attention to.

A Contrarian Bet On Bitcoin’s Next Two To Three Years

Alden, speaking on the New Era Finance podcast this week, said that if she had to choose between the two assets for the period ahead, she’d pick Bitcoin.

“Gun to my head, if I had to say which one I think outperforms, I would say Bitcoin,” she said.

Gold has climbed hard. Bitcoin has fallen far. She sees a pendulum between the two, and right now it has swung well in gold’s favor. That, she argued, sets up a potential reversal.

Gold reached a record high of around $5,608 per ounce in January. Bitcoin, by contrast, is sitting roughly 44% below its own peak of $126,000, reached last October.

The divergence in price performance mirrors the divergence in investor mood. Alden acknowledged gold’s run but stopped short of calling it a bubble.

Sentiment around it is “somewhat euphoric,” she said, while the mood around Bitcoin has turned what she described as unfairly negative.

She was careful not to overclaim. Both assets can rise at the same time. Both can fall. She does not treat the relationship between them as fixed or predictable with certainty. But pressed to make a call, she made one.

Gold’s Strength Could Be Bitcoin’s Opportunity

The backdrop to Alden’s comments is a broader debate about which asset deserves the title of reliable store of value.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has come down firmly on gold’s side. Speaking publicly this week, Dalio described gold as the most established form of money and pointed to its standing as the second-largest reserve asset held by central banks worldwide.

He raised concerns about Bitcoin’s limitations around privacy and its vulnerability to quantum computing advances — a technological threat that remains years away but is drawing increasing attention as construction begins on large-scale quantum facilities.

I think Bitcoin could reach $1M by ~2030 based on current conditions and progress.

Think long-term. pic.twitter.com/6MKqrjojAP

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 24, 2025

Dalio’s position and Alden’s are not entirely at odds. Neither dismissed either asset outright. The question is about which performs better over a defined window, not which survives long-term.

Related Reading: Stablecoins Pose Fresh Risk To Eurozone Lending, ECB Says

The Bank of Russia has proposed letting banks and brokerage firms obtain licenses to operate crypto exchanges.

A New Crypto Play

A report published by Interfax on March 5 states that The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Elvira Nabiullina has proposed to allow banks and brokers to obtain crypto exchange licenses via a notification process, as based on their current licenses. This statement was made at the annual meeting of lending institutions with the Central Bank.

According to Nabiullina, the proposal aims to leverage the banking sector’s infrastructure for fighting money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and fraud in order to better protect digital assets market clients. In what appears to be a conciliatory move between regulators and digital asset’s traders, Nabiullina directly addresses some of the main concerns typically raised by TradFi when arguing against crypto assets:

We hope that your extensive banking experience in AML/CFT [anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism], as well as your experience in countering fraud, will help protect your clients in the crypto market once it is legalized.

The Crypto Proposal

The exchange permissions being notification‑based means that institutions could bolt cryptocurrency services onto existing financial licenses instead of going through a separate, standalone approval process.

Under the draft rules, crypto and stablecoins would be treated as “currency valuables”: Russians could own and trade them but using them as a domestic means of payment would remain restricted.

Regarding the risk level, Naibullina remain cautious. She clarified that there would be a temporary threshold for banks’ involvement in the asset class:

However, we would still like to limit the level of risk a bank takes in this area to one percent of capital. Let’s start by seeing how banks operate within the one percent cap, and then see whether we need to move forward.

According to the Interfax report, qualified investors may acquire crypto assets without restrictions, while non-qualified investors are limited to purchasing up to 300,000 rubles per year through a single intermediary. The proposal effectively turns banks into the primary regulated gateways for digital asset trading.

Russia’s Back-And-Forth

Since 2020, Russia has recognized digital assets as property but banned them as a means of payment. Russia flirted with a full ban in 2022 and then shifted to “regulate, don’t ban.” By 2024–2025, Russia allowed limited cross‑border use, legalized mining, and opened the market only to banks and “super qualified” investors, keeping retail, P2P, and foreign platforms in a gray zone.

A Change In The Tide

Russia has slowly but surely moved from hostility to tightly managed acceptance: the new push to license banks and brokers as cryptocurrency intermediaries is about pulling activity onshore, taxing it, preserving capital controls, and sidelining unlicensed foreign exchanges rather than outlawing crypto itself.

The central bank is pushing to finish the broader legal framework by mid‑2026, after which penalties for unlicensed intermediaries and offshore platforms that do not localize in Russia are expected to kick in.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

 

 

On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has highlighted how its Bull Score Index is deep inside the bearish territory despite the latest Bitcoin price rally.

Bitcoin Bull Score Index Has A Value Of Just 10 Right Now

In a new post on X, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has discussed the latest trend in the Bull Score Index for Bitcoin. This metric basically contains information about the phase of the cycle that BTC is currently inside.

The indicator makes use of some of the most popular on-chain metrics to calculate its value. The list of the indicators covered by the Bull Score Index include the likes of MVRV Z-Score, CryptoQuant P&L Index, and Stablecoin Liquidity. In total, the metric accounts for the data of ten indicators, with its value representing the number of these that are giving a bullish signal for the BTC network right now. For example, the Bull Score Index having a value of 40 implies four of the metrics are bullish.

Now, here is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows how the Bitcoin Bull Score Index has fluctuated over the last year and a half:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Bull Score Index saw a spike above the 60 level back in October 2025 as the BTC price rallied to a new all-time high (ATH). This suggests that the majority of the indicators were giving a green signal.

The market unwind that followed the price surge, however, caused the Bull Score Index to plummet back into the zone below 40, corresponding to bearish conditions in the sector. By late November, the bearish signal had become so strong that the index had dropped to a value of zero.

Since then, there hasn’t been any notable improvement in the indicator, with its value consistently remaining at or below 20. This hasn’t changed after the latest rally above the $70,000 level, either, as the index is still sitting at the 10 mark, implying only one metric is currently giving a bullish signal.

“Bitcoin is still in a bear market despite the recent rally,” noted CryptoQuant. “The current move is likely just a relief rally, not the start of a new bull phase.” It now remains to be seen how much longer the Bull Score Index will remain inside the bearish zone.

In some other news, the Bitcoin network has seen its userbase reach a new height recently, as on-chain analytics firm Santiment has highlighted in an X post.

From the above chart, it’s visible that non-empty addresses on the Bitcoin network have jumped 3% over the last six months, taking their total count to a new ATH of 58.45 million.

BTC Price

Bitcoin climbed toward $74,000 on Wednesday, but the bullish momentum has cooled off since then as the asset has returned to $70,500.

The timing of the next altcoin season is one of the most debated topics in the cryptocurrency market as traders search for signs that capital could soon rotate away from Bitcoin into smaller assets. However, not every analyst believes that the next phase of the cycle will arrive soon. 

According to crypto analyst Hyland, investors may still see significant upside in the broader crypto market once Bitcoin turns bullish again, but an altcoin season might not materialize this year.

Why An Altcoin Season In 2026 May Be Unlikely

Crypto analyst Matthew Hyland, who has built a significant following on X for his crypto market takes, recently made a bold declaration: there will be no altcoin season in 2026. In his post on X, Hyland stated that there will likely be no traditional altcoin season in 2026. His reasoning is tied to how long it historically takes for altcoin dominance to recover after hitting major cycle lows.

He explained that the change from the lowest point of altcoin dominance to a full altcoin season market rally typically takes between two and three years. Based on this pattern, the most recent low in altcoin dominance likely occurred around October 2025. 

If that timeline holds, the next major altcoin season would be expected sometime between 2027 and 2028. That means that altcoins could still spend much of 2026 in a transition period where Bitcoin keeps being the dominant driving force of price action.

Even though Hyland believes the full altcoin season will not arrive this year, he pointed out that investors may still see substantial upside across the crypto market before that phase begins. Particularly, he noted that the market is currently in the max opportunity zone for long-term crypto accumulation.

AltSeason Hype At Two-Year Low

The most compelling supporting evidence of the current state of the altcoin season and Bitcoin dominance can be seen in crowd behavior. Recent data from the on-chain analytics platform Santiment shows that discussions about an altcoin season have cooled massively across social media platforms.

According to Santiment’s social trends metrics, social mentions of the term “altseason” have dropped to a two-year low. The data tracks the weekly volume of discussions about altcoin season across major social platforms over the past two years.

The chart shows that spikes in social mentions have always appeared around market peaks, when excitement about altcoin rallies is at its highest. However, this kind of sentiment trough has always acted as a contrarian buy signal. 

When the crowd stops talking about something, it often means the crowd has given up, and the price action of many altcoins is at yearly lows. That is precisely when the best buying opportunities tend to emerge. 

Despite XRP’s continued decline and its struggle to regain the $2 level, one analyst believes the asset is approaching a decisive technical zone that could determine the next rally. A chart breakdown from crypto analyst Egrag Crypto shows that if XRP reclaims key levels above the 200-week EMA, it could strengthen momentum and open the path toward $8.5.

XRP 200 EMA And $1.55 Become Immediate Battleground

The projected rally is based on XRP’s interaction with the 200-week EMA, a widely monitored indicator used to assess long-term market momentum. In his accompanying chart, XRP is attempting to move above this moving average while simultaneously approaching a horizontal resistance area around $1.55.

According to him, this zone represents the first meaningful test for bullish strength. A confirmed weekly close above both the 200 EMA and the $1.55 level would indicate that buyers are beginning to regain short-term control of the market. Such a move would signal increasing momentum on the upside and suggest that the recent downward pressure may be weakening.

Despite this potential shift, the broader technical structure remains intact. The analyst notes that XRP is still trading within a descending channel that has governed its recent price action. As long as the asset remains inside this formation, the larger trend continues to reflect a corrective phase rather than a confirmed breakout.

Because of this, reaching $1.55 signals early strength, but it does not invalidate the broader bearish structure. A sustained trend reversal would only be confirmed after a break above the channel’s upper boundary.

Break Above $2.20 Could Trigger A Rally Toward $8.5

Beyond the initial resistance test, the analyst identifies a higher confirmation level that could trigger a more aggressive bullish phase. The chart points to a weekly close above roughly $2.20 as the next structural milestone for XRP.

A move above this level would place the price beyond key resistance within the descending channel and potentially signal the beginning of a broader expansion phase. In the chart’s projection, such a breakout aligns with higher Fibonacci extension levels, with the longer-term trajectory extending toward the $8.5 region.

However, the chart also outlines a downside scenario if the $1.55 resistance fails to hold. A rejection at that level could trigger a sweep of lower liquidity areas, with the analyst pointing to $1.26 as the first potential downside target.

If weakness persists, the projection shows a deeper move toward the $0.95 to $0.85 region. This area appears on the chart as a broader support zone where price could stabilize before attempting to stage a rally.

For now, XRP’s direction hinges on its interaction with the 200 EMA and the $1.55 resistance level, which the analyst identifies as the key trigger determining whether the market builds short-term strength for a rally or continues its corrective structure.

Even with the price of XRP displaying bearish action, bullish sentiment remains strong underneath the surface. On-chain data is signaling a strong desire among investors and traders to hold on to the leading altcoin as cryptocurrency exchanges’ reserves see a sharp drop over the past few weeks.

Massive XRP Withdrawals Hit Crypto Exchanges

Amid the ongoing waning performance of the market and XRP’s price, the altcoin is undergoing a key shift in supply dynamics, which represents a crucial moment. While the price has fallen sharply, investors are steadily moving their coins away from cryptocurrency exchanges due to these unfavorable market conditions.

Ripple Bull Winkle, Lux Lions NFT founder and host of the Crypto Blitz YouTube show, has reported that a large amount of tokens continues to flow out of crypto exchanges. The continual removal of XRP from trading platforms indicates that many holders may be shifting their assets into private wallets or long-term storage rather than making them readily available for sale.

According to the expert, over 7.03 billion XRP was recorded leaving the crypto exchanges in February. This kind of significant outflow from trading platforms often signals a change in investor behavior, particularly in times of uncertain market conditions.

The data shows that over 3.38 billion XRP were withdrawn from Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency platform, alone. These movements can constrain market liquidity and perhaps affect future price action by lowering the amount of liquidity available on exchanges. 

When supply moves off trading platforms at this scale, Ripple Bull Winkle highlighted that this is a notable signal that accumulation is improving and selling pressure is declining. Given that the market has turned highly volatile, the shift suggests that holders are locking in position for the next major upward moves.

A Breakout In Market Volume

A recent report from Xaif Crypto, a technical analyst and trader, shows that XRP is experiencing a powerful surge in market activity. Specifically, the altcoin just made a major breakout in volume, signaling a renewed wave of interest from traders. 

Both futures and spot trading volumes have spiked sharply across the major exchanges, with liquidity flooding into the market as participants position themselves for what could be a significant move. The Futures volume recorded an upsurge of over 7% in a 24-hour period, reaching $4.85 billion. 

Meanwhile, spot volume witnessed a sharp increase of +15% within the same time frame, reaching about $1.31 billion. These massive figures in both markets indicate that fresh capital is flowing into the altcoin, and Xaif Crypto stated that “this is what acceleration looks like before it gets loud.”

At the time of writing, the price of XRP was trading at $1.39, indicating a more than 2% drop in the last 24 hours. Its trading volume has turned bearish and has sharply declined alongside its price, recording an over 44% decrease over the past day.

Bitcoin Strategist Joe Burnett has shared an ambitious long-term outlook for the BTC price that puts the world’s largest cryptocurrency in the eight-figure range. The projection comes from a research report published on Substack that discusses how major technological and economic shifts could reshape global markets. While the projected price target is bold, Burnett’s reason behind it has drawn significant attention. 

BTC Price Forecasted To Hit $11 Million In 10 Years

Burnett has predicted that Bitcoin could climb to roughly $11 million per coin by 2036 if it captures a meaningful share of global financial wealth. The crypto strategist’s ambitious forecast is an updated outlook that builds on a prior thesis he introduced last year, which pointed to a $10 million target by 2035. His new report suggests the structural conditions and reasons supporting that earlier call have not weakened but have actually grown stronger over time.

Burnett’s $11 million Bitcoin price projection assumes that global financial assets will continue to expand over the next decade while BTC gradually strengthens its role as a long-term store of value. In this scenario, Bitcoin’s total market capitalization could reach $230 trillion within a decade. 

With global financial assets expected to approach $2 quadrillion by 2036 if they continue compounding at historical rates, Burnett argues that a $230 trillion valuation would represent only a modest portion of that global wealth. This means Bitcoin would not need to replace existing traditional financial systems to reach such levels. It would simply need to become the most reliable store of value in a world where traditional safe-haven assets are losing their edge. 

Burnett’s thesis also focuses on Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million BTC and its growing appeal among investors seeking protection against currency debasement. As confidence in scarce digital assets grows, he expects more capital to shift toward Bitcoin as a long-term savings vehicle, potentially fueling its price growth.

The AI Deflation Engine Behind The Bitcoin Prediction

A key part of Burnett’s argument centers on the economic impact of artificial intelligence (AI). He noted that rapid improvements in AI could increase productivity across industries and significantly lower the cost of producing goods and services. This type of technological prowess can create strong deflationary pressure in the financial economy. 

When prices fall due to efficiency gains, policymakers often respond with monetary expansion to stimulate growth and maintain financial stability. Burnett emphasized that increased liquidity in the financial system could also encourage investors to move toward assets with verifiable scarcity. He noted that Bitcoin stood out in that environment because its supply is permanently capped, making it relatively resistant to the inflation that affects traditional currencies.

The report also points to the potential development of new financial products built around Bitcoin reserves. According to Burnett, lending and credit structures backed by large BTC holdings could bring additional institutional capital into the ecosystem while reinforcing its role as a global reserve asset. 

Burnett believes these structural forces could unfold gradually over the next decade. If they do, the crypto strategist stated that Bitcoin’s rise would be less driven by speculative enthusiasm and “belief” and more by long-term shifts in deflationary pressure, monetary and liquidity expansion, and global capital allocation.

The Dogecoin price may be on the verge of its most historic rally yet, as a crypto market analyst has boldly forecasted an explosive rally to $10. Pointing to historical chart patterns, the analyst believes that if Dogecoin can perfectly repeat past cycle trends, a surge into double-digit territory seems highly probable. 

Historical Dogecoin Price Pattern Points To $10 Target

On Thursday, March 4, TheMoonHailey shared a bold Dogecoin price forecast on X, predicting a powerful climb to $10 from current levels below $0.1, based on recurring historical trends visible on the long-term weekly chart. The accompanying chart illustrates Dogecoin’s price action and technical trends from 2014 through a projected outlook to 2030.

On the chart, Dogecoin appears to be trading within a well-defined ascending parallel channel that began in 2014, with three circled bottom points highlighted along the lower boundary. Two of these points represent moments when the price crashed to the bottom and found critical support before launching into a massive rally. 

The first major cycle played out around 2017, where Dogecoin surged approximately 9,200% over roughly 300 days after bouncing from a price bottom. The next cycle in 2021 delivered an even more extraordinary gain of around 26,000% in approximately 150 days. Similarly, this explosive move came just after DOGE hit a price bottom. 

During the 2021 rally, Dogecoin skyrocketed to an all-time high of approximately $0.73, briefly spiking toward the upper boundary of the ascending parallel channel before retracing sharply. Following that peak, the meme coin spent several years consolidating and grinding lower within the channel. As a result, its price action has finally settled to form the third major bottom in the 2026 cycle, 

Now Dogecoin is hovering between $0.09 and $0.1 near that same lower support zone that launched historic rallies in 2017 and 2021. The white arrow on the chart illustrates the meme coin’s projected trajectory, pointing toward the upper resistance band of the ascending parallel channel near the $10 level. 

With DOGE already almost perfectly mirroring the historical trends that preceded former explosive price rallies, the analyst suggests that Dogecoin’s next parabolic surge could be toward $10 if everything plays out as expected. At its current price near $0.09, a surge to $10 would represent a staggering gain of more than 11,000%. 

Analyst Predicts $3 Target From The Same Pattern

In a more recent analysis, crypto expert Trader Tardigrade shared his bullish outlook, based on the same historical bottom-channel pattern. His chart identifies three key price bottoms along the lower boundary of the rising channel, with the first two lower supports in 2017 and 2021 marking the points at which Dogecoin launched powerful rallies.  

Rather than a $10 target, Trader Tardigrade projects that Dogecoin could surge toward $3. According to the analyst, the cryptocurrency has formed a third bottom around the $0.09-$0.1 level in 2026, following major price declines and volatility over the years. If the price were to climb to $3, it would represent a remarkable gain of more than 3,200%. 

A major narrative that is making serious waves in the entire cryptocurrency sector is the fact that the Bitcoin price may have reached a bottom. In the midst of this persistent speculation about the leading crypto asset, a key metric is taking the spotlight, providing insights regarding whether BTC has reached a bottom.

Why Bitcoin May Have Hit A Bottom

While the price of Bitcoin has experienced a slight rebound, discussions about whether the flagship crypto asset has hit a bottom are turning in the sector at a rapid rate. Crypto Tice, a market expert and investor, has outlined that a key BTC metric has historically determined the price bottom.

After a brief bounce, Bitcoin may be showing early signs of stabilization, as the Bitcoin Total Supply in Profit metric presently indicates that the market may be nearing or has already achieved a local bottom. The indicator is starting to flash indications that have historically been linked to times of tiredness in selling activity after weeks of continuous downside pressure and unsettled confidence throughout the cryptocurrency sector.

According to Crypto Tice, BTC has hit the bottom, and crypto participants have failed to see it. Looking at the data from the metric, the crypto king has officially shifted into historical bottom territory, marking an important moment for the market as a whole.

Extreme levels of these indicators may indicate times when supply is being absorbed by stronger hands, and panic selling starts to diminish. Currently, supply at a loss is peaking, weak hands have been flushed, long-term holders are not selling, and liquidity is compressing. Crypto Tice stated this is not subtle or speculative; it is structural capitulation and accumulation in real time. 

Furthermore, when supply flips from loss-heavy to profit-ready zones, the expert highlighted that markets do not drift; they undergo an explosive upward move. As a result, the expert sees the current structure as an ideal opportunity to enter the market, calling it a “once-in-a-cycle entry point.” Bitcoin is approaching a moment that will spur the next breakout, and doubters will be watching on the sidelines.

BTC Traders Are Leaning Toward A Defensive Side

Technical analyst and host of the Crypto Banter show, Kyle Doops, shared on the X platform that the Bitcoin tape looks a bit split right now. The expert analysis is based on the Funding Rates, which seem to have been in a negative direction.

Data shows that the BTC Funding rates are still in the negative zone, meaning that futures traders are constantly leaning toward a defensive side. However, at the same time, the Coinbase Premium Gap just experienced an upswing. 

It is worth noting that BTC is now trading higher on Coinbase than on other crypto exchanges. Such a scenario often implies that investors in the United States, both retail and institutional, are stepping up. In the meantime, derivatives are still cautious, and spot buyers are quietly picking some up.

Crypto pundit X Finance Bull has drawn attention to Ripple’s new whitepaper, which highlights plans to use XRP for its prime brokerage offering. Ripple also recently announced plans to offer its institutional clients access to XRP derivatives on Coinbase Derivatives. 

XRP’s Role In Ripple’s New Digital Prime Broker Model

In an X post, X Finance Bull stated that XRP isn’t just about payments now, as it is expanding into institutional trading infrastructure under Ripple’s Prime Broker model. He added that payments were just the start for the altcoin and that this is the next layer for XRP, a move which the pundit noted would create new demand. The pundit also indicated that this could boost XRP’s price in the long run, while admitting that the price could still stall in the short term. 

The new Ripple whitepaper introduces the Prime Broker model, which aims to streamline the processes by which institutional clients access the crypto market. The crypto noted that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) can support early settlement within a Digital Prime Brokerage framework. This can happen by enabling on-chain credit lines that fund settlement ahead of the standard net settlement cycle, with funding costs applied explicitly and transparently. 

Ripple stated that, under the Prime Broker model, the prime broker exposes on-chain credit lines to brokers and market makers. These credit lines allow participants to access liquidity before the standard net settlement cutoff. As the firm proposes bringing these institutional clients on-chain, it is worth noting that the XRP Ledger has activated the Permissioned DEX. 

The Permissioned DEX on the XRP Ledger allows these institutional clients to trade in a regulated environment while also restricting who they trade with on the network through credential features, thereby putting adequate KYC and AML controls in place. Meanwhile, the payment company already boasts the infrastructure to implement this Prime Broker model, having acquired the Prime Brokerage platform Hidden Road (now Ripple Prime) last year. 

Access To Crypto Derivatives

Ripple announced that it now offers its Ripple Prime clients access to crypto derivatives on Coinbase, which Nodal Clear will clear. These derivatives include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana futures contracts. Coinbase also offers U.S. perpetual-style futures, which expands the offering for Ripple’s clients. 

Furthermore, these futures contracts are regulated by the CFTC and are available 24/7, providing round-the-clock access for institutional clients. As a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), Ripple Prime can facilitate these offerings without a third party. As a multi-asset brokerage platform, Ripple Prime continues to expand its crypto offerings. Last month, the company added support for Hyperliquid, providing institutional clients access to on-chain derivatives.

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.40, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Spot Solana ETFs have pulled in roughly $1.45 billion since launching in July even as SOL fell 57% over the same stretch, a combination Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called “about as unlucky timing as you’ll ever see in ETFs.” For crypto markets, the takeaway is not just the headline flow number, but what it may say about the depth and quality of institutional demand.

Spot Solana ETFs Beat Bitcoin ETFs

Balchunas argued that the resilience of those inflows matters as much as their size. “Solana is down 57% since the spot ETFs launched in July … yet they managed to not only accumulate $1.5b in flows but not really give any of it up,” he wrote on X. He added that “50% of the assets are from 13F filers = serious inv base. Both really good signs for future IMO.”

The chart he shared shows cumulative Solana ETF flows climbing from about $410 million on Oct. 23, 2025, to $1.45 billion by March 2, 2026. The steepest acceleration came in late October through November, when cumulative inflows jumped sharply toward the $1 billion mark before continuing to grind higher into early March. Even with some flattening near the end of the period, the broader pattern is one of persistent net intake rather than hot-money churn.

Balchunas’ more provocative point was the relative comparison with Bitcoin. “The other thing about these flows, if we adjust for the size of solana vs bitcoin mkt cap, it’s the equiv of $54b in net new flows, which is about DOUBLE where bitcoin was at the same point,” he wrote. “And bitcoin was up a ton at that time vs down 57%. Anyhow, pretty impressive numbers given size and condition of the underlying mkt.”

That comparison goes to the heart of the thesis. Absolute flows still heavily favor Bitcoin, whose US spot ETF complex sits near $94.6 billion in assets, according to the table Balchunas posted separately. BlackRock’s IBIT alone accounts for roughly $57.1 billion, while Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC hold about $13.9 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively. On Wednesday, the group took in another $461.77 million, with IBIT contributing $306.58 million.

But Balchunas used that same Bitcoin flow snapshot to make a broader point about the risks of drawing sweeping conclusions from short windows of market action. After noting that Bitcoin had risen 12% since the Iran strike while gold fell, he posed a deliberately overstated question: “So does that mean gold has failed as a safe haven and may be devoid of any purpose and vice-versa for btc?” He then answered it himself in the next post.

“I don’t actually think this btw, just trying to point out the problem with making these types of damning judgements of an asset based on a short term window of price action,” Balchunas wrote. “Gold has my respect as asset as does bitcoin. Bitcoin’s surge may have little to do w geopolitics but rather the Jane St bogeyman going away and vibe change. And ppl selling gold may just be taking profits, some may be looking for next run in btc, wth knows.”

The same logic applies to Solana. A 57% drawdown would usually be the sort of backdrop expected to choke off ETF demand, not sustain it. Instead, the Solana products appear to have attracted sticky capital and, at least in Balchunas’ framing, done so at a pace that compares favorably with Bitcoin once market-cap context is applied.

At press time, Solana traded at $87.26.

Парламент Пакистана принял закон, который обязывает желающие работать в стране криптовалютные компании получать лицензию. Работа без разрешения будет считаться уголовным преступлением.

Vancouver city staff have recommended that councillors drop Mayor Ken Sim’s Bitcoin motion, which ordered work on accepting payments in BTC and exploring a Bitcoin reserve for part of the city’s funds.

Bitcoin: “Not An Allowable Investment Asset”

In a report released on March 2 reviewing outstanding council directions, the Vancouver staff has deemed Bitcoin as a “not an allowable investment asset for the City”, suggesting that the Mayor Sim’s motion to turn Vancouver into a “Bitcoin friendly city” should be concluded. The report also asks council to de-prioritize some of the 78 motions passed since 2019 part of a broader clean‑up of outstanding directions.

The rationale for this, as stated by the report, is a “reprioritization of staff and resources” and the need for “coordinating and aligning work with related initiative(s)”: the goal is to reduce the city’s spending by optimizing internal capacity.

City staff back these conclusions with the Vancouver Charter, the provincial law that sets out how municipal funds can be invested.

Inside The Vancouver Charter

The B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs has clarified that the Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter “don’t recognize cryptocurrency as payment for municipal services or other transactions,” so cities shouldn’t treat BTC like normal money on their balance sheets.

The ministry has also stated that local governments “are not permitted to hold financial reserves in cryptocurrency” because crypto is not on the listed of permitted investment vehicles laid out in the provincial legislation.

Under section 183 of the Community Charter, which the province applies to local governments’ funds, eligible investments are cited as things like Municipal Finance Authority securities, pooled funds, federal or provincial bonds, guaranteed bank products and similar high‑grade instruments. There is simply no legal category that would cover Bitcoin or other volatile digital assets, which doesn’t mean that it’s prohibited: it simply doesn’t exist in the law.

The Bitcoin Dream: A Bitcoin Friendly City

Mayor Sim’s Bitcoin motion pushed through in December 2024. Sim, who’s an investor in a cryptocurrency exchange, said he believed investing in Bitcoin was “the financially responsible” thing to do amidst inflation and market volatility. He went so far as to pledge a personal 10,000‑dollar Bitcoin donation to seed a municipal reserve, publicly lauding BTC as one of the most important financial innovations of the era.

It would be irresponsible for the City of Vancouver to not look at the merits of adding bitcoin to the city’s strategic assets to preserve the city’s financial stability.

What’s Next?

The staff was supposed to report back to council in the first quarter of 2025, but until the cited report, no other was made public.

The Vancouver city staff recommendation will land at council on March 10. Mayor Sim will be forced to decide whether to burn political capital defending his BTC agenda or watch his Bitcoin dreams be shelved and dismissed by his own administration.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

Инвесторы из штата Флорида подали коллективный иск против юридической компании Alston&Bird, утверждая, что стали жертвами криптосхемы Goliath Ventures и потеряли $328 млн. Истцы считают, что договоры о деловых отношениях, составленные этой фирмой, создали видимость законности Goliath Ventures.

Неизвестный атаковал работающую на блокчейне Биткоина платформу Solv Protocol и вывел из ее хранилища криптовалюту на $2,7 млн. Платформа готова заплатить хакеру за возврат средств вознаграждение в размере 10% от украденного.

Владелец брендов одежды Perry Ellis и Original Penguin, компания PEI Licensing подала в суд на криптокопроект Pudgy Penguins, обвинив в нелегальном использовании названия и изображения пингвина. Pudgy Penguins является эмитентом токена PENGU.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis said US lawmakers are actively exploring how Bitcoin can be used for everyday payments without automatically triggering capital gains tax, framing the issue as a key obstacle to treating the asset as a true medium of exchange.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on March 5, the Wyoming Republican said discussions are underway in both the House and Senate around a potential de minimis exemption, with the figure currently being considered landing “right around $300.”

Congress Eyes Tax-Free Bitcoin Payments

Lummis described that threshold as only part of the broader tax problem. The bigger question, she suggested, is not simply where to set a small-transaction exemption, but how Congress should distinguish between a disposal of Bitcoin as an investment asset and the use of Bitcoin as money.

“It’s called the de minimis exemption. And the number that is being looked at by House Ways and Means and Senate Finance is right around $300 as a de minimis exemption,” Lummis said, and added:

“But the challenge is trying to figure out how you can use Bitcoin as a means of exchange without paying a capital gains tax on it. So we’re trying to figure out how to weigh the appropriate way to decide when a sale of, for example, a Bitcoin should be subject to capital gains and when it should be allowed to be used as a simple means of exchange. The same way we use the US dollar.”

That distinction matters. Under the current framework, spending appreciated Bitcoin can create a taxable event, even when the transaction looks economically similar to an ordinary purchase made in dollars. For crypto advocates, that has long been one of the main reasons Bitcoin has struggled to function cleanly as a payments rail in the US, despite its growing acceptance as a store of value and institutional asset.

The exchange on CNBC made clear that Lummis sees the issue less as a niche crypto tax tweak and more as a structural inconsistency in how digital assets are treated. When host Joe Kernen joked that, by similar logic, consumers should be able to claim capital losses as the dollar steadily loses purchasing power, Lummis agreed and leaned into the comparison.

“It’s right because it’s by design the US dollar loses value at 2% or more every year,” she said. “So you’re right. If we did the same thing with the US dollar, all taxpayers would be getting a capital loss annually.” However, Lummis did not outline a final legislative path, and she did not claim consensus has been reached.

At press time, Bitcoin traded at $70,786.

Военные действия США, Израиля и союзников на Ближнем Востоке не вызвали крайнего негатива криптоинвесторов. Наоборот, рынок даже вырос. Для инвесторов самое худшее — не плохие новости, а неопределенность. Чего ждать дальше?

Управление по регулированию виртуальных активов Дубая (VARA) заявило, что криптобиржа KuCoin и связанные с ней структуры работают в эмирате без лицензии. Ведомство потребовало от американской торговой площадки немедленно прекратить операции с виртуальными активами.